Today we had espresso from this machine for the first time in 5 years.
I bought it back in 2013, but it stopped working in 2019. Before this one, I had a Gaggia that also stopped working, which I basically gave away because I wasn't sure what to do with it.
When this one stopped working, I decided I would try to fix it myself, so I watched a lot of YouTube videos, bought a replacement pump and solenoid valve in an attempt to get it to work. It didn't.
For all kinds of reasons that I'd never talk about on Facebook, I didn't get it looked at by a professional then, and then the pandemic hit, we moved across town, and so it just sat in storage for years while we had french press for morning coffee.
While I was on parental leave with Henry, we decided we needed to deal with it.
We took it somewhere nearby but that didn't work, so I decided to see if I could fix it, and if not, we'd get rid of it.
So one afternoon I took it apart and cleaned everything out, and then I turned it on and nothing happened.
I was frustrated, but I decided to turn to YouTube and found a "trick" that I had used years earlier that didn't work at the time, but somehow worked this time.
Feeling very proud of myself, I ordered a bunch of new parts to replace the corroded ones, and when I went to turn it on the next day the smell of an electrical fire started wafting through the air.
So I cancelled the order and we got a new Gaggia espresso machine!
However, that isn't the end of the story!
Wondering if I could save this machine, I found a place that sells replacement electrical parts for the Gaggia. I installed it, and the machine came on without an electrical fire! Feeling hopeful, I reordered the parts, and a few more because it was clear that there was more corrosion than I first thought.
So we brought it to Quebec with us, I put it all back together yesterday, and it worked.
Who knows for how long, but right now, it works.
Somewhere in here are some metaphors for turning 50, and that there's always time to change how we think about the world - my instincts for buying something vs. fixing things have flipped in part because of this experience.
There's also just something really nice about taking something apart and putting it back together and restoring something you'd thought you'd lost forever.
This machine's 5-year hibernation allowed it to miss a phenomenal amount of changes in my life, but I'm really happy to be able to welcome this old friend back, where it will live out a relaxed retirement making people cappuccinos in Quebec City.
