HaL, my method is to be pre-set to disappointment, that way, I'm almost never too disappointed, but, as the song lyric goes, "every form of refuge has its price" (ain't that so true), and the price I pay is that when something really good happens, I don't enjoy it as much. Take this last series between the Kings and the Sharks, for example....

As far as the Rainer thing, it's time to wind that down, right? My guess is over 90% of the people think one way on this, and the rest disagree (it's a somewhat visceral reaction, I suspect, and I understand that), and that's okay, considering the many and diverse people who post here. As we all know, it's really tough to get 100% agreement on just about anything; it's testament to Rainer's work that he gets 90%+.