22 February - Johannesburg, SA - Sick on the Road...

Scary story: I got sick. With what? I don't know. How? Still a mystery. The worst part...I was about 6,000 miles from home and my doctor.

Around the second week of my work trip, I started getting really bad headaches and fever. I tried to power through Monday's work with some ibuprofen but it just got worse. Eventually, I found myself bedridden for the next 3 days.

I had a few co-workers cover my class remotely as best as they could. I went to an emergency room.

They gave me an IV and pumped me full of some fever meds. The doctor ran a few tests. One of the blood tests gave a hint that my liver enzymes were at a level of 600 (forget the measure- I registered 60 last year for FLD, and normal is <20). In the end, the doctor wrote me a prescription for some Tamiflu (useless + nausea-inducing) and an antibiotic. 

I survived. Maybe I was just being a giant man baby, but I felt like I got pretty close to death on this trip. That would have sucked. For someone who gets all his shots/vaccinations, this was a really scary experience. I lost 12# in one week.

17 February 2018 - Cape Town, South Africa

I have a 2-week work trip in Johannesburg and decided to take the 90 min flight to Cape Town for a nice weekend. While the mother city is currently experiencing a water shortage, they have no shortage of wine. Here are a few highlights.

We did a little bit of chocolate tasting as well...

It was also fun to see some traditional winemaking.

9 Febuary 2018 - London, UK

Just a short stopover on my way to South Africa for a work trip. I've now been to the United Kingdom more than half a dozen times. To this day I still find something new to enjoy along with all my old favorites (especially food).

As usual, I also had to do a little food tour of some of my favorite markets. This is why I am fat.

Finally, I ended my little stopover with a trip to the British History Museum. This place is free to see and has one of the nicest collections of Egyptian and Asian Artifacts I have ever seen. I also took a liking to the display on mechanical clocks.

4 February 2018 - Surf City Half Marathon

I decided to run this nice February race for the second time. Last year they changed away from the unique surfboard medal and got many complaints so this year they went back to what works. I wanted one!

The starting line was its usual energetic self. I took a few moments to absorb the positive energy.

The race started and I was well on my way. I'd been disciplined with my training since December so I knew this was going to be a good day. Last year I did this race in 2h 45m...while I wasn't working towards beating my Golden Gate race time, I did want to do better in this year's race. I also wanted to get another mile 7 selfie of a selfie taker.

I finished! What a great run!