A smidge behind

I didn't quite make it to tonight's lecture presentation goals. (It had something to do with getting caught up in data analysis at work and staying until 7pm because there was a correlation I wanted to confirm just for my own curiosity. I should try to avoid having involved work-projects at the same time as involved non-work projects.)

The basic layout for the handout exists, the text-only portions are in place, and the figures for the tunic-types part (about 3/4 of the graphics) are done. I still need to do the leg-garments figures and the little bits of joining text for the figures. I think I'm just going to freehand the leg garments and scan them in -- I still haven't quite gotten the hang of the CS2 version of Photoshop and I keep getting hung up on not knowing where the controls and adjustments are for functions that I know I've used in previous versions. And freehand drawing is one of the things I haven't gotten back yet. (Don't everyone inundate me with tips and hints at the moment -- I've picked up the sledgehammer and started swinging and anyone who starts explaining to me how to hand-forge a scalpel may end up as collateral damage.)

I did go off and pick up a new combo wireless presentation controller cum laser pointer (with built in presentation timer). And I just barely missed visual confirmation of the (flesh-and-blood) mouse but got a solid audio confirmation. If the cat has not done her duty by this weekend, I'm getting a trap.

ETA: And we have visual confirmation. Habemus rattus. An adolescent, to be sure, but not a mouse. I think perhaps a trap is called for sooner rather than later.
So tomorrow's lunch project is working up the leg garment sketches and drafting all the remaining text so that I only have to type it in tomorrow evening. Also noting reality-check timepoints in my thumbnail copies of the presentation slides so that I'll know if I start getting too far off schedule. (A problem with a two hour lecture.) That means the handouts get printed Friday after work (and it means I've eliminated the possibility of doing a movie any night this week). But it's all good.

On the Rodent Removal Front

I gave Mr. Ratatouille a chance to leave peacefully -- we'll see if he's taken it. After removing all accessible foodstuffs, I left the door to the deck open just enough for a rat to get out (not large enough for the cat) this morning before leaving for work. I couldn't hear any skittering when I got home this evening, so he may well have made his exit. I closed the door, cleaned up all the debris and droppings, and then left a small pile of sunflower seeds in the spot where the bird seed bag used to be. If it's untouched when I go to bed tonight, I figure I'm free (without the need for violence).

Accomplished on two fronts

The lecture handout is done and printed out. I'll take it off to the copy shop tomorrow after work. (It's a small enough job I'll just do it at self-serve.) The only other thing left on my to-do list is to pick up some business card cardstock and print out a bunch of cards to take with me. Usually at this point I do some read-throughs of my text for timing, but there's no way I can rehearse five hours of lectures -- especially since I'm working off-the-cuff from the outline and slides. (I have marked time-checks on the thumbnail outline, although I don't know how convenient it will be to refer to it while I talk.) That means both tonight and tomorrow night I can get to bed by 11pm. Yay.

No sign of our rodent visitor after several hours of those tempting sunflower seeds sitting out in a dark kitchen. So it looks like he's returned to the great outdoors. Yay.