not about Nepal, but also not about welding

This copy was originally the second-haf of the previous post, aluminum welding in the developing world. It was brought to my attention today by a friend that most people don't want to read about welding though, so I've moved this text into its own post.

I've been reading a lot of fiction here in Nepal. For some, that's normal - for me, that means I have a lot more free time here than I did at school. I wonder if that's entirely healthy. It feels healthy, but I'm weary that spending a lot of time 'on myself' is warping. Regardless, I've been going through my bosses' shelves of books, and have been on a science-fiction kick for the last two months. I'm reading the third book of the Dune series. Man, is that some heavy plot-driven science fiction. Before that, I picked 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea off their shelf. Once I started reading it in Bhaktapur, I saw it was the abridged edition. I don't think anyone over 12 should be reading abridged books.

A while ago, I got a compilation of short science-fiction stories off the bosses' shelf. The book was pitched as being 'presented by Isaac Asimov'. The back cover said the book, and Asimov's magazine in the 1980's, present 'hard core science fiction, the way it used to be written'. I thought that was pretty funny.

Ewan and Nini are off at dinner. Ewan told me about an hour ago they were going out for a romantic dinner. I think that's great. I haven't done that kind of thing with a special lady enough, historically. It shows a good consciousness of the present. Nepal is a great place to do something like that. They went to the Summit Hotel down the road - seriously swanky at about USD7 per person. Big spender! For USD34, you can get the best meal in town: a 22 course Nepali dinner a hotel named Dwarika's. For this 22-courser, you have to notify them of your plan to attend two hours ahead of time. The meal comes with a retinue of ladies serving, and a really beautiful traditional Nepali room. There's a picture on their wall attesting that Prince Charles ate it.

Speaking of the British monarchy, Ewan's been telling me about Prince Philip - Queen Elizabeth's husband. This came up after the recent news that Prince Charles is going to marry his special lady, but she won't be titled 'Queen' - she'll be 'Her Royal Majesty Princess Consort, Dutchess of Cornwall'. I didn't even know Prince Charles is the Duke of Cornwall.

The story is that Prince Philip is known for saying some pretty funny stuff, like when he was being toured through an Indian school and commented on the plumbing with "by jove, this looks like it was put together by a bunch of Indians'. Way to go, really connected to the people.