What?! Man, you don't know anything...go ahead and talk 'till you're blue in the face I could care less. I want the TRUTH! I want the proof. Once you think you have everything under control you're finished, done, yesterdays news. Baristas that get caught napping end up with their heads cut off at the bottom of the bay. Accept the fact that the spro owns you...you can't beat the coffee you can only try to contain it. Today isn't the same as yesterday or the day before. I know you've got your blog and 10,000 posts on multiple message boards but blogs and forums don't taste that great. Espresso tastes great. Technical precision, acute attention to detail, ballet like efficiency of motion, a trained palate, ADAPTATION. Anyone can have ideas, anyone can push buttons. Skill lies in the ability to produce, day in and day out. There are no absolutes... take what you learned yesterday and try to apply it. Just be ready to throw it out the window when your shots taste like burnt popcorn. It's ok, we've all pulled bad shots, made mistakes; sacrificing what's real and tangible to uphold our pig-headed theoretical ideals. Don't be so proud...like I said, I want the proof. I want the truth. We serve truth in small porcelain cups on the daily. Come get some.