More Espresso Thoughts:

Last weekend, I bought ANOTHER espresso machine. T is perhaps the most tolerant and understanding wife in the history of wives. This brings the coffee/espresso apparatus count to 10.

Lever Espresso: La Pavoni Europiccola

(NEW!) Semi-Auto Espresso: Nuova Simonelli Ellimatic

Vac Pot: Mini e-Santos

Drip: Zojirushi Fresh Brew

Moka Pot: 2 plain and 1 Mukka Express

French Press: 2 of those suckers.

One Melitta pour-over

This list is not inclusive of the tampers, grinders or other collateral things "needed" to produce my favorite beverage.

I've been working my technique on the Elli. It's fully 50% less fuss and time than the La Pavoni, but much less flair and drama.

After working with the 49mm group for so long, the 58mm seems massive. Actual double shots are... well, doubles, not two half-sized singles as you often get with the lever machine.

I've started pulling shots into clear shot glasses simply to watch the crema unfold-- it's that much easier.

The guy I bought it from has a $1,500 ECM Giotto, which is a behemoth, but also a thing to covet.

This espresso maker is typically Italian in its fussiness. It looks fantastic. When it works, it is the real deal. However, sometimes it simply informs me that a cup of espresso is not possible and that I will need to wait. The thermostat routinely switches the whole thing off. The water light occasionally blinks without an actual deficit of water. The start up routine is a little fussy, too-- they require that the thing be turned on with the steam wand open until enough heat is produced to yield steam. I may have fixed some of the issues by raising the water level in the boiler. We shall see.

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In other news, the kiddo is growing like a weed. He speaks English, now. It's really quite amazing to have a conversation with the little person who just a year ago was pretty much only making base demands for food shelter and toilet. We had a whole conversation about dreams last week. What was he dreaming about? "Flower cars, from the parade." There were Rose Festival floats outside our house, apparently and he watched them, with Mommy and Daddy. Is that cute or what?

Also, somewhat old news: we are all potty trained. After 3 years of diapers... I read a stat about the thousands of diapers a parent could look forward to changing over the first few years when he was first born, and I remember no disbelief, only resignation.... Not that he's breaking any speed records with this milestone, it's just that one Friday about 5 or 6 Fridays ago, he told T that he did not need a diaper. And that was that. There have been about a half dozen errors, but there has never been a more clear-cut transition. He's The Decider. Move over George W, we have big boy underpants. I'd like to gloat and pretend that there was actual parenting involved in the success, but I do not think that's the answer, I think the kudos go 100% to Curt. It is arguably as much work or more than a diaper change, because there's a tiny wee kid toilet's contents to transfer to the big person toilet, there's wiping to accomplish and then there's the multi variant calculus involved in determining bladder capacity vs hydration status vs distance and vector to nearest acceptable bathroom.

I'm hoping to maintain my somewhat pointless Daddyblog status with the diaper and poo talk. Hopefully Dutch will not draft me a cease and desist.

Check out the flickr badge for the usual gratuitously cute photo ops.

Eric