I was just reading that. It was from Kelli early in the month, before the latest upgrade. It really has addressed a lot of problems. The new firmware has more sensitivity settings. I had a BAD day of splitting and some stacking, but have had none since the latest fix.

The splitting has been cured by the latest upgrade, the stacking too -- unless you DON"T lift your fingers, of course. It's a 90-day trial, with a 15% restocking fee. This latest upgrade has taken care of a LOT of issues, including not catching the bottom row of letters as cleanly as one should.

Not hurting a bit, I was just talking about becoming a LSAA member in general, an addict. :)

"I forgot to say, but you probably guessed it already, they're being taught Phoenix Theory. :( "

Well, of course they are! AAARRGH!

More is fine. I'm shaking my head just as much as you are. Spelling is important for TRANSCRIPTS! Sheesh! Look at the great RTers out there. They made their old theories work and NOT add extra strokes. WTH are these people smoking??? (I'm not gonna make a promise I can't keep. lol)

BOFT!!! Love it! I do BUT for butt. Of course if I used * with it, I could use BUT for but the, huh? d'oh! I do the others the way you do, except eye is AOEU, so open quote is two strokes (don't yell at me!). But I LOVE Chuck's AOEURBGS, AOEUFPLT, etc. So that will take care of a lot of that stuff.

Kinda headachy (nothing new), so I'm going to do something terribly uncharacteristic and go to bed not only at a decent hour, but an early one! We'll see how well I do at that since my usual bedtime is 12-1. ;)

OH! Forgot all about the LS part! Come on, Tami, it doesn't hurt a bit. Just give it a try. It won't hurt. No one ever gets addicted by just one hit . . . You're not chicken, are you? Just once . . . just once. Once can't hurt, right??

ACK!!! I commented on how I thought the SZ for double-S spellings was ludicrous. To resolve a conflict, maybe, but not as a general rule.

I think Anita Paul likes the SZ for double S, but maybe just for conflicts, like for ass, ASZ. But what's wrong with A*S for ass? That's what I do! This extra stroke nonsense . . . OMG!

Come back B for bomb??? Since when is steno a spelling test! omg . . . Now, I have to admit, bomb/bottom was a conflict for me (I mean, really, how often do I hear "bomb"?), but the trust * took care of that one.

You posted while I was still fussing with my page. I didn't even realize you'd posted! lol The email still hasn't reached me. Yesterday, one of them took over an hour!

Talk to you soon!! :)

Yes, have the dictionary. I had the privilege of meetin MK at a seminar at a time when I was considering captioning training. We hit it off well since we are same age and kids and experience, etc. I bribed him with a fishing trip and I learned quite a lot. He's the most dedicated person to his skills I've ever seen, very inspiring. Although I haven't spoken to him in a while, I still consider him a friend! Wish I could write as clean as he does. Still learning...

Thank you for the sweet and VERY wise words! Thank you for taking a moment to pass some sage advice to me.

Nice to hear from you, Tami. Yeah, if you like the DZ trick, I highly recommend the Stenomaster dictionary by Mark Kislingbury. I've incorporated some of his theory, not as much as I would like, though. I keep the book by my side in court every day, and when I'm ALERT enough to focus, I try to use them. Also nice to hear you're passing on skills to your son. We need more reporters, good ones. to keep the profession thriving or we'll be replaced someday. I appreciate that since I followed my dad into the profession. I never wanted to do anything else but what my dad did, although there are days I wish he had become a doctor! :)

Hi Tami,

I'm doing o.k. I'm planning on starting speedbuilding with Simply Steno a week from tomorrow. I had a bit of a set back. My daugher is a student at Northern Illinois, where the mass shooting took place. I had to go to Chicago all last week to be with her. She was about a 100 yards away and was in lock down in the next building for several hours. We were in constant contact via cell, but it was a very bad time. However, I hope to jump back in the saddle tomorrow and continue my progress.

Hope all is well with you, and that you're staying busy:)

Tracie

Tami,

I can't tell you how happy it makes me to know that someone out there is having some real fun with a capital F!!! Mountain Dew - oh, boy - they'll never get to bed!!! You're so smart to keep your home free from court work for as long as you possibly can. I keep trying to think of a way I can rearrange my schedule over here so I'm not all work and no play, but aside from fooling around with my background colors on my page here, that's as fun as it gets! I haven't even seen my mom since Christmas. Gee, you're making me get all sentimental thinking about me and my friends performing in front of my mom ... I bet you didn't know I've been in 22 different plays and musicals and was voted the most talented girl in my senior class in high school, did you??? Well, nobody would ever guess now!!! Keep up your fun - know that I'm having my own vicarious fun imagining you all - Jenny

Oh, Tami, bumper wasn't MY idea -- I got it from Jenny way back in June, I think it was. But I'm using that concept wherever I can now. Final R is taken? Throw in initial R -- ANYTHING to avoid an extra stroke for -er.

Hi Tami,

It is always great to hear your point of view, and I really do appreciate your experience, probably more than you know. You really should think about getting involved with students on a daily level someday. I am certain you would make those pass rates go up. Did you know that the CRB acutally hired someone to research this very topic. I am really curious what they found but I can't find the report on their website. I frequent their website and would like to be involved with the CRB one day, I'm just not sure in what capacity. I do know that I would like to make our field a better place to be and an easier place to get to. :o)

I don't get to Southwest very often. I should find out about the officialship next week. I really don't know where they are going to put all of the new people, but hopefully I will find the opportunity to get out and spread my wings a little more.

By the way, thanks for the briefs. I have used some on each page. I am hoping to incorporate all of them, but I have to go a little at a time!

Well take care and I hope you enjoy your day out of Court!

Tracy

Thanks for the welcome tami

I totally get it. My kids are 19 and 16, but my steps are 27 and 26!! talk about feeling oooooooold!

Oops, a few typos in the prior comment. I just type away and send emails and such and find typos later:) Good thing I don't do that with my transcripts!

Hi Tami,

Yes, I'm a Cypress grad from 1986. Started there in the fall of 1982, got married, had two babies and finally got out in spring of '86. Enjoyed school very much!

Your youngest is 6! Wow, you're a very busy mom. How great is that.

I'll try to call you the first week of March when I come in for jury duty and maybel I'll get lucky and you wont be totally swamped. It would be great for the all the girls to get together.

How do you like your new judge?

You must be very proud of Clay and his girlfriend too! That's just awesome.

Talk to you soon!

Paula

Wow, that's what I call working late!

Me and Clay have been doing those tapes, they're really good.. and fast! It's a good challenge though. Yeah, Clay is definetely catching up. I'm pretty sure he got the 200 he graded yesterday! whoo hoo movin up.

If he keeps his focus and enthusiasm, he is going to be special.

You have a good week too.

Greg