The CCALAC Symposium

So today is D-day. The CCALAC symposium. And I'm speaking at 11:20. I did my morning walk around the neighborhood WHILE practicing the first 10 minutes of my presentation. I think it's going to flow from there once I get going. I got back to the apartment and took a peek at the first session at 9 AM. The morning plenary. 168 people were on. Not all would be attending my talk for sure. Would they? I shrugged off negative thoughts as much as I could and focused on a triumphant feeling after my talk. And then shaved and took a shower. And put on my blue office shirt. Hadn't worn this thing in more than a year. I hated waiting. I spent a chunk of time rearranging the bedroom. Is the Zoom feed going to catch my bed? And the butterflies above it? I decided to move unnecessary furniture out. Including the desk with the lamp. And the rack that served as the repository for all my clothes. I moved them all out of the camera's way. And still got left with the bed. I had to log on an hour earlier than my session just so the "producer" and tech support could ensure my gear is ok and that video/audio feeds are good. I got on at 10:20 for the check and I'm glad we got on on time, we including Aisha and Candice from CCALAC who will serve as moderators. By the time we finished logistics check it was already 11:10! I started to count down. I kept making sure I was relaxed. Just like golf I said to myself. Just stay relaxed... As it was the talk wasn't all that hard. Because I was alone in front of my computer. It was like I was having a conversation with the world but no one was answering back. I was doing ok... until the halfway-point time check. 10 minutes left the producer said in my ear. Somehow that speeded me up. And I think I hit the wrong button on my computer. At some point I hit the END button instead of PgDn, which took me to the end of my document. And I reacted. Like it was the end of my talk. I still had a good 8 minutes to go. I had skipped at least 6 slides. Fortunately, even though I ended way early I was able to work in the material from the slides in the Q&A THANK GOD. And so I don't think anyone even noticed that I had missed stuff. All in all Aisha said I had good comments pretty much. I'll take it. Barbara Hines said I did good. I'll take that too. BIG WHEWW!!! Talk is over. I was on adrenaline that whole time. I'm all done! What a relief....