Cincyland

va•ca•tion (noun)

[vay kàysh`n]

1. Break from work

2. A period of time devoted to rest, travel, or recreation


There is no better way to spend my semester break from school than by also taking the week off from work and heading back to see friends in Cincy. Although, I admit, I had hoped that I would be celebrating the end of school all together, I still am thankful that the end is at least virtually around the corner. So I've left the sunny, warm 70 degree desert behind, and have landed smack dab in the middle of winter (18 degrees when I landed, to be precise.) But what better way to warm up than with the cozy and familiar company of old friends. So, here's to a week of having nothing to do and all week to do it in.

Random Useless Things I Learned Today

Heating food up in the microwave on Styrofoam plates or bowls can cause prostate cancer (or at least according to my co-worker.)

Veggie burgers smell terrible!

The tea, Maca, is a natural replacement for Viagra. (Not to be confused with Matcha, a green tea which you can find widely available at your local Starbucks.)

If you keep someone on hold long enough, they will just go away.

No word in the English language rhymes with “month”. Go ahead...try and think of one.

Credit card companies are basically pure evil.

Miss Sweet Things down the hall, thinks making coffee for the office is beneath her. (Hey, you know you wanted a little workplace gossip).

Your gunky mascara can be revived with a quick 30 seconds in the microwave. I still think I’ll just go buy a new tube.

Thanks to Facebook, I now know my friend is looking for a petite blonde, with long flowing hair, light eyes, and a goofy personality. Seriously people! We are posting way too much info on FB already!

I've discovered I'm actually more stupid now as a result of all this meaningless information.

Chronicles of a Court Reporting Intern - Part 2

I’m a little bummed I have yet to shadow any CART providers. Although it has not yet worked out, I have had the opportunity of talking and spending time with several reporters who do provide CART services. I’ve decided I will just consider this as more of an instructional type of interning. Yes, perhaps this is a slight bend in the rules, but the wealth of knowledge that they have shared with me has been invaluable and extremely insightful, so I say it's okay.

For my non-court reporting friends, CART is simply an assistive technology which allows more effective communication for individuals with a hearing impairment. For instance, say an individual has a hearing impairment and is enrolled in college. Thanks to the Americans with Disabilities Act, they have the right to request assistance, thus, enter a CART provider. A CART provider would attend class with the student, and using the same “court reporting” skills, provide realtime services. In essence, they would translate every spoken word as it is being said, and their translation would be fed to a computer screen for the student. This is just one example of CART. There are obviously, other areas where CART services can be provided beyond the educational setting.

I've always loved the idea of doing something that really helps other. As someone who provides these services, you are really making a difference. It seems that it would be a very rewarding and satisfying job. I am very hopeful that at some point I will be able to sit in, and shadow a CART provider, as I'm sure this would give me an even better perspective. I am very fascinated by this area and have great deal of interest in it.

Chronicles of a Court Reporting Intern - Part 1

I have decided to do a small series of re-occurring posts chronicling some of my internship experiences. A recent essay requirement for school prompted me to simply segment these very thoughts out into a few blog posts. Obviously, many of these experiences and thoughts are backdated, but I hope you enjoy my ramblings all the same.

At the start of my internship, I found myself pretty unsure of what path I specifically wanted to pursue when it came to the world of court reporting. I have always been a little baffled that many of my peers seem to have a really strong idea of the direction they want to go in professionally, yet I just can't seem to pin down what it is that I want to do. Why is it I can't seem to make up my mind about what interests me most? I am prone to be somewhat indecisive, but seriously, how can I be this far along, and still have no clue? Too many options I tell you. Ironically, the variety of options is precisely one of the reasons that enticed me into the court reporting profession to begin with. Sure, I admit it. I was drawn in by the lure of flexible hours, the ability to work from home, and the promise of high pay. But I was equally drawn in by the variety of options available.

More often than not, when you tell people you are in school for court reporting they immediately think of "that person in the courtroom that types on that funny little machine." True, technically you could say that, and it is indeed one of the options you have once you have mastered the skill. Although, I'll be the first to tell you, it is a little more involved than that. It is, also, slightly annoying when people word it that way. It makes it sound so easy, yet if it were truly this easy, why, I ask, does court reporting have a 95% failure rate?! (I digress) In addition to being an official reporter, you also can be a CART provider, a broadcast captioner, or work as a freelance reporter. Upon enrolling in school, I had no clue what path really interested me most, but I was confident of one thing…it wasn’t the world of officialship.

As a random side note…I find it funny that the admissions department was quick to talk about all the various areas in which I could work, however, they failed to leave out all the little, nitty-gritty details about how much work, time, and dedication would really be necessary to advance to that magical speed of 225. Of course, had they told me that, I may have backed out right then and there, so it's probably best they didn’t take that route. I never consider myself to be the very driven type growing up. Thankfully, that is a trait I feel for the most part I have left behind. (Most likely, because I have found something that interests me and I am passionate about.) But I best get back on track. I feel a rabbit trail around the corner if I’m not careful.

Back to my thoughts on officialships. For some reason, since day one, I have had it stuck in my brain that I have zero desire to be an official reporter. The idea of going to court every day, and hearing all the crazy things that people have done seemed pretty undesirable, and I felt like it would just callous me in some weird way. Yes, you do hear a lot of crap. There are definitely some weird people out there that do some weird things. I have already found myself slightly desensitized and I'm not even working yet. But that's neither here nor there. I'm not quite sure whether it just seemed uninteresting to me, or intimidating, but nonetheless, these were my feelings and thoughts at the start of my internship. Funny how you make up some of these ideas based solely on your own preconceived notions. As a result of these preconceived ideas, I figured I would simply do a few court hours just for the sake of fulfilling a requirement but I already knew that it just wasn't for me. You can imagine how surprised I was to find that after spending much time interning, my thoughts about this have drastically changed. I won't get ahead of myself just yet, though. I will let you journey with me through my thought processes and experiences that led to this profound change of heart.

Lesson learned: Allowing preconceived notions dictate your destiny will only lock the doorway to opportunity.

Singledom

My personal journey (Yes! I DO have a life outside of court reporting school) has been one that has led me into rediscovering the world of dating and singledom, it has become painfully evident that I may have to kiss a few frogs, or even perhaps a few komodo dragons for that fact, before I am to find my Mr. Right. I actually think I'm quite fine with that though. On the heels of a devastating divorce, I'm most definitely not looking to jump into anything too serious, and more importantly, I'm choosing to find enjoyment and even humor in the dating process, rather than be tormented and overwhelmed by it. (And for the record, there are some CrAzIeS out there.) I do have to say, I think I've been out of the game a little while, so my skills seem a bit rusty. All the more reason to practice, right! I have also discovered, I am quite happy being single. Not to say that I wouldn't like some "male companionship", but it's not so bad flying solo. Recently, I have found enjoyment in some of the following perks of being relationship-free:

1. I don't have to check with anyone before making plans.
2. I can drop everything at a moments notice if I decide to go meet the girls.
3. There is no pressure to ALWAYS have my legs shaved.
4. I can flirt with anyone I please...guilt-free.
5. I don't have to share my food, and if I want the biggest piece of cake, I can have it.
6. I can hog the covers in bed.
7. I don't have to juggle multiple families at the holidays.
8. Any Christmas money I receive doesn't have to be split with anyone.
9. And best of all, there is no need for compromise.

So singeldom is proving to be not so bad. However, I'll be honest and admit that a little male company is definitely nice every now and then, and it isn't completely undesired either. It's nice to be noticed. It's also really great to have someone think you are worth a little time and energy, perhaps a nice dinner out, or a random flirtatious text. So although I wouldn't necessarily say I am actively looking for Mr. Right, I wouldn't say I'm turning the other cheek either. I think I am just choosing to enjoy the moment.

And in the words of the very wise, Dr. Seuss, "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go."

Save The Date

Yep, that's right folks, it's official. Come hell or high water, I'm graduating on August 4, 2010. Actually, I am hoping to be done well before then, but CCR's graduation ceremony is to be held in Chicago on the eve of the National Court Reporter's Association yearly convention, also being held in Chicago the same weekend. Since my school is based about an hour outside of the windy city, they are planning the festivities to coincide with the yearly convention. What a treat! Exact details are still forthcoming, but I'm ecstatic, to say the least. Can't wait to be finished with this 'never-ending student' thing, and even more super excited that I'll also be able to attend the NCRA convention after. I think 2010 is most definitely off to a good start.