I have to publicly thank the efforts of two H-B members in helping me secure a new machine. The transaction has yet to be done but I am overwhelmed and overjoyed at the assistance that Dr Jim and Hperry provided in helping me out of a dilemma.

I found a soon to be revealed machine find that I was not able to respond and complete a transaction with the seller because I was in the wrong town at the wrong time. He would have quickly sold to someone else that could just show up with cash.

So I thought I will place a call to Dr Jim in Seattle to see if he could help me pull off a Paypal transfer / drive-by pay in cash deal with a seller that took only cash!! Sadly, Dr Jim was on his way in a car to Oregon for a bit of R&R when I phoned him. But he referred me to hperry. They are friends and have worked on several machine projects together in Seattle. I was a little hesitant to be calling yet another person, whom I had never met or spoken with, but the machine in doubt called for it.

Amazingly, Hal un-hesitatingly, said he would be more than happy to :
1. Accept a Paypal cash transfer from me
2. Convert into cash, and drive , one way, about 20+miles to pay the seller( on a Sunday)!!
3. Be my eyes on what was reported to be a sweeeeeet deal( all will be verified soon!) and yet to be known actually pick up the machine!!

To show this courtesy and help to someone only known to him by my postings and a few brief phone converstions just makes me more humble than ever. We are what we do in life. Hal you are a do-er deluxe!

Hal, thanks you so much. The favor is there for you and to any other fellow H-B member than I can ever help in the Portland market. (Jim , thank you also, it would not have worked if not for you urging to me to feel free to ask Hal for help.

P.S. I have also run into the same great courtesy from Lino recently and my hat is also doffed to him.

Disclaimer: do not call Hal or Dr Jim to bake cookies for you or baby sit or inundate them with requests for like-favors-

they are now MY best friends in the world and I am considering a will change

I hope to share photos soon........ just think older (almost 30 years) Gaggia........... but still NIB! you know it's a lever..! and in the color that looks best on Ferrari's !

With all of the problems in the world, now and then something comes along that restores your hope in humanity, not to mention a shiny new Ferrari red lever machine. Can't wait to see it.

I'll also nominate Steve R. and Dan K for the Hall (for everything) and Karl Schneider for keeping his eye on the ball (i.e. taste) through all the ramblings of us tech-heads.

Waiting for the photos of this supposed Gaggia...not that I care about silly old heaps of chrome from Italy....


Oh yeah, and just in case you have another 4K laying around:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rare-Collecto...rdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Looking forward to my next visit to Portland...


PC

I suppose it looks something like this:

http://www.danny.mcnulty.btinternet.co.uk/espress2.html

PC