I'd like to pick it back up again as the kids get older and I have more time. I don't miss the cost of drum scanning however, and I have no desire to try and obtain/maintain my own.
expensive hobbies...
- Thread starter LukeD
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Wife didn't like the "mess" grinding beans can make. Also kids. Our kitchen is adjacent to the bedroom and our first one as a baby would immediately wake up from the noise.
Compromise is a E.S.E. pad machine now. Espresso is ok, not superb, but ok.
+1 on the Compak grinders, they're the real deal. I've got a K6, trust it'll see me out.
Your machine looks real nice too (much nicer than mine), a lot like a vibiemme domobar.
I guess I should say I know very little about espresso machines aside from: I like espresso, the machines are cool but expensive, I am glad I have one which makes the process easy for me. You guys seem way more knowledgeable on this for sure...I have a friend who is similar and it's insane how much he spent on his grinder...
K6=very nice! Because I only make 2-3 coffees a day, I weigh my grounds. I felt I didn't really need a doser. But there are definitely some days, especially when I have guests over, that I really miss a doser... it definitely would speed up the process of making several coffees in a row.
My machine is essentially an E-61 machine, of which there are many on the market. It's an old design (from 1961!), that is simple and robust. Provided I feed it good grinds, it makes a consistently good coffee. As I recall, it's made in Italy to the specifications of an American importer (Chris Coffee). He's been importing machines for a really long time, and I think has been able to develop and offer a really good value proposition. There isn't the name brand recognition, but that doesn't matter to me at 6 am when I haven't had a coffee yet! Besides, it looks really nice in my kitchen!
I hear you on the noise and mess. For several years, while my kids were little, my setup lived on my workbench in the basement!
Never heard about that company, will have to look it up. You keep coming up with stuff we're both interested in, astonishing.
Basically the technology involved is old and proven, so no wonder those designs still work.
My younger one is getting 3 in a few weeks, so there might be light on the end of the tunnel... just might.
No kids, just wife. She's plenty, too.
I just got/built a new snowmobile trailer
Aluminum sliders on the bed to fit two wallet drainers. Still gotta put the boxes on under the bed for storage.
You people dropping 2k+ on coffee are fucking insane. If I could legally do it, I'd inject lattes into my temples every morning but you people are messed up.
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Heh. I bought the truck with a stock bed. I done did the flat bed as a modification from my previous truck. Ya'll fuckers wondering why I haven't been gabbing about my new GG bike, that's why.
I finally found something in CA about 4 hours away. Didn't have the plow prep but meh, wasn't worth the rust harvest.
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Anyone who's that addicted to overpriced bean water deserves to be financially drained for purchases of useless shit.
The side benefit of having mountain biking as a hobby is that other sports that could be considered expensive are nothing more than a blip by comparison.
Full set of SCUBA gear - $1500.
Training - $500 up to $1500 depending what level and specialties you want to pursue.
Full set of new ice hockey gear - ~$1000.
Skis and all associated gear - ~$1000.
Decent guitar and amp - $700
I think most all of my other hobbies with the exception of moto would all add up to fit within one gucci mountain bike that breaks all the fucking time.
The side benefit of having mountain biking as a hobby is that other sports that could be considered expensive are nothing more than a blip by comparison.
Full set of SCUBA gear - $1500.
Training - $500 up to $1500 depending what level and specialties you want to pursue.
Full set of new ice hockey gear - ~$1000.
Skis and all associated gear - ~$1000.
Decent guitar and amp - $700
I think most all of my other hobbies with the exception of moto would all add up to fit within one gucci mountain bike that breaks all the fucking time.
Yeah I bypassed coffee and went straight to Ritalin, I can't pretend I have that for the flavour.
My hobbies are generally pretty short lived, bought my first DSLR around two years ago and ended up with six lenses inside a few months. I see editing images as cheating and normal people seem to dig soft edges and contrast at a million so my lenses are now growing fungi, don't really do much to completion.
Now I limit my non riding hobbies to buying tools so I can make stuff and learn more skills, I have however developed a bit of a fetish for German and Japanese made/owned tools and that does eat some money.
Need to get back to woodworking as I really enjoy that, printing off a picture of something and making a timber version of it without a plan is kinda fun.
Apologies I have post any of these previously, all pretty self explanatory.
The owl is a money box and you pop a coin in the top of it's head and spin the beak to drop it in, the rest don't do anything fancy.
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I have, but drysuits suck donkey dick. I did the training for them last year and then used them diving in Iceland. While the diving was very cool, it made me never want to mess with those again unless doing arctic dives. Some people here in Southern CA refuse to dive without them with water temps in the 60's (F), which I just don't understand. Expensive, finicky, cumbersome, limited maneuverability underwater, one more thing to manage air pressure for, etc etc. It's always a bunch of major fatbodies with tons of insulation too. Always baffled me. Usually the same guys who chain smoke.
Yea you meet some real looks in the diving community.
Yeah, cheers.
I do have to get a new Dremel rotary type tool, but as Dremels are garbage I am going to try a Proxxon rotary tool and one of their power carvers.
I referred to mine as a damp suit...
How long have you guys been diving? I don't do much diving nowadays but I used to dive often doing research work. I stopped using wetsuits a long time ago and here you can mostly get by with a rash guard, shorts and leggings underneath.
18 years or so? On and off. Some years I'll go a lot, others I won't touch it at all.
I got my DM certification as I was finishing high school. My contingency plan in case engineering didn't pan out was to go spend a year or two on a dive boat in the gulf to avoid having a real job for a while. Engineering seemed to stick so never got to do that. Still often wish I did.
Southern CA waters don't get chilly enough to need a drysuit, and they don't get warm enough to go without a wetsuit unfortunately. Every once in a great while, Catalina Island waters will be warm enough to do shallow dives with just a rashguard.
This year will be my 20th but also on and off depending on the work. I don't do much diving now but that can change.
Hit me up if you ever find yourself in my area. Apo Island is a great diving spot and only an hour or so from where I am and there are so many other spots worth visiting.
Hit me up if you ever find yourself in my area. Apo Island is a great diving spot and only an hour or so from where I am and there are so many other spots worth visiting.
Copy that! Always wanted to check that area out. Apparently I have a month and a half of PTO now so I'm tempted on a semi-daily basis to just walk out of the office and jump on a plane now that I work 5 minutes from LAX.
Do it! Check out Atlantis dive resort in Dauin just across from Apo Island. My good friend helps run the place and can hook you up. He rides too and just like me is a hardcore hardtail shredder. Er, scratch out the hardcore and shredder part.
I'm also helping out a compatriot of toodles who wants to invest in a bike park here so if/when that happens you'll have plenty of reasons to hop on that plane.
I'm also helping out a compatriot of toodles who wants to invest in a bike park here so if/when that happens you'll have plenty of reasons to hop on that plane.
does the traffic in el segundo still suck a fat donkey?
Well, I don't get on the freeway except to leave on weekends. Once I'm off the freeway for a few days, the surface street stuff doesn't really bother me in that area like it does up in Santa Monica. I'm getting along with the South Bay more than I thought I would when I took this transfer. Still don't know how permanent of an arrangement I'm willing to make this though.
Just driving through the LA area a few times a year make me want to drink bleach. Hell I almost pulled the Falling Down up in SF in a rental car a few months back. Literally opened door stood out next to car for a second or two. It took 20 minutes to go a block.....
If you want to move anywhere on the highways in the bay area, you better plan that out well in advance. Have been in your shoes many times. Don't miss it one bit.
I'm down in Bellvue next week for a conference and I want to ride my bike. That's going to be a bitch for a few days. Luckily I booked the weekend in Issaquah.
Where do you live that you can't have better coffee? Here basically every coffee place has a Mahlkonig EK43 + Nuova Simonelli Mythos for Espresso.
Also a cheap alternative to expensive grinders is buying the commendante hand grinder. Some people claim it grinds on par with ek43 while being reasonably priced plus it doesn't take so much space.
On the bright side I've got a limited ed anaerobic fermentation natural coffee which is a rare mix. Tastes like strawberries.