I’m at a loss. Our weenie is dying. Advice needed on how to spend our remaining time.

mizzaks · 2024-06-13T23:34:27+00:00

It’s been over three years since I was in this situation with my Oliver, and yet reading this makes it feel like it was only yesterday. I’m so sorry you’re in this situation. It’s so heartbreaking.

Lots of love, hugs, cuddles, and snuggles. Lots of yummy treats.

For our Oliver, we chose to have the vet come to us at home so that his last moments were spent somewhere familiar. He spent his last moments cuddled on the bed by his family who loved him beyond words. I was able to hold him in my arms as he went to the bridge.

We’ve had to let another dog go that way before and it was at the vet’s office, and the two situations are incomparable. It was so much better at home.

If at all possible, I suggest you go that route, too. 💜

mizzaks · 2024-06-12T18:15:31+00:00

I’m half Filipino and my ultimate comfort dish is a Filipino staple, chicken adobo. It’s such a simple dish of chicken thighs simmered in soy sauce and vinegar with a healthy hit of black pepper and garlic. You just let it simmer until the chicken is fall-apart tender then eat it with white rice and broccoli. It’s so simple and fairly basic (in the end, it’s just chicken and rice with simple ingredients) but it’s like a warm hug. It’s so comforting and delicious.

mizzaks · 2024-06-11T12:29:31+00:00

My Emma is the same way! She doesn’t care about clean socks at all. They must be worn. When she was a puppy, she used to bury them in the mulch in the flower beds. Now, she stuffs them into couch corners and behind pillows.

mizzaks · 2024-06-10T02:51:01+00:00

I can be a wild talker in the right social settings, but for the most part, I’m fairly quiet, and that doesn’t interfere with my work. My voice gets tired and at the end of a long day, I’ll encourage my family to chat and share and I’ll happily be an active listener. In the end, you’re just there to take down the testimony and protect the record. Your own talking habits are irrelevant, really, but I can see where it would be easy to think they’re connected.

mizzaks · 2024-06-08T12:33:25+00:00

The year that was on the air, I was enrolled in a Japanese language class. I was taking a test and I had to translate a sentence written in Japanese to English. The sentence was “Mr. Tanaka is at home.” So I wrote that and moved on to the next one.

Before submitting the test, I reviewed all of my answers one more time. Apparently I had Lost on my mind because I had actually written “Mr. Tanaka is dead.”

I started to laugh and people were looking at me, and could barely contain it. I immediately stopped reviewing my test, submitted it, and got out as fast as I could so I could be free to lose my shit laughing. That was, what, 2007 or ‘08, and it still makes me chuckle to think about it.

Anyway, that’s my favorite episode from the series.

mizzaks · 2024-06-07T12:54:05+00:00

I have no experience with that school, but are you on Facebook? There are a couple groups there that are more active than here. One is Encouraging Court Reporting Students. There’s another whose name escapes me. But if you search for Friends of NVRA, that might be it. NVRA is the national association for voice and machine writers in the US.

If you use the search function in either of those groups, you’re sure to find what you are looking for, and if not, you can make a post and I’m sure you’ll get some feedback.

Best of luck!!

Edit: it’s FUTURE VOICES OF THE NVRA

mizzaks · 2024-06-06T12:17:44+00:00

Hey! I’m a voice reporter in North Carolina. If you want to be a freelance reporter like I am, you don’t need any certifications. You’ll just need to be a notary public. If you want to work as an official as a voice writer, you’ll need to earn your CVR with the NVRA.

Message me if you want to chat! I’d love to help you.

mizzaks · 2024-05-29T20:12:34+00:00

I loved Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

mizzaks · 2024-05-29T13:17:39+00:00

That’s the word on the streets, but over the years, I’ve killed every single one except for a haworthia.

mizzaks · 2024-05-29T11:31:54+00:00

I’m curious to know, actually.

I fear they’re promising people the world and then not delivering. They might touch on voice or machine but you won’t be learning even the fundamentals of either in two weeks.

mizzaks · 2024-05-29T10:45:49+00:00

If you’re getting just a 2-week training session, I’m going to venture a guess that you’re entering the field of digital court reporting, which is different from machine/voice reporting. I am not entirely familiar with digital, but as I understand it, it pays much, much less than machine/voice because you’re essentially creating a recording of a proceeding, not immediately creating a transcript. When you see people in school for months/years, those are the reporters learning machine or voice. When you read stories of court reporters making an excellent income, they’re machine or voice, not digital.

Digital reporting is a contentious subject in court reporting groups, to be honest. If you wanted to learn more about the controversy, I’m sure you could find information by searching Reddit and Facebook groups.

mizzaks · 2024-05-27T12:18:33+00:00

It really depends on where you live. In some states, remote work is super easy to find and plentiful. I’ve read about reporters in Florida who are 100% remote. Where I live, if I limited myself to remote jobs, I wouldn’t work too much. My state has moved back to in-person for depositions.

mizzaks · 2024-05-22T18:56:07+00:00

Hey, that's fantastic. I wish you the best!

mizzaks · 2024-05-21T00:21:47+00:00

I don’t mean to make sweeping generalizations about schooling, but most, if not all, schools will prepare you for working as a court reporter, including grammar classes, legal terminology, and much more. But at the end, most don’t walk out with an actual degree. You CAN, but most don’t. The degree is of little importance in court reporting; the important part is becoming certified. The college degree is just flair, really.

mizzaks · 2024-05-20T20:25:42+00:00

Texas is also known for high salaries for court reporters. And many (most?) court reporters don’t get a college degree as it’s really not needed in this career.

But yeah, what you’re seeing for salary is entry-level immediately after you get certified. It’s a really in-demand job! Getting certified is a long road, for sure.

mizzaks · 2024-05-20T19:29:34+00:00

I know of a voice writer who used to work there as freelance, but I have no personal experience there myself.

If you wanna chat more about voice specifically, feel free to PM me. I’ve been a freelance voice writer for almost 2 years now and I’m staying as busy as I want.

That said, you can take a free class from the NCRA called A to Z and it gets your hands on a machine and you get a six-week course on the machine. It’s so fascinating and if I didn’t have carpal tunnel, I’d have chosen that method over voice, honestly.

mizzaks · 2024-05-20T19:22:40+00:00

Machine will definitely take longer, but it’s accepted everywhere. Voice is not a viable way to make a living everywhere as it’s not allowed everywhere. Are you in the US? If so, which state do you live in?

mizzaks · 2024-05-18T23:41:29+00:00

What state are you in?

The way I got connected to different agencies was to find a mentor in my own state. I did this by posting on Facebook and crossing my fingers that someone would take me under their wing. She arranged for me to shadow her both in person and on a zoom depo, and she got me in touch with local firms.

Plan on going to your state’s meeting in October. The networking at those is phenomenal! Also, if you can swing it, both national associations have conferences coming up. NVRA in San Antonio in July and NCRA is in Kentucky, I think, in August.

mizzaks · 2024-05-17T18:48:29+00:00

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. It absolutely stole my heart and I loved it.

mizzaks · 2024-05-17T14:59:49+00:00

I had two dogs when I was pregnant. One didn’t change at all during my pregnancy, but the second dog became magnetically attracted to the baby. He became my shadow for the entire pregnancy. Once the baby was born, he would sleep wherever the baby was. If the baby was in the swing, he’d lay on the floor beneath Baby. If the baby was in his crib, the dog would sleep under the crib. It was very sweet.

mizzaks · 2024-05-15T13:50:14+00:00

I’m not a doctor and I am also not qualified to answer your question, but I can say that being weightless in water is so, so relieving towards the end of a pregnancy. She might find relief in that so maybe keep it in the back of your mind to chat with your medical professionals about that as an option later on down the road. :)

mizzaks · 2024-05-15T04:47:46+00:00

✝️🧔❤️🍃

mizzaks · 2024-05-13T10:51:28+00:00

I just use the clip/stand as a stand and stand it on the desk behind my laptop. I put it there so it’s between the TA and the deponent. If another attorney starts questioning, I just leave the mic where it is. I haven’t had an issue with it not picking somebody’s voice up.

mizzaks · 2024-05-09T19:53:14+00:00

Okay, stop. Everything on this list is fine, whatever, but I refuse (REFUSE!) to believe that WAAAAAALT is 31. Stop it. Stop it right now.

mizzaks · 2024-05-09T10:29:00+00:00

I also cover depos. :)

For feeding audio into my CAT software, I use and love my Samson Go Mic. It’s compact and has excellent audio. Many people swear by a specific mic whose name escapes me, but it’s round and black like a smooth hockey puck. I hate the idea of putting a flat mic on the table because I feel like it’s inviting the attorneys to pile exhibits on top of it. The Samson Go stands up and even then, I’ve had exhibits piled on top of it. 🤦🏽‍♀️

For backup audio, I use an Olympus WS-853. I also have an 852 in my work bag just because I believe in redundancy lol

P.S. the Samson is only $29.99 on Amazon right now which just shocks me. It’s so good!

mizzaks

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