Bittersweet, Sort Of

I've been so inundated with work that I've been falling asleep prior to managing some sort of measly, inept attempt at continuing to fill these pages with something other than pornographic-laden meta tags. Well, that's not actually correct; I've been awake. It's just that my timing has been completely thrown on its side. Normally I head to bed around 12:30 and get up around 7. Over the last few days I've been getting into bed around 11 and waking up around 6.

The change in timing isn't that big a deal, but it's -- I 'm sure -- a result of the suddenly overpowering heat that we've been experiencing in the Northeast (actually, all over the country). It went from quasi-Spring, with 65ish degree temps, to between 80 and 90 the last several days. This past Saturday, I nabbed a car and went and visited my grandmother and had we not had an opportunity to sit by the water and enjoy the breeze, it would have been too warm to be outside.

However, the weather and its effect on my sleeping habits is even more boring and sleep-inducing than this space's typical fare, so onward and upward, so to speak.

I've managed to catch some Yankee games on TV when I'm not fully focused on work at night, and I've been pretty disappointed that the Yankees are looking extraordinarily typical. When you watch a team that seems destined for greatness -- either that particular season or a multi-season thing that the 1996 Yankees seemed to embody -- you get a feeling that no matter how much adversity they're facing, they'll find a way to get through it. Not these Yankees.

These Yankees seem to find ways to bore their fans. They're technically capable; they're talented, they play relatively good defense, and their hitting -- sometimes -- is solid. But they don't have a swagger or a quiet confidence that recent Yankee teams have sometimes displayed.

That's a bad sign, despite the fact the season is relatively young. I 'spose we'll need to see more to confirm their (lack of) direction, but I'm not holding my breath as to their deep run into October and November baseball.

Speaking of deep runs, another balloon burst tonight -- or two, actually.

Tonight's game 7 playoff between the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals, predictably, resulted in a Rangers loss that -- again -- eliminated them from the playoffs. Why this is relevant is that the Rangers originally held a 3-1 lead in games against the Capitals, and yet they managed to beat the Rangers four straight games to win the series. I guess some could suggest that the Rangers choked, but the fact is that they had no business being up 3-1 against the Capitals, who, despite mediocre goaltending and defense, were a much better offensive team than are the Rangers. I think the Capitals are going to be soundly eliminated in the next round and I further believe the Stanely Cup Finals will feature the Detroit Red Wings beating the Pittsburgh Penguins. But between now and then, and, eventually, next season, it's becoming increasingly boring watching the Rangers limp into the playoffs and get bounced in either predictable or surprisingly predictable fashion. The surprising part, of course, is not just that the Rangers managed to be in a position to finish the series in 5, but that they also managed to score tonight's first goal of the game. Typically, the team that scores first wins the game.

Leave it to the Rangers to throw a monkey wrench into that supposition.

The only real saving grace, and the sweet matched with the bitter as indicated in this post's title, was the fact that tonight's other game 7 featured the Devils and the Carolina Hurricanes, the latter of which eliminated the former. It sort of goes without saying that Ranger fans enjoy seeing the Devils lose almost as much as they do watching the Rangers win. So while I didn't get a chance to see my team win tonight -- nor did I expect them to do so -- knowing the Devils also lost made taking the actual news about the Rangers that less painful.

In either case, I've got to get back to sleep. I faded around 10:30 after the game and woke up with my face in a file for a condominium awaiting my eventual review tomorrow. I wanted to get a headstart to make sure it all gets wrapped up tomorrow, as it's a big matter involving a lot of money, both in terms of savings for my client and in fees for me.

It has been nice avoiding the throngs of morning commuters by hitting the office a half-hour or more earlier than usual, but the trade-off is falling asleep before the late-night newscasts come on. Not that I watch them, mind you, but I'm used to falling asleep after midnight, not an hour or two before.

Oh well. Back to the day, the night, and tomorrow.

-B-