You're welcome for the briefs. No problem at all. Congrats on passing the Jury charge! I guess you don't need the JC briefs file/s I have then? Hehe. I am a little disappointed I didn't pass any tests this summer, but I am extremely close on a couple of them and now I have the whole month of August off to practice and then come back and start passing them in September. Interesting to hear about the 4-V difference, and yea, I am kind of glad we get it early on. I wished we had it even earlier. It took me a long time to get the hang of it. As for the music, no, nothing legal. I've heard a lot of people use a program called Limewire, but of course its not legal if you don't have the rights to a copyrighted song (any song).

Hi Christine: I am blessed with CSRnation friends as well as the support other steno students have given me over the past few years.
I started taking my "older" machine to church, sitting in the balcony, and punching the keys on that dinosaur off to the side, so that people weren't thinking that I was going to SUE the PASTOR! lol....And its a good thing, because one woman asked me what i was doing, and I told her I was a student.. She said "Oh, ok," like she approved. Our pastor must have noticed me in the back, but said nothing, so, I approached him and let him know that i was a student and that I could kill two birds with one stone by attending church, listening to his sermon, and taking it down on paper record with Steno technology. This older machine doesn't need electricity, its one of those old 70's dark green unit with the messy ribbon. Anyway, if your brain makes your fingers move, then your nerve synapses in your brain are "firing", whether your machine runs out of ink, or writes on "air" like the Stenograph Mira unit (can't wait to get that one). I must have been at or near 120 wpm back then, just a year and a half ago, now around 160-220 depending on the difficulty content of the dictation. It made me think out of the box, when he would say "Nebuchadnezzar" or "Zedekiah", to the extent that I was inventing and remembering new brief forms for syllabic combinations. I gravitated toward Mark Kislingbury's style of short-stroke methodology, which I believe is the key to doing this stenonerd thing with the most efficiency, because it allows you to do it for hours without your brain overheating.
Anyway, thanks for the birthday wishes, and keep it up, if I can DO IT,, anybody can,, just don't quit...keep searching and inventing key combinations that don't conflict with anything else, and make it a personal vendatta to master the English language in steno so that when you see a letter combination, especially one that your brain came up with, you know immediately what it is.
God bless you
Dale Lardie

The other courtrooms are right down the hall, four of them, and then one floor up and one floor down, so he doesn't have to go far. Maybe we'll have room, too, and he can squeeze in with us.

Our mall is pretty cool. They just added on and remodeled, and I really love it -- even though I hate to shop. It's the eating thing that gets me excited. :)

Christine! Thank you for the CUTEST birthday v-card! What a picture! As you know I love cats...ALL ANIMALS, actually! The more the merrier! Darline

Hi Christine! Your page is really great! I hope you did well on your test today and remember to pra, pra, pra over the summer break! See you in September :)

Thanks so much for the Birthday wish! Ahh, chocolate ;-)

Ah, thank you so much!

Hi Christine: Hey, thanks for the birthday wishes,,,, you are the bestest (I don't have a stroke for that one).....I love this website don't you? We are a rare breed taking a perfectly good language like English and inverting it, slicing it up, and reforming it up L O L......Anyway, take care and God bless you!
Dale L.

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

It took me three years to complete school. I would've been done sooner, but the first school I attended went bankrupt right after I reached 200 wpm. Then I struggled at the new school because it was much larger, I didn't know anyone and just felt so uncomfortable that I would often skip.

I guess everyone has their own technique... I read Annette's comment about briefing. I rarely use briefs; they do come in handy during jury charges, though! Briefs cause me to hesitate while writing 'cause I have to actually think about what I'm doing at the moment. I find it easier to just stroke everything out. That's just me, though!! I passed the skill portion of the state test but failed the written by three points. Who does that?? It's usually the other way around! Hopefully I'll get it this time.

My only advice is to just keep at it, be confident while writing, and don't listen!! Good luck to you!!!

Hello Christine,

Thank you for the birthday well wishes. You are a sweetheart. That really touched me. I just love CSRnation.

23 years and....thank God.....no carpal tunnel for me. Best wishes with school. Remember, practice, practice, practice. I did every day for 2 hours solid in addition to class time and completed school in 18 months!!

Christine, I too work at a law firm as a receptionist. I work full-time. I bring my machine to work and practice here. I'm also doing internship. There is a CR firm next door so I go on Wednesdays to intern for a few hours. I love it but sometimes I get frustrated because I don't get every word.

I haven't passed any certifications yet. Thanks for adding me as your friend.
btw, are you on FB? I would like to add you there too if you are.

Thank you for the birthday wishes!!

Jodi

Hey, Christine. Sorry it took some time, but here is a file of JC briefs that I made a while back. Some words and phrases are more obviously JC than others. You won't get the categorizing and the funny comments in this one though. Its simply in alpha order, and then some extra ones I added at the bottom. Here --

Jury Charge Briefs Update 3.31.xlsx

Thank you for the birthday wishes.
That was very sweet of you!!!

Okay, Christine. You are in my doghouse! How come I wasn't informed about the Flash Card Machine! I found it from your page and omg, I love it. It DEFL is the most helpful tool to study briefs that I have ever found! Its quick and easy to create the cards because you can take an excel file (like the ones I gave you) and copy the text and steno columns into a text document, then upload it. Bam, flashcards created. Then you can set them to auto flip at a certain number of seconds, and you can keep this screen of flashcards up over your realtime so that you can see your realtime and the flash cards both TAIMT. As you get better at the briefs each time you practice, you can have the cards flip faster. Oh man how much more efficient my briefs PRA will be!

Here is a link to the flashcard groups that I have created so far -- http://www.flashcardmachine.com/p/2ox51u

Haha. Thanks for the seal of awesomeness! You find the best graphics (or make them?). Too funny. Okay. You are officially out of the doghouse. Your idea for the top posts on your website is a great idea. And yes, -FK (of course) you may post a link to my flashcards wherever you would like. I am equal opportunity briefer. lol.

Super!!

Monday is my judge's first day back from judge's school, so I'm pretty positive we will be picking a jury Monday morning.

My first day back to work is Thursday this week -- after being off for six weeks, so I'll be a bit busy playing catchup.

You are bringing your machine, right??

If we start picking a jury, your BF will have to find another courtroom to watch, but there's always something good going on.

So you're the first student I'll have sit out with me in the baby courtroom.

There's NOOOOO room, but I'm making it for you!!

We'll be so close I might be able to give you a hand if you fall behind. :)

Oh, and I promise not to forget my deodorant on Monday!!

Hey, Christine! Thanks for the cute birthday flower! That was sweet! About the pro tem work, no, that's not what I do. The circuit I work for doesn't have any official reporters. They just use our firm to cover everything. So I am an independent contractor with a reporting firm, it just so happens where I live all we do is court work. I am not too familiar with the pro tem work. That may be something you can look into, but I don't really know how that works. Sorry, I wish I could be more helpful.
Captioning is something I really want to get into one day. I just don't feel my realtime skills are there yet. But I would suggest if you really are considering captioning, to start working on your real time skills while you're still in school. I told myself to do that, but I was in a hurry to pass my speeds and get out! But it would be beneficial to you to try to tweak your real time skills now and even if you decide to work in court, it will still be a great benefit!
I wish you the best of luck in school! Sounds like you're almost there! Feel free to ask me any questions any time!

Well, you've probably been told this a million times and you probably don't want to hear it, but practice, practice, practice!! That's the best way to get through school and improve your skill. I always practiced at least 20 wpm above the speed I was working on. For example, if working on 160, practice at 180. More than 20 wpm is a bit of a reach plus it's kind of discouraging!
Also, I would suggest learning briefs. However, if you use briefs and they cause you to hesitate, then I would suggest writing it out. But learn as many briefs as you can without bogging yourself down because the shorter you write, the faster you will be.
Mark Kilingsbury has a good theory. It's all about writing short. Even if you learned a different theory in school, you could still incorporate some of his theory. I actually pulled his book out the other day for myself! Some of it is kind of out there, but a lot of it is really helpful. So practice and learning breifs are probably the best tips I can give you. Good luck!

Well, Christine, bad news.

My senior took me out of my courtroom next week. First time since I've been assigned with my judge. I whined the day before I came back to work (Wednesday) that it would be nice to have a day or two in my office this week while my judge was at judge's school to catch up -- I never ask for time out of court, but with the shoulder acting up and six weeks off, I felt I needed to.

So, anyway, now I get a lot of next week out of court, including Monday. It really is nice of her to offer it to me right now when I asked, as I never do until I'm drowning.

You are still welcome to come out. I just will not be in court -- of course unless somebody calls in sick or some other emergency.

I'm sure I can find you another reporter to sit out with, if you still want to come out, and I will be available to talk a bit in my office.

So it's up to you.

I think I gave it to you, but just in case, my office number is (951) 304-5117. If you decide to come out anyway, just call me, and I'll come looking for you.

We have 11 depts with reporters, so, like I told you in the past, we'll have something going on for sure. It's just up to you if you still want to drive this far.

Have a great weekend!

I'm so glad it works out for you!! Thank you for being so gracious.

I'm actually pretty excited about the extra time. It's just something I never get offered.

Clay and I both got a special CR massage today. Tried out the Massage Envy closest to us.

Are you familiar with them??

I really don't like the setup, but it might work for us. It's kind of like joining a gym. You pay $59 for one massage a month and $39 for any other massages during the month.

I don't do anything where they hit my credit card direct. I did a gym membership once like that by my old work, ended up getting hurt permanently, I lived an hour away, so I had to pay the next 11 months without using it.

BUT they let you do a three-month membership paying three massages in advance, and if I decide to go with them, that's the route I'd take.

I usually get my weekly (deep) massage at the chiro's office for $35, but they aren't always available.

So . . . as far as this being easier on the other side, I personally don't think it's easier. It's a lot of hard work, BUT I wouldn't want to do anything else. I really, really love what I do.

My son worked really hard in school, but these past couple months he's been killing himself. He also seems to love what he's doing. He's hardly had a day off -- besides taking a vacation to SFRAN for a couple days -- since the spring. He's been working every Saturday and Sunday, too.

He did a daily on a civil jury trial a couple weeks ago all by himself, which is pretty unheard of around here, so I guess if you can say "no" more successfully than we can, maybe it might be easier???

Of course all I know is court. Maybe you can skate more taking depos, CART, etc.

Wherever you end up, I really think you're the personality that will immerse yourself into what you're doing and do a great job.

Anyway, thanks again!! Any time you feel like taking a long drive, please think about me.

Hi, Christine!! yes, please stay in touch.

Where and how do you get all those neat pictures and art work on your messages and blogs?? I love how you are able to do that!!
kathy

Ha! Just noticed the "steno nerd" nick name.
I laav it!

Monti (Some sort of nerd)

Thanks Christine for the birthday wishes!
Kim

Thank you so much for the add and I am so glad you like being here :D

you have a fabulous blog, you obviosly like what you do, I have no doubt in my mind you will be a successful reporter soon.

Monti

Thanks for the kind birthday wishes!

have a great day!

By the way, thanks for mentioning our site on your blog, makes me feel vewy guud.

Very nice new picture!

Thanks for the birthday wishes, Christine. It was a great one!

If you ever need a videographer in So Cal, please check us out at digidepositions.net . You can reach me at 323 333 8462.

Happy Weekend

David

Thanks so much!
I really appreciate people noticing changes :D

Monti

Thanks for the B-day greeting, Christine. BTW, I love your B-day graphics!

Thanks so much!! Wow, I just have to tell you, I just had a terrible experience with a scopist from this site. She had three days of a trial and told me she was done, how great it was, sent me the bill but not the job. Thankfully I didn't pay it. Finally job was due the next day and I asked her to please send the job, that it was due the next day and I still had to proof and print out. She informed me I would not get it until next week, that it was a mess, etc., etc. I could not believe it. She lied over and over and told me she was done with all three days and was proofing it, to send her more stuff, which I did. Thank goodness I had enough sense not to pay her. I really don't think I would have ever seen the job. Just had to pass the word.

Thanks Christine! When does your school start back up? Good luck with getting your final 160 - you can do it!

Thanks for the "Happy Birthday" shoutout!

How are 160s going?

Heyy! thanks for everything. I am going to add a link to your page on my page. =]
Your blog is awesome. It's great you have time keep up with it. I am really trying hard, but being married, 20 years old, full-time college student, full-time stenographer, and huge party girl and world traveler, it's really hard!! lol.

Thanks, Christine!

Thanks, that was very nice of you.

Thank you, Christine, for the Birthday wishes. It was really nice to open my email this morning with such a thoughtful gesture.
Sandra Fernald

Hey Christine, I hope jury duty is going okay!

We didn't take a break this summer. My teacher is Jewish and has a lot going on in September with her son's bar mitzvah and the Jewish holidays, so we will be taking some brief breaks next month - but for right now, we're plowing through! Remember to study! You'll hit your goals faster!

I feel like 225 is right within my reach. I know I can do it! You're going to pass your 160 as soon as you get back, it will be great!

Thanks for the birthday wish. I think using my steno machine is faster than typing every letter of every word. It is very good practice and I've built my dictionary immensely with not only many words but many ways of writing a word and or phrase. I work with a 4-channel tapes which are just awful because here in Ontario, Canada most of the proceedings are monitored which means they speak over each other far too much. Of course if it's excessive the Court or myself would intervene. Unfortunately most court proceedings are taped and stenographers are used for serious trials and out of court proceedings. I would suggest you using your steno machine for transcribing as it is faster. Why would you think it's not? Just curious.
Thanks for asking. All the best.

Thanks, Christine! So sweet!

That's really interesting because yes, in an effort to get the job done by the deadline I'm compromising my speed building. I thought I could "kill two birds with one stone" so to speak. I feel caught in a trap.

I'm not in a school training for steno. I use the CRAH method and I have email support. I have a family and am not able to speed build without the income. I was working at an insurance brokerage firm for some time and when the opportunity came about to get in as a court monitor I applied and got in. The transcript production in considered my own business but must meet the attorney general's guidelines.

Your comments are making me rethink a few things about speed building. Yes, I do use a foot pedal and I do rewind. I really do need to reconsider this.

Thanks for your comments.
Hope to speak with you again.

Hi, Christine! Hope you're making great progress and kicking butt! You have a really positive, upbeat attitude, and that most certainly helps! Go, go, go!!!

I truly applaud your goals and effort to attain it in a focused way. I really like your 110%! I'm sure you will achieve it.

I've been really inspired by your comments. I've even taken to using my speed building CD's.

What machine do you use? Do you have any comments to offer on the Lightspeed?

Take care until later,
Lisa

Sorry, I'm so late in responding, but thank you for the birtday wishes!!

Hey again, yes CSR Nation is the best. Whenever I have a question, its nice to know that I can just look it up on here! I'll be checking out you blog soon. Its nice to talk to people that can relate to what I'm going through for a change. TTYL

Thank you Christine for your thoughtfulness. You made me feel special. Do you perhaps know Reid?

Hi Christine:

Thank you for my birthday wish! That was so nice of you.

Now, regarding my introduction on this board, I probably could've been a tad clearer. I've been a medical/general transcriptionist for over 17 years, using a general keyboard, but will now be starting school for court reporting/captioning. I wish there was actually a quick way to just 'transition' from transcription to court reporting/captioning, (like a learn-on-the-job type situation), but I don't know of one. :-(

Hi Christine: It's Tausha again. I was reading your profile and I noticed you said you've transcribed police reports and investigative reports as a freelancer. I see the police reports and my mouth waters, as it sounds so interesting! I was just wondering how you got into that? I was once offered an opportunity to work for a company that transcribed investigative reports for Fortune 500 companies, L.A. County jobs, etc. Unfortunately, the hiring company's hours clashed with the job I was already working at that time, so I couldn't take it. Anyway, I'm in Burbank, Ca. Thanks in advance for any information you could share regarding this.

Christine, Thank you much for the birthday wishes and the words of encouragement. I'm very happy for you and your decision to finish as well. It always annoyed me so much having gone to school for CR as well as other fields but not completing leaving me with reduced employment options. Thanks for reaching out, I had never touched this account since I subscribed.
Gina