"....well, don't do that, then!" - is this really sensible?

[ghe2001]

Try ctl-alt-f1 to get out of the GUI
    ctl-alt-f2 to get back

(Remember or write down ctl-alt-f2 when you press ctl-alt-f1 :-)

And when you're in the CLI terminal, you can edit something to get your mouse back.  I don't know what it is, but someone else will probably know...

--
Glenn English