Posts

Showing posts from June 5, 2011

My nemesis : The Vending Machine

Long-time readers of this blog will know that I have no patience for machines that should be simple but don't work. Vending machines are a particular bugbear. It ought to be simple. Take money, give change, deliver product. It seems that nobody is able to build a vending machine that works though. And the one in our office is a particularly shining example of that variety. Over the past three years, it shows any combination of the following traits on a daily basis: Takes money but doesn't vend. Takes money, vends but doesn't give change. Won't take any money. Vends frozen cans. Demands exact change but doesn't accept the coinage needed to make exact change. This morning it demonstrated an all-new trick. It opened up with the familiar "takes money but gives no change" gambit but then introduced a twist - warm cans of drink that explode when you open them. It's a good job we have cheap carpet on the floors around here because mine is now covered in a lar