How of track of the since_id parameter in my Processing + Twitter4j application?

How of track of the since_id parameter in my Processing + Twitter4j
application?

I am using the Twitter4j library in Processing to retrieve tweets. I have
added a timer to my application so that it collects tweets at appropriate
intervals without hitting the Twitter API too many times. However, I am
having trouble implementing the Since_Id parameter in order to step
forward (instead of backwards as I am now) through the timeline of tweets.
How do I keep track of the MAX_ID so that value is fed into the next
interval when the timer tells my application to run again.
Timer timer;
import java.util.List;
void setup() {
timer = new Timer(30000);
timer.start();
goTwitter();
}
void draw(){
if (timer.isFinished()){
goTwitter();
timer.start();
}
}
void goTwitter(){
ConfigurationBuilder cb = new ConfigurationBuilder();
cb.setOAuthConsumerKey("");
cb.setOAuthConsumerSecret("");
cb.setOAuthAccessToken("");
cb.setOAuthAccessTokenSecret("");
Twitter twitter = new TwitterFactory(cb.build()).getInstance();
Query query = new Query("#processing");
int numberOfTweets = 300;
long lastID = Long.MAX_VALUE;
ArrayList<Status> tweets = new ArrayList<Status>();
while (tweets.size () < numberOfTweets) {
if (numberOfTweets - tweets.size() > 100)
query.setCount(100);
else
query.setCount(numberOfTweets - tweets.size());
try {
QueryResult result = twitter.search(query);
tweets.addAll(result.getTweets());
println("Gathered " + tweets.size() + " tweets");
for (Status t: tweets)
if(t.getId() < lastID) lastID = t.getId();
}
catch (TwitterException te) {
println("Couldn't connect: " + te);
};
query.setMaxId(lastID-1);
}
for (int i = 0; i < tweets.size(); i++) {
Status t = (Status) tweets.get(i);
GeoLocation loc = t.getGeoLocation();
String user = t.getUser().getScreenName();
String msg = t.getText();
String time = "";
if (loc!=null) {
Double lat = t.getGeoLocation().getLatitude();
Double lon = t.getGeoLocation().getLongitude();
println(i + " USER: " + user + " wrote: " + msg + " located at " +
lat + ", " + lon);
}
}
println("lastID= " + lastID);
}
class Timer {
int savedTime;
int totalTime;
Timer (int tempTotalTime) {
totalTime = tempTotalTime;
}
void start(){
savedTime = millis();
}
boolean isFinished() {
int passedTime = millis() - savedTime;
if (passedTime > totalTime){
return true;
} else {
return false;
}
}
}