diff --git a/sql-edition/servers/VendingMachine.py b/sql-edition/servers/VendingMachine.py
index 25d375b0d1855bb5cb0ff2c726b2fecdd654ff02..d73eb4beb5234ba96c27cee0fafd22cd96156a95 100644
--- a/sql-edition/servers/VendingMachine.py
+++ b/sql-edition/servers/VendingMachine.py
@@ -39,8 +39,13 @@ class VendingMachine:
 	def await_prompt(self):
 		self.wfh.flush()
 		state = 1
+		timeout = 0.5
 		prefix = ''
 		s = ''
+		# mtearle - vending machine was dying wait for a response from
+		# the hardware, suspect it was missing characters
+		#
+		# fixed by migration to pyserial - but future good place to start
 		while True:
 			try:
 				s = self.rfh.read(1)