Mark, right. I was pointing out how right you are about the rarity of the word. I have lots of briefs for rare words, though: PAO piano; P-K peculiar, and others. Those were from school, and I've always remembered them and use them whenever they pop up.

Yvette, I'm on Eclipse and how many times a word has been used and when it was last used is part of the dictionary. I don't know about the other CAT systems out there.

CaseCatalyst also gives stats in the Personal Dictionary for number of times used and last used.

Yvette, currently you cannot see how many times you've used an entry in digitalCAT. However, you can strip out old entries, put in before any date. I don't have use for that feature, however. "car" is old, but I don't want to delete it.

Wanted to share a MSC testimonial with you. This lady doesn't want her name appearing on Google, so I put initials:

Mark,

May 2005 I sat for the RMR and passed the WKT.

May 2007 I sat for the RMR and passed the Lit and JC.
One or two more times I sat for the RMR testimony, but wasn't really close. Five minutes seemed so long.

April 13, 2009, I signed up for the Magnum Steno Club. The first time I gave up after only a few minutes. I was so frustrated. Then I listened to the instructional videos and focused on getting something for each word, instead of perfect, perfect, perfect, DROP, DROP, DROP. I practiced just about every day, if not every day, trying to practice 10 to 15 minutes at various times throughout the day, as you advise. It felt great to know that a little practice more often could be even more beneficial than marathon practice sessions.

May 1, 2009, I set my laptop up on my nightstand and listened to the test week instructional videos that I had missed, as well as some other instructional videos, before going to sleep. All that week I did the visualization of writing the test, writing through the hard parts, focusing, not caring how far into it we were because I was getting it, knowing I could write anything they threw at me, and how amazing I would feel when the test was over and I knew I had passed.

May 2, 2009, I took the RMR testimony exam, and when the last words were spoken, I could only smile.

June 8, 2009, it was confirmed: (full name), RMR

I really feel like Magnum Steno Club helped me get there! THANK YOU! You may not remember, but your advice at the Iowa Court Reporters Association in January 2002 is what helped me get out of Speed 175, which I had been languishing in for three months, and go on to pass the RPR 21 months after starting at AIB.

You rock! Thank you!

E.H., RMR :-)

NICE!!

Congrats to E.H., RMR!!!!

Mark, thanks for sharing that testimonial. It gives us students a lot of motivation.

Too quiet around here. I hear crickets.

I just wrote today's literary in the Magnum Steno Club. I think I would pass above 95% if it were a realtime test. It translated very clean. Why? Only beause practically everything in it, I write one stroke, as well as lots of small-word phrases. I can only accomplish this because I write SHORT. Not because of "talent" or "fast fingers."

I want to inspire you to write SHORT.

I'm an at-home student at the 120 level and love writing SHORT. My question is: would you suggest replacing my DigiText/CRAH-mixed theory with the StenoMaster theory? My goal is to pass my 225 tests within the year. Thanks!

Happy birthday, Mark! Hope it's wonderful. :)

Thanks, Brenda!

Tina-Marie, two choices. 1) Study the StenoMaster Theory (and the Magnum Steno book) and start working as many phrases into your writing as possible, while at the same time start putting your endings in the same stroke instead of writing them separately, or 2) Start over on your theory and relearn.

I never recommend #1 to someone who is all the way through theory like you. I prefer you do #2. Let me know if you have further questions!

Folks, the reason I tell you that I'm getting something well, is not to brag, but to encourage you.

Now let me tell you about today's Q&A. Some parts I wasn't getting well enough to transcribe, I can tell you that!! lol

Thanks, Mark. For clarification on Option #2: do I just need the Magnum Steno Book?

Feelings very encouraged today from all of these comments!!!:) I think I followed Number 2, when I just chose a section I thought would help me most, and I'm learning them right from the beginning of the "chapter" to the end, changing all of my writing to the magnum steno theory. This way in the end I won't have any conflicts!

is it really your Birthday, Mark? If so, I wish you a WONDERFUL birthday!!!!!

Yeah, Mark! Happy Birthday!!!

Mark,
HAEP PW-RD!!!! Hope it's a great day for you!

Happy Birthday!

Wishing you many more with all your wishes come true, good health, continued good cheer, and continued success and happiness...

Mark,

Hope your day was as awesome as you are!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Mark,
See you when you get back from Canada, eh?

Sorry that I've been in the cricket choir.

Last week of school. I'll say no more. :)

H-BD, Mark.

Guess I'm a little late, BUT at least I one stroked it. HA!

Tami,
I figured you would have a one-stroke for happy birthday. Thanks.

Tina-Marie, you'd probably need both, StenoMaster Theory and Magnum Steno.

Thank you, everyone, for your kind birthday wishes.

Mark,
I use the J and Y to pull words together and hypenate them, you know. But one that messes me up is the suffix -in.
I keep forgetting it's "engine."
today I wrote "a lock engine loan"

how do ya do it?

Well, maybe you should have learned them the way I do them, J for prefix and Y for suffix. HA!

J comes earlier in the alphabet, so it's a prefix. Y is at the end of the alphabet; hence, a suffix.

(I know you remember the sermon.)

Of course I still two stroke "engine." :(

Did you start a new trial today?

My jury just retired at 10:45, and we're picking another jury at 1:30.

And you think I don't work hard. :)

"Engine" is now ENG.

I just tested it out. It was "evening," but I use the *F with "evening." Must have been an old entry.

Sorry for butting in. I'm sure Mark will get you the answer you need. :)

Good answer, Tami.
I do the Y- and J- as prefix and suffix, I guess thinking : 3 fingers on left is prefix, and 4 fingers on left is suffix.

So, downward = YOUN/WARD and rundown = RUN/JOUN

I don't have hyphenated versions - I tend to just DEFINE them if they should be hyphenated.

Canada went really well. Glad to be back in Texas though. Home.

"We were men with sorrows behind us, and battles too; men with regrets behind us of which we did not speak, nor too often think. With none to share our sorrows or regrets, we kept them to ourselves, and our faces were impassive. Men with no one to share their feelings learn to conceal those feelings. We often spoke lightly of things which we took very seriously indeed. We were sentimental men, but that was our secret, for an enemy who knows your feelings is an enemy who has a hold on you. Not all poker is played over a card table." - Louis L'Amour, "The Lonely Men" (a western novel)

Please tell me what you think of today's instructional video, about the math.

Mark,

I happen to think that showing the math side to writing short is great. For those who have doubts, you really can't argue with the numbers. What an eye-opener when you show the percentages.

As an aside, today was my very first day as a member to the club. Tami highly recommended it, and I can tell already it will be helpful.

I loved the math! Thanks for working it up. It is very encouraging to see that RPR and ultimately RMR speeds are possible as I continue to shed/modify the Phoenix theory that I originally learned. What a physically burdensome theory to have learned--thanks for speaking out against the dogma of those who teach it!!

I'm not really trying to learn how to change the way I do it. I just thought that maybe somebody has shared my engine mistake and that there was a solution.
I remember my way fine and without spending time recalling the alfbet.

Or I guess I should say Mark's way.

Mark was fantastic in Canada because I was there! Thanks Mark for such a fantastic seminar. I hope you had a great trip home. I love the Magnum steno club too!

So, Mark, since I rudely jumped in the middle of Clay's question to you, how do you differentiate "engine" from the suffix -in??

So he'll still call me once a week -- if he needs something. :)


Susan, so glad you loved your first day with The Club!

Loved the Math video, Mark!
You're such an inspiration.

Thanks, Susan!! Welcome to the Club! You are going to shoot up to the top echelon of reporters, skillwise, in a very short time! Remember - most reporters do NOT practice.

Gary, thanks for saying so!
Thanks, Vicki, for the kind words! Canada was fun, and Toronto the weather was so great!
Thanks, Katherine!

Tami,

I really don't write a suffix "~in" or "-in" because it's so rare. "We had a run-in with the law." I pretty much write the hyphen and the word "in". Unless I'm missing something.

Thanks, Michelle!

Look tomorrow for great practice on "yes, I did" "no, I didn't" "yes, he did" and "no, I did not"

By the way, I define them like this:

, yes, I did
, no, I didn't
, no, I did not
, yes, he did

LOVED LOVED LOVED today's video:) Made me laugh, too! And.... actually made me think I might attempt a speed contest some day. hmmmmmm....... :D

Very happy to hear that, Erica!!

Mark,
Great math video today. Very encouraging!

thanks, Christine!

Mark,

Do you use a right-side "talk" and "ask"?

Kathryn,

That's so AWESOME!!!!

I don't think I'm going to make it this year, BUT that sure gave me the missing-out feelin'.

I'm actually taking off the majority of July AND the first two weeks in August, BUT I think my husband would kill me if I brought my machine home. HA!

While I'm not a "closet drinker," I'm somewhat of a "closet practicer." :)

I'm going to kick it around for a couple days and see how I feel -- my hands especially.

The speed contests are so much fun, and everyone is soooo super nice.

On one of Mark's videos he talks about screaming women at the awards ceremony when they find out they passed a leg -- even though it's in the teens, like me. I just cracked up when I heard it -- knowing I was definitely one of the screamers he was talking about.

I think you have higher goals than I do, Kathryn, and I'm sure you'll be successful at achieving those goals in your CR lifetime -- probably more sooner than later.

I wanna go . . . :(

Well, I got my results for the Nevada exam. I'm allowed 50 errors on the machine. I got 8. Thank you, Mark. I'm allowed 45 errors on the written. I got 46. Wow. I haven't taken a written exam in 20 years, and it shows. I have my CA license. Moved to NV and wanted it. Anyway, does anyone know whether I can contest a question on the written?