Simple Living

My Headphone Collection has grown in leaps & bounds.  I've since dumped my Skullcandies & Beats in favor of Audio Technica & Grado.  Hindsight is 20/20 and had I known then what I know now...I would have straight away purchased a pair of M50's many years ago... Anyway...here in all their glory [From Left to Right]: Audio Technica -- M50x [Purchased 2014] Audio Technica -- MSR7 [Purchased 2017] Grado -- SR80e [Purchased 2016] Future Plans? Not sure...I have the Closed & Open Reference Cans covered...I'll either go upmarket to say the $1k Range of Fostex & Ultrasone or the tier below that with the ATH M70x , Sony MDR1a or some other brand (Beyerdynamics, Sennheisers, AKG, etc). By all seriousness it'll likely be another pair of Audio Technica's and either the M70's or an Open Reference (R70 or AD700)...

People must know I like Whisky, a friend gave me the small 200 mL Bottle of Johnnie Walker - Blue Label.  Pretty cool and now I have a way to sample Blue Label without popping open the big bottle. I'll save it for something special.  Probably will open it for New Years.  

I picked up a pair of Sony Earbuds model MDR-EX15ap over a year ago.  They were on sale for about $5 and couldn't resist.  These are not great, but not terrible either and I leave them in the car as an emergency backup pair of headphones when I'm outside the house and in a Study Session Mood. From what I could research there are two (2) sub-models of EX15's with designation 'AP' being for Android Compatible and 'LP' is Standard.  I think this is reference to the single push button on the in-line Microphone that is likely for On/Off functionality during phone calls or during music playback. Basic Specs 9mm Drivers 8 - 22,000 Hz 100 dB/mW 16 ohms 3.94 ft Cable w/ inLine Microphone

Highland Park released New Packaging & Branding for their 10, 12 and 18 Year old Single Malt Whisky's.  I picked up the 12 Year old - Viking Honour to replenish my stock as it's been almost 2 years since I last had a dram of HP12.  Eagerly waiting to give it a try later in the Month. Original Notes: HP 12 Year Old 2015   Update 9/30/17 Popped it open and had two pours.  Both were phenomenal and I'm very happy I picked up the Highland Park 12.  It's not as Sweet as a Macallan, but perfectly easy to drink neat. Update 10/13/17 Already drank half the bottle!  Have to slow down...particularly what is amazing about Highland Park 12 is the nose.  I can't get enough of the aroma and drinking out of a proper curved glass I can really take it all in.  

My current interest is in my nascent Fountain Pen Collection and I've been planning how best to proceed over the next 12 Months increasing my Collection to a total of Six (6) Pens.  Presently, I own only three (3) Pens; all Metropolitan's and feel it necessary to add some variety & quality. Current Inventory Pilot Metropolitan Classic (Black) Retro Pop (Turquoise) Retro Pop (Purple) Iroshizuku Ink Kon-Peki Murusaki-Shikibu Future Desired: Pens Pilot Custom 74 Black -- $75 -- Mar 2018 Platinum 3776 Blue -- $75 -- Aug 2018 Platinum 3776 Red -- $ 75 -- Dec 2018 Accessories Pen Case (3 Pack) -- $25 -- Aug 2018 Estimated Outlay -- $250 Update 12/31/17 I've delayed my planned purchases and will make them contingent on successfully passing my Certification Exams for Python and R respectively.  The dates can vary, but more or less I want to 'win' these pens by passing the examinations. The Metropolitans have held up well and are being reinked every few days due to my s

I ordered two (2) Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pens from the Retro Pop Collection in Turquoise & Purple.  Both are Fine Point Nibs and with exception of the Color & Design patterns on the cross section they are identical to the Metropolitan Classic Collection. I'm Glad I purchased additional Metropolitan Fountain Pens as it does make life easier having several pens to choose from rather than rely on a single pen. Contents The pens come in the same standard packaging as other Pilot Metropolitan's and includes both a single Black Cartridge & Con-20 Style Ink Converter.  It makes the Metropolitan's probably the best starter pen as it has everything you need to begin writing.   Nib Both pens were a bit scratchy after their first inking of Iroshizuku Ink.  I grabbed my Metropolitan Classic and confirmed it writes smoother and I'm guessing these just need to be used a while to adjust & align the Nib's.  I vaguely recall the Classic was very scratch

My notes as I research and learn about the various models of Entry Level Pilot Fountain Pens. Criteria for 'Entry Level' Price Range $ 10 ~ $60 MSRP Normal Refillable (Converter / Cartridge, etc) List 78G Cavalier Cocoon Ecrino Kakuno Knight Lucina Metropolitan Classic Retro Pop Animal Print Minuet Penmanship Petit1 Plumix Prera

It appears I've misplaced and possibly lost my beloved Platinum Century 3776 Fountain Pen.  This is a bummer as it cost me quite a bit of money; estimating $75 ($65 Pen + $10 Converter). While I have my Pilot Metropolitan, it's not the same as having a Gold Nib Pen.  I'm not ready yet to invest in another expensive Fountain Pen and will have to think about how to better ensure I avoid misplacing and losing such an expensive item. A real bummer....

I scored a pair of AKG Headphones Model EO-IG955 that come with the Samsung Galaxy S8+ Phone.  A friend bought the phone, knew I love headphones and gave them to me, very generous! Basic Features It's a fairly nice pair of 'free' headphones and while Specs are hard to find online the best I could gather: In-Line Microphone Volume UP/DOWN PAUSE/RESUME The cabling is also braided cloth up until where the Earbuds split and that portion is all rubber.  The braiding is a nice touch as it reduces chance for a tight tangle, although it would have been better if they made it 100% braided. Sound They are about par with the Apple Earbuds with a slight edge in possibly Upper-Mids and Bass.  They are certainly more secure as they have flex tips you insert into your ear, but not so intrusive like on my Klipsch R6i's. The R6i's are more Bass Heavy tuned and beat the AKG's, but I did notice a slightly wider soundstage with the AKG's so certain music felt a bi

Made a short stop in Las Vegas for a few days.  Stayed on the Strip and was quite fun to see the old town again.  Haven't been here in years and mostly just had a few beers and did some sight seeing.  While it was great to see Vegas again,  it's just not the same unless you go there with a bunch of friends to party. The Old Fashioned wasn't half bad...but to be honest for $17 in Las Vegas it should have been spectacular.  I get better Old Fashion's back home and that's part of the reason I'm no longer impressed or amazed by this City.

Taking my Final International Trip for the Year and visiting Seoul, South Korea via Incheon Airport (ICN). Was a brief trip for a few days and stayed with relatives. Hung out at the Mall and ate at various Restaurants around town. Uneventful, best kind of trip. Day 1 - Flight to ICN Sat in Economy and it's quite good the Service & Amenities.  Free Beer, Free Movies and a palatable Meal. The Meal wasn't half bad and generally I've found anytime Airlines do a Chicken & Rice Meal Combo it warms up nicely.  The Kochujang Sauce was a brilliant idea and made this a fairly delicious meal. A few hours later in the flight they served Shin Ramen.  Was first time I had that on a plane and while it was okay, was too salty and I just ate the noodles and skipped the soup. I just stuck with more beer! Day 2 - Seoul It was a Delivery Food Party and stayed in all day and ordered four (4) different meals (sadly, only remembered to snap a pick of the Tonkatsu Bento): Chachamyun + T

I've begun preparing for MCSA Exam 70-480 - Programming in HTML5, JavaScript and CSS3.  There are a total of sixteen (16) chapters.  I already was skimming as quite a bit of this stuff I already know, although they go into greater detail into certain things like lossy vs. lossless which was something I never really paid attention to before on why choose JPG, GIF, PNG or SVG; so in that sense this book has been quite useful.  6/3 - Chapter 1 & 2 -- VS2012 + HTML5 Yeah, I know sometimes it actually helps to study with a Pint of Beer. 6/4 - Chapter 3 -- JavaScript Sidecar + JavaScript! Update 12/17/17 // Cancelled! As is life...giving up my studies in Web Apps.  Well, for now.  I do wish I know where my Platinum 3776 Fountain Pen went...this book was the last one I studied while writing with that pen!

I'm happy I waited and just learned that Microsoft has created a new MCSA certification for Web Applications that is more closely tailored to what I do.  It basically a trimmed down version of the MCSD that eliminates the 70-487 Azure/Web Services Exam and limits scope to: 70-480 - HTML5, JavaScript, CSS3 70-486 - ASP.NET MVC I had already purchased the books last year and was going to start diving into an MCSD after completing the MCSA in SQL Server 2012/2014, but as always the case life got in the way and I had to focus on other priorities.  I'm now ready to resume my Technical Studies and excited to go for this new MCSA Certification.  The Certification itself is not my goal, but is just helpful as a way to focus my Studies. Budgeting about $460 in Exam Fees and Six Months Training Time so estimating if I stick to it I can get the MCSA Certification by Nov/Dec 2017. Update 12/17/17 // Cancelled... As is life...have to push this one back and maybe pursue in 2018

I was in Shibuya and decided to check out Tokyu Hands Department Store.  They had a modest, but decent selection of Fountain Pens and Inks on the 5th Floor.  Prices are fantastic @ 1500 Yen and I picked up my 2nd Iroshizuku Ink - Murusaki Shikibu (Purple).  I always wanted this ink and its actually cheaper here than on Amazon. The name is a play on words as its both the name of a famous Japanese Author and a Japanese Berry.  The Author was fond of wearing Purple and the Berry is also a Purple Color, but then it could be that the Berry was named after the Author and they made this ink the same color, so who knows... It's not as vibrant as Kon-Peki, but that subdued characteristic is what I like.  It flows better, but then that could also be because I left a few drops of water in the Platinum Pen after rinsing it out before Inking.  I'm quite pleased with this color and happy I took a chance with it. Tokyu Hands was also fun and they let me try a variety of Pens and Colors.  They