31. May 2008 by admin.

                                WHAT’S YOUR STORY
                                 (Who influenced you?)     

 When I was very young, I met this man that, over the years, was pretty influential in my life.  I would see him often and as I was growing up, he would always encourage me to participate in activities, such as sports and do good in school and other things.
 
      I never once heard a cuss word come out of his mouth…never.  He was always very respectful to others and everyone seemed to like him and he fit into any crowd and was always polite and courteous to everyone.  That was very inspirational to me….especially, in this day and age, to never hear a cuss word or a dirty joke from him.  Not many people can say that about anyone.  That standard in his life was something I never could reach or achieve.  He was always in church and was the song leader in the Methodist church where I grew up and his wife was the church organist. 

      I learned later that while he was in the Air Force that he came down with pericarditis and the doctors didn’t give him much chance to live.  Actually, didn’t think he’d make it more than about six months.  He told me that one day, a presence came over him and said, “If you follow Me, I will give you a rewarding life.”   Well, it turns out that he agreed with that Presence and did, in fact, have a rewarding life.

      As I became older, I would call this person C.L., as everyone else did, and would see him at all the local sporting events in town as he liked to support the kids in the community.  He was in charge of the local school bus transportation system and knew all the families on his route as well as the kids.  Many of the parents of his kids were, at one time, kids on his same bus route.  I remember that every time one of his kids on his route had a birthday, they would always tell him and he immediately pulled out a $2 bill from his wallet and give it to the child.  He always made them feel special on their birthday.

      When I got to the age where I could play sports, we could always count on C.L.  He was in the stands encouraging the players and letting them know they were rooted for.  In band, when we would come off the field playing the fight song, I would always see him in the stands with his wife and saying, “Way to go, band!!!”

      After I graduated, I moved away to college and eventually became a court reporter, but I still stayed in contact with C.L.  He always was concerned at how I was doing.  I never forgot his morals and standards.  I never have been able to reach the level that he was at, but I’ve tried.  He set a standard that I hope to one day achieve and maybe one day he will be proud of what I did in my life.

      On one particular day in June of 1991, I got a call from his wife that he wasn’t doing too good.  It turned out that he had prostrate cancer.  The doctors didn’t know how bad it was at the time, but it concerned me that someone like that shouldn’t have that kind of disease.  Cancer always takes the good one, as far as I’m concerned.  Anyway, while he is battling cancer, my first wife is about to deliver our second child.  Because of how this man had touched my life, I really felt it important to go back and visit him, because it was discovered that his cancer was spreading faster than the doctors could treat it.  He told me, “Breck, you stay with your wife and don’t come back here.  I’m going to be fine.  I appreciate the thought.”   So, I stayed in San Antonio while he was battling cancer in Lubbock. 

      I kept checking in on him and after the second weekend, his wife said that he wasn’t doing very well at all and the outlook didn’t look good.  My wife told me that I should go home and see him, as she knew how influential he had been to me growing up.  So, I decided to fly to Lubbock.  By the time I got there, he was already on morphine drip and I’m not even sure that he really knew I was there.  I feel like he did.  It is a sad day to see someone that you view as such a strong person be torn down to nothing because of cancer.  I tried to be strong all the while, I hated seeing this man go through this horrible ordeal.

      I stayed the night at the hospital with him, knowing that the next morning I would have to get back to San Antonio and hopefully be ready for the birth of my own child.  Leaving was very tough, but I did it.  I got the dreaded call on July 2nd that  he had passed on.  I immediately flew back home for the funeral, as my wife still hadn’t delivered our second child.  The funeral was great as there were people overflowing into the meeting hall because the church was full to capacity.  I guess that was a reflection of the effect this man had on people.  It was great to see the recognition of a life in that manner.  I’m sure if he was looking down, he would feel justified that he made a difference.

      That evening I fly back to San Antonio and get home at about 1:30 a.m.  Exhausted and only wanting to sleep, I get a few hours to sleep only to be awakened by my wife a couple of hours later informing me that it is time.  Wow.  We get up, get her ready and go to the hospital.  I feel like the Man upstairs had all of this planned, by allowing me the chance to say goodbye to one person and then being ready to welcome a new life into this world.  I wish He would have given me a little more time between each event, but He didn’t. 

      Later that day, my second child is born.  As the doctor raised her up, I see three gray hairs on her head and she looks exactly like the man whose funeral I attended only the day before.  I’m glad I had it on my video camera because I would have never believed it.  The gray hairs were just as shiny as ever. 

 So, to that man, I would like to say this:

  Dad, I love you and I miss you.  I’m glad that you were my father and  taught me the values that you showed me throughout your life.  Forgive me  where I have failed you.  Be proud of me where I have done good.  I only wish I  would have been there sooner for you and been able to talk to you before it  was too late.  There’s so many things I would have liked to have said to you.  I  can only hope that over the years since you’ve been gone that you are  somehow able to hear my thoughts or feel them. 

     For those of you that still have a father that is alive, have you talked to your dad?  Have you told him how much you love him?  Father’s Day is approaching quickly.  Could this be the time that you give him a hug, mend fences with him, tell him how much you love him??  I hope so.  Don’t wait until it’s too late.  You’ll spend the rest of your life wishing you had done it while he was around. 

Happy Father’s Day!!

(Tipping hat)

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20. May 2008 by admin.

NEW DAY

Have you ever been to a point in your life where you wonder which way to go? Have you ever had things happen in your life to where you think there is nothing left for you? How about times when people or groups have upset you and you don’t want to associate with them anymore? We’ve all had those feelings or thoughts, haven’t we? Perhaps some of us are there now. Perhaps some of us have never been there. Perhaps we are headed that way. I’m there in my life right now in some ways, and not there in other ways. Parts of my life are in a total uproar, while other parts of my life are at peace. I’ve decided to do something about it. Today, I start a new day all the way around in my life. I challenge some of you, or all of you, to do the same thing.

Here’s what I mean. Let’s go with a few basic principles. Let’s say that everything you do is based on what has or hasn’t happened to you in the past. You don’t want to support something because you’ve done it in the past and you got burned. You’ve supported something in the past and you don’t support it now because you got burned. Well, make today a new day to re-think what your feelings are based on some decision you have to make or consider. Think about maybe, just maybe, that you throw what happened to you in the past and let that part go and start anew in your thought process.

For instance, let’s say in your steno theory you have always hit SMITH/SMITH for a speaker ID for Mr. Smith. Well, maybe today you decide that trying out STPHAO as a possible speaker ID is a way to go. Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry that for that last 20 years you were taught to always hit the person’s last name twice to identify someone. Maybe today is the day to try something new. It’s a new day!

Let’s say that you just can’t support an idea that someone has been talking to you about. They have either made you mad in the past or you just can’t stand what they are trying to get you to agree to. Well, throw out all the negative in your mind, re-evaluate their ideas again, forget the past and see if going forward may work. Will it? I don’t know, but, hey, it’s a new day.

Let’s say that you are so against NCRA or your state association because they have done nothing for you in the past. Perhaps, something happened that affected your life. Maybe, it’s been many years since whatever happened to you has happened. Maybe those problems are gone now and there’s new blood in the group. Maybe you can forget the past and start fresh and do something that can make things better. Is the past holding you back from progress? Are those feelings holding you prisoner and halting your own ability to move forward. Hey, it’s a new day and time for new ideas and thoughts to come in. Let the past go and take a chance. Roll the dice. Try something different. It’s a new day!!

Are you so against change, whether in your profession or your life, that you are in such a rut that you think you can’t get out? I say that you take a chance and break yourself from that rut and see what happens. You know, it may not work for you. Or, it may be the best thing that you’ve done.

Do you belong to a group or organization that is going nowhere, or you think is going nowhere? Are you afraid to speak up? Is the group afraid of change? Maybe now is the chance where you re-think the whole idea and don’t let the past influence your thinking. Take a chance. Change. Roll the dice. Hey, it’s a new day!!!

Are you so closed to the idea that others can’t change or won’t change? Many times I get into that thinking. I’ve belonged to groups or associations where I wish they’d do something or quit doing something. Today, I start with a fresh outlook on people, groups, and organizations. I have faith in you. I have faith in this group or organization. I’m not going to let all that has happened to me or let someone else influence my thinking. I’m going to wipe the slate.

I have total faith in NCRA and their directors. I have total faith in my state association. I have total faith in you. I have such faith in you that I believe that each of you will sit down and take a moment to reflect where you are in your life. That you will re-think yourself and that you will truly examine your beliefs and consider….just consider….whether a change might be a way of thinking. That maybe you strive for certifications that you don’t have. That you will strive for perfection. That you will protect this profession and protect my job just like I will strive to protect this profession and protect your job. That no matter how bad things are in our lives, that we all will rethink what the profession means to us and what WE mean to the profession. That maybe you’ve sat quietly too long and that you do have something to offer…..to your state association, to your national association, or even to yourself. That you believe in yourself as much as I believe in each of you to take this letter as a sincere request to re-evaluate who you are, as I’m looking inside myself, to maybe, just maybe, make a difference in this profession, in the associations, state or national, in yourself and have a belief system that people are good and that we do make a difference in life and can bring about change and new attitude. Hey, it’s a new day!!!! Can you? Will you? I’m willing. Let’s try it.

(Tipping hat)

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25. April 2008 by admin.

All:

I’m sure that this topic has been discussed before, but perhaps some may not have thought of this.

I have a Blackberry Curve with T-Mobile and it has a slot for me to put in a small disk - very small - and basically the Curve can become something like a mini-backup device for me. 

When I plug in the Curve, I get a prompt asking me to access the storage media on that Curve.  By doing this, I can then download any file(s) I so choose, be it Eclipse files or music or whatever, based on the allowable space available on this storage device.  I have a 2GB drive at the current time.

All of that being said, what this allows me to do when I’m away from a wireless connection and I need to get a file to my scopist quickly, I’m able to download my Eclipse file to this drive and then attach the file to an email to be able to send the file to my scopist.   My mail server allows me to send rather large files.  But that being said, with T-Mobile, most reporting files should probably go through their email server.  Now, I can’t send the Audiosync file because it is very large, but at least if I needed my scopist to be able to start on the file and cleaning it up right away, this is an option.

I seriously doubt this is new news because I’m sure others have thought of this, but just in case anyone new to the forum hasn’t, perhaps it will be new to them.

(tipping hat)

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26. March 2008 by admin.

I posted this on NCRA’s website, but I think it should be here, also.

As follows:

I would like to make an attempt here to try to encourage some that aren’t members to reconsider their stance on the matter.

Many of the response will be, I’m sure, from the choir (current members), but hopefully some of the choir will pass this on to those that aren’t members.

I’m reaching out to those reporters that are in the small areas of the country that may have one or two reporters only in your area. Are you a member of NCRA? A member of TCRA? A member of any association that promotes court reporting and the profession?

Why not?

Are you doing anything in your area to promote yourself or protect your job? Is approximately 20 dollars a month or less too much to ask of you to donate to a group that has your best interest in mind and is struggling to protect what you do? I say not. If each of us could do this alone, there would not be a need to have associations. But, the fact of the matter is, you, in your lone part of the country, can’t do anything to protect my job anymore than I can do anything to protect your job other than to do the best I can and be the best I can be as my job and maintain the quality that others have laid before us.

That being said, why not step up and help us work together for the common good of the profession instead of saying, “What’s NCRA done for me?” Or, “What’s my state association done for me?” That, to me, is a cop out. I’m just as guilty of this thought as anyone for many years. Shame on me!!! I can’t do it alone. You can’t do it alone. But, we can do it together and we can work together to make sure that we all have jobs. Your lack of willingness to participate could cost others to lose their jobs, thereby, perhaps, making them look in your neck of the woods for work. Is a mere 20 dollars a month or less to help the cause too much to ask?

Do you have a state association? Are you supporting that? It’s time that we all step up here and do what we can to make sure that this great profession lives on for another fifty years and that we stand tall and proud and firm on our beliefs as reporters that we truly are the best way to make the record.

If you don’t feel that way, you may soon find yourself asking the question: “Ma’am/Sir, would you like that in paper bags or plastic bags?”

I’m just not ready for that. Period. I can skip five Starbucks coffees a month to support a cause that I can’t do alone. What’s your excuse?

Let’s stop the bickering amongst ourselves and work together for the common good and move this profession forward; not backwards.

Come on!! Join me on this conquest!!

(tipping hat)

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31. January 2008 by admin.

Reporters and Reporters-to-be:

The challenge has been laid down by Adam Miller that he is pledging to get additional certifications after his name.

I take that challenge and issue the following challenge to anyone else reading this post.

To anyone out there who has reached a goal but can step it up and strive to go to the next level, I challenge each of you to strive for that goal this year.

If you’re an RPR, go for your RMR.

If you’re not certified in a state where there is not certification, strive for your RPR.

If you’re not certified to write realtime, get that cert.

If you’re a student and are at 180…..go for your 225 by the end of the year.

If you’re a beginning student……go for 120 to 140 WPM by the end of the year. 

If you’re a student almost out, strive to make 10 errors or less on every test.  Don’t settle to just pass the tests.  Blow them away. 

If you’re an active member in the association and know someone who isn’t……go get ‘em and try to get them to participate somehow for the betterment of the profession. 

If you’re…………JUST DO IT!!!!!

Come on, Reporters!!!!!!   Take the challenge.

(tipping hat)

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29. January 2008 by admin.

The following is based on the other article about the NCRA President and Merrill and reporting in the UK.  Wanted to make it a new thread and see if this gets some people excited or angry or just plain upset at me. 

What I’m about to weigh in with here is going to step on a bunch of toes and probably have me run for the hills, but, I’m gonna say it anyway.

How many reporters do we know that are in courts that do absolutely nothing to promote the profession?  How many reporters in those same courts have to call in an outside agency to provide daily copy because they can’t do it or aren’t willing to do it?  How many freelance reporters do we know that will never ever be able to provide realtime services because their “dictionary isn’t built up” or they’re “afraid to do it”? 

To those reporters, I say, WAKE UP!!!!

While there are other ways of making a record in other parts of the world, I still say the way to make it here in the U.S. is a live reporter.  I’m not going to say with one hundred percent certainty that every single court here requires a court reporter.  But, it falls on all of us to protect our profession.  The choir is here in this organization and probably the ones that really need to hear this aren’t even members.  The ones that aren’t doing what they can to promote themselves and the profession…..well, let’s just say that maybe you should reconsider your job and what you’re doing.

I can’t sit here and judge everyone because I don’t have all the initials after my name.  But, what I’ve done this semester is re-enrolled in the local community college and am taking the high-speed dictation class….yeah, that’s right, I’m going back to school……so that I can better myself and try to get some of the other initials after my name.  That being said, I haven’t sat around for 24 years and sat back on my laurels and done nothing to promote myself or improve myself as a reporter.  By the way, I have passed every single test I’ve taken here in school so far; so, I’ve still got it.  That made me feel so good.

Now, with all that in mind, I think that NCRA and also TCRA should consider a time limit on how long a person can retain their license before having to re-take the test.  Doctors who are board certified have to re-take their exams.  Why not reporters.  Maybe that would wake up some of the reporters to the fact that they do, indeed, need to retain and update their skills and do what they can to better themselves.

Now, I’m just an ol’ country boy from nowhere, but I’m calling out everyone here…….ARE YOU DOING WHAT YOU CAN TO PROMOTE THIS PROFESSION???  WAKE UP, PLEASE.

(Tippin hat)

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30. November 2007 by admin.

Do you ever wish there was a website that you could go to that would make it easier for you to check for updates on programs and drivers and the like?

I’ve been using a website called DriverAgent.  Their website is www.driveragent.com.  

There is a fee to use their services, but it’s very reasonable and you are able to sign up once, and check any computer that you are on.

Once you sign up, you have them “scan” your computer and then it will tell you the areas that may need updating, and, it gives you the link to the manufactuer’s website, as well as two other options.

I’ve found this company to be very reliable and very useful, especially if I’m having a problem that I just can’t figure out.

If I remember correctly, you are able to at least go to their website and have them scan your computer and tell you what needs updating.  At least you can get an idea of how it works.  If you choose to go further, I think it’s around $20.00 a year for the service.

Hope some of you find this helpful when you’re having driver issues or the like and not having success elsewhere.

Perhaps others have discovered other websites that are just as useful and would like to share them here.

(Tipping hat)

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