There's so much to consider when switching type of reporting. I've been freelancing my entire career - I did office management for freelancers, then scoping, and finally reporting. Running your own business gives you an incredible sense of freedom. Freedom from the same old, same old everyday office grind, the 9-to-5 hours, freedom from office politics.
However, it also gives you freedom from something that it seems I really want now: a steady paycheck.
Becoming an official for me is a HUGE change - but a good one. A steady salary with benefits, the opportunity to save for retirement all were big enticements. I'm sure the transition to working every day will be difficult, but, as my friend and colleague said to me the other day, "Hey, girl, it's just court reporting." Meaning that I really don't have to sweat it; I'll learn the ropes and fall in love with officialdom.
As for my "traveling" court reporter moniker, I can still keep it - I'm assigned as a "rover" court reporter, which means I don't have a set location to go to; it may be Raleigh, but it could be some other county seat in our area. I won't feel locked in to the courthouse.
Any officials out there, feel free to shoot me an email and let me know how you like being an official and any tips for short forms - I haven't written court "briefs" for several years, and I'm sure I'm going to want a few!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
January Requirements
As a small business owner, any court reporter probably has a lot of things to concentrate on in January. There is the fourth quarter payroll tax deposit. There are the filings for your subcontractors - those 1099 forms. And the W-2 for any employees. Not to mention the tax office's requirement for you to do an inventory of all equipment in your office and any purchases that you may have made during the year - you know you have to pay property taxes on them.
So January, that time when you're making New Year's resolutions, is also the time that you have to get your act together fiscally. Filing, balancing checkbooks, verifying deposits. Ah, the joys of small business.
In this last week of January, I hope you all get all of your filing done and all your mailings out in a timely manner. I have been a procrastinator all my life - and nothing has changed. This week I'm working like crazy to get all my paperwork in order.
So January, that time when you're making New Year's resolutions, is also the time that you have to get your act together fiscally. Filing, balancing checkbooks, verifying deposits. Ah, the joys of small business.
In this last week of January, I hope you all get all of your filing done and all your mailings out in a timely manner. I have been a procrastinator all my life - and nothing has changed. This week I'm working like crazy to get all my paperwork in order.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Making good on a promise
I've uploaded the photos. But that's about it. You'd think that with three days to a weekend, something would get done. Nope, not much.
But I fulfilled my promise to you all. And that's a good thing. People may sometimes believe what you say, but they will always believe what you do. I like to keep my word.
The next adventure begins in two weeks, and I'll be running around like crazy between now and then. Tomorrow's project is a meeting in Goldsboro with our educational realtime contact. Hopefully it will go well and hopefully my new car adapter for my iPod Nano will work!
But I fulfilled my promise to you all. And that's a good thing. People may sometimes believe what you say, but they will always believe what you do. I like to keep my word.
The next adventure begins in two weeks, and I'll be running around like crazy between now and then. Tomorrow's project is a meeting in Goldsboro with our educational realtime contact. Hopefully it will go well and hopefully my new car adapter for my iPod Nano will work!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Change is Change... and Exciting!
So, yes, I know what day it is. And I know I've not finished posting my pictures.
Life has a way of changing the gears on you when you least expect it! While I was in Las Vegas, I got a tentative job offer. When I got home, I interviewed - and accepted it. I will be working as an official court reporter in the state of NC starting on 2/1/08.
That, of course, necessitates some serious work on my part between now and the 1st. As a full-time employee, I will not have (probably) the amount of time during the week that I normally have to run errands and do projects, so I'm trying to get all that stuff done beforehand. The idea of doing my taxes in the next week is daunting - but that's not all I have to do. I have to go through my closet, get stuff to the dry cleaner or the tailor, contact all my agency clients and subs to let them know of the change, clean the house, organize my truck and my office, and do all the other minutiae involved in starting a new job.
It's exciting, though - the job isn't going to tie me to one particular office; no, it's a "rover" position, which means I'll still be able to travel. Just a little more locally, that's all.
I really do plan on getting the rest of the trip photos up. In fact, it's on my list... for tomorrow!
Life has a way of changing the gears on you when you least expect it! While I was in Las Vegas, I got a tentative job offer. When I got home, I interviewed - and accepted it. I will be working as an official court reporter in the state of NC starting on 2/1/08.
That, of course, necessitates some serious work on my part between now and the 1st. As a full-time employee, I will not have (probably) the amount of time during the week that I normally have to run errands and do projects, so I'm trying to get all that stuff done beforehand. The idea of doing my taxes in the next week is daunting - but that's not all I have to do. I have to go through my closet, get stuff to the dry cleaner or the tailor, contact all my agency clients and subs to let them know of the change, clean the house, organize my truck and my office, and do all the other minutiae involved in starting a new job.
It's exciting, though - the job isn't going to tie me to one particular office; no, it's a "rover" position, which means I'll still be able to travel. Just a little more locally, that's all.
I really do plan on getting the rest of the trip photos up. In fact, it's on my list... for tomorrow!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Vegas and the Plane Day
I love Vegas. But I'm ready to go home. In a nutshell, though, here's what I noticed about Vegas since my last time here in March of '07.
Aladdin is no more - it's Planet Hollywood; Trump looks like it's up and open; Venetian opened its tower; and the City Center promises to be built by late 2009, and it looks stunning.
The food is, as always, incredible.
If you're a vodka fan, stop in at Red Square at the Mandalay Bay; several hundreds of vodkas in stock, and their claim to fame is the Red Square Martini (I didn't have it; instead I had the Red Dawn). I had a fantastic lobster bisque and then a tuna tartare, finishing it off with the Anastasia's Dream martini (chocolate liqueur, vanilla vodka, Chambord... and something else.) - YUM.
Sushi Pop was the lunch venue. I can't come to Vegas without having sushi.
Of course, Mom and I ate at the Burger Bar on Monday afternoon. They specialize in the burger - angus, buffalo, kobe, turkey, or veggie - with all the trimmings.
Wednesday will see me finally at home, doing laundry and posting the Vegas photos.
For now, I'm tapping away here in the airport, waiting for the flight home. (Leaves here at 11:20 a.m. - 2:20 p.m. EDT; arrives in RDU at 6:40 p.m.) I'm going to read on the plane, maybe nap, and hopefully get my brain back in "Work" mode.
Aladdin is no more - it's Planet Hollywood; Trump looks like it's up and open; Venetian opened its tower; and the City Center promises to be built by late 2009, and it looks stunning.
The food is, as always, incredible.
If you're a vodka fan, stop in at Red Square at the Mandalay Bay; several hundreds of vodkas in stock, and their claim to fame is the Red Square Martini (I didn't have it; instead I had the Red Dawn). I had a fantastic lobster bisque and then a tuna tartare, finishing it off with the Anastasia's Dream martini (chocolate liqueur, vanilla vodka, Chambord... and something else.) - YUM.
Sushi Pop was the lunch venue. I can't come to Vegas without having sushi.
Of course, Mom and I ate at the Burger Bar on Monday afternoon. They specialize in the burger - angus, buffalo, kobe, turkey, or veggie - with all the trimmings.
Wednesday will see me finally at home, doing laundry and posting the Vegas photos.
For now, I'm tapping away here in the airport, waiting for the flight home. (Leaves here at 11:20 a.m. - 2:20 p.m. EDT; arrives in RDU at 6:40 p.m.) I'm going to read on the plane, maybe nap, and hopefully get my brain back in "Work" mode.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Sedona and Vegas
I love Sedona. The red rocks are just awesome! It's a hidden gem. You don't see them coming from the road (I-17) and they kind of sneak up on you as you drive along AZ 179 into the village of Oak Creek. For my handbell-ringing friends, the first major formation is Bell Rock. There are fabulous features all throughout Sedona proper, along with ley lines and the pretty creek. There was even a bit of snow at the higher elevations.
This morning we had a great breakfast at The Coffeepot Restaurant (s0 named because it's below "Coffeepot Rock") - some great coffee and omelettes. Then the drive to Vegas. Longer than anticipated - Mom is driving again (a little Chevy Aveo) and the mountains are a bit tough on her acrophobia. She's not a big Vegas fan, so she may be turning around and driving back tomorrow.
The thing about this drive - if you're not interested in crossing Hoover Dam, you're going to take two sides of the triangle instead of the hypotenuse. That translates into about an hour or more longer on the drive. It ended up taking us five hours from Sedona. We did stop in Kingman, AZ, home of cowboy Andy Devine and Route 66 paraphernalia.
We've got a view from the 28th floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel out onto the Strip. The lights are awesome! I'll take some photos, I promise... just not today! I want to play.
This morning we had a great breakfast at The Coffeepot Restaurant (s0 named because it's below "Coffeepot Rock") - some great coffee and omelettes. Then the drive to Vegas. Longer than anticipated - Mom is driving again (a little Chevy Aveo) and the mountains are a bit tough on her acrophobia. She's not a big Vegas fan, so she may be turning around and driving back tomorrow.
The thing about this drive - if you're not interested in crossing Hoover Dam, you're going to take two sides of the triangle instead of the hypotenuse. That translates into about an hour or more longer on the drive. It ended up taking us five hours from Sedona. We did stop in Kingman, AZ, home of cowboy Andy Devine and Route 66 paraphernalia.
We've got a view from the 28th floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel out onto the Strip. The lights are awesome! I'll take some photos, I promise... just not today! I want to play.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Sabino Canyon... a washout?
July 2006 - four days of rain in the desert (summer is monsoon season).
The end result? Sabino Canyon, one of the stars of Tucson's city park system - and also part of the Coronado National Forest - was damaged and is still under repair. Instead of being able to take the tram all the way to the top, we only made it half of the way up.
Nature was cleaning house, apparently. There were fires the season before, which loosened up debris up on Mt. Lemmon and the four solid days of rain encouraged a lot of runoff and the clearing of all the debris from the top of the mountain down into floor of the canyon. The guide told us that instead of 6 rock slides in the season, that year there were over 240! Our tram actually drove through water on THREE bridges - instead of bridges over water, the water went over the bridges - and ended up dropping us off near a picnic table half-buried in sand.
Eighteen months later, there's a lot of repair work being done, but the park won't reopen to its usual status until late spring or early summer.
Still and all, it's a gorgeous park with fantastic sajuaro specimens. We had a nice walk (a little over a mile) and I took lots of photos.
Today was my last day in Tucson. We head up to one of my favorite places (Sedona) tomorrow. We plan on stopping in at the Red Planet diner for a chocolate malted and hopefully will take in the shops at Tlaquepaque and maybe have a drink at a restaurant on Oak Creek. Look for some pretty red rock pictures in the near future!
The end result? Sabino Canyon, one of the stars of Tucson's city park system - and also part of the Coronado National Forest - was damaged and is still under repair. Instead of being able to take the tram all the way to the top, we only made it half of the way up.
Nature was cleaning house, apparently. There were fires the season before, which loosened up debris up on Mt. Lemmon and the four solid days of rain encouraged a lot of runoff and the clearing of all the debris from the top of the mountain down into floor of the canyon. The guide told us that instead of 6 rock slides in the season, that year there were over 240! Our tram actually drove through water on THREE bridges - instead of bridges over water, the water went over the bridges - and ended up dropping us off near a picnic table half-buried in sand.
Eighteen months later, there's a lot of repair work being done, but the park won't reopen to its usual status until late spring or early summer.
Still and all, it's a gorgeous park with fantastic sajuaro specimens. We had a nice walk (a little over a mile) and I took lots of photos.
Today was my last day in Tucson. We head up to one of my favorite places (Sedona) tomorrow. We plan on stopping in at the Red Planet diner for a chocolate malted and hopefully will take in the shops at Tlaquepaque and maybe have a drink at a restaurant on Oak Creek. Look for some pretty red rock pictures in the near future!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)