Problem!?

It's severe upper respiratory CRUD I've been doing battle with for, lo, these passing 3 weeks now, I've lost my voice!
I haven't had laryngitis in decades.
People talk to me on the phone and say, "My word, Dorko! You sound terrible!!!"
(!?)
"Yeah," I sweetly reply, "but I'm just as cute as I EVER was!"
PROBLEM?
I have to give a talk in my Business and Professional Speaking Class this Friday!
And I have no voice.
Maybe I can just type it all out and employ the old follow along with the "bouncing ball" trick, projecting it on screen, at the front of the class. =)
I gave a small verbal report this morning... and it was a real struggle, even with the scintillating subject matter I'd chosen.
Topic this morning you wonder?
How "we" differ in our treatment of animals... last week's Gazette published 2 reports (and 2 very different methods of operandi!) for escapee animals.
Item one, a news release from the eastern edge of Nebraska, told the story of 2 cows making a run for it, somehow managing an escape from holding pens in Omaha, (They have big holding pens there, think of the world reknown 'Omaha Stakes') ... said cows, running wild, through the streets of Omaha, NE. (Can you imagine!?) The Omaha Police Department in hot pursuit, reported that after several attempts to regain control of the situation and capture the cattle, the bovines were unceremoniously shot dead.
(I was kinda saddened by the report. Thought, for a moment that it would have been 'nice' if they (the outlaw cattle) had been recognized for their ingenuity and daring, and given pardon. May be even put out to pasture rather than dressed up for the diner table, but that's just fanciful me.)
Another account last week, detailed the bravado of a Show Doggie of a different sort. Champion Bohem Cest La Vive, the full name for a Whippet, more commonly refered to as "Vivi".
Said article related how search efforts had escalated to now include 12 Psychics engaged now, in consultations with authorities as to the whereabouts of the Westminster Kennel Club winner... and, get this, there's been a $5,000 dollar reward posted... (I'm thinking you have to bring Vivi in alive to collect it though.) The 12 Psychics were mostly stressing a strong sense that the dog was safe and sheltered in a warm area. The hunt for Vivi began when she somehow managed to escape handlers, thus, leading airport personel, both on foot, and in 3 different vehicles, in a run across the tarmacs of JFK International Airport, reaching top speeds of upto 25-30 miles per hour. Vivi somehow managed to nose her way into a marshy area of the grounds and that's where the trail went cold. The end of the report stated that, "Droppings consistent with those of a 30 pound whippet were found near cargo bays." Some of which are heated. Them Psychics might be on to something - the heated cargo bays were being searched as of that reporting!
So! Vivi apparently stopped long enough to drop a load! =)
(Sorry, couldn't resist a snarkism, here...) And provide a bright hope of picking up on her trail, once more! (I know, I know! I'm bad.)
Get-ALong-Little-Doggie! (What ever that means!)
I'm wishing for the best of all possible out comes for Vivi, a whippet. A whippet good...
:D