Thank you very much for the birthday card!

Are you seeing some progress???

Hi Christine. Thank you for the birthday wishes :)

resonded to your note through your inbox!! have a great day!

Thank you for all the good wishes! I just got back from a hectic long (family wedding) weekend -- but it was good to get away, even just for a few days.

Yes, you definitely can do it!

The Report-It sits on your lap and supports your forearms which supports your shoulders. It's expensive, (Stenograph) but I really can't work without it. That's what Kelly was also talking about right under my post that her friend loves.

I have heard of reporters who didn't care for it, so it's not guaranteed you'll like it, BUT I really can't work a minute without mine.

Yes, it only makes sense that if you write shorter, it's less stress on your body. I know reporters are terrible in math, BUT even I can figure that math out. :)

AND . . . really try to limit your time on the QWERTY.

I actually thought of you after I posted last night. I went in the jacuzzi with my boys, and the jets feel absolutely awesome on my forearms. If you can get your forearms on a jet, do that as much as you can, too.

This sounds really silly, but I swear deep pressure on the bottom of my feet opens up my whole body. My husband is the best at that. I swear that keeps me going. Even if you have one of those thingamajiggies that you step on and self massage. Try it out.

B-6, too!

I'll be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers!!

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

Thanks

Ha! Yep, I'm a bit of a masochist. I walked into a job yesterday with 9 lawyers in the room and 3 more on the phone! It was tough, but, lots of copies and a next day expedite! It's that jackpot in the world of court reporting.

Keep up the good work! You'll get there. :)

Christine, thank you so much for the happy birthday wish. That is very sweet of you.

Michelle

Christine,

I think it's under where our pics go. It says "theme." Then I just sort of surfed around and found it. I really never know what I'm doing. I just start hitting buttons and see what happens!

Thanks for the birthday wish. The wish is to have the 0/9 rush that you did!!

Where did you find the cool birthday card thing?

Christine,

Thanks for the birthday wishes!!

Christine, thank you. That was kind of you.

Hi Christine,

I went to Chatt State Tech in east TN, and even though I did not attend any other schools or do any online stuff, I'm willing to bet that it's one of THE, if not THE, most affordable school out there. The first year, we only had to pay $750 a semester plus a few books. That first year is all about immersion in the machine. We went from 8-2:30 every day and were on the machine for at least 4 of those hours learning the StenEd theory. The next year, the classes were more like college classes; the speed class was 10-10:50 one semester, 2-2:50 the next, etc. There were some academics to take, but since I have a bachelor's from the Univ. of TN, I had most of those covered, thank goodness. One semester's cost in that second year was about $1400 plus books. Extremely reasonable from what I've heard and read about!
Closed captioning is great fun. With Capt CO, we mainly do local news, weather, and sports shows from many different states. I do love it a lot. Since I prefer the night, I have a few more hours to pick up since many like to work during the day. Being relatively new, I don't have as many options when it comes to hours, but that's fine. I'm willing to work my way up until they have a daytime sched if I even want one at that point. I usually work from 4 p.m. EST til 3 a.m. est. That's not all in a row, but those are my hours of availability. Being part-time, I work an average of 65-70 hours a month.

I graduated school in two years, which is the "right" and "on time" time that one needs to do it going to Chatt. State. However, no one else I started with has graduated yet or has a job in captioning. :( I started in Aug. 2006 and grad. Aug. 2008. I was hired by Capt CO in late Nov and started Jan 2.

Keep me updated on the progress!

Katie

Hi Christine, Thanks so much for the Birthday Greeting!!! It was very much appreciated.

Hi, Christine. Thank you for posting my article and you're very welcome. Thanks for making it look very good with the font and all. Love the briefs joke, haha. And yes, my better half, Lily, is the one that convinced me to go to CR school. I actually had just quit law school after a year and a half of that not long before I met her, so I didn't want to go back to school and it took her two years to get me to go. Glad I finally did. I love it! If only I had known about it earlier.

I go to Sage College in Moreno Valley, but I just checked out your school yesterday. Very different from what I'm used to. I love how they teach realtime at your campus, and the staff seemed very friendly. How do you like it?

Thanks for the b-day comment, Christine! Everyone on this site seems so friendly. lol. Yes, I was soooo excited to finally meet THE Mark Kislingbury in person and go to one of his seminars.

I have tried to incorporate some of his theory into my Sten Ed/ Brief Encounters theory to write short. Some of his briefs work and some don't for me. It's good that you're learning his theory right from the beginning, so you won't have to "unlearn" strokes to conform to the new strokes.

Thanks also for the congrats for passing my qualifier! I'm soo excited to be taking the state exam!! :-) Just keep working on it, and you'll get there too!! If you have any questions, feel free to ask me! Well, have fun writing!!

Yes, it is very cool being able to see my grandson every day. Pretty awesome. Thanks so much for the birthday wishes. Good luck with school. I hope you don't have carpal tunnel and are able to continue pursuing your certification.

Thank you kindly for the birthday wishes :)

And good luck with your Court Reporting classes.

Christine:

I teach all classes, with a special focus on real-time for captioning.

Thanks for the Birthday wishes!

What a great picture, Christine! I only wish I was that young.

Thanks for the wishes! Tricia

Thanks for the birthday card! :)

JD

Oh, CR school was so long ago. I don't know if I can remember any tips that would be helpful. I wish I had made a better choice of what firm to work with when I first got certified 18 years ago. I went through six months of agony and didn't want to be a CR after the first firm experience I had. Luckily, I got out of there and have found great places to work since then. I also wish I had less conflicts in my writing. I learned a lot of conflicts in the CR theory I was taught, and it's hard to change your writing years later after it's so ingrained in your mind. That's probably a moot point with the RT training that is given in CR school nowadays, though. Also, I would recommend getting your NCRA certification. I never thought I would need it but circumstances have changed, and if I had gotten my RPR then I could be reporting right now in the state I have relocated to. Good luck, Christine.

Well, I was fortunate to not have to work that much while in school, so I could devote a lot of time to practicing. That's good you're goal is to reach 225!! Are you planning on taking the RPR? I would suggest going for it while in school, since that's when your speed is at its peak!

Anyway, because I go to a Mon-Fri school, 8:30-2:00, I have PLENTY of time to practice. But since you work parttime that's not possible for you. I find that practicing at least an hour a day will work. What I do is practice ridiculously fast speeds, like 230-250 wpm for 20 minutes and then slow down the speeds to 200-210 for another 20 minutes. You'll find that writing at fast speeds will make 200 seem very easy!

However, since you're at 160, I would try practicing 180 wpm for a push and then drop it down to 160-170 to pass those 160 tests. That's what I found got me through the speeds quickly.

Also, I would write down multisyllabic words and look them up in Brief Encounters and commit them to memory. Since you're incorporating Mark K's theory w/ yours, this should be easy. Then I would designate at least 20 minutes trying to memorize all the new briefs that you wrote down.

So, with 20 minutes practice writing 10-20 wpm above your current speed, writing 20 minutes at your target speed, and then spending 20 minutes defining and memorizing briefs, you will be able to spend an hour daily devoted to school. Well, this schedule worked for me, anyway. :-)

Hope these suggestions helped!!

thank you so very much for the birthday wish... i go to argonaut court reporting in sacramento. im at speed 200 right now, with one more test to go before im in qualifiers. i think all the advice trevor just posted is really good advice... especially the practicing at higher speeds. it really does help. i look forward to hearing from you again. ttyl.

It's a good goal to have. Reaching one goal after the next is how I got through court reporting school, and it's how I progress as a reporter, too. I hope it doesn't look like I'm bragging; just seemed pertinent to list them all because, after all, this is a professional networking site.

Thanks for the birthday wishes.

I just pro tem. I don't have a regular court that I go to on a regular schedule. Sorry. Actually, I haven't been in court since January. If you want, I can check around for any freelance jobs I get assigned to in August if you'd like to sit out with me on one of those.

Christine,
you may sit out with me any time.
students sit out with me frequently!
my office is 714-834-5527
we start at 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
come for the whole day or half day.
be at my courtroom at those times that's
when they unlock the door and you can
come in and set up. bring your computer!
we'll have fun with realtime!!
Central Justice Center, Santa Ana
700 West Civic Center Dr.
Dept. C65, 3rd floor
kathy hettick

That would be awesome, Christine!!

I actually will be off work the first two weeks in August -- well, until August 13, the day after my boys go back to school.

So . . . if the time works for you, I'd love to have you. Just be forewarned, I will probably talk your steno ear off. :)

My office number is : (951) 304-5117. I'm all the way down in Murrieta at the Southwest Justice Center, though, which is a good trek from you, but I'd still love to have you.

Hi Christine,

I see that you are in the Los Angeles area but if you will be up north here in August, you are very welcome to shadow me. I am in a criminal jury assignment but because my judge is so good at settling cases, we are doing that mostly. Every once in a while, we will take a case to trial. If we get done with our "shake-down" of cases for the week, we will do prelims. So, yeah, let me know when you will be in my area and will be interested in sitting in with me. I'm in the downtown San Jose area of California.

Lily

HI, Christine,
I want to warn you that 160 wpm might not be
enough to keep up with the fast talking attys and
the emotionally charged ligitants. But if you're
game, I'm game!! I use lots of briefs to keep up,
which I'm glad to share - but only if you want them.
Briefs can slow you down, too, if you're not used to
using them or they are unfamiliar to you.

Still come when you get a chance, I'm glad to share
what I do and how I do it. You will learn how we
handle the calendar and the cases in our courtroom. Just remember no two courtrooms are
exactly alike, and that's the beauty of sitting out with several different reporters in different courtrooms.
It will be fun! and you will learn something
new - I promise!!!!
Kathy Hettick

Being a legal videographer is a great way to make some cash. You don't have to go to school to do it. The trick is to find a court reporting agency that has their own in-house videographers and let them train him. It's not hard at all. He just has to learn a few procedural things. When he's been doing it for a little while he can start taking the tests to become certified. It can be expensive because the classes are only held a few times a year and they are alternately held on the east and west coasts. Unless he gets lucky and they're being held close to home, he's gonna have to shell out for airfare and hotel as well as the conference and testing fees. I'm in Charlotte and had to go to Reno and St. Louis for my conferences. But once he's done with the CLVS, he can go on his own (as long as he has his own equipment) and freelance just like a court reporter. He doesn't necessarily have to certified (I did this for several years before I was CLVS), but it does help open doors.

Christine,
Thank you so much for the b-day wishes.
In re: Carpal tunnel. I do not have CT but I will say that if I use a non-ergonomic keyboard for any length of time I will have wrist "issues/pain."
I see that there are lots of comments so I'm assuming that you have plenty of info on repositioning your writer down and away from you to extend your wrists out.
I truly hope you do not have the dreaded CT!!

Nice counter. Much fancier than mine. Sorry about needing an official. But there are a few officials on here. You could always try asking one of them.

Hi, Christine. Nice to meet you. Just focus, work hard, practice, practice, practice, surround yourself with other students with positive attitudes, and you WILL be a CR one day!

Thank you so much! Very sweet.

LOL. No problem, I don't mind. Well, I'm glad I was able to help you. Have fun writing!

I love your page! nice additions.
I never knew there was a Real Simple
Web site.
kathy

Hey, Christine. Not sure if it is a problem on my computer or what, but I couldn't get your Joss Stone music to play! :(

Christine,
Of course I'd be happy to let you observe my crazy courtroom!!! However, my bench officer is gone the first two weeks in August; so we can't do it until the latter part of the month. We do have another referee sitting in for her, but trust me, you don't want to observe THAT!!! It would just be tooo discouraging for reasons I won't post here. Anyway, call me or e-mail me when you're ready.
Children's court is in Monterey Park. We deal exclusively with dependency, not delinquency. It certainly can take an emotional toll, but you block it out because you have to. There are aspects about it I love, like adoption day. That's so uplifting and inspiring to watch. But like I said, just call or e-mail, and we'll chat more then.
Until then, practice, practice, practice!!
TTYL.
Josie Contratto
(323) 526-6483
jdccsr@aol.com

Hi Christine,
Thank you for the birthday wishes...wow, you were only at Jonnell's for a short time and you remember me? yes, I did work for her for about five years...I was there when Salpi was there, I love it when she was there...from what I understand she is no longer there. I Ieft Jonnell's about three years ago..I'm up in the Bay Area now...you didn't stay there very long?

I see you're a student. How is that going? I remember being a student, for me it felt like forever...but for me even though it was a lot of work, I had a lot of fun....

Well, thanks again for the birthday wishes.....and happy writing...

annette

The day is fine. I just can't guarantee your BF would be able to get in the courtroom. They just built it for my new judge, and it's super tiny. If we are picking a jury, which is a common Monday thing, he will not get in. We have enough seats for 39 jurors, and they don't even let family of the parties in because there's not an extra seat.

I haven't had a student sit in with me yet in the new courtroom either. It will be tight, but I think we can swing it. When I get back to work, I'll set up an extra chair and see how it works.

Well as far as the music, it has to be in mp3 format. I added 5 songs yesterday and they all worked. Also, in the options, you can set it to auto play. If you don't, people have to click it. Still if yours is mp3, it should play when I click, but it's not.

As far as school, everything is good. I have two left at 180, the Q&A and the 4-voice. Do you not have 4-V? We do at every speed from 140 on. It's by far the hardest. I have not passed any this summer, but I am extremely close on those two and the next lit.

And do I have testimony briefs she asks? Ha, ha, ha, ha. I have briefs coming out of places I didn't even know I had. I'm a briefer. I might not be good at anything else, but I can do that. They're not all organized, but I do have one file that I made explicitly for QA and 4-V. Its long and I'm sure you can find some useful stuff in it somewhere. I'll see if I can upload it here!

Take care!

QA and 4-V Briefs and Phrases Update.xlsx

Thank you Christine :)
I am new to the cite and am fascinated with the different career area's available in this field. I am enjoying my studies and can't wait to get started.
Thanks again.
Phyllis

Quyen Do has it right on, Christine: Stick with positive people. It's as much a part of the process as the testing! You'll do great. And thanks for the b-day wishes. Love of strangers! Ha!

Best of luck,
Suzanne

It's a beautiful courthouse, 13 depts -- was 12 before adding the baby courtroom -- and the Promenade Mall is 15 minutes down the road. All the other courtrooms are huge, except one juvenile dept that has closed hearings, and there are no size constraints.

We always have some pretty big cases going on, so if he finds the criminal justice system interesting, I'm sure he could find something going on that would pique his interests, if we have no room for him in my dept.

I'm off with a bad shoulder right now, but it's gotten so much better these past two weeks that I'm sure I'll be back going strong before then. You'll just need to post me or call me the Friday before to remind me you're coming out.

If you're spending the whole day and really want a "date," my husband and I just found a Thai massage place that is incredible. We had tandem massages in the same room with all the Thai decor. It was absolutely fabulous for $50 pp.

Morning in court, Thai massage in the afternoon???

Of course we have all the beautiful wineries down here, too, that are absolutely wonderful to visit.

I love our valley here. We might be the dirt people, but I LOVE the dirt!!. :)

Oh, our dept usually starts at 9:00. I'll know for sure when you touch base the Friday before what we're doing and when we're starting.

We'll have fun!

okay. uh-oh you asked me for advice...how much time you got?!! lol...just kidding...you know when your mom told you to do something and you basically ignored it, then when you got older you realized she was right? Well, that is what happened with me....here is what i learned:

You do your trail, goal, and push speeds like everyone tells you. and you BRIEF the heck out of everything. When I was in theory I learned a theory that stroked everything out!! That is ridiculous. I won't say which theory it was but it's harder to relearn it...it's possible, just takes more work....so brief everything.

I'd say sit out as much as you can...even more than is required. What you get out of sitting out is the exposure. your dictionary will increase and you'll come across vocabulary that will be part of your actual job. you'll see words that you'll want to brief which, guess what?, makes your writing faster. When you go out, complete a transcript like it was your, under the same deadline as if you were expected to turn it in. what happens is you find out how much work it really is. this is not to discourage you. it really is to encourage your better writing by briefing. does that make sense. the cleaner your write at a job, the less work you have at home. you'll come across words that you will see wow, how can i write that better...so when you go back to class(provided you practiced that word/words) the brief will come up.

So i guess it comes down to brief, brief, brief and sit out often...

I hope that helps....