It's a mixed bag, today.

About ten days ago, my new espresso machine stopped heating. I called Breville and explained the issue. They sent me a FedEx shipping voucher and I sent it back, no cost to me. The replacement espresso machine arrived yesterday.

They didn't bother to send me back what I had before. The gall of some people! What I had was this:

The old machine, an ESP8XL

What they sent me was this:

The new machine, an 800ESXL

Yeah, you're reading that right: the unit they sent me as a replacement is more than twice the value. Seriously, I am impressed. I pulled my first  double-shot this morning. The shots were gorgeous, and the drink - now that I've gotten to it - is yummy.

So let me officially recommend Breville for all your coffee-making needs.


In other news, we went to a place called Pump-It-Up last night for an Autism Society, Heartland gathering - second quarter birthdays or something like that. Families with autistic children have a really hard time with birthday parties, sleepovers, etc., because their children aren't often accepted. Periodic gatherings like the one last night provide a safe place for families like ours where it's okay to be "weird". Since I'm not just a parent but also an inmate, so to speak, I don't have to worry about being particularly social or keeping up with the crowd if I get overwhelmed, which I did fairly quickly.

Pump-It-Up is an activity center full of "inflatables" - those big plastic air-filled playgrounds. Because they have no rigid structure, they give fairly easily under one's weight - especially when one is just over two hundred pounds. It is an amazing amount of work to play on them, and I was sweating and breathing hard after the first one.

They're also incredibly hard on the body. Because they are "soft" you get encouraged to play harder than you might otherwise. Both my knees are skinned and bruised (I was wearing jeans), one elbow is bruised, and of course my hips are hurting more than usual. It was fun, but a workout.

It's a mixed bag, today.

About ten days ago, my new espresso machine stopped heating. I called Breville and explained the issue. They sent me a FedEx shipping voucher and I sent it back, no cost to me. The replacement espresso machine arrived yesterday.

They didn't bother to send me back what I had before. The gall of some people! What I had was this:

The old machine, an ESP8XL

What they sent me was this:

The new machine, an 800ESXL

Yeah, you're reading that right: the unit they sent me as a replacement is more than twice the value. Seriously, I am impressed. I pulled my first  double-shot this morning. The shots were gorgeous, and the drink - now that I've gotten to it - is yummy.

So let me officially recommend Breville for all your coffee-making needs.


In other news, we went to a place called Pump-It-Up last night for an Autism Society, Heartland gathering - second quarter birthdays or something like that. Families with autistic children have a really hard time with birthday parties, sleepovers, etc., because their children aren't often accepted. Periodic gatherings like the one last night provide a safe place for families like ours where it's okay to be "weird". Since I'm not just a parent but also an inmate, so to speak, I don't have to worry about being particularly social or keeping up with the crowd if I get overwhelmed, which I did fairly quickly.

Pump-It-Up is an activity center full of "inflatables" - those big plastic air-filled playgrounds. Because they have no rigid structure, they give fairly easily under one's weight - especially when one is just over two hundred pounds. It is an amazing amount of work to play on them, and I was sweating and breathing hard after the first one.

They're also incredibly hard on the body. Because they are "soft" you get encouraged to play harder than you might otherwise. Both my knees are skinned and bruised (I was wearing jeans), one elbow is bruised, and of course my hips are hurting more than usual. It was fun, but a workout.