So Maundy Thursday (or the Thursday before Easter...) I get a call from the scheduling coordinator. You're assigned for THE WEEK in Randolph County. I call hubby immediately and say, "Refresh my memory. Where is Randolph County?" To which he replied, "Asheboro." And I about croaked. Let's just say it's not an easy place to get to from Wake Forest!
But I'm always game for an adventure! So this morning, 6:50 a.m., I hit the road. Raleigh is NOTORIOUS for its bad traffic - now, not so bad as DC or LA, but for the lack of infrastructure, it's pretty horrendous. Anyway... the map I got from online told me to go to Greensboro, then south; I thought, nah, that's not right. I ended up taking the new "Northern Wake Expressway" to its western terminus, drove down NC 55, and then west on US 64. Took me an hour and 45 minutes to reach my destination. It was raining. However, I was about an hour and 45 minutes early! (Hey, first day of court I like to be at least an hour early, so it wasn't horrible).
Court was great. I met Judge Hardin (former prosecutor in Durham County - Michael Peterson case???!!) and the resident reporter (Mona) and all the other GREAT people in state service. From lawyers, to clerks, to bailiffs, everyone greeted me warmly and treated me kindly.
I think that's what I like best about the job so far - the people are SO friendly! Compared to my freelance life, where you rarely got a thank you, court is just a big happy family. :)
PLUS I got my very first "official" transcript ordered today!! Woo-hoo!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
I love weekends
I have had some great weekends!
The 'traveling court reporter' was able to travel to Washington, DC - well, really Vienna & Reston, VA - last weekend, the 7-9, to volunteer at NCRA headquarters. Every year I make the trek up I-95 to see my friends and call countless reporters from across the country to remind them to re-up with our national association. It's a long and grueling couple of days, but so rewarding. It's nice to see folks realize what exactly our association does behind the scenes for court reporters.
This weekend was my favorite liturgical holiday - Palm Sunday. Such wonderful music - and the memories from my youth of palm fronds and my sweet kitty, Dusty, playing with the frond after church. All glory, laud, and honor to Thee, Redeemer King.
We had our wine party this weekend too. Spanish reds shared with neighbors. Great food and conversation.
And, of course, the ACC tournament. What a weekend!
The 'traveling court reporter' was able to travel to Washington, DC - well, really Vienna & Reston, VA - last weekend, the 7-9, to volunteer at NCRA headquarters. Every year I make the trek up I-95 to see my friends and call countless reporters from across the country to remind them to re-up with our national association. It's a long and grueling couple of days, but so rewarding. It's nice to see folks realize what exactly our association does behind the scenes for court reporters.
This weekend was my favorite liturgical holiday - Palm Sunday. Such wonderful music - and the memories from my youth of palm fronds and my sweet kitty, Dusty, playing with the frond after church. All glory, laud, and honor to Thee, Redeemer King.
We had our wine party this weekend too. Spanish reds shared with neighbors. Great food and conversation.
And, of course, the ACC tournament. What a weekend!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Employee from Self-Employed
Going from being self-employed to being an employee is a change! Time sheets, mileage logs, state emails, protocols, training. Wow!
I turned in my first time sheet in 15 years on Monday. Got a paycheck too. A real, official check where some RETIREMENT savings was taken out automatically. That felt pretty awesome.
What I'm finding hard in this transition is really paying attention to my time and where it goes. Freelance, as long as you get your transcripts out, it doesn't matter when you do it; here, for the State, you're pretty much on-call for them from 8:30 to 5:30, so while I can run errands, I'm not really free. My weekends are now full of all the stuff that I used to do during the week - and I find I'm grumbling a little bit. It seems I'm now like everybody else. LOL.
The days when I'm on the Board are challenging. I try to spend at least a few hours upstairs in my office - filing, editing the hearings I've taken, getting paperwork done - but I'm still procrastinating on stuff that needs to be done: Taxes. I got my extension filed and even though I'm not in court today (or possibly tomorrow), I'm looking warily over at my table, knowing that I have to sort through all my reports and receipts and make sure the numbers tally with my QuickBooks.
Maybe I'll get called for court tomorrow.
I turned in my first time sheet in 15 years on Monday. Got a paycheck too. A real, official check where some RETIREMENT savings was taken out automatically. That felt pretty awesome.
What I'm finding hard in this transition is really paying attention to my time and where it goes. Freelance, as long as you get your transcripts out, it doesn't matter when you do it; here, for the State, you're pretty much on-call for them from 8:30 to 5:30, so while I can run errands, I'm not really free. My weekends are now full of all the stuff that I used to do during the week - and I find I'm grumbling a little bit. It seems I'm now like everybody else. LOL.
The days when I'm on the Board are challenging. I try to spend at least a few hours upstairs in my office - filing, editing the hearings I've taken, getting paperwork done - but I'm still procrastinating on stuff that needs to be done: Taxes. I got my extension filed and even though I'm not in court today (or possibly tomorrow), I'm looking warily over at my table, knowing that I have to sort through all my reports and receipts and make sure the numbers tally with my QuickBooks.
Maybe I'll get called for court tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
A Roving Week
This has been a crazy month for transitioning. As I'm now well into my fourth week of my new employment, I've driven quite a bit - so this traveling court reporter really IS traveling.
As you know, my first two weeks were spent in trial two counties away, driving about 45 minutes each way. The next week saw me spending my time close to home - Wake County only. Then this week, I was scheduled for a rocking week - Warren County, Caswell County, Vance County, Wake County - all in four days.
The good news is that Vance County's regular reporter was able to cover for today - so I'm back on the Board - and tomorrow both my cases are at the NC Business Court. The bad news, of course, is that gas prices have soared by about 20c/gallon in the past week. So the week with the "cheaper" gas, I didn't drive; the week where I was driving, well, let's just say $3.20/gallon was a heart stopper.
I'm meeting lots of nice people. New Judges, clerks, assistant clerks, sheriff's deputies, attorneys - now I just need a way to remember them all!
As you know, my first two weeks were spent in trial two counties away, driving about 45 minutes each way. The next week saw me spending my time close to home - Wake County only. Then this week, I was scheduled for a rocking week - Warren County, Caswell County, Vance County, Wake County - all in four days.
The good news is that Vance County's regular reporter was able to cover for today - so I'm back on the Board - and tomorrow both my cases are at the NC Business Court. The bad news, of course, is that gas prices have soared by about 20c/gallon in the past week. So the week with the "cheaper" gas, I didn't drive; the week where I was driving, well, let's just say $3.20/gallon was a heart stopper.
I'm meeting lots of nice people. New Judges, clerks, assistant clerks, sheriff's deputies, attorneys - now I just need a way to remember them all!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
On the Transition to Trial Work
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Murphy's Law Strikes!
Friday, my first day, was kind of a recon mission. I spent the morning in Wake County superior court shadowing the official reporter. Nice easy hearing, two-plus hours, and done by lunchtime. That's the kind of day I would LOVE to have!
Fast forward to Monday, my first day of trial. Realtime wouldn't work with my new notebook computer. Tried lots of permutations. Ended up having to go out to my truck for my BACKUP notebook (I believe in a redundant system, and here's a prime example of why). Got my system up and running, with realtime. Phew!
Backup recorder didn't work. (Our system requires two audio backups.) Tried with batteries instead of plug. Nope, no go. Well, that's all right, I can play with my NEW digital recorder. Hallelujah, THAT worked.
Ten minutes before court starts... ladies and gentlemen, you'll need to exit the courthouse. We ended up standing outside, nice day (thankfully!), in the parking lot for about 40 minutes while the bomb squad made sure there really was NOT a bomb in the building.
Oh My GOD!
And today, well, let's just say that my computer decided to have a meltdown, right when I was finishing up the rough drafts (two!) that were requested of me today. And we're not even finished with the first witness. This transition is going to be a bear...
But I'm strong. I beat cancer. How hard can this be??
Fast forward to Monday, my first day of trial. Realtime wouldn't work with my new notebook computer. Tried lots of permutations. Ended up having to go out to my truck for my BACKUP notebook (I believe in a redundant system, and here's a prime example of why). Got my system up and running, with realtime. Phew!
Backup recorder didn't work. (Our system requires two audio backups.) Tried with batteries instead of plug. Nope, no go. Well, that's all right, I can play with my NEW digital recorder. Hallelujah, THAT worked.
Ten minutes before court starts... ladies and gentlemen, you'll need to exit the courthouse. We ended up standing outside, nice day (thankfully!), in the parking lot for about 40 minutes while the bomb squad made sure there really was NOT a bomb in the building.
Oh My GOD!
And today, well, let's just say that my computer decided to have a meltdown, right when I was finishing up the rough drafts (two!) that were requested of me today. And we're not even finished with the first witness. This transition is going to be a bear...
But I'm strong. I beat cancer. How hard can this be??
Thursday, January 31, 2008
On Changing from Freelance to Official
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!
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!
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