[floydpink]

I never even attempt to use my machine without a minimum warmup of 30 minutes.

There's no harm in leaving your machine on before going to bed to ensure you have a hot machine when you wake up.

I rely very little on the light that says the machine is ready.

One way to tell if your machine is hot enough is to turn on the steam wand.

If it isn't blowing out steam, it is possible you have a boiler problem, which I doubt.

If your machine is hot, you shouldn't be having to do too much temp surfing unless you are pulling multiple shots.

Another possiblity is that whoever is grinding your beans, is grinding them for something other than espresso; perhaps drip?

Once your grinder arrives, you will have all kinds of newfound control over grind consistency and not be relying on someone's grinds.

If the grinds aren't almost powdery in consistency, that's your problem.

If it was easy, good baristas would be a dime a dozen.

One of the joys of home espresso machines is the hands on control you have, once you get past the learning.

My E61 machine is very finicky and pisses out crap unless I give it correct grind, perfect tamp pressure and distribution.