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Q: For those of you questioning your decision to buy Silvia after hours, days, and weeks of research. Did I make the right decision? "Maybe I should have considered the 'Livia 90'." "Silvia, Silvia" that's all everyone was saying, now I hear rumors of another woman … her name is Livia. "So many in this newsgroup, once in love with Silvia, are now cooing over Livia… "Did I miss the signals, was it something someone said in this newsgroup?" You think to ourself, "I'm still in my 30 day honeymoon period, maybe I can get an annulment and send her packing." If you've been reading this NG over the last six months, you can't help but have noticed the recent shift of the Espresso elite away from Silvia over to the Livia 90. Poor Silvia, imagine the heartbreak. : ( Please Note: The debate of Silvia/Livia or any other Espresso unit and/or HE vs. single boiler, commercial vs. home, is not the intent of this post. Only trying to draw attention to certain psychological profiles at work : ) It may be hard for some to face, others will reject the notion outright, but the shift to Livia is not because Silvia is defective or even lacking, but rather because many in this newsgroup may be growing tired of her. Gasp! I'm not speaking for everyone in the NG, or anyone for that matter. For those still waiting in anticipation of her arrival at your door, or those how still stare at her sitting on your counter with a glazed look in your eyes… I'm jealous. Young love… sigh!. For others, I'm afraid BB King has spoken, "The thrill is gone"… I find it hard to speak the words "Silvia, I'm sorry, the Honeymoon is over." Yes, I understand others still find her attractive, but why do I now find her less attractive? What happened? She's still dependable but admit it... she's no longer quite as exciting to you as when you first met! You start thinking of others. Your eyes begin to wander… "Wow look at the size of the boilers on that one… I'll bet she could really make my nozzle steam!" In other words, a "certain segment" of the population is growing tired of talking about Silvia. Stale conversations, the same old thing, temperature surfing, the new 100 degree T-Stat vs. the old 110, or the benefits of PID'ing Silvia etc. Shes getting boring, everyday, everynight the same conversation, same arguemnts. Silvia was everything we wanted; only now we want more. It's the nature of the beast. After you buy a new car you park it, and start walking away from it but then stop, turn around, and look back and admire it. How long before that scenario stops? Think about the first time you started researching for an Espresso machine. You found alt.coffee, the CoffeKid, CoffeeGeek, Randy G's Espresso! My Espresso! (Probably the person most responsible for coercing me into this Espresso cult) and tons of other information sources. At the onset, you can't get enough information, you want to read everything When you started your research you were convinced $100 or $200 was your budget, "No, I mean $400" "Wait…did I say only $400?" "And I need a RB tamper, no an Ergo, no an RB… and some Espresso cups." Oh my God so may choices! "A grinder! My kingdom for a grinder" "No you fool, not that gutless little excuse for a grinder. I want that big chrome plated mother with the fuel injected Hemi". And, "Oh, Oh I need a Roaster, I was thinking of the HWP but then I read about one in alt.coffee specifically designed for an outdoor utility shed that runs off of natural gas or propane and has a 12.5KW electrical generator in case the power fails while roasting your latest 90lb batch of Monkey Blend. Sorry. My recent indecision with Silvia causes my mind to wander. Silvia has tried so hard to please me. Its just that I'm getting frustrated, I've read all the self help guides, watched the videos, press all her buttons but she rarely responds. I don't know if I can be happy with just one "Oh God" in every fifteen or twenty attempts. I find myself fantasizing… Oh God, Oh God, Oh God! Three or four or five times in a row, pull..pull..pull..pull, until I'm exhausted and my ears are ringing. Yes, I read about trash like this, late at night on the Internet after Silvia's lights go out and she turns cold to my touch. Okay, I'll admit it, I even went looking for some jpegs of Livia. Oh damn, she's so beautiful. I can't stop thinking about her. I'll bet she could please me. Sometimes when I'm rubbing polish on Sivia, I close my eyes and imagine its Livia, ... slowly rubbing every inch of her gleaming body... Maybe it not too late for counseling… it's the least I can do for Silvia.

A: Honest to goodness, I don't know when the hell this group became the Silvia and Livia discussion group. These are two fine machines, but they are by no means the only, or even necessarily the best, machines on the market. Mark (I'm sure unintentionally) may have had something to do with this, but believe me, there is lots to talk about without obsessing over these two particular machines. To think that the choice is only between these two and that the Livia is the "it" machine of the moment is the worst kind of groupthink and trend following that I can imagine, reducing the noble and enduring art of Espresso to something as fickle as a pop song. I know you didn't mean to, but your post made me a little nauseous. I can only hope it was all an April Fool.