Partial point conceded Dan!
As someone newer to the espresso field than yourself, my experience went something along these lines:
When disaster struck ("blond gusher" or whatever) I used to stand there and think to myself of the effort that it took for me to blend those green beans, roast them, let them rest, fiddle with the grider setting, tamp etc. So even though my shot looked like witches brew, I'd eventually just go ahead and toss back that little bit of liquid death. Then for the next 30 seconds or so I'd stand there with my face contorted and say Eewwww, that was really, really bad! Finally I decided that for those really big obvious mishaps, rather than punishing my taste buds I should place them right where they belong- in the sink!
Did I learn something? Yeah, I can make really bad espresso!
However by faithful application of what I've learned from you and others here, this doesn't happy very much now (Yeah!!). Thanks Dan! Thanks the rest of you!
Anyway, my thought was don't be afraid to "try, try again". Hey wait a minute, that's even better, a three word sentence instead of my original two sentance, 8 word offering! Can I re-submit my entry Dan?
Keep 'em coming guys, this is a fun thread!
-Mike