Just wanted to give you wholelattelove.com and aabreecoffee.com as two other places to look. I understand one bought out the other, but I'm mentioning both in case they carry some different things. The both gave us advise onthe pros and cons of the machines. We didn't have many options for finding them in stores then -- even now would be hard to find as good a selection or the experience with the machines they gave us. Aabree used to rotate various machines through the employee break room so that everyone got familiar with the different models. I've bought machines from both of them (I think 2 from each), including a couple of new ones and a couple of refurbished ones. I think we still have all four of them -- a small one (Briel) originally bought for DH's office and also used on a couple of vacations, a Solis that was recommended because it was less tempermental about the precision of the grind and then two Juras that we bought refurbished -- one at a time, after I got sick of cleaning powdery fine coffee grinds of the white counters. The model we have was discontinued shortly after we got the first one and we later wondered how long it would last and whether we could live without it (the movable brew head means I can steam the milk in the cup and then brew directly into the same cup -- fewer dishes to wash). That's why we bought the second while we still had the option -- and the price had gone down, and the stainless we hadn't been willing to pay for originally (later the only option) looked nice in the newly redone kitchen. DH got to take the black one to the office. We are spoiled at work, home and play now -- and the machines have paid for themselves many times over. ;-) Have fun.

Okay, I've been reading this thread and not responding to it b/c I don't want to have it come out wrong. I can't keep quiet any longer. I agree with many statements above. I would like to say these things: If you haven't already filed bankruptcy-DON'T do it. Your husband is like a child and you are not teaching him any good sound financial responsibility by bailing him out all the time. You've bailed him out 2x already and then signed for a loan for someone who has no credibility. Doesn't pay bills and loves to spend....HELLO that was not a smart move but you have to move ahead...can't look back. You guys created these debts you have to pay them. Your biggest expense next to your mortgage is your student loans....in almost all cases they can't be discharged. So you will still end up having to pay that. You've already stated you need your cars, so you'd be keeping those. You have to pay back your 401k loan...So basically you'd be trying to file off your 60k in CC and your SBA loan? Good luck.....you are going to ruin your credit....for a very long time IF you even get your bankruptcy granted with the new laws, you still may have to pay some of that back. What happens if you file and then have poor credit, no credit cards and then your water heater goes, or your furnace? You have no cards to pay it, no savings to pay it and no money to pay it. So you skip car payments to pay it then can't catch up and car gets repo'd and you have no way to work, lose your job, lose your house. Sounds extreme but it could happen. There are lots of people that are ONE crisis away from poverty and homelessness. I would set a budget, stick to it. Kick DH a$$.....if he's a photographer, start going to bridal shows get some clients offer better package pricing. Brides are bargain shoppers, if you have the best price and great photos you are hired. Hit the road and take photos of things when he isn't working. Enter photo contests w/cash prizes. Put your name out there. Free advertising is everywhere!!!! Stop crying over it and FIX IT!!!! Also, if you can sell stuff.....like 10 chairs to buy 4...then be smarter with the money. Sell 6 keep 4 and pay some bills. Take ALL the cards away from DH and give him a weekly allowance and that's it. If he's unhappy with that let him know that he did it to himself and needs to learn the hard way. Money doesn't grow on trees and the credit tree just got cut down. NO MORE MONEY......no more excuses. You made these bills now you have to lay in the "bed of bills" for a while. Once you recover from this you will feel a sense of relief and feel like a better person that you "took the bill by the horns" and paid everything down. You did the right thing and not the easy way out. Anyway, I'm all fired up, I hope this doesn't come across as insensitive. It's time to put your husband in his place and if he's not on board then he's got to find someone else to take advantage of financially b/c it's not gonna be you.

Sol warned "you should be swinging from your ceiling fans in no time". Thanks for the heads-up BUT no one warned me that I would speed and risk getting stopped by the sheriff! I usually drink my addiction as soon as I get up but this AM I was late and drank it before getting in the car to go to the gym. Thankfully it was the same sheriff from the turtle incident; he gave me a verbal warning. I guess he thought speeding wasn't as harmful as turtle relocation. Michael, I was hoping you would chime in as you are the coffee guru. I'm two months in and still experimenting using various suggestions you all have offered. I... like medium roast purchased a grinder prefer medium ground add a pinch of salt to the batch add sweetener and flavoring to the batch so I don't have to bother with that every morning just add the creamer don't like Fresh Market coffees accidentally bought a pound of decaf and notice the difference but didn't know what the problem was until my batch was used up and I went back to the bag to use the remainder of the pound and saw that it was decaffeinated bought 2 pounds online from CoffeeAM; haven't tried it yet but the company seems to offer many options I am definitely hooked which is scary 'cause what if this was something harmfully addictive?

Thanks for all the very helpful information, everyone! I learned a lot more from this than I did from trying to get it from Google searches! I was not really familiar with the Bialetti machine (although I had seen them, but not in use), and so the link I posted below was very surprising to me. I had no idea that it worked that way. I'm intrigued by the Toddy coffee maker, but it would require me to plan perhaps too far in advance, and I'm not good at that. However, it is very affordable, and if it will make coffee that will upset my stomach less, I think I should give it a try. I never drank coffee until I moved to San Francisco in early 1970s, and back then the Melitta drip was what everyone seemed to use. Coffee still upset my stomach back then, but I tolerated it better then than I do now! Peet's coffee is available at Bristol Farms, and the store is in my general neighborhood, but I will go back to the Venice coffee & tea shop where I used to buy my tea. I'll probably go back to buying tea there again as well, as they have the best selection, and I love their "Fancy Keemun" tea. Annie, it sounds like you have all bases covered, and I might eventually end up with multiple coffee makers! Lars Here is a link that might be useful: Bialetti cappuccino maker with video