utah-client run_cmd looses output

we have an odd timing/race issue with the run_cmd implementation. I've added a simple test to test_common.py that repeats it pretty frequently:

def test_run_output(self):
        """Ensure run_cmd returns proper output."""
        result = run_cmd('echo 1')
        self.assertEqual(result['stdout'], '1\n')

Most of the timeout result['stdout'] is an empty string. If you add a small pause and then an extra check for stdout like:
@@ -219,6 +219,14 @@ def run_cmd(command, cwd=None, timeout=0, cmd_type=CMD_TC_T
                 stderr.write(stderr_tmp)
             except Empty:
                 pass
+ try:
+ print "one more read"
+ stdout_tmp = _normalize_encoding(outq.get_nowait())
+ syslog.syslog(stdout_tmp)
+ stdout.write(stdout_tmp)
+ except Empty:
+ print 'no data'
+ pass

Things magically work. We've been debating re-implementing this in a proper way. i think now is the time, and I'll do it today