July - Vegas Baby! Part Deux

July is Julie's Birthday so we headed back to Las Vegas. We stayed at the Mirage and the Tropicana this time. We ate at Mix, Cafe Nikki, SW in the Wynn and Biscayne. We tried the "day club" at Marquee in the Cosmopolitan, as you can see Julie was well liked by the natives but was unaccustomed to their greeting rituals.










We also went to the U2 concert at Target Stadium (The cultural event of the year according to the City Pages!) I had never seen U2 in concert so I didn't know what to expect. We had a great time with Julie's childhood friends Judy Nitcheki (sp) and Scott Johnson (at this point, your 20's counts as part of your childhood). Bono and crew played through a serious downpour, proving why they are the highest grossing band ever. I kept thinking these guys are millionaires and they are playing as if this is the best show of their lives. If I was a millionaire I doubt I'd work that hard in the rain. I doubt I'll ever have the chance to find out.

I also learned that there is no reason to pay $250 for seats at a U2 concert as you never get the chance to sit in said seat. Next time I'll blow $90 for the floor pass and spend the rest on some comfy shoes.

Here's me in my natural habitat, SW Steakhouse in Las Vegas with a tan, my lovely wife and a Makers Mark Manhattan.

Open Table Reservations - 11

Dinners at Ruth's Chris - 1

June- You can't fire me, I quit!

Tracy:
As the title says, my boss at Vital Images and I came to an impasse. He wanted to bully me and I had a job offer he didn't know about. He threatened my job and I told him to stick it. It's rare that you get to tell someone to stick it where the sun don't shine when they freak out on you due most likely to mixing up his anti-psychotic meds with his Viagra. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend dragging the whole mess out in order to enjoy it as much as possible. The people that threaten to fire someone working on Sunday, over a holiday weekend, over the phone, deserve as much abuse and derision as possible.

I became a member of the Zuhrah Shrine, still not exactly sure why.

Julie:
So June started with a bang and we headed up to Ada, MN to attend Julie's All School Reunion. It is the one time you can actually see some of your classmates as they venture out, whether it be at the Ada Fair, the VFW or the Muni. The whole town turns into one giant block party. The Fair turned out to be by far the most popular gathering spot this year. There was a band that was actually quite good (although their name escapes me, the lead vocalist was a teenager). At the end of the evening after a long set, the band decided to take donations and at one point asked for $100 to play until 2:00a.m. Well, Tracy stepped up and made it happen. One of Julie's classmates made sure that her class got the credit for extending the evening's entertainment. We also met up with Mary Dee Hughes, Patsy Blaufuss and Judi Nitschke this trip. Ada can still throw a good party.

Tracy: Yet another example if where excessive drinking ended up helping the youth of America. I need to highlight those instances when I can.

I started working with Zimmer Spine on June 20th. Deciding to leave Vital Images and come to Zimmer was by far the best decision of the year. It ranks right up there with trying orange flavored soda water with Rye Bourbon and Black Cherry bitters.

Julie wasted no time putting her Realtor classes to good use, she started working with my old classmate, David Abele at Sotheby's.

May - All work and no, well OK a little play.

May was a very busy month. Julie headed back to school and re-acquired her Realtor's license. I worked every single day in May. I took on two new clients and Vital Images decided to submit a 510(k) with 25 days notice. Work seemed to be still feast or famine.

We did find time to go to a wine dinner at La Bel Vie with our wine group. The chef sends out a menu and each table brings a wine to pair with each course. The chef walks around and samples some of the wines and is then supposed to declare a winner for each course. We think we won the dessert course with a Château d'Yquem.

My boss at Vital Images was becoming increasingly difficult to deal with due to what everyone agreed was an imbalance in his meds for a serious bi-polar disorder. Lucky for me, a recruiter called me in March and asked if I was interested in another contract that paid $5 an hour more than my current contract. Being naturally lazy, I initially turned down the offer, but one morning driving to work I did the math in my head, 5x40x4=$800 a month. I decided to call and check on the contract. I got the offer on May 27th and all I needed was final approval for a start date.

April - Vegas, Baby!

April is my birthday month and Julie and I have been spending our birthdays in Las Vegas for the last few years. This time we stayed at the Mirage and had dinners at Twist, Cut and Comme Ca in the Cosmopolitan. The Bare pool is just opening on my birthday weekend, so we grabbed chairs there during the day and enjoyed the great service although I think I got a bit too much sun. I'm pretty sure Julie didn't cough the whole time we were in Vegas. I keep telling her that we need to leave MN for a warmer climate. I'm pretty sure she's ready to leave at any time.

In the Eberly home, we prefer to celebrate a birthday week rather than just one day. Here we are with Julie Bucknam and Janeen Coyle in our usual booth at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

We also hit Manny's and Pittsburgh Blue in Maple Grove for Kay Kelley's birthday, which is on the same day as my birthday.

Open Table Reservations - 11

Dinners at Ruth's Chris - 1

March - How High?

Every year for the past few years I go skiing in Breckenridge, Colorado with a group of guys. My niece Tiffany (aka Nickey) is fascinated with Mount Everest, so I thought I'd check out the highest ski slopes in the continental USA. The altitude shown, 9696 ft above sea level, is from my bedroom at the bottom of the hill. The Imperial Express SuperChair rises to 12,840 feet above sea level, which is the highest chairlift in North America. People have skied from higher elevations, but they had to hike and that sounds like way too much work to me.

For those of you who know my age, drinking and smoking habits and philosophy towards exercise, it will come as a surprise to you that I have never had any trouble with high altitude, until this year. I had a bad first run and spent the next hour trying to catch my breath. I kept thinking I could hear Dean Wormer saying "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son." This has motivated me to start working out some time before the next ski trip. (As of 12/19/2011 I haven't yet started) We'll work on the other issues at a much later date.

While I was enjoying the cold, Julie was cursing it. We sold a condo to Ken and Mary Moen in March and Julie took over as property manager for Ken and Mary's old condo. She probably wouldn't have minded showing the condo so often if she didn't have Bronchitis. Julie was a trooper, got it rented and managed not to crash her car due to her massive coughing fits.

Open Table Reservations - 11

Dinners at Ruth's Chris - 2

February 2011 - Software?

While the Lovely Mrs. Eberly continued to enjoy her forced “Obama Vacation”, I was able to find a new client. Vital Images creates software that creates 3D images from CAT scans. I had never done a software only 510(k) but unemployment has a way of “widening” your resume and skill set.

For those of you who do not live in Minnesota, I’d like to recap what they weather was like in February 2011, AWFUL! We were 4 months into one of the coldest and snowiest winters I have ever endured in my 27 years in Minnesota. The snow piles were 4 feet high, Minneapolis gave up on plowing and my Pirelli snow tires were barely dealing with it. In short, life was a frozen hell.

Open Table reservations – 4

Dinners at Ruth’s Chris - 1

2011 Christmas Letter January - Hey, Jay...

2011 turned out to be a good year for the Eberly household despite a rocky start. The year stated with the usual job turmoil that I had come to expect after 2010, my 12 month contract with J&J ended after 3 months but I had another gig lined up with GE Medical. We agreed that I would start on January 10^th. On Jan. 4^th I got a message asking me where I was, followed by a message to telling me that the job had been canceled. Nice.

You might be thinking that having a job end so suddenly is unusual, and if this were the 2006 Christmas letter you'd probably be right. But, as we all adjust to the "New Normal" this has become more and more common. Julie started a contract position in January for a company she had worked for in the past and they let her go after 3 days. I don't know about you, but that "Hopey Changey" thingy hasn't worked out too well for us.

I did what I usually do when nothing is happening, I went to work with Jay Duggan on some poor soul’s house. It struck me that Jay and I have learned how to do so many things over the years; electrical, plumbing, carpentry, order lunch in Spanish, etc. yet all of this knowledge doesn’t seem to be worth too much.

Here was another clue that I might not be cut out for construction work. Which of these things is not like the others?

Open Table Reservations - 6

Dinners at Ruth's Chris - 2

Tips for Great Hair

I have received some compliments and questions about my hair lately so I thought I'd do a post on what I do to grow and keep a great head of dark hair at 45.

First, I have to admit the genes are responsible for me still having hair while other guys my age look like Friar Tuck. Sorry guys, but if you don't have the genes, there isn't much you can do. But if you do have some hair left here are some tips on how to keep it in great shape.

Diet
If you aren't eating red meat at least once a week, you have no chance of growing great hair. Red Meat is a complete protein as it gives you all of the amino acids your body needs. I'd suggest a Ruth's Chris bone-in rib-eye medium rare, but any rare red meat will help. Sorry Vegans, you are doomed to have crappy hair.

Vitamin D
The sun is your friend. If you live north of the Mason-Dixon line you need to tan and/or take a vitamin D supplement in the winter. I tan as I prefer the natural D and it also helps prevent other SAD issues like cabin fever and massive drinking and eating binges. Winter really sucks in MN!

Scalp
You can't grow great wheat in a dry field so why would you think that you can have great hair with a dry scalp? Dandruff is a clue that you aren't taking proper care of your scalp. A great conditioner should help with this, but you may need to occasionally take extra measures like a scalp massage or a hair masque to keep your scalp moist. I only have this issue in the middle of our Sahara dry MN winters.

Shampoo
Get a gentle shampoo. You just need to clean your scalp and remove any dirt and product from the previous day. If your shampoo leaves your hair "squeaky clean" it's too strong. It should your hair almost as soft as it feels after conditioning after washing.

Conditioner
You need a conditioner that hydrates. Here is an easy test to see if your hair is properly hydrated, run your fingers through it and see how it feels. If your hair is smooth and silky, you're doing fine. If it's feels dry, you need a gentler shampoo and a better conditioner.

I usually avoid drug store brands like the plague but the new Herbal Essences Hello Hydration line actually works really good.

One trick for guys is to shampoo first thing when you get a shower, then apply your conditioner and then shave in the shower (The Art of Shaving) . This extra time gives your conditioner more time to soak in.

After Shower Care
Towel Dry your hair and then spray on an all day conditioner like the Bumble and Bumble tonic pictured. Get an alcohol free gel, as alcohol drys out your hair. A volumizer might also help give your hair some lift and help you avoid over styling.

Ditch the blow dryer
Let your hair air dry. I usually open the sun roof on the way to work to expedite this process. This also helps with the vitamin D.

Stress (Here's where everyone gets an out)

Current conventional wisdom says that stress and grey hair are unrelated, this is pure BS. Just look at any before and after picture of a US president, they all go grey. Here is a tip on how to reduce your stress, turn off your alarm clock. If you are getting enough sleep, you will wake up naturally when you need to get up. I rarely set an alarm clock. Also, try not to go to bed stressed, reading a good book before bed helps, watching the news doesn't.

That's about it. I didn't say this would be simple or easy but it has worked for me.

Swedish House Mafia - Save The World (Official Music Video)

Julie's Birthday Week

I seems I only post on here on birthday weeks (we celebrate the whole week since one day just doesn't do it)

I recently re-connected with two friends from High School that I haven't seen in over 20 years. The subject of kids always comes up so I figured I'd kick off the week describing our furry child, Polly (aka, Fang)

Polly is a Cockapoo that has long ago forgotten that she is a dog, if she ever even considered being one. I used to call her a small furry human, but Polly disagrees with that as she is quite sure that she is superior to me, a mere mortal. Polly's view of life is more that of a Demi-god. After 11 years she knows quite a few human words, where I have yet to learn any words in dog, thus proving who is the superior being.

Humans (again me) live to serve Polly. My job in life is to feed her, pet her, walk her, clean her pool and carry her to bed at night. (Polly can do the stairs just fine but prefers to be carried to bed at night, she can make quite a deal of it if she isn't.)

Polly didn't come by her view of the world lightly. She sees me trudging off to work each day and has correctly figured out that my lot in life is to work to support her life of leisure.

In reality, we have more of a overlord/serf relationship. Polly knows that humans are required for things like air conditioning, belly rubs and of course, bacon. She is a pretty decent overlord, as far as overlords go.

Polly will be with Kurt this week when Julie and I are in Las Vegas. While we appreciate that Kurt is available to take care of Polly while we are gone, Polly feels that we are dumping her on yet other human that lives to serve her. She has a very tough life, just ask her, she'll tell you.

So how high can Tiffany go?

My niece Tiffany is a Mount Everest buff. She is well on her way to becoming an expert on Mount Everest. So I decided to challenge Tiff to see if she can beat me in a contest to see who can get to the highest elevation.
I admit that this is a good time to start as I am in Breckenridge this weekend. Here is the altimeter reading for my bed. Yep, I'm sleeping 1.8 miles above sea level! Tomorrow I'm going to take the Imperial Super Chair to the highest ski peak in the USA, 12,840 feet above sea level. I hope I can make it down alive, there are no green or blue runs off the peak, only black diamond and double black diamonds. Here is what I got yesterday from a single black diamond mogul run.I should have hit Pikes Peak while I was in Colorado Springs at 14,155 ft of elevation, I'll catch that on my trip to Colorado.

If we want to stay in the USA, sort of, we'd have to hit Mt. McKinley (Denali) which is 20,320 ft above sea level.

Although it’s not considered a technical climb, Denali is extremely challenging and dangerous. Due to its proximity to the Arctic Circle, climbers must cope with intense cold and severe winter weather. Temperatures plunge to -40°F with winds gusting up to 100 mph. Powerful storms often delay climbs for days, as teams wait, huddled in tents or snow caves, making every effort to save fingers and toes from frostbite.

I think I'll pass on that one, so what is the "easiest" way to get really, really high? Pikes peak is a drive and a short hike to the top, so just about anyone can hit 14,000 feet (2.65 miles above sea level.

Kilimajaro is 19,341 ft above sea level (3.66 miles above sea level). While the climb is far from easy (more people have died climbing Kilimanjaro than Everest)

There are six[10] official climbing routes [11] by which to climb Mt Kilimanjaro, namely: Marangu, Rongai, Lemosho,[12] Shira, Umbwe and Machame. Of all the routes, Machame[13] is by far the most scenic albeit steeper route up the mountain, which can be done in six or seven days.[14] The Rongai is the easiest camping route and the Marangu is also relatively easy, but accommodation is in huts. As a result, this route tends to be very busy, and ascent and descent routes are the same.

Of course, at 19,341 feet we would still be 1.83 miles lower than Mount Everest at 29,029 ft.

UPDATE: I guess there a few peaks over 20,000 ft that are relatively accessible:

Cerro Aconcagua – Argentina: 22,841 ft


Like Kilimanjaro, altitude sickness is the most common danger on this mountain. However, a fit person can take on this challenge and ascend this impressive summit, much like an 11-year-old did in 2007.

Cho Oyu (चोयु) – Nepal/China: 26,906 ft

Probably the pinnacle of any amateur mountaineer’s career is to climb an 8,000-meter peak, or one that is approximately 26,000 feet above sea-level. There are only fourteen of these in the world – including Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth – and all of them lie within the Himalaya and Karakorum Ranges in Asia. If you’re interested in trying your hand at one of the biggest, you probably have the best chance of success on Nepal’s Cho Oyu.

There’s no doubt that this climb is far and away the most difficult on this list, not to mention expensive and time consuming (if you allow 6 to 7 weeks for the entire trip.) Going with a guide is mandatory, as is being in top shape for the climb. However, with excellent preparation, training and a little luck, Cho Oyu is a reasonable attempt – if conditions permit – for a climber who has a several high-altitude climbs under their belt. Celebrate back in Kathmandu with a couple of cold Gurkhas on Thamel Street; whether you make it to the top or not, it’ll be well worth the price of the trip.

I think Tiff and I should try this one before we hit Everest ;-)