Honestly, I'm really not sure what month it is. Perhaps you've found some information that I haven't? I can ask some people, though. As for the timing, I've seen people (and participated in) having the same character in multiple threads that are taking place at slightly different times, but all times that are pretty close together. (Like maybe one one day and one the next day) so they can resolve within that day and not create time issues. I'm not sure how big chunks of time are handled, though. Sorry! Newbieness... If I can find out, I'll get back to you!
As for Cal, he's always hanging around the university, so Peter can pretty much always catch him there if he ever needs someone to talk to or wants some advice about college. Cal's young, but he knows a lot for his age, so he's pretty good at the whole giving advice thing.