Special Celtic's Post: The Turnpike was closed from Stockbridge to Boston

Celtics. #1 in the world. Last time the Celts won I was working for Au Ban Pain in Faneuil Hall cleaning pots and squeezing Orange juice.

Some other Celtic memories:

• Living in the Back Bay watching the Celtics with the TV sound down with the radio tuned to the late great Jonny Most. Ken and the Shark were eating Shrimp croquet's.
• Being in the the last game in the old Garden trying to get a piece of the chair as "memento".
• Watching the a game with my dad from the rafters in the obstructed view section with sweat pouring down our faces.
• Partaking in pre-game cocktails my brother at the Fours and Johnny C at Docksides.
• Watching the Chief (Robert Parish) drop Bill Lambier once and for all.
• Seeing 6th man Walton take off his sweats and enter a game for the last time of his career.
• Being at Larry Bird night and watching Magic Johnson remove his Laker jacket revealing a Larry Bird Celtics shirt underneath.
• Watching Bird and Dominique Wilkins trade 2's for the entire 4th qtr during a key playoff game.

Post#6: I was bitten by Hong Kong Nemo

...yes.....I was.....Read on to find out how (and if you're lucky, perhaps why).

But first *please* look to the right side of this page and try to figure out where the quote came from. No fair googling it......I will know if you do! =========>

Place: Off the coast of Hong Kong. It's raining with a taste of thunder but that didn't stop the Pro-Dive boat full of Scuba Diver's from arriving at the first dive spot (of three). I was given a diving buddy to watch my back (and vice versa) and was preparing to enter the sea......Ponder this: Is it possible for two people to actually watch each others backs? Maybe if you used mirrors.....Hmmm...

Let's rewind....or fast foward depending if you are on the other side of the International Date Line.

Scuba Diving equals Boats, Oceans, Coral, Fish, Purple Sunsets, cocktails, giggles and smiles. And this is available right off the coast of HK. Here's the path I took to get to the boat:

Elevator => Taxi => Subway (one switch) => Bus => Dive Boat

All this for one hour and 15 min. Stupendously close.

A few important things to note:

• The dive briefing was 10 minutes long and all in Cantonese. The English version (which was just for me) consisted of "Don't forget to breathe and come back to the boat". I have been on lots of dives and this was the most informative.
• Luckily communicating under water is by hand signals so nothing will get missed in the English-Cantonese translation. For example, pointing up usually means up in any language (except for the North Polean language in which it means "Cheque Please")
• My Favourite: Lunch was Cantonese style. An old bent-over woman who I think dates back to 1800's made fresh dumplings and soup. I watched her mix meat and vegetables together and hand make each dumpling. I couldn't have been happier.....But, the smile was soon to fade as I made my third dive...

Usually when I am swimming through a school of fish they scatter from me. Sometimes there are so many fish that even when they scatter it still is like I'm swimming with them. Very cool. But this time there two smallish fish that didn't shy away. I poked out my finger and they just kinda stayed there.

And than it happened.....

One of the fish made a lounging move and came right at the index finger on my right hand and took a nibble. Nothing was actually removed from the finger (though he might have tasted a bit of Pea Soup we had for lunch....I didn't ask) but I did pull back slightly startled. I started swimming away and they followed me like a Pigeon in the MacDonald's parking lot in downtown Portland.

So I ended the dive and told the captain what happened. He than informed me that the fish who got rough with me was a clown fish and has the moniker "Hong Kong Nemo".

So friends, tell your kids who have watched Finding Nemo for the 1051st time that there really is a Nemo and he lives in the waters off of Hong Kong.

Until next time when I will discuss New Delhi Dora....

Here's to those who wish us well. Wherever they may be....And oh yeah....Celtics will take game 4 in LA......

Post# 5: Humidity or "How to take a shower *while* walking to work"

Nice to have you back........it's been a few days............

Thursday night......which is the day after Wednesday and the day before Friday. I am not totally sure how the word "Thursday" came about but scholars debate that it was named after the famous Triple Crown Winner "Happy Thursday" (who won the late daily double at Scarborough Downs on 7 July 1973). Other Scholars unequivocally believe that "Thursday" was a developed by a group of aliens dressed as a wild pack of German Shepards in which their guttural bark sounded something like "arrgr-Thursday-aggrar". You decide....

This entry is going to utilise some basic math....But, don't fret, if you know how to get the answer to 1+1 you will do just fine.

Fact#1: 80% of your bodies heat escapes from your head. I learned that skiing at Sunday River.....no hat means cold toes....Now, those of you that know me know I have a full head of luxurious hair. Thick as the Atlantic Ocean and strong as an Aroostook County lumberjacks' grip. Heat stays in me.

Fact#2: I walk 15 minutes to work down the longest semi-enclosed escalator in the world and through the heart of Central Hong Kong.....Steamy streets.....Cats and Dogs are a bit wobbly.

Fact#3: Humidity abounds. Humidity is the amount of water in the air. In Hong Kong let's say we have our fair share of water in our air.

So hear comes the math:

A=My_Thick_Hair
B=Walk_to_work
C=Humidity

A+B+C = Dave takes a shower on the way to work. Even when I don't want to.....

If the humidity keeps getting worse I am going to have to pack a bar of Irish Spring and my Redken shampoo and use them on the way to work.

But, I have a partial solution. It has to do with variable B (the walk_to_work). Question: When you are in a swimming pool and the water is up to the middle of your thighs what does it feel like to make your way through the water? Answer: Slow and smooth. And that, my friends, is how I have minimized the current affects of the Humidity. I walk like I am in a swimming pool. And it works!

So in closing, I wish you air with low water content and a glass full of beer.

Sleep good......