If you're like me and you don't like to pay more for something than you have to (or, as my wife would say, "cheap"), you've probably discovered the joy of the 25-cent soda machine. You've probably also discovered the frustration of the broken soda machine.

Earlier this week, the 25-cent machines at the Wal-Mart on Glenwood and at both Krogers on Creedmoor were not working.

This is not a a rare occurrence. I don't know how many times I've approached these machines, joyfully anticipating taking care of my soda needs for an entire week with only a buck, only to have an out-of-order sign hit me like a bucket of cold water. Or I've put a quarter in the machine and watched it fall to the change return slot over and over as the reality that I was not gonna get my discount soda cruelly settled in.

The cheap machines do break down more often, said Dwayne Pipkin, assistant manager of the Glenwood Avenue Wal-Mart. They get more use, and people tend to jam them with foreign items more often than the higher-priced machines, he said. "I can't explain why," he added.

Keeping the machines working is "not easy," Pipkin added.

Since the machines are outside, workers may not always know they're broken, said Archie Fralin, Kroger's top PR guy, in a phone interview from his Roanoke, Va., office. He added: "I will have my people talk to store managers...if they aren't working as they should, we'll have to take care of it."

Call that a cheap thrill.