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The Story of My Slow Road to a Coffee Habit

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I never drank coffee in college. I was never into hot beverages or coffee specifically. I used to say that even know I didn’t eat very well I didn’t smoke, drink very much, or drink coffee. I’m not sure if it was the flavor or just hot liquid that turned me off to coffee. By the time I was out of college I didn’t mind that I wasn’t drinking it since I knew it could be back for you. I figured I had enough things wrong with my diet that I didn’t need to add anything else to it that was not good.

The history of me and coffee I think started on a flight from New York to Los Angeles while working at Datastream. I got an upgrade to business elite on the Delta flight I was taking and the flight attendant convinced me to try and Irish coffee. It might have been several years after that before I had my next cup.

Starting around my early 30s when I decided to get serious about dating I would have cappuccino here and there after dinner with dessert. I remember one dessert place in Little Italy that I found with friends that was good. I would always get some sort of dessert and a cappuccino. It was nice. That segued into going back to the same place sometimes with a date. That in turn evolved into having a cappuccino here and there after dinner.

It wasn’t until I started working at Thomson Reuters that I started drinking coffee a little more regularly however not all the time. By that time around late 2008 I knew I liked the cappuccino. I would sweeten it up a little and the milk sugar mixed with the coffee was pretty good for me. I wasn’t that into regular drip coffee. That’s why I was intrigued when the coffee machine at the office was in had cappuccino. What I knew at the time but didn’t care was it really wasn’t a true cappuccino. It was espresso roast coffee with a peppered milk and water combination that was sort of a cappuccino. For me a coffee newbie was perfect. At that time didn’t go to the office all the time and work remote for at least part of my week. When I would go to the time square office I would treat myself with the Flavia cappuccino. I remember distinctly the first time I had 2 cups in a row. I was in a long meeting and thought the extra caffeine would help. I was amazed at crazy I felt after the 2nd cup. I didn’t understand how people did that regularly. To this day I rarely have 2 cups in a row.

My coffee habit evolved further when I started dating someone who thought it would be fun to get me to drink more of it. That was her take on the situation. The reality was by simply regularly dating somebody I hadn’t done in a while I had more opportunity to be out and have more coffee. After we stopped eating however I still like the idea of a cup more frequently than I previously had. One of the people I work with at the time had mentioned they had a Flavian machine at their house and that it was pretty decent. I didn’t need anything fancy and its research. I found that could indeed by personal machine for around $100. I decided to go with the Flavia instead of a Kurig because Flavia offered the cappuccino pouches. It was at this point that I started drinking at least one cup a day on most workdays. At the time the Flavia machine was a easy low-cost option for me.

It wasn’t until I met MC in the summer of 2010 that I started learning and getting schooled in what good coffee is. Back then to me good coffee was Starbucks. MC is not a fan of Starbucks. I’m still okay with it however grown to learn that there’s much better options out there if you know where to look. When MC eventually so my apartment she rightfully scorned my Flavia machine and called it hot brown water. Let’s face it looking back she was right. We moved in together or around that time we decided to go and get an Nespresso machine. MC knew I liked cappuccinos and thought if I wanted to have cappuccinos we should do it right. I had been researching machines on my own and when she encouraged me to look for a better one I decided to take the plunge. We opted for an Nespresso machine without the milk frothing option. We bought a separate milk frothing device from Nespresso. I figured if something went wrong with one of the pieces of the multifunction device (IE espresso machine or milk frother) the other half would be useless. I have not been a fan of all-in-one devices in a while. The price was comparable to get the two devices versus the all-in-one. With the milk frothing device and true espresso machine I was able to experience much better cappuccinos at home cheaper than going to the store. The cost is still high per unit however it was cheaper than my other options at the time.

For years I enjoyed that espresso machine. When I was losing weight I would have a skim cappuccino almost as a snack substitute since it’s only 80 cal. I found that when I was losing weight I actually started drinking more coffee. It wasn’t a surprise that I was doing that. It was almost deliberate knowing that it could offset my hunger a little. I was still only having about 2 cups a day.

At some point I was concerned about the total cost of owning the Nespresso machine. Each pod is around $.65-$.80. If I do double shots once or twice a day it adds up. I had researched alternative espresso machines and didn’t want to deal with the expensive costs associated. I stumbled across the old-school European idea of the mocha pot. I picked up a small one on Amazon for about $25. I was able to use the same Lavazza or Illy coffee that MC used in her drink coffee since she always buys espresso roast. The mocha pot coffee was not quite the same as espresso but it was pretty potent and I like it. The problem with the mocha pot is its pain in the butt to clean.

At this point with my espresso machine and new mocha pot we had four different coffee delivery mechanisms in our house. In addition to those two MC has her ceramic filter she uses for making old-school drip coffee with a teakettle. That is what she uses when she’s just make coffee for herself or one or two people. We also have a full-size 12 cup coffee maker for drip coffee that we keep in a closet for when we have company.

After I lost weight and was able to eat more calories in a day I was less concerned about staying full. At that point cappuccino was counterproductive since I didn’t need the 80 cal of milk. It was around then that someone at work who was also relative, sore on the subject suggested I try Americano’s. I didn’t realize that the flavor profile of the Americano was that much different than drip coffee. I decided to try it out and was surprised that I actually liked it. Over a few months I slowly moved from having cappuccinos most of the time to having Americanos with some cappuccinos here and there. At home I would boil hot water with her teakettle and poured into a double shot of espresso I would make with the Nespresso machine. It was a good solution although it was $1.25 per cup.

At this point I was curious about coffee alternatives for the house that were not drip coffee. By now I’d have drip coffee here and there when I couldn’t get an espresso-based drink. There were plenty of times before then when I simply would not have coffee if I couldn’t get an Americana or cappuccino. As I started drinking more coffee if they didn’t have an espresso-based drink I would just “suck it up” and have drip coffee. I still wasn’t a big fan of it however I was curious what alternatives I had two espressos or Americanos. Talking to friends and researching lead me to want to try a French press. It was relatively low-cost and from what I read relatively high quality coffee. I bought one on Amazon for under $30. The hardest part for me was finding coffee I wanted to get that was ground course for French presses. I ended up going to Gregory’s coffee where I get my daily mid-day work coffee and picked up a pound and had them grind it for me. I was very impressed by how the French press coffee came out at home. On the weekends that’s what I make today. I’ve been continuing to buy the Gregory’s coffee since I like it. The other day I picked up some Café grumpy ground coffee to try. The sales lady was very helpful for me to find the right flavor I like. More recently I’ve been going to grumpy’s this summer for my coffee. Nothing wrong with Gregory’s however I like the cold brew at grumpy’s better even though it’s a little bit further of a walk for me. The French press turns out to be the fifth coffee delivery mechanism I own at home.

Last summer were the summer before that high had tried cold brewed iced coffee. For someone they never drank coffee a lot 10 years ago cold brew is literally an eye-opening experience. Wow it is potent. I liked it however it was strong and rough on my stomach. This summer I realized that was I think due to the Gregory’s coffee specifically. The Starbucks cold brew or the grumpy’s cold brew work much better for me. I afternoon coffee break at work now consists of going to get cold brew since it’s so hot out. I’ve evolved from Flavia cappuccino in the morning to and Americana in the morning with a decaf Americano or a cold brew in the afternoon. I’ve had friends talk about brewing the cold brew at home. at the time of the discussions with them I wasn’t as interested. A few weeks ago I came across an article mentioning that sale on a cold brewing pitcher on Amazon. I researched it and it turned out to be one of the top two best-selling. For the price I figured to give it a try. It came this weekend while we were away at my sister-in-law’s. At the time of this writing but likely not by the time this gets posted I haven’t used it yet. Hopeful it’s not that much of a hassle to clean.

The cold brew making pitcher now makes six separate coffee preparation devices I have in my house. If six sounds excessive you are most likely correct. On a day-to-day basis I only use two of them. MC uses one other one. The coffee maker is only for company and we use it a few times a year however when we do use it it’s invaluable so it’s not something it’s going away. I don’t use the mocha pop often because it’s cumbersome to clean. I like the coffee but it’s not worth the effort. Was also very cheap to get so unlikely I’m going to get rid of it since it doesn’t take up much space. I do use the Nespresso machine several times a week however not usually for morning coffee on the weekends. I’m curious to see if I’ll actually use the cold blue pitcher however I have a feeling it might be very useful for summer months.

One interesting thing that I noticed was as much as I like a cappuccino I find that one of the most basic coffee preparation methods the French press is one of my go to options. I thought of that since I’m reminded of the most basic form of shaving options also seem to be the best. And am loving my new old-school mechanical keyboard. So even though I like high tech stuff I’m fascinated that for some things I’m drawn to old school stuff.

There you have it high 10 to 12 year evolution from not having any coffee to my twice a day fix. Nowadays I do try to have decaf in the afternoon except for when I’m doing colder since let’s face it half the point of cold brew coffee is the caffeine.

The Coffee Making Equivalent of Pandora’s Box

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I finally got around to making some cold brew iced coffee using the Brewer I bought the other week. In retrospect I should never have bought it. I should never of learned how easy it is to make cold brew concentrate. I had my 1st cup of it yesterday. It was fantastic. I put too much sweetener in it but it was still really good. The next cup I made I put less sweeter and it was perfect.

By the time we put the girls to bed last night it was late for them at 8:30 PM. I had to fight the urge t make another cop since I wouldn’t sleep with that much caffeine at 8:30 PM.

This morning I got the swinger to coffee to water ratio perfect at breakfast.
Now that I have this knowledge I cannot unlearn it. It’s like I opened Pandora’s box and it was delicious crack.  Mmmm so delicious.

The Blog Post Were I Write About Watch Straps for Seven Paragraphs

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Can you tell the difference between these two watch straps? Visually there isn’t much of a difference. Holding them they feel pretty similar however there is a noticeable difference between the two. What distinguishes one from the other? If you look closely enough can see that one of them has the word Omega etched into it. That little etching equates to a vast difference in price.

Is the Omega strap better? After wearing  both for a while I would say yes. Is the Omega strap much better even slightly more comfortable than the other one? I would say yes. Is it worth many times more money than the generic one? Probably not.

This is a situation where I’m reminded of the Steve Jobs biography where the author discusses Jobs theory on best versus average of something. I think the used knives for the analogy. The point was do you buy a cheap $10 knife. Do you by a $75 knife or do you buy the top-of-the-line $400 knife? If your chef you might need that extra bit of “better” you get from the $400 knife. In most other cases you’re probably best served with the $75. I think the argument was average were really good to the best ever is only about 10 to 15% in a lot of cases. I know that any number like that is suspect however the sentiment I think holds true.

With these NATO watch straps I think the sentiment also holds true. The Omega one is better. At least in my opinion. It is a much more flexible and comfortable my lawn. It feels more sturdy.The clasp is a bit easier to get on and off. Overall I think it’s a better band.  Using the analogy from the jobs biography however it’s only probably better 10 to 15%. In my opinion it’s not worth the massive price premium I paid for it. I still don’t regret the purchase. I am even considering possibly another one.

Why am I talking about watch straps anyway? For starters I’ve spent a bunch of time in recent months researching and buying a few NATO straps for my watches. Since this is my blog and all I felt like writing about it.

I wore a NATO strap 2 summers ago. I wore one for a few months on my X-33. I liked it however at the time I missed the metal band and switched back to it after a while. In recent months I’ve liked the idea of switching out my watch bands more often. It’s a little bit of extra style and I thought it was cool to be able to do that without having to go to someone to swap out a leather or metal band.

In June I took my X-33 in to have its metal band removed so I can use a NATO strap. At the same time I splurged and picked up the black and green Omega NATO strap. After getting the Omega strap I bought two more straps that were significantly cheaper online so I had a variety. Who cares if you can swap out straps to watch when you only have one of them or in my case two of them that are identical. I purchased a thick nylon band in a gray green. I also picked up a black leather one. After wearing all them I ended up liking the Omega one the best however the leather one is still pretty good. The gray green nylon one is a bit too stiff and I won’t be buying that brand nylon strap again.

After a few weeks of wearing a variety of bands on my X-33 I took in my speed master to also have its leather straps removed so I could use interchangeable NATO straps. I was very tempted to buy the leather NATO strap from the Omega store. The leather strap seemed more reasonably priced in comparison to other nice leather bands however I wasn’t sure if I liked the color so I passed on it for now.

Since swapping out the bands on both watches I have bought another nylon band in a different color pattern. I plan on getting a few more however i have enough of a variety now to keep things interesting for a little while. I am still not 100% sold if I will keep using the NATO straps on all my watches however for now I am pretty happy.

If you are a James Bond fan then yes another cool thing about these gray and black NATO strap is that it looks like the classic James Bond Goldfinger strap. I was surprised when I previously researched that many people pull off nylon straps on my fancy watches in fancy dress clothes such as suits or tuxedos. For me that was the final deciding factor on they will work with any style clothing. Of course that same research yielded me wearing Chuck Taylor’s with khakis and dress pants. The Internet is a wonderful thing.

That Time I Spent Way Too Much Time Reasearhing and Buying a Divers Watch

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In June I read an article that was comparing to classic style diving watches. One from Seiko and one from Citizen. I have been thinking about getting relatively inexpensive watch to use when I’m at the beach or doing outdoor stuff. I don’t always want to be out using my Omega’s. I have almost done damage to my X-33 a few times. Especially in water, the pool or the ocean.

I liked the classic look of both the Seiko & Citizen in the review. I read the article thoroughly and had recalled that I have seen many people have the Seiko as part of their “EDC” everyday carry. Seperatly I have been reading a blog where people submit what they carry on them every day. It’s interesting to see what other people consider essential for their day to day lives. I’ve gotten a few ideas of accessories to get from that blog. I kept seeing the Seiko diver watch and to some smaller extent the citizen one and was curious. They are in the general style of the Rolex Submariner so it catches my eye.

After reading the article I did some more research on the Seiko SKX007. There was a newer model available (SKX009K) however the older SKX007K was more reasonably priced and exceedingly popular. I decided if I wanted an everyday watch that I could take to the beach this diver watch would fit the bill perfectly.

The challenge I had was finding the specific  Seiko SKX007K or even the newer 009K to see in person. I went to the only Seiko boutique in New York and they didn’t have it. Macy’s had some similar models but they weren’t what I was looking for exactly and they were more money. I found out later that the reason I couldn’t find the exact model number is the 007K & 009K are manufactured for everywhere in the world except North America. I ended up finding someone selling the SKX007K on Amazon Marketplace and bought it there. Even before my trek to the store I knew I could get it on Amazon but I really wanted to see it in person if i could first. I also bought a tool to change the watchband out. I bought a 22mm NATO strap and intend to use NATO straps with this watch like I am doing with my other ones.

In my teens and 20s I had cheap Casio digital watches and never understood why anyone would want a nice mechanical watch. Now here I am with the budding watch collection.

I have owned the Seiko SKX007K for a few weeks now. Overall it was a great purchase especially for the money.  Not quite a negitive however something I need to get more used to is that it is pretty heavy even with a nylon NATO strap and not a metal one. Compared to both my Speedmaster and the titanium X-33 I am not used to that extra weight on my wrist. It has done its job though while at the beach and as a general watch I can beat up.  I wore it basically all vacation since we were at the beach most days and I was happy with it the entire time.  I didn’t go diving however timing when we put sun tan lotion on the girls was easy enough with the bezel.  I am happy with it as a solid beat up watch.  Right now it is not likely i would wear it to work often though.

Beyond wearing the new Seiko at the beach, I am also wearing it when I get home from work so I can wind it since it is an automatic movement. I need to buy a watch winding device however I haven’t yet so wearing it for couple of hours when I get home helps me not have to manually wind it.

I am debating expanding my collection further. Next up for me would be something a little bit nicer.

Jawbone Up to Fitbit

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I’ve been using a jawbone up as my activity tracker since they became a product. I love that they were small bands that I could wear in addition to my watch that did pretty much all I needed them to. I was frustrated that the first generation recalled however pleased that that the company Jawbone was smart enough to give me a full refund. I was excited when the second generation came out and waited weeks for one to come in stock to purchase. Later I was frustrated at how often my second-generation band would break however pretty pleased that the company would continue to give me new ones. After upwards of five bands however that got old pretty quick. I have blogged in the past around my challenges with my jawbones. (http://scottodyssey.com/?s=jawbone+up&submit=Start+searching).

Even with all my problems with the UP I continue to choose it over the Fitbit Flex  as far back as late 2013. After the second generation UP, i purchased the UP24 (possibly 2 of them) I then bought an UP2 when the 24 finally died. My first UP2 started to lose its battery charge earlier this year. It also lost top paint covering on the metal that rests against my watch. It didn’t look good but it worked until the battery started dying. I then bought another one with a more rubbery strap. This weekend that latest UP2’s rubber strap ripped. I was able to wear it for a little while longer however became so frustrating to wear and looked really stupid I decided I needed to buy something else.

The challenge for me was I did not want to buy and other band from Jawbone after going through at least 10 of them in three or four years. Granted I didn’t end up paying for many of those since they were warranty replacements I did have to  pay for more than one or two of them.

For me technology purchases usually work out the best when they are well thought out. I know myself and I have specific requirements. Because of that I tried to remember why I selected the jawbone over the fit that when I owned both at the same time. I do remember that the jawbone felt like a more accurate step count. The silent alarming also felt like it was better however I know that fitbit has improved on that since I last owned one. Separate from my previous owning a Fitbit I do not like that Apple and fitbit do not work very well together. Specifically Fitbit does not talk to apples Health application. After some brief research I did find out that there is an app that will sync that data between the two devices. I also found out that both myFitnessPal, and Withings can talk to Fitbit with no problem. That will allow me to continue to use my Withings scale and myFitnesspal with a Fitbit. With all that information in mind I went out to the store to check out the new Fitbit Alta compared to the Fitbit Flex. Both appeared to be the same size however the Alta had a small display. I wasn’t fully clear if the altar had significantly improved sensors for the extra price it cost. Since I wasn’t sure I erred on the side of caution and splurged the extra money for the Alta.

Set up of the device was pretty trivial. Syncing between all the apps that I use was equally simple to do. The device feels pretty sturdy on my wrist. I’m curious how long the battery life will last. I confirmed for me the displays useless since I turned off all notifications such as text messages and phone calls. I also turned off the auto on function or whatever they call it that turns the clock on when I lift my wrist up. I have a watch I don’t need this band to act like one. I just needed to track my activity and silently alarm me to be more active. So far it’s been pretty successful at doing that.

A minor side benefit to switching to Fitbit over jawbone is apparently several people I know have Fitbit’s and I’m already in competition with several of them to keep my step count up. Several people at work have talked about doing something similar with Virgin Pluse activity trackers that our health insurance company is offering for free. I don’t like the idea providing medical and activity details to my insurance company so I opted out. This gives me the gamification of working out that I want but doesn’t share the data as much.

I’m hopeful that this was a sound purchase and it will last more than a few months.

Showing a Little Bit (a lot) of Geek

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I always though it was cool to have interesting stickers on technology gear. I never did it since I always tried to keep my stuff in pristine condition since I knew that I would likely want to sell it to buy something newer down the road. I know many of the stickers on laptops these days say they are removable. The challenges after you remove them you generally can see that there was something there previously. That’s not good if you want to try to sell something later on.

It didn’t dawn on me until recently that I could show off my geek side on my work here since that’s not something I will ever personally go and sell. Plenty of people in the office I’ve seen have done it and it was never something I thought to do until I started looking at Pinterest.

Earlier this month I bought a few stickers. Last Friday I got around to putting them on my laptop. I know I think they are pretty cool…

Surprised by the availability of NFC payment

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I was shopping today and I was surprised at the number of locations that I went to that supported Apple Pay (aka NFC payments).  Along those lines until this week I hadn’t seen anyone asking me to use the chip in my card (EMV chip) eve thought the deadline that shifts the liability to the merchant and not the credit card companies if they don’t use the chip passed in November.

Of all the places I went to today the quick scorecard I had was as follows:

  • Macy’s, YES but I knew that already since I have used it before
  • Lego Store, NO however what was frustrating about this merchant was that they used the same terminal as several places I have shopped at that do take NFC payments.  To make things more annoying the terminal had a big NFC logo on its screen however I was told the system didn’t accept the payment type.  I did have to pay using the EMV chip.
  • Applebee’s, YES however I couldn’t get it to work.  They still get props for the fact that check out was via a tablet at my table.  It was still a regular swipe card but cool that I could have ordered food and checked out at the table.
  • La Maison Du Chocolat,  YES
  • Card store, NO.  Let’s face it this is a local Hallmark store that doesn’t even take AMEX so I didn’t expect anything.  They still used the standard swipe card.
  • Party store, NO, however I only bought something very cheap and paid cash.
  • liquor store, NO but at least they took AMEX.   For some reason I find many liquor stores that don’t take it however that is a different conversation/blog post.

Based on my experiences today counting the stores that should have worked with the NFC payments I was supposed that almost 40% of the stores supported the NFC payments.  That was higher than I would have guessed.  I am hopeful that 2016 will see a large increase in the number of stores accepting the chip technology.

Trying New Scotches

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Recently I’ve been trying new scotches when I go out with friends. Some of my friends have pretty good taste so I’ve been getting great recommendations. One new scotch I am liking is Lagavulin 16. I had it several times when we were out and liked it. I liked it so much that I ended up buying a bottle. It was reasonably priced compared to some of the other stuff I bought.

Previously I purchased some Highland Park 12 year old. I tried the 15 when I was out and liked a lot. The liquor store near my house didn’t have 15 and at the time I didn’t remember if it was the 15 of the 12 that I liked so I just picked up a 12. It was good but the 15 was definitely better. I need to find somewhere nearby that sells it. The meantime I’m happy to drink it when I’m out.

Another scotch I found interesting was Bowmore. I can’t remember the age. I like the Highland Park better however I could see myself picking up a bottle of Bowmore in the future as well.

I hope to continue my exploration of different scotches into 2016.

Please Take My Money Macy’s

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There was a time a few years ago that I wanted to start a blog titled “ please take my money”. It was going to highlight all the instances where companies for some weird reason made it difficult for you to actually give them your money to buy something. My first case was a situation I had with AT&T regarding canceled contract and number porting. In the end it was cheaper and easier for me to actually not do business with them. Shortly after that there was another situation that I today can remember but it got me thinking about writing about this stuff.

Flash forward to today I am at the mall trying to buy holiday gifts. I don’t normally go to stores and this was a last-minute situation so general I wasn’t pleased however in all but one instance the experience was surprisingly stress-free. Before all the stress-free parts of the day came Macy’s.

I was in Macy’s to pick up a gift for a babysitter and someone else. I was luckily able to find what I needed rather quickly and got online to pay.I was a bit concerned since the line was pretty long. It was one of the last shopping days before Christmas so I expected lines. I didn’t expect was such a long line to be served by one person when there was at least two registers. To add insult to injury several store clerks came and went to the unused registers to do who knows what and to have quick conversations with the one clerk working. None of those people decided to help customers waiting in line. Instead I waited 30 to 45 minutes for transaction that should take most maybe 10 to 15 minutes. I understand corporations need to cut costs however situations like going to physical stores. It also emphasizes why I shouldn’t. I thought the argument of brick-and-mortar store is you get personalized service? In this instance the service was substantially less than if I would’ve ordered something online ship to me.