CSRNation

Welcome to CSR Nation

All Blog Posts (857)

Clemmy v the Snow

It is cold here. All there is to it. 17* overnight, 23* right now. The house is cold, there is deep snow outside. I went to bed with hat and gloves.

Clemmy had a bad case of cabin fever at about 1:30, 2:00 last night, tearing around the house, prrrOWing like crazy. I finally got up with him, and he led me to the front door. I told him he didn't want to go out, but would he believe me?

Noooooooooooooo!!!

So I opened the door. He looked, paused. Went out anyway.… Continue

Added by Brenda Rogers on December 21, 2008 at 13:30 — 5 Comments

Twilight by Stephanie Meyers - ALERT - there are spoilers in this blog. Read at your own peril

So I'm reading the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyers. I am overwhelmingly annoyed by the heroine Bella. And the dialogue is just too Romeo & Juliet-ish. "I leave my heart with you."

Twilight - Wouldn't it have been easier to just let her get smashed by the car and then make her into a vampire? Of course, that would then negate the whole raison d'etre for the books.

New Moon - End of story, same situation as above. Not a car, but attacked by another vampire. I kind of… Continue

Added by Kyung on December 20, 2008 at 1:13 — 3 Comments

New Year's Resolutions

Hey,

As I am one to always jump the gun, I thought I'd get my New Year's resolution blog out there first.

Can you believe it's almost 2009. 2008 went by in flurry. Lots of ups and downs for everyone in the court reporting industry. Hopefully 2008 will be better for everyone. And if you had a great 2008, good luck for an even better 2009.

The New Year is two weeks away. Time to think up some resolutions in between your shopping frenzy. I'll be thinking up some… Continue

Added by Kyung on December 16, 2008 at 20:13 — 1 Comment

Exhibit description

Do you ever come home with a huge set of exhibits and you're putting them in your exhibit index and you realize you have no idea what the exhibit is. Is it a document? Should you call it a web print out. Is it a copy of a tax? Does it really matter? Original? Copy? Facsimile? Map? Chart? Atlas? What is it? Excel spreadsheet? Letter? Memorandum? Fax memorandum?

You're sitting there writing this hugely detailed exhibit description, thinking why. Does anyone care? And then some agencies… Continue

Added by Kyung on December 16, 2008 at 12:18 — 5 Comments

Up and running (with scissors)

Just kidding about the scissors part.

My computer is as good as new. Technically, it is new. They sent me a refurbished hard drive, which is supposed to be just as good as a brand new one.

We moved all my old files over. I am back in business. Plus it's like getting a new computer.

Added by Kyung on December 16, 2008 at 6:17 — No Comments

Hard drive crash!!

The most dreaded three words in a court reporter's vocabulary.

Yep. It happened to me Friday morning. At times like these, you start to think about karma and what you've done in a past life that has brought you to this place. You then think about is it bec. I'm on the web too much.

Is it really a hard drive failure? If I reboot enough times, maybe a miracle will happen and it will work again. Alas, no such luck.

Was on the phone with Dell technician yesterday.… Continue

Added by Kyung on December 13, 2008 at 7:22 — 11 Comments

Strangers passing in the night - part 3

So I was parking in the garage of the building I'm taking my depo in (as opposed to my own garage). It was mandatory valet. Bleh. I'm pulling my stuff out of my car. Hey, who is that person ahead of me? Wait. I recognize her. Where have I seen that woman before? Oh, yeah. CSRnation.

Actually, I've met her in person before pre-CSRnation, but it was kind of fun and coincidental to pull up behind her in the garage like that.

This is a great community. And as they say, the… Continue

Added by Kyung on December 11, 2008 at 16:07 — No Comments

The good ones

You know, there are always going to be attorneys who make the job a little bit harder.

But then there are some attorney firms that are very, very nice. They always offer to validate without your even asking so you don't feel like you're imposing on them. And the people themselves are just really, really nice. If you call them up and ask for an exhibit bec. they gave you three copies of the same one instead of the correct one, they actually send it to you in a timely manner. Gotta… Continue

Added by Kyung on December 11, 2008 at 16:00 — 1 Comment

Ordering the Video without the transcript

I'd be interested in some feedback as I have a new 'first'....which was ordering a copy of the videotape and not the transcript. Is there a custom and practice regarding just selling someone a copy of the video? I suppose I could make it the cost of the actual transcript but.....

Added by Debbie Landi on December 10, 2008 at 11:39 — 1 Comment

Today I was tortured

By an attorney who kept mouthing "mark that" at me. I mean, seriously just mouthed it at me. Then he wanted to go back over the record w/the witness where he said mark that.

So he would have me find the place where he said mark that. Then he would tell me to read the question and answer. Then he would give a dissertation on the question and answer and then make me re-read it several times. This was his method of "coaching" or "preparing" the witness for their… Continue

Added by Kyung on December 9, 2008 at 21:49 — 3 Comments

Don't you wish . . .

So I'm taking this deposition. And I've been on it for several days now. Enough to get familiar w/most of the names. And we've had about three or four different witnesses.

So when they're asking this witness questions about the various people who they work with, and they say a first name but they can't remember the last name, don't you wish you could tell them when they're obviously struggling to find the last name?

Or you know when you know the answer to a question bec.… Continue

Added by Kyung on December 8, 2008 at 5:42 — 5 Comments

Court reporters who want to be mommies

Well, here are some fun facts for the court reporters out there who want to be mommies and still be court reporters. YOU CAN DO IT.

This is a great job for those of you who want to have kids and want to be court reporters. This job is very flexible. You'll be able to take time off for field trips. But there are a lot of adjustments to make and it won't be easy. Oh, no.

Pregnancy - The fluid volume of your body will double or triple. I forget which. Doesn't matter.… Continue

Added by Kyung on December 2, 2008 at 20:17 — 7 Comments

Music, music everywhere. and not just in my head.

Have you heard of Pandora.com? It's a way to listen to music on your laptop that you don't have to upload. Whoo-hoo.

I would love to be able to get a Pandora widget onto my page, but have been unable to figure it out. (Hint!! Hint!! Monti)

I love it bec. you type in songs and artists that you like. And then it will take your preferences for a base, and it will play music from artists who have similar styles.

I listen to it when I'm proofing. Check it… Continue

Added by Kyung on December 1, 2008 at 10:30 — 3 Comments

Colloquialisms

when a witness uses speech that is "southernese" or anywhere-else-ese

I've read that you should go ahead and put the correct word, such as if they

say purt near (instead of pretty near) or rye-cheer (right here)

or

would you just put (sic) behind the word such as rye-cheer (sic) ........if so, if the transcript is full of these, you wouldn't sic the whole thing, would you?

some of these are pretty funny if you want to check out the… Continue

Added by Terri on November 30, 2008 at 18:33 — 9 Comments

PMK

PMK - Person most knowledgeable. Inevitably some one who really isn't that knowledgeable at all. After three hours of questioning, you'll find out that:

A) they weren't working at the company for the period in dispute
or
B) they worked there, but in a different department
or
C) they are just some poor schmuck getting thrown to the wolves.

Added by Kyung on November 30, 2008 at 14:00 — 3 Comments

Who's ready for holidays?

I am stoked. We have our Christmas lights up. Our Christmas tree is up. As my daughter says, it is beautiful. I am ready. I got a little Christmas shopping done. By no means finished, but I've started.

Happy Holidays!!!

Added by Kyung on November 29, 2008 at 20:32 — No Comments

Scopist or Transcriptionist

Hi,

I've been transcribing legal documents since 1978, either working for attorneys, courts, court reporters, etc. Recently, I have been thinking about changing my career and taking a course to become a scopist.

Does anybody have any opinions or comments they wish to share with me regarding this career change?

I found a course that I would complete at my own pace that will cost me almost $3,000. Is a scoping career going to be worth the money I have to pay for… Continue

Added by Deborah A. Cook on November 28, 2008 at 21:16 — 5 Comments

Need Your Help ASAP

Hi, Everyone,

I wanted to see if I could get your quick help. I'm not sure if you've heard, but there's a movement of citizens inspired by the presidential campaign who are now submitting ideas for how they think the Obama Administration should change America. It's called "Ideas for Change in America."

I've submitted an idea and wanted to see if you could quickly vote for it. The title is: Teach Children to Build Self-Esteem with Outfluence. You can read and vote for the… Continue

Added by Al on November 25, 2008 at 12:19 — No Comments

Training a Scopist

I was a court reporter for 22 years. I had several scopists. When I would review the transcripts of the scopists

at the beginning during traning, I would make notes of things I would like done a certain way. Then I would

communicate this to the scopist.

Since I have not reported in three years, I would like to begin scoping. The reporter sends the transcript back to me after she's gone over it and made preference changes. She expects me to print the transcripts and compare… Continue

Added by Darlene on November 25, 2008 at 9:04 — 8 Comments

Court Reporter Patron Saint's Cards Available for Christmas

Dear Friends,

Many of you are familiar with the patron saint's card of court reporting which Father Nadolny had made for the court reporting profession.

Several court reporters in past years have included the patron saint's cards in Christmas cards sent to court reporter friends.

Through special arrangements with Father Nadolny, I provide the patron saint's cards to the court reporting profession handling the requests and doing the mailings.

The… Continue

Added by Bill Parsons on November 24, 2008 at 12:09 — No Comments