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I think I might have got incredibly lucky upon first using this IMS basket and changing the dose accordingly, because I ended up getting a shot that made me think "oh poo poo I didn't realise I could achieve this". Everything must have just ended up just right by coincidence because this was probably the best espresso I've had.
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Feb 17, 2023 18:51
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Sir Sidney Poitier posted:I think I might have got incredibly lucky upon first using this IMS basket and changing the dose accordingly, because I ended up getting a shot that made me think "oh poo poo I didn't realise I could achieve this". Everything must have just ended up just right by coincidence because this was probably the best espresso I've had. What grind setting are you at on your Niche? I have a VST basket, and I'm wondering how much that influences how fine I have to grind. I usually have to run between 5 and 6 on my Niche for a 30 second 1 in 2 out pull on my Gaggia.
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Feb 17, 2023 19:17
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Hell Yeah posted:the goon roasted coffee guy actually has some great stuff. i wish he didn't take away the vice jawn blue but i ordered four different kinds last time and got some bangers. it could just be a matter of taste, but he's got more consistently good varieties of beans than any other roaster i've purchased from. imo it's worth taking a chance on any light roasts he has. even when i get one i don't like i can still tell what people would like about it. cannot speak highly enough of the guy I agree with this. He posts weird rear end stuff all the time for way cheaper than any other roaster does (low priced geisha, honey processed and anabolics, etc), then on top of that you get a decent discount on 3+ bags and free shipping. I’ve had some duds for sure, but much of it is wonderful. Sir Sidney Poitier posted:I think I might have got incredibly lucky upon first using this IMS basket and changing the dose accordingly, because I ended up getting a shot that made me think "oh poo poo I didn't realise I could achieve this". Everything must have just ended up just right by coincidence because this was probably the best espresso I've had. It’s amazing how much of a difference switching off that lovely basket made. Another good trick is if you have an older machine, you can run the whole shot in pre-infusion mode by holding down the brew button. This keeps the pressure around 6-9 bar instead of the ridiculous like 14 bar the machine pushes normally. This change also made a huge difference for me. Bandire posted:What grind setting are you at on your Niche? I have a VST basket, and I'm wondering how much that influences how fine I have to grind. I usually have to run between 5 and 6 on my Niche for a 30 second 1 in 2 out pull on my Gaggia. VST/IMS baskets tend to have much larger holes, requiring a finer grind. This allows for more natural resistance from the grounds itself rather than partially relying on hole size for additional pressure.
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Feb 17, 2023 19:29
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I haven't timed it, but this was 18g on around mark 17. This machine operates by time, which is configurable, but I've never changed it. I think it was around 36g out.
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Feb 17, 2023 19:30
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Baratza esp review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVbDowbJ9jU
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Feb 17, 2023 20:04
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:
Yep, but it seems like VST is on a different level. When I was still using a Sette 270wi, I was all the way down at 2 or 3 on the macro ring with this same basket and machine. I still have an IMS basket somewhere. I need to do a comparison on them someday.
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Feb 17, 2023 20:09
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Sir Sidney Poitier posted:I got the IMS basket for my Breville/Sage portafilter - I did have to remove the plastic insert and loving hell it was disgusting behind there. Sorry for the double post, but I meant to respond to this. The spouted area under the basket in a portafilter gets funky pretty fast and does need to be cleaned semi-regularly. That's another nice caveat of bottomless. I don't know if this is a Gaggia thing or if its because I am grinding so fine, but I get a lot of baked on muck on the inside/top of my shower screen. Anyone else see that? I'm going to have to start cleaning it way more often. I ended up buying an ultrasonic cleaner, because some of the holes in the shower screen won't get clean.
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Feb 17, 2023 20:33
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Bandire posted:Sorry for the double post, but I meant to respond to this. The spouted area under the basket in a portafilter gets funky pretty fast and does need to be cleaned semi-regularly. That's another nice caveat of bottomless. IMO sounds like your basket is too full. Ideal, full basket shouldn’t hit the shower screen IIRC. Alternatively, you could get one of those normcore puck screens.
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Feb 17, 2023 21:03
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MJP posted:I got a cheap Gaggia Classic. The portafilter sprayed coffee everywhere, and on thread advice I ordered and installed a new silicone gasket. Now it sprays out the right hand portafilter channel. Happens with standard espresso grinds or (just for testing purposes) percolator grinds. Anything I can do to test or fix? FWIW I didn't really do a hardcore cleaning, just took off the shower screen, shower head, old gasket, rubbed in the old gasket housing with a moist paper towel, installed the new gasket chamfer side up, then rotated in the portafilter three or four times to seat it before reassembly. https://www.cerinicoffee.com/products/support-peg-for-saeco-gaggia-pressurized-baskets-4301007000-996530036551 It serves to "calm" and redirect the stream of coffee coming out of the single hole in the bottom of the basket. Without it you get that crazy sideways spurting.
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Feb 17, 2023 21:31
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:IMO sounds like your basket is too full. Maybe? Its an 18g basket, and I was running 17g of this coffee in it for months before I noticed the shower screen screw was making a slight impression into the grounds. I've been running 16g in it for a while though. I just didn't expect that much coffee debris to get through the shower screen on the top side in with the group head.
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Feb 17, 2023 21:37
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Bandire posted:Maybe? Its an 18g basket, and I was running 17g of this coffee in it for months before I noticed the shower screen screw was making a slight impression into the grounds. I've been running 16g in it for a while though. I just didn't expect that much coffee debris to get through the shower screen on the top side in with the group head. 18g basket is kinda a misnomer. The amount of space in the basket changes with grind size and bean, so having an 18g basket doesn’t guarantee 18g of space. I don’t know how bunk science this is, but I’ve seen suggestions to place a dime on the grounds and brew, then see how big the dime indent is in the grounds. Supposedly no ident = correct room, any indent = too much grounds.
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Feb 17, 2023 21:44
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bizwank posted:I'm late to the party but I didn't see this mentioned; using pressurized baskets in the Gaggia Classic also requires this part be installed (and oriented correctly) under them: Sheeit, that would have saved me a week of experimenting and $30. Future Gaggiateers, take note, because I got that spurting and nothing but.
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Feb 17, 2023 21:59
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Sorry, had to duck out of the thread for a while, was reminding me too much of work. Never hesitate to call your local (or non-local) repair shop and run an issue by them, anyone worth their salt won't hesitate to dispense a little free advice.
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Feb 17, 2023 22:08
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:18g basket is kinda a misnomer. The amount of space in the basket changes with grind size and bean, so having an 18g basket doesn’t guarantee 18g of space. Sure, and that will vary a little with the coffee. It was definitely overfull at 17g, but I think 16g is fine. In general, you should pull off your shower screen periodically and clean it though. Just a backflush generally isn't enough. MJP posted:Sheeit, that would have saved me a week of experimenting and $30. Future Gaggiateers, take note, because I got that spurting and nothing but. Man I totally forgot about that thing. That probably was your problem with the pressurized baskets. I've only ever used my spouted portafilter with a blind basket since there's so little clearance for a cup and scale. Either way, you were going to want unpressurized baskets eventually.
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Feb 17, 2023 22:51
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hypnophant posted:No. Minerals are important, both because the water makes up an important component of the flavor and because they aid extraction. If you want to use distilled water, you have to add minerals back in using Third Wave Water packets or a diy solution. Aha! This might explain why I did not note an improvement when I switched from tap water to distilled water (and ultimately back again) when using my moka pot. I just got a filter and will try again.
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Feb 18, 2023 03:24
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I'd love it if Baratza did some kind of trade-in program for the Encore to get a discount on the ESP. I know that's probably unreasonable from their perspective as most people have had them for years, but since I just got mine a little over a year ago I've definitely got the itch. Truthfully I don't do espresso all that often anyway so it's probably just FOMO.
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Feb 19, 2023 14:22
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I got a bag of Stumptown Hair Bender to try to dial in on my new espresso machine since they recommend it for espresso and I've really enjoyed their coffee in the past. After pulling about 15 shots trying to dial it in (every single one was way too bright/sour for me regardless of which way I took the grind...) I finally did what I should've done to begin with and googled around. Seems like a very common complaint with using that bean for espresso - including the one mention i could find of it in this thread. I went out and bought an "italian espresso" roast from a local roaster right after and dialed it in much faster and am enjoying it quite a lot. I guess I'm just not a fan of those lighter notes in an espresso shot, or I'm not able to dial things in as well with it. Anyway, I noticed that online almost everyone recommends the starting point for making espresso around 200F/93C. My machine (ascaso dream pid) came out of the box set to 100C, and I pulled my first few shots there before turning it down. Is there a particular reason it came set so high? Is temperature a variable that I should worry much about right now or is that more like the last thing I should tweak from 93C after I get the dose and yield and time right and am trying to tweak the flavors a bit more?
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Feb 22, 2023 20:58
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The PID measures temperature at the boiler, but there's some heat loss as the water travels to the puck so they're usually set a little high to compensate for this. An instant read digital thermometer will tell you what temp your brew water is actually coming out at, but as long as it's roughly in the correct range no it's not something you need to worry about right now.
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Feb 22, 2023 21:12
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I did the same thing with Hair Bender when I got my espresso machine and had the same complaints. It was available at Wegmans though so I figured why not. I later saw it was almost 2 months past the “date roasted”.
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Feb 22, 2023 21:33
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Jato posted:I got a bag of Stumptown Hair Bender to try to dial in on my new espresso machine since they recommend it for espresso and I've really enjoyed their coffee in the past. Once you get super into the minutiae of espresso, brew temp can matter, particularly on lighter roasts. But you are significantly far away from that point, so don’t worry about it. Although it would be lighter than what’s probably a dark as can be Italian roast, Hair bender isn’t a particularly light roast. Where did you buy the hair bender? If it was the grocery store, it’s likely way to old to get good results out of. Anything older than 1 months (2 if you wanna really stretch it) is going to be an absolute nightmare to dial in, if even possible. Darker roasts will always be easier to work with than light roasts though. All of the above being said, if you’re learning to dial I recommend making larger adjustments. If your first shot is way to sour, try to get the next shot to choke (grind so find barely anything comes out). From there make a less large adjustment back to corse and see if you can find where the middle is. Micro adjustments aren’t worth it when you’re learning how to do it, as micro adjustments are there to make small changes in flavor profile rather that hitting a 2:1 ratio or whatever. Make big adjustments until you’re very near your ratio target then go small. Also remember to run your grinder while empty while making those adjustments so you don’t mess up burr alignment.
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Feb 22, 2023 22:05
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Although it would be lighter than what’s probably a dark as can be Italian roast, Hair bender isn’t a particularly light roast. quote:All of the above being said, if you’re learning to dial I recommend making larger adjustments. I ran shots through grind sizes everywhere from a 40 second shot to a 12 second shot at a 1:2 ratio and it was always way too sour for me. I was only doing a couple clicks at a time though, will try to do a bit larger adjustments next time and see if that helps get it where I want faster.
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Feb 22, 2023 22:36
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I just measured and the water coming out of my Hx machine is 160*F : [ how much heat loss should I expect there to be between boiler and brew head?
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Feb 23, 2023 02:09
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Jato posted:Anyway, I noticed that online almost everyone recommends the starting point for making espresso around 200F/93C. My machine (ascaso dream pid) came out of the box set to 100C, and I pulled my first few shots there before turning it down. Is there a particular reason it came set so high? Is temperature a variable that I should worry much about right now or is that more like the last thing I should tweak from 93C after I get the dose and yield and time right and am trying to tweak the flavors a bit more? I find dark roasts more tolerable (less bitter) if brewed cooler, and will start dialing them in at 88°, sometimes going as low as 85°. Even many medium roasts benefit from dropping to ~90° IMO. Light roasts are notably more difficult to extract well which is why they need hotter temperatures, as well as more careful prep, including dialing in.
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Feb 23, 2023 03:27
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ThirstyBuck posted:I just measured and the water coming out of my Hx machine is 160*F : [ how much heat loss should I expect there to be between boiler and brew head? I've been wondering about this too. I installed a PID in my Gaggia in December, and now that I (kind of?) know the temp of the boiler, it seems like its 30+ degrees cooler at the group head. I've cranked it up to 210f thinking I'm going way past what it should be, but I'm also reading it gets up to 225 or more stock. The output is still considerably cooler than it was pre-PID. I did completely miss the little brass washer that is supposed to go in between the temp probe and the boiler, but I don't know how big a difference that would make. I really don't want to take this goddamn thing back apart to try and put it in either.
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Feb 23, 2023 05:53
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How long are you guys letting it warm up before pulling shots?
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Feb 23, 2023 10:37
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Yeah and are you flushing hot water through at all?
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Feb 23, 2023 10:59
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any time I watch a hoffmann video about some lever machine, whether manual or electric, I get this urge to maybe, one day, condisering getting one. like, I like the thought or idea making an espresso myself, especially with something as suave as the europiccola or cremina. and then I skim espresso chat in this thread, and immediately lose any motivation I might've had I think I'll just stick to my pourovers and absolute easymode aeropress
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Feb 23, 2023 13:36
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I have a robot and I like it. It makes for a neat counter top piece too. Join us!
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Feb 23, 2023 14:22
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hypnophant posted:How long are you guys letting it warm up before pulling shots? VelociBacon posted:Yeah and are you flushing hot water through at all? I have a smart switch turn it on at least an hour before I go to use it typically. This is water temp coming directly out of the shower screen with no portafilter.
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Feb 23, 2023 16:27
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ulvir posted:any time I watch a hoffmann video about some lever machine, whether manual or electric, I get this urge to maybe, one day, condisering getting one. like, I like the thought or idea making an espresso myself, especially with something as suave as the europiccola or cremina. and then I skim espresso chat in this thread, and immediately lose any motivation I might've had This sucks. It really isn’t that bad outside of start up costs. You’ll struggle to pull great shots at first but pretty quickly you’ll get shots that are at least workable in a milk drink. Come join us!!
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Feb 23, 2023 16:32
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sellouts posted:This sucks. It really isn’t that bad outside of start up costs. You’ll struggle to pull great shots at first but pretty quickly you’ll get shots that are at least workable in a milk drink. For sure. There's really two different discussions here about espresso. Getting really good straight espresso can be hard and takes a fair bit of time, money, and effort to pull consistently. If you just want a latte/cappuccino/cortado better than what you'd get from a Starbucks or middling cafe, its really not that hard once you have the gear. Adding milk and sugar makes even a mediocre shot taste good.
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Feb 23, 2023 16:45
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Yeah, and chasing the god shot is never ending but it’s not that long until you can get really good and drinkable espresso.
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Feb 23, 2023 17:37
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sellouts posted:This sucks. It really isn’t that bad outside of start up costs. You’ll struggle to pull great shots at first but pretty quickly you’ll get shots that are at least workable in a milk drink. IMO this depends entirely on what you brew and your budget. If you’re into lighter roasts, it’s very difficult to get workable shots even for milk drinks without considerable fiddling unless you spend a ton of money. You can basically brute force decent espresso with a ton of money. A lot of the fiddling and playing and adjusting is attempting to mitigate uncontrollable variables that arise due to using budget equipment or chasing a god shot as others have said. Bandire posted:I have a smart switch turn it on at least an hour before I go to use it typically. This is water temp coming directly out of the shower screen with no portafilter. Are you flushing the water without a portafilter before you pull your shot? Water has to travel from the heating element to the grouphead. When you preheat the machine, the water is a lot cooler sitting between the element and the group. You need to flush that water (just like 2-5 seconds of flow) then run your shot to get full temp water. There’s still some heat loss but it’ll be a lot less.
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Feb 23, 2023 18:14
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I would love to have really good light roast espresso, I am 100% sure I certainly have not had this anywhere.
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Feb 23, 2023 18:16
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Within 1 month of using the Flair I got better than 100% of café espresso I've ever had. Since then I've sought out better cafés here and there, one of which was better than my best at the time. The amazing part of home espresso is being able to try new beans at all, so few cafés even do medium or light roast. Recently I dialed in a honey processed Costa Rica that is now the best shot I've ever had. I guess that counts as a "God shot" but without super specialty shops nearby it's hard to say.
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Feb 23, 2023 18:30
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Bandire posted:I've been wondering about this too. I installed a PID in my Gaggia in December, and now that I (kind of?) know the temp of the boiler, it seems like its 30+ degrees cooler at the group head. I've cranked it up to 210f thinking I'm going way past what it should be, but I'm also reading it gets up to 225 or more stock. The output is still considerably cooler than it was pre-PID. Did try this process? https://www.shadesofcoffee.co.uk/ive-installed-a-pid-and-measured-my-brew-temperature-but-it-seems-low Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Are you flushing the water without a portafilter before you pull your shot?
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Feb 23, 2023 18:32
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bizwank posted:Stock coffee thermostat on the Classic is 107C, so yeah about 224F. I'd expect and be ok with maybe a 10F temp drop between sensor and group output (that's what I usually see with the Auber kits I install); more then that and there's probably something wrong with either your PID or the temp sensor (or your testing). Thanks, this is helpful. I'll give this a shot. I assumed there was an offset setting in there somewhere, but I hadn't spent enough time digging apparently.
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Feb 23, 2023 19:01
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It seems like there are two groups of espresso drinkers and chatters. Light roasters and then everyone else. 80% of complaining and misery (aka espresso camaraderie) comes from the light roasters IMO.hypnophant posted:How long are you guys letting it warm up before pulling shots? It had been on all morning and I did two 10 second tests back to back and both were around 160*F. ThirstyBuck fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Feb 23, 2023 |
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Feb 23, 2023 19:04
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Gunder posted:SSP multipurpose. Ordered it direct from Option O. Have you taken delivery yet? I really want a Lagom P64-- and I had planned to buy one using proceeds from an employee referral bonus when I got a friend a job. Now, it turns out I'm probably not getting that bonus because an internal recruiter had apparently contacted him first.
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Feb 23, 2023 19:11
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MetaJew posted:Have you taken delivery yet? I really want a Lagom P64-- and I had planned to buy one using proceeds from an employee referral bonus when I got a friend a job. Now, it turns out I'm probably not getting that bonus because an internal recruiter had apparently contacted him first. Nah. My delivery date isn’t until May.
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Feb 23, 2023 19:18
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