NGD minus 1 day: It's Friday! Everything happens - or doesn't happen tomorrow. I am hopeful, and, true to my nature, nervous too. Everyone at our library has invested time and care into NGD. We are depending on about 30 people to do their parts.

Finally get Todd from Tournament Town on the phone. He doesn't have a PS2 console! Will bring Xbox 360 and family-friendly game for spare screen. Frantically text lovely purple-haired daughter with plea to find friend willing to share his/her console with the public for a day. Go through file folder full of piles of sticky notes and printouts regarding NGD. Find crumpled and coffee-stained sticky (with corner nibbled off?!) saying, "PS2, Kevin, xxx-xxxx." Call number, Kevin says "Yeah, sure!" Text daughter again to call her off her firends.

Feeling better because of having all equipment and volunteer positions pledged, so have room in head to worry more about attendance. Also start to worry about all volunteers/equipment showing up. Suddenly realize that I wasn't able to find someone to host Pictureka! Director says she will do it.

There is an email from Eli waiting for me when I get to work; there will be a live test for Super Smash Bros. between ten and one our time. I alert director and assistant director, who both say, "do it! We'll cover for you." So I hastily get through opening duties and follow Eli's directions. Meet him in a chat room and follow step by step instructions... try again another way, and once more to make sure. Eli's assessment: we've got a firewall in the way! Eli tells me what to tell Kathy, the city IT department head. He wishes me luck. My heart sinks. I understand IT people's security concerns, and don't hold out much hope that she'll go for any of the three solutions Eli recommended -- the least drastic of them being turning off the firewall. Even if Kathy is willing, she has a crazy-busy schedule, and this is very much last minute and I don't think gaming would rank high on the city's IT priority list. I swallow hard and call her. I ask her (well, beg her) if she can help us. She says..."I'll be over right after lunch and see what I can do." I scrape my half-hope back up off of the floor and keep busy doing library things while I wait. Keep saying to self, "It will be what it will be." Kathy shows up and spends some precious city IT time re-routing half of the PACs to one DSL line, leaving the other with only one of our wi-fi hotspots on it. Then she removes the firewall on that line. It is eight minutes past five Eastern Time, but I can't wait to find out, and Kathy won't be around tomorrow if it doesn't work. I call Eli at Ann Arbor Library System. He was just leaving, but sticks around to test our connection... IT WORKS! We can do the live tournament! IT saves library program! Kathy is my hero. I <3 our IT. (Been hanging around teens much, Tina?)

Stay late with some volunteers to move furniture and get a head-start on setting up for the big day. Worry that I have overlooked something important.