New Toys!

I can't come home from convention without at least one new toy, or the plan to purchase one. This last convention was no different.

I took my LightSpeed writer (that I bought at the Boston convention) to Anaheim to work with the tech folks there because I was having some difficulty getting a good translation. It worked. I now have a much more agreeable translation rate. But while sitting at Stenovations' booth, I saw a cute little notebook. Light. Small. Loaded with Windows XP.

Now, as a roving reporter, I have to pack up EVERY DAY and reset the next morning. It's grueling! And tough on the shoulders. With this little baby computer, I could carry everything in ONE BAG AND IT WOULD BE LIGHT!!! I bought one. (and it wasn't that expensive!)

Next week I travel all week for court in a district about an hour away. This will be the test of the new bag - one bag - to see if I can work all week with the new computer and still have it be functionally appropriate for me. The screen is small and they keyboard is VERY small - not meant for major editing (and I have big fingers... could be a challenge if I wanted to do much editing on it).

But I have a feeling that my new ASUS Eee (also Black like the LS) will make me wish I'd gone smaller years ago. I'm so psyched!

Vitamin C

Air travel, with recycled air; three-hour time difference; body clock NOT changing, and still staying up LATE; alcohol, though not as much as I could have had; AND airport Olympics. What does all that contribute to? A sore throat!

I've been downing Vitamin C since I left Anaheim on Sunday. Really glad my trial got postponed until September, because trying to write a trial feeling like I felt? Ugh.

Another travel Rule: TAKE YOUR VITAMINS!!

Anaheim Convention

Well, I participated in the airport Olympics again on Thursday en route to the NCRA Annual Convention in Anaheim, CA. My flight was delayed for almost four hours (East Coast weather kept me in Chicago's O'Hare for a while) before I got to the "OC" airport in Anaheim (officially called John Wayne Airport). Just in time for LA's infamous rush hour. Wow!

I missed the NCSA meeting - and a couple of friends of mine said that the meeting ended an hour early (What do they mean? I take up an HOUR of time when I get up to the mic when I speak?!) - and barely got in in time for the Opening Reception (for which ticket I paid $50!). Got to my room, met my roommate and proceeded directly to the reception. Nice food, good wine, and EXCELLENT company! I can't emphasize enough how great it is to come to a seminar and meet up with my friends. I love convention.

Friday dawned bright and early - seriously, I was awake at 5:30 a.m. (hey, that's 8:30 in Raleigh!) but managed to nap a little more... took a quick little trolley-bus to Disneyland resort. Spent the morning at the Magic Kingdom. Didn't ride too much, just walked around, viewing the sights, comparing it to WDW. My morning had to be cut short, though, because I had to return to the hotel to visit with my "Angel" friends for our annual "Angels Luncheon" - for folks who donate $1,000 to the Foundation. A different group of friends, more good food and wine, and a nice relaxing lunch.

Back to Disneyland, this time to the California Adventure. First things first, I took the "Soarin' Over California" ride - and did it "singled rider" status - basically no wait. You should've seen the lines! Sometimes it's good to be a "single" at a park like that. High Scool Musical had a little show that came around, saw the Pixar parade, and did a wine tasting! Not to mention I went to see "Turtle Time with Crush" and had a really great time!

Classes were great, the parties were fun, the educational opportunities were awesome. Participating in online voting was cool and a history-making event.

All in all, another GREAT convention experience!!

At-Home Productivity

Sometimes I don't travel far. Instead, I stay and get transcripts out. I had some days in Raleigh this week, so I got to "play in Raleigh traffic" and construction in the downtown area (it's being revitalized, as they say).

Being productive in the home office is a GREAT feeling! A couple of appellate transcripts went out this week, all my backing up procedures got taken care of (making room on my computers' hard drives in the process), and desk space got cleared as well. Phew. I also got a new scanner so I can scan about six months' worth of documents (I killed my scanner last year and so I have a BOX full of paperwork that needs to be worked on - more at-home productivity projects.)

Next week the traveling reporter will be heading to Nash County again, my home away from home, in my NEW CAR! With gas prices being what they are, a more fuel-efficient vehicle was becoming a necessity. I am staying with GM - because I love my dealer and OnStar - and got a great little sports car that gets 35 mpg highway. It's a stick shift! I missed driving one. You'll see me coming, too, and I'll never lose the car - it's "Rally Yellow" in the Chevy Cobalt Coupe style. I can't remember the last time I got more than 20 mpg driving.

The Tahoe is going to be retired to the garage (once I sell the desk - anyone interested in a really GREAT piece of office furniture?) to be taken out for longer trips and any The Last Word corporate work that I need to do... and NCRA board/committee travel that may come up in the future (always good to plan ahead, don't you think?)

School of Government

We had a GREAT seminar session put on by the AOC this week. It's Judges' conference, and the Bar conference (at the beach)... and also the Court Reporters' conference in Chapel Hill.

I had the opportunity to meet lots of official reporters I had not previously met in my wanderings through the state in convention mode. Some I had the opportunity to fill in for in the past few months, and I got to tell them how much I enjoyed working in their courthouses. And, of course, some of my old friends were there too (Hi BETH!!) that I haven't seen much of since school days.

We got inspired to get going on realtime certification by Melanie Sonntag, we got vastly entertained by an Aussie-accented attorney from the A.G.'s office who looks over our appellate transcripts (of course, we had some comments about THAT!), and we got a refresher course on exactly how to work our new time-entry system.

A good time was had by all (or at least by me!) during our "down week" at the conference. And it was only a "short drive" for me this time around.

Bouncy... bouncy

I was a yo-yo this week! Scheduled for Wake, then Wayne, then Wake, then Wayne. Phew.

Had a nice day of motions Monday, a criminal trial Tuesday, more civil motions Wednesday - and GOT LUCKY Thursday. the rover I was covering for was able to come back to Wayne and finish on Thursday. Woo-hoo!

Next week is "out-of-court" week for the Judges' conference. The official reporters are having a day-and-a-half meeting in Chapel Hill. Hopefully that means Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are "free" for us to do errands and produce transcripts.

My learning curve is starting to lessen its slope - I'm getting procedures down a LOT better now than I did in the first couple of months. Things are becoming more and more natural to me. Still trying to get a rhythm, though, on backing up all my data files. Woo, it's a bear.

Still, I'm liking the new position, even with its occasional "hairy" moment.

Back to Atlanta

Never let anyone say it's an easy drive from Raleigh to Atlanta. It's not. Well, that's not true. It's easy until you get to the outer limits of Atlanta. Then it's just crazy! Fast drivers - FASTER truckers - and too few lanes for a good portion of I-85. Then, when the road widens, the drivers seemingly get even crazier, bobbing and weaving in and out of lanes...

Add to that the fact we're here on a Friday afternoon - albeit we made it to the environs of Atlanta by 2:30 (leaving at 7;30 am) - and you're in for a challenging drive!

It took another hour and 15 minutes to get to Marietta, where the wedding guests are staying. The rehearsal dinner is here at the hotel - thankfully, because I don't know if I would want to go out driving again! Tomorrow's wedding is in the afternoon - and OUTSIDE - but (again, thankfully) according to my brother, it won't be a long ceremony and the reception is indoors.

The road trip will be completed on Sunday, when we take 'the scenic route' back home to the Raleigh Metro, via the North Georgia and Western NC mountains.

Be ready for some pictures in the next few days - weddings usually make for great photography!