Official court reporting involves being at court every day. Perhaps not in your own home county. Driving every day for 50 minutes is tough. Even if it's NOT in heavy traffic. Because before you leave for your drive, you have to do all the morning rituals - you know, waking up, bathing, breaking your fast. Couple that with not being a morning person... ooh, not pretty. That's the beginning of a tough day.
But after driving the 50 minutes, sitting in court for HOURS at a time, is grueling. And you're not a juror. No, you're the official court reporter, charged with taking down the record. This is tough, too. But, hey, you're trained to write. But seven hours a day, every day - that's hard.
Add to that unfamiliar terminology and fast-talking witnesses and interrupting attorneys, well, your fingers start to hurt!
So it's been eight days so far in our trial. Fatigue has set in, but the familiarity with terminology is also starting to set in. Phrasing is starting to appear with frequency, and the brain is starting to think about short forms.
We will hopefully have our case to the jury on Thursday. That's a good thing for this traveling reporter - because all I have to write is the charge conference and jury charge; arguments are not taken down. And, of course, while the jury is deliberating, court is at ease. Ah, some rest for this weary reporter.
And it's Valentine's Day. A short day is going to be better than chocolate this year.
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