IT's Decorative Gourd Season, M-F'ers!!

If you enjoy 'bad language,' here's a good post from McSweeney's Internet Tendency.  You can order a T-shirt with this inspiring motto from McSweeney's Store, too.  I just may do that. 

Wot Th'....???

My stovetop espresso maker has quit working. How did this happen?  I haven't done anything different, but the coffee no longer rises to the top container.  It's there, all right, but it stays in the bottom container.  It's not plugged or misassembled.  The rubber gasket is just fine.  It just doesn't work.  I've had it for almost 10 years, and I'm flummoxed. 

All the problems with stovetop espresso makers cited online say virtually the same thing.  It works and then it doesn't, and nobody can figure out why.  The other commenters say it works even without adding the coffee grounds, and I just tried that.  True.  There's a little button on the bottom container, and that moves freely if I poke at it.   I do have a second one, but it's 1/3 the size, and I prefer a nice big mug of coffee/espresso in the a.m.

This

Cute but not this

The coffee grounds (always Bustelo, preground) are wet and looking a bit strange after this happens.  And they smell funny, too.  Perhaps they're adding a bit of dirt to the blend.  Perhaps this is why there are sales in so many places on this particular brand.  2 10-oz vacuum packs for $5.  Ordinarily, it's $4.79 each. I keep the opened pack in the fridge.  Nothing unusual there.  Hmm....