TheNHBushman.com

Photos by MJ Klein & Hui-chen (with just a few FOOD PHOTOS)

We were rapidly approaching our last 2 days in the US.  We had seen and done just about everything we wanted to do, so we were determined to take it easy on the last 2 days of our trip and enjoy time with the family.

Growing tired of the food in the US, we wanted to try some of the local Asian cuisine.  Having been very dissapointed with what passes off as “Chinese food” we decided to try a place suggested by Adam and his wife.  So, we went to called P.F. Chang’s.

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Photos by Hui-chen, Nancy & MJ Klein

As you know from reading this series, all of us siblings get together very rarely.  So now that we’re all together we want to do things that Dad likes in celebration of being with him, perhaps for the last time.  We decided to rent a boat and take him out for the day on Belews Lake.

We rented a pontoon boat, which is perhaps the best design for a family outing.  Stable, roomy and yet fast enough to give you a bit a thrill, this kind of boat was just perfect for us.

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Photos by MJ Klein, Hui-chen & Nancy, including FOOD PHOTOS

Before we continue with our series, I would like to talk about the series and how I’ve written it.  First of all, I updated the WordPress In-series plug-in and it blew out all the previous series data.  I am unable to re-enter that information and get the updated plug-in to work and actually display series.  This means that all those series I wrote in the past are unconnected.  The articles are still there, but as in this series, there is no longer a list of them at the bottom so you can find all of them.  Sorry but you’ll have to use the search box at the upper right.  I didn’t do it!  UPDATE: I fixed it by creating a new series and editing the previous articles.  I do not want to have to do that for each series I’ve written!

Also, on these series that are not time-sensitive, I’ve been taking my sweet time writing about them.  That certainly is the case with this series, which I have written over many months time.  Also, in some cases I had to think about what I wanted to write about (even though I do outlines) and I also have other things to do.  So that explains why I often write about things that happened some time ago.  Honestly, it just doesn’t matter.

Now, onto the current article: We have some interesting things for you, so sit back and enjoy!

This is our father’s reaction to seeing Nancy coming in the front door.  He didn’t have his glasses on but he knew who it was right away!

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Photo by MJ Klein

I love to ride bicycles.  The problem is that I am too big for conventional type bikes.  I own a Giant mountain bike, and while where is nothing wrong with the design of the bicycle, I am in quite a bit of pain and discomfort after about 15 minutes on it.  Therefore, I cant ride it for very long.  Plus because I can’t ride for very long, I don’t ride it very often either because it’s not worth the effort to take it out for 15 minutes.  This means that I haven’t been enjoying bicycle riding as much as I would like to because basically I hate riding my diamond frame.  The design just doesn’t make any sense for me.  I want something different.  Something comfortable and something that I can put a lot of distance on and not cause problems that outweigh the health benefits of riding.

My friend Kevin Kao makes recumbent bicycles.  In simple terms, this design allows the rider to recline and pedal with the feet forward (and usually) pedal with the feet roughly at the same height as the hips.  The seat on a recumbent bicycle is actually a seat (as opposed to a saddle on a diamond frame) and is designed to support the riders weight.  The riding positing of the recumbent allows the rider to lay back, in a manner of speaking.  There is no pressure on the handlebars (my main problem) and one doesn’t have to ride hunched over with the neck craning up in order to see ahead (another of my problems).

I’m also too large for nearly all recumbent designs.  Actually, I’m too heavy, I should say.  But, there is one design that I can ride, and it’s an absolutely blast!  Here it is:

This is a recumbent tricycle of a design known as a “tadpole” which refers to 2 wheels up front.

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My Father’s Wartime Service

I apologize for taking so much time to get to this part of the series.  It’s been difficult for me to write about, you understand.

When I was growing up, there were a few artifacts around the house that just didn’t seem to fit.  One thing was a silk Japanese kimono; the other was an Indian Ghurka knife.  I used to eat with Japanese chopsticks that my father had brought back with him.  We used the Ghurka knife to do chores around the house, like edging the lawn and chopping down small trees.  Dad used to wear his army jacket, and it finally wore out in the mid-70′s.

These were items my father took home with him from World War II.  It was unusual for him to talk about the war and it wasn’t until much later that I found out anything at all about his wartime service.  On our last trip to the US, I found out many things about my father’s wartime service that I did not previously know.  I’m going to recount stories from my father, but please keep in mind one thing:  I’ve done my best to present everything as accurately as possible but these accounts depend upon memory and my father’s memory is failing.  If anyone reading these accounts should recall them, please contact me with any additional information you may have.

Please visit our photo album on Flickr.com for more wartime photos.

My father, James E. Klein, posing with a famous aircraft he served aboard – Little Egypt, a B-24 Liberator

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I’ve been wanting to write about this for some time. Every country has its dumb TV shows. Japanese TV shows are known for being outrageous and yet I find those shows to be entertaining at least. Same goes for Taiwan television. Some of those shows that have ordinary people jumping through hoops or making up raps can be fun and I admit that I watch them sometimes. But, when I stop and think about all the dumb TV shows coming out these days, and especially those shows emanating from the US, I can feel my IQ lowering.

Here is my list of dumb TV shows (plus my personal nickname for each show).

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As you probably remember, I sent my D-80 to the repair shop to fix the hot pixels problem.  Back when I had a Nikon Coolpix 5700, it also had developed hot pixels.  I downloaded a free Russian software application that connected to my camera via USB and solved the problem in about 1 hour.  Today, after 4 weeks I finally got my D-80 back!  It never left the camera shop though.  The hot pixel problem is solved, but something happened to the Menu button in the process.  I have to press the Menu button down really hard to make it work.  That was not an original problem and something happened to it while at the repair shop.  So, my D-80 turned right around and went back today.

Needless to say I am something less than happy.  Something a lot less than happy!

Or, “Don’t Bother Me, I’m Eating!”

I probably wouldn’t be writing this article if it weren’t for Fili, who has 2 excellent articles this week on a similar subject. I suggest that you read those articles to get some background information and another viewpoint.

A few days ago Hui-chen and I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie at the Hsinchu Vieshow theater complex. The theater is in a mall and there are some good places to eat before the movie, and that is just what we did. Enjoying my lunch at the excellent Wasabi restaurant, I was surprised to look up and find a woman standing way too close to me, with that dumb smile on her face that only a local person can give to a person they perceive to be a “foreigner” when they are “admiring” them. If you are not native born and spend any time in Taiwan, you know exactly what I mean. A pandering, condescending smile that is akin to “Awww, isn’t it cute?” that just frosts my ass.

I’ve lived in Taiwan long enough that my personal Chinese conversational skills are sufficient to handle just such occasions.

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Photos by MJ Klein and Hui-chen – ATTENTION: FOOD PHOTOS!

This series is a bit out of order.  It doesn’t really matter because we did write about some things just as they occurred, such as our 2 trips to Cabela’s.  So, to set the timeline straight, now would be when we went on the road trip up to West (by God) Virginia and to Cabela’s.

After we returned to North Carolina, Hui-chen and I relaxed for awhile before my brother John arrived from Florida.  Hui-chen decided to make some more Taiwanese style food, since we were really missing home.

This is Hui-chen’s famous stew, with pork and vegetables.  It’s as good as it looks and even better!

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Photos by MJ Klein  Caution: Food Photos!

As most of you know by now, Hui-chen and I went back to the USA for about 3 weeks. The reason for this trip will become apparent in future parts of this series. In Part One, I want to introduce you to a few people and places.

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