Last week temperatures were fifteen degrees below the historic norm for spring; this week they are more than fifteen degrees above average. Another reason to love New Jersey. Because any given day the weather might necessitate a winter jacket, shorts or a handgun. Or perhaps all three on the same day.
Fired up the air conditioners last night. I report with great pleasure that three window units survived another winter of storage. The fourth probably did as well, I just have to mop the kitchen floor first as final spring cleaning chore. Till then, it remains in the closet, untested.

Four A/Cs for a single apartment? Before Al Gore comes a knocking, consider that the layout is fairly spacious. For instance, the living room is 18 X 21. Even a single unit of doom could not cool the entire apartment. And due to jumpered wiring, a maximum of two A/Cs can run at a time. Otherwise fuses blow and circuits trip, which means no cool air at all. Generally speaking, when the heat sets in, I pick a room of retreat and hang there for the duration.

Coming down to the wire with the Nicholl’s screenplay entry. Lot of work left for the deadline, but I am throwing everything at it.

A major life change is coming down the pike, and the very possibility I railed against for the last eight months–despite all my efforts and silent bargaining–is unfolding. But there’s a larger fight at play.

I keep struggling with this lesson: the harder I fight my fears the more likely their realization. Yet, shortly after yielding to a undesirable outcome, the very last thing I want to confront, the pain and apprehension passes.

Then the healing starts.

Reached Toronto without a hitch and met one of my gracious hosts at Pearson International. Not only did they open their home to me, they provided lightning fast shuttle service. Great, great people. As this is my first trip to Ontario, I’m drinking in sights and stories as deeply as I can. A more complete synopsis will follow early next week.

Before departure, fired off two more queries for The Last Track. As for the screen writing contest, the halfway mark beckons.

School is open with limited services, and only for two business days this week; that’s about how many employees are present on campus. A number of coworkers, believing I skipped out until classes started again—ah, how sweet generous vacation allowances are—left voice mail messages last week prefaced like this: “You’re probably in Jamaica, but if you are in, I have a problem with…”

But then, that’s my job. Those are the calls I get. Crazy tech guy calls…

A peer recommended an excellent book, The River Road by Karen Osborn, which I enjoyed a great deal. This novel stands as a fine example of effective dual voice narration. In all, four narrators show the story—and in first person. Initially thought such a device might interrupt the flow, and jar the reader loose from the story, but in this case it not only works, the additional voices make for a richer experience.