def quickHist(ax, dat, orientation="vertical", color="#0000FF"):
    """
    draws a histogram with minimal formatting

    :Arguments:
        :type ax: matplotlib axis
        :param ax: axis to plot data on

        :type dat: pandas dataframe
        :param dat: data to be plotted

        :type orientation: string
        :param orientation: vertical or horizontal
    """
    dat.hist(ax=ax, orientation=orientation, color=color)
    return ax