Snow has finally hit us here in Utah. Fluffy and white. Actually, we were in a little bit of a threat over the whole weekend, so my time in Las Vegas was cut short a little bit. We decided to pack up prematurely and head out on the highway back north. At the very least I did get to go to In-N-Out Burger for a double-double “animal style”. That’s one of those undocumented menu items and I can’t describe it any better than greasy indulgence. The real treat was shopping at Fry’s Electronics in Las Vegas. Interestingly it looks exactly like the Seattle Fry’s on the inside, and I was having weird flashbacks. The only difference is that instead of seeing evergreens and the Boeing factory across the street I saw sandblasted billboards for Vegas lounge acts. I couldn’t help but think it was a long way from the “computer shops” back in Kathmandu on New Road. If you could make your way through the traffic and find the shops in the back alleyways you’d feel fortunate just for whatever outdated components they had in stock. At Fry’s there is everything imaginable and very cheap; you almost take it for granted. If they don’t have it (but they will) there are 10 other slightly less huge retailers in town.

I wonder how long it will be before they get the new Xbox 360 in Kathmandu. That was a joke of course, the correct answer is an emphatic NEVER. Despite the fact that no one can even get one in the United States (unless you having a gaming disorder and a credit card number for your US $800 bid on eBay). The Nepalese haven’t caught on to video games, which is probably good. There are a lot of time and mind wasting vices they haven’t taken up yet, but look at how far it has gotten them. (Joking again). Pema’s boys Tashi and Tenzing sure are hooked on games, remember how persistent they were in pleading for more time with my GameBoy. They are much more westernized though considering their dad’s generous leniency. One of his friends actually sent him a GameBoy and a couple of games to give to the boys. As far as we could tell there are no video games available in Nepal, and the cyber cafes don’t even have StarCraft or Online Pong Deathmatch™ running, just email. Seriously (joking) Nepal has a long way to go.