The hard way, the easy way, and the in-between way

I'm not sure that I mentioned, but I finally bought a Breville Duo-Temp 800ESXL espresso / cappuccino machine to make coffee.  (Yes, I'm adding keywords to be able to find this post again). My father-in-law pointed out a great one day sale and I snatched it up. It's really felt like an extravagance.

I was talking to my parents about the new machine and I'm pretty sure that they think that I'm totally nuts. Mind you, this is from the people who just switched back to instant coffee. Oh the horror. *shudder* Anyways, they couldn't understand why I'd 1) get a big expensive machine and 2) spend so much time making coffee - the quote was "instant coffee is made in seconds!". I guess my attempts at making coffee didn't blow their minds.

I was trying to see it from their side and question myself why I was doing this. I think that it's similar to why I bought a dslr. I have the time, interest and honestly the disposable income to try an entry-level "something". Something that I believe that will require another skill set to master and involved some artistry. I might not be great at it right now, and might not ever become great at it, but I find these things fun and a nice hobby to have. It's healthy to have a hobby or two, right?

Another thing that I find is that faster isn't necessarily better. Sometimes the older ways that are slower are still around for reason. They might be better, or more interesting, or varied. Would it be good to live in a Star Trek future where a replicator could make a perfect [fill in food name here] everytime? Yes, it would be awesome, but perhaps not as intesting. Not as much fun. How would you truly appreciate success unless you knew failure?

Two hobbies at the same time

Update 2020-03-19: I'm trying to fix the steam wand. I've found a helpful site