These questions all came up while I was trying to put together a sample "protect the mayor from bullets all day" spell, but I figure they have broader applications:

1. Based on the dreamless sleep spell, it looks like a beneficial aspect applied to a willing target costs 1 + shifts to raise the duration from the default 15 minutes, right?

2. There's an example of a maneuver ritual being timed for a particular event (p. 265).  Does a spell like this have a programmed trigger ("when he walks onto stage", "whenever he pulls out a gun").  Or is it timed rather than triggered, so if you don't know when the target was scheduled to walk on stage you're out of luck?

4. Wards (of the awesome reflective variety) are only for enhancing existing thresholds, right?  You can't make a reflecting personal shield, only ordinary block/armor, if I understand correctly.

5. How should I figure out the default duration of a thaumaturgical block? Some types of blocks have a longer base durations (veils specifically mention a 1 day duration), but that seems too generous for, say, a lasting anti-bullet block.