CoffeeStudyTalk

For 2018, I've purchased about 12 bottles of liquor @ 8 Liters for $404 (albeit $65 was estimated due to Johnnie Walker Blue being a gift).  That roughly equates to about 1 bottle per month, which is about on point. I increased my bourbon percentage to 33% of total consumption to help expand my horizons.  In general, I found them a little too sweet and it tends to overpower and alter the taste experience that I'm more used to with scotch whisky.  But after having tasted bourbon on a regular basis, I'm finding that I need to have a bottle on hand to enjoy a dram every so often between whisky pours. House of Johnnie I already knew that I lean heavily towards Johnnie Walker and 1/4 of my total consumption this year was in Johnnie Walker Red & Black.  Those are my go to favorites, but I'm finding Monkey Shoulder and Jameson are worthy alternatives. 2019 Future I'm going to continue my 1:2 ratio of bourbon to scotch and continue to sample other brands.

In regards to my Technical Domains, I've had quite a few 'dead-ends' where I chose to quit at some point or am taking quite a bit of time to complete my studies (i.e. stop/start).  This is not a bad thing and demonstrates my ability to know when to 'stop' and change paths accordingly.  Whatever I can glean from my studies is still good, albeit not to the levels and depths of knowledge I would initially desire. At same time, my non-technical domains is quite healthy and reading numerous books over the years to keep my brain fresh and stimulated as purely technical pursuits can get repetitive and boring. My Past Study Patterns (Technical Domains): 2014 T-SQL Pro // Quit MCSA - SQL Server // Stop/Start for years 2016 MCSA - Window Server // Quit MCSA - SQL Server - Success! 2017 MCSA - Web Apps // Quit 2018 MCSE - R // Stop/Start Art of R - Matloff Book // Done! MTA - Python // Stop/Start Python - Lutz // Done! Statistics WMU Book // Do

One of the biggest eye-openers was the realization that 'Data Science' really means 'Statistics' and there is a time honored college major and discipline that focuses on statistics.  In many ways, data science is not new, but rather it appears to be so as it leverages modern computing technology with statistical analysis software like R or SAS. To that end, studying programming languages and writing code is one thing, but to understand why is probably equally important.  I'm spending some time to study statistics textbooks and found some decent, free material online. I've retooled my Study Plan for 2019 accordingly (original 2018 plan was more Language/Platform specific, but weak on Theory/Technique).  My Study Plan // Eventual Skillset: I. Domain: Statistics DW/BI (Data Warehouse / Business Intelligence)  Math II. Tools: SQL Tableau R Python I. Domain A. Statistics: Statistics and Data Analysis (WMU - Statistics 160 Textbook)  //

I adopted a minimalist wardrobe several years ago and went from 175 articles of clothing to under 38 pieces.  I've been fine-tuning that number and have 45 items as of 2018 with a planned increase to 48 items in 2019. My initial approach was to drop the total count and now the fine-tuning process is to identify specific colors and types of clothing to ensure a proper balance across my entire wardrobe ensemble. Core Colors I've settled on three core colors:  Black, Blue and White.  They constitute roughly 70% of my total wardrobe and I'm slowly increasing different color choices in 2019; notably a Red Adidas Track Jacket. Brand Quality I've been experimenting with various types of clothing and color choices and when I'm satisfied with a certain type or color I then seek out the best brand quality that I can reasonably afford.  In general, I spend on better brands for work attire and limit my discretionary budget for casual clothes on mostly fast fashion

Stocked up my Liquor Cabinet with two (2) bottles: Basil Hayden Bourbon Jameson Irish Whiskey Whiskey Front The Jameson was decent and on par with Johnnie Walker Red Label.  It's excellent on the rocks and will be in rotation with JW Red and Monkey Shoulder for my standard Whiskey. Bourbon // Still Trying I'm really trying to get a taste for Bourbon.  Buffalo Trace was decent and Basil Hayden was always on my list to try.  Generally, most Bourbon's I drink are part of an Old Fashion. Was interesting to learn Basil Hayden is part of Jim Beam and one of four brands they are segmenting along with Bakers, Bookers and Knob Creek.  I'll eventually try them all. Thoughts so Far... I'm just a Scotch drinker...took almost 10 minutes to decide whether to pick up Laphroig or Basil Hayden.  I haven't had a dram of Johnnie Walker Black Label and had one on the rocks recently at a bar and it tasted delicious.  I have a bottle of JW Black (Jane Walker Edition), b

Part of my EDC while I'm studying.  I sometimes also carry a Swiss Army Spartan, but lately haven't felt the need.  Only recently, I started lugging around my old Zippo and upgraded it with a Butane Insert (very convenient). Not pictured are my ATH-MSR7 Headphones & iPhone 6s. EDC June 2018: iPhone 6s Black Leather Wallet Swiss Army Knife - Spartan Rolex Explorer 114270 Zippo Lighter (Butane Insert) Pilot Custom 74 Fountain Pen NY Yankees Baseball Cap

I've enjoyed a Minimalist Wardrobe for about 2 years and maintain just 41 articles of clothing: Pants - 11 Slacks - 5 Jeans - 2 Shorts/Gym - 4 Shirts -20 T-Shirts/Gym - 7 SS Shirts - 8 LS Shirts - 5 Outerwear - 5 Blazer - 1 Jackets - 2 Hoodies - 2 Shoes - 5 Dress - 2 Sneakers - 3 Future Purchases I am planning on a few purchases in 2018-2019 White GAP Hoodie Denim Levi Jacket Update 12/16/18 Bought the White GAP Hoodie, but decided not to get a Denim Jacket.  I'll reconsider in 2019 as I plan to add a Jacket and not sure what brand, style or type.

Purchased a 750 mL bottle of Buffalo Trace for $28.  While I prefer Scotch and imbibe primarily Single Malts or Blends, I wanted to expand my understanding and appreciation for Bourbon's. 1st Dram - My basic take: Bite - similar to Johnnie Walker Red Label; has more than I'm used as a regular Scotch Drinker. Taste - ranges between a Blend (JW Black) and but less than a Single Malt (Highland Park 12).  There is alot going on and reason I need a few more drams to appreciate this.  It is a bit spicier and some sweetness; but nothing like a Macallan 12 or any Cognac. Nose - similar to Hennessey VSOP. For the price, its worth a try to see if its worthy of adding to your liquor collection.  It has a distinctive taste that is nice to add to a taste library and for me helps gain a better appreciation when sampling other brands.  The main thing I love about Bourbon's at this point is usually mixing it in an Old Fashion as I appreciate the Spiciness and Sweetness. 2nd T

I picked up the Limited Edition - Jane Walker Series of Johnnie Walker Black Label.  It actually retailed for less than regular Johnnie Walker Black and partially reason I purchased a bottle.  Otherwise, my understanding its exactly the same blend just in different packaging. They sell at least 230 million bottles of Johnnie Walker Black a year and produced about 250,000 bottles of the Jane Walker variant.  I was surprised they still had quite a few left at my local liquor store. To be honest, I bought it because I love JW Black and it was selling for $4 less than the regular bottle.  I understand what they are trying to accomplish with this bottle packaging and applaud them for it, but same time after reading other blogs and reviews online, I tend to agree that slapping on a different logo and putting a new name on the same blend of whisky is not exactly impressive marketing. I'm surprised Diageo would make such a misstep like this.  They sell quite a few popular Vodka's

I've studied quite a few minimalist blogs & videos and see several recurring themes defining what type of minimalism a person is practicing and they have three characteristics: Quantity Quality Variety Extreme Minimalist = Survivalist There are the 'Extreme' Minimalist who are surviving on literally just a few unique items.  They live in a tiny home or out of their car and probably could fit their entire life in a single backpack.  A true nomad of the modern age. Quantity = LOW Quality = HIGH (ideally) Variety = LOW Casual Minimalist Then there are the 'Casual' Minimalist that have more quantity than an Extreme Minimalist and generally wavers between quantity and variety.  There are many approaches and some Casual Minimalist may have 5 white t-shirt or 5 t-shirts, one of a different color and anywhere in between.  All can be considered a Casual Minimalist.  For me I'm somewhere in the middle and limit myself to 3 color of t-shirts (White, Gre

Found it on sale at Lotte World for 11,000 Won.  I think the reason it was so cheap was because it uses a fixed adapter for the Mini-USB / Lightning that'll soon be obsolete in a few years as the new USB-C connector becomes predominant.  For now, most of my devices use these connections in the foreseeable future. I'm quite happy with the much larger capacity 5000 mAh as I was surviving on a smaller 2,200 mAh portable battery pack.  I'm not a fan of the massive 10,000 mAh or larger behemoths and think this one will be more than sufficient for my brief trips. Update 9/10/18 This battery pack sucks!  Other than a blinking blue light, you cannot tell how much charge remains and it doesn't seem to recharge properly; after a few minutes it just stops blinking and I had to reconnect the charging cable, then a few minutes it stops again.  Dont buy cheap crap like this again.

Decided to spend a full week in South Korea rather than try split it between two countries.  This turned out to be a wise decision as I could just relax and take a leisurely pace.  Previously, I spent only shorter stays of a few day in Busan so it felt like I couldn't get my fill of certain places.  I decided to remedy that by spending a week here and really take in certain locations.  That worked and now I'll be satisfied with brief visits in the future. Day 1 - Incheon Hyatt Arrived in the evening and spent a night at the Hyatt.  Ordered room service (Pasta + Caesar Salad).  They still have a mini-fridge and tried a Cass Beer (not half bad) .   Day 2 - KTX (Incheon -> Seoul -> Busan) Due to Olympics there is no direct train connection from Incheon to Busan and had to make a brief stopover @ Seoul Station.  Picked up a Box Lunch and had my first cup of coffee in Busan.  Dinner was @ Vikings Buffet. Day 3 - Lotte World, Busan Woke up early and walked to

Created a 2nd Blog called Coffee Study Talk. For most part my original Blog: Simple Living will focus on my Technology Related Hobbies: Watches Video Games Headphones Technology Misc. The 2nd Blog - Coffee Study Talk will segway to everything else and be focused on: Coffee Liquor (Whiskey mostly) Traveling My Studies Fountain Pens

I purchased a Pilot Custom 74 w/ Soft Fine Nib for about $70 on Amazon.  I also ordered a Con-70 Ink Converter, but for now am using a standard Blue Ink Cartridge. Initial Thoughts The pen is quite nice and naturally better than the Pilot Metropolitans that I've relied on for several months.  But it was somewhat of a let down in how the barrel of the pen curves inward a bit before connecting with the cap.  I would have preferred a nicer fit & finish comparable to the Platinum Century 3776. The Nib is also much more subdued and almost the exact same size as the Pilot Metropolitan.  Visually, it is more appealing with it's added engraving, but unless you write with it, it looks almost the same as a Metropolitan Nib. In short, I was hoping for a pen that was both an excellent writer & a bit more ostentatious; like the Platinum 3776.  I probably will have to order a replacement 3776 in Chartres Bleu and likely do so near August of this year (I really miss the 3776). I'