Thomil's Random Ramblings

I have a feeling that March 2026 just didn’t like me! Within just a few days of each other, both my trusty Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and my Nespresso machine decided to hand in their notice and stop working. Right at the same time when an issue with the Department of Social Protection saw me cut off from the benefits payments that I’ve been relying on since I’d been forced to leave my job for health reasons. The phone will get its own blog post in due course because I have some thoughts on that but for now, let’s talk about that one piece of mission critical hardware, my coffee machine. For nearly five years, my Nespresso Vertuo Plus had kept me caffeinated through lockdowns, seemingly interminable conference calls, health scares, hospitalisation , mental health breakdowns and job loss. However, in early March of 2026, it suddenly stopped recognising coffee pods. No matter what pod I placed in the machine, it just wouldn’t brew any coffee. To be more precise, it didn’t even detect whet...