diff --git a/backup-log-monitor.sh b/backup-log-monitor.sh
index b30139d..4ed4e67 100755
--- a/backup-log-monitor.sh
+++ b/backup-log-monitor.sh
@@ -6,13 +6,13 @@
 set -e
 
 # Color codes for output
-RED='\033[0;31m'
-GREEN='\033[0;32m'
-YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
-BLUE='\033[0;34m'
-CYAN='\033[0;36m'
-PURPLE='\033[0;35m'
-NC='\033[0m' # No Color
+RED=$'\033[0;31m'
+GREEN=$'\033[0;32m'
+YELLOW=$'\033[1;33m'
+BLUE=$'\033[0;34m'
+CYAN=$'\033[0;36m'
+PURPLE=$'\033[0;35m'
+NC=$'\033[0m' # No Color
 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname "$(readlink -f "$0")")"
 LOG_DIR="$SCRIPT_DIR/logs"
@@ -315,6 +315,11 @@ show_service_status() {
         local last_entry
         last_entry=$(sudo journalctl -t "$tag" --output=short-iso -n 1 2>/dev/null | tail -1)
 
+        # Filter out journalctl informational messages (e.g., "-- No entries --")
+        if [[ "$last_entry" =~ ^-- ]]; then
+            last_entry=""
+        fi
+
         if [ -n "$last_entry" ]; then
             local timestamp
             local message
@@ -328,18 +333,28 @@ show_service_status() {
             current_time=$(date +%s)
             local hours_diff=$(( (current_time - entry_time) / 3600 ))
 
-            local status
+            local status_word status
             if [ "$hours_diff" -le 24 ]; then
-                status="${GREEN}Active${NC}"
+                status_word="Active"
+                status="${GREEN}${status_word}${NC}"
             elif [ "$hours_diff" -le 48 ]; then
-                status="${YELLOW}Recent${NC}"
+                status_word="Recent"
+                status="${YELLOW}${status_word}${NC}"
             else
-                status="${RED}Stale${NC}"
+                status_word="Stale"
+                status="${RED}${status_word}${NC}"
             fi
 
-            printf "%-20s %-25s %-20s %-30s\n" "$tag" "$status" "$timestamp" "$message"
+            # Adjust printf width to account for invisible ANSI escape code bytes
+            local ansi_overhead=$(( ${#status} - ${#status_word} ))
+            local padded_width=$(( 15 + ansi_overhead ))
+            printf "%-20s %-${padded_width}s %-20s %-30s\n" "$tag" "$status" "$timestamp" "$message"
         else
-            printf "%-20s %-25s %-20s %-30s\n" "$tag" "${RED}No logs${NC}" "Never" "No activity found"
+            local no_logs_word="No logs"
+            local no_logs="${RED}${no_logs_word}${NC}"
+            local ansi_overhead=$(( ${#no_logs} - ${#no_logs_word} ))
+            local padded_width=$(( 15 + ansi_overhead ))
+            printf "%-20s %-${padded_width}s %-20s %-30s\n" "$tag" "$no_logs" "Never" "No activity found"
         fi
     done
 }