diff --git a/usr/bin/jgespanso-pipe b/usr/bin/jgespanso-pipe
index 851a9a1..45d808c 100755
--- a/usr/bin/jgespanso-pipe
+++ b/usr/bin/jgespanso-pipe
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ esac
 MENU_ITEMS=/tmp/espanso_list.csv
 trap "rm -f $MENU_ITEMS" EXIT
 
-if [[ $(espanso status) =~ "not" ]]
+if ! pgrep -x "espanso" > /dev/null
 then
    echo "^sep(Espanso - text expander)" >/tmp/espanso_list.csv
    echo "Espanso not running! Run it first by: espanso start,^term(espanso start)" >>/tmp/espanso_list.csv
@@ -47,7 +47,10 @@ echo "^sep($LIST)" >>/tmp/espanso_list.csv
 while read -r line ; do
 
     IFS='-' read -r id string <<< "$line"
-    printf "\"\"\"<b><tt>%-12s</tt></b> <i>%s</i>\"\"\",xdotool type %s\n" $id "${string//</&lt;}" $id >> $MENU_ITEMS
+    #printf "\"\"\"<b><tt>%-12s</tt></b> <i>%s</i>\"\"\",xdotool type %s\n" $id "${string//</&lt;}" $id >> $MENU_ITEMS
+    string="${string//</&lt;}"
+    string="${string//&/&amp;}"
+    printf "\"\"\"<b><tt>%-12s</tt></b> <i>%s</i>\"\"\",xdotool type %s\n" $id "${string}" $id >> $MENU_ITEMS
 done < <(espanso match list)