Whew. So how about that weekend?

I worked my longest shift ever today. Nurses will roll their eyes, so will truckers, but I pulled a 10+ hour shift today. Mind you, there was an hour "break" where I was chauffered over to the Elysian Room for the La Marzocco GS3 machine evaluation put on by Mark Prince of Coffeegeek fame. That, and I worked yesterday as well as volunteered for a couple of hours with Brad and Mark at a formal function benefiting the Starlight Starbright Foundation by pulling shots and building drinks for the attendees on none other than the GS3.

So now I'm wondering where the hell did my weekend go?

But it was fun. I got to test drive the GS3 multiple times, and, well, (here's the boasting)... I'm probably the first non-A-list coffee insider to pull more than just a few shots on it. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating. But seriously, as we were telling people at the function last night, there are only 10 of these prototypes in existence. Here's a photo of it (image stolen from Chris Tacy's blog):



It's an incredible piece of machinery. Essentially, it's a one group GB5 shrunk to a home machine that you don't have to plumb in and you can plug into your 110V outlet. Few problems came up with the general usability of the machine, from a barista point of view (I'm still too unfamiliar with most technical issues). They were focused around the stock acorn steam tip. Some people love them, but it seems like most people were having troubles getting quality milk, especially people used to less powerful home equipment. Some skilled baristi have claimed to not be able to pour art working with the acorn tip.

I want one.

I also want to make a comment about how incredible it is too work at a place where your coworkers and management are awesome. The crew today were really supportive and helfpul in my unexpectedly long shift. I don't know if I would have made it without a bunch of people there today. Yay!

Well, I'm off to read some geology. It's been a long two days...