Okay, with Christmas just around the corner I wanted to revive this thread and remind myself that it's time to check the water quality. If we don't we can always have professionals like these lovely ladies descale our machines: http://blog.seattlecoffeegear.com/2013/11/11/descale-rocket-espresso-r58/ I've never used the portafilter to lift my machine but it's an excellent tip. Please don't tell Attilio....
