Dinner with the South African

At work today, somewhere around mid-day I started to realise that there was no way in heck that I was going to make it to that evening's run. A bit of a shame, given that I hadn't been in several weeks, but there was nothing to be done. So I e-mailed out that I wasn't going to be able to make it, and kept on working.

But as it so happened, my friend from South Africa who happened to be up working in London e-mailed and asked, "Was I free for dinner?" Happy coincidence!

So after I finally finished enough work, I made my way to the Shearaton where he was staying, and suggested that we go to a Lebanese place I remembered going to with my parents about a year ago. Amazingly, I managed to find the place again after having not been there in a year, so I was really impressed with myself!

Luckily, the food was also as good as I remembered, so I had a very nice dinner with the South African. Our discussion ranged across a wide range of topics, including religion (a favourite with the two of us), and who ultimately pays for societal costs in the majority of economic models. As is usual with us, the discussion was pretty wide-ranging.

We also discussed having kids, which is an ongoing conversation between the two of us. The South African is married to a lovely girl, although given that they were both virgins when they married, I think they've had some difficulty transitioning from a religious prohibition of "No, no, no" to a married state of "Yes, yes, yes." As well, there's the problem that the South African is spending a lot of time in London, whilst his wife is in South Africa. As he points out, makes it kind of hard to get pregnant, even if he was of a mind for it to happen. I feel bad for his wife though, because I know she wants kids, and I think the South African would make a good father, he just needs to trust that he can rise to the occasion. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what life has on offer.

Finally, we parted ways even though it was still light out, but that's because it was already 10:30 PM, and it was still light out! Ah, how I love summer in England!