- Tarrant County Court Reporters Association

July 2010
Reporter's Record
Tarrant County Court Reporters Association
From Your President . . .
Holidays
• Independence Day
July 4
• Parent's Day
July 25
_______
Courthouse
Closings
• July 5
Independence Day
In This Issue:
From Your President
1
Word of the Month
2
Learning to Retire
3
Advertise With Us
5
Crossword Fun
6
Quotable
7
Get Involved!
7
Contact Information
7
Meeting Information
7
Happy Fourth of July! I
hope everyone enjoyed a
patriotic holiday. My day
was as American as
baseball,
Mom,
and
apple pie. My older
daughter just moved
home last week after
living in New York and Phoenix for the
last eight years, and my family and I
overloaded on barbecue, homemade ice
cream, and apple pie. We then enjoyed
a fun-filled evening at LaGrave Field,
watching the Fort Worth Cats baseball
game and spectacular fireworks. I am
proud to be an American!
I am also proud to be a member of this
great profession. We possess a skill that
very few people master, and we’re not
satisfied to stop at a CSR. Many of us
pursue our RPR, RMR, CRR. As a group
here in Texas, we hold ourselves to an
extremely high standard. We take our
continuing education very seriously. We
don’t travel to an exotic location and
lollygag in the hotel room or bar while
piping the seminar in like background
music. We work long hours to meet most
deadlines; keep our steno machines,
computers, and software updated; and
do our utmost to provide the best service
possible to our clients. We do all this
without an entourage of support staff.
I am of the opinion that people who
achieve the goal of becoming a Texas
CSR bring with them most of these
Brenda Hein
qualities and learn the rest on the job.
As a result of our inherent overachieving, there are very few grievances
filed
with
the
Court
Reporters
Certification Board, and we can all take
credit for that statistic. However, most of
us find it very difficult to admit that we are
not perfect writers with copperplate notes
producing perfect records. And we are all
human,
after
all,
with
all
the
complications that come with life: from
the ill health or death of a loved one all
the way down to the occasional bad hair
day.
The question I would like for all of us to
ponder is this. When life’s challenges
throw us off balance and we find
ourselves in the weeds, unable
momentarily to shoulder the standard,
where can we turn for professional
support?
Proud to be your President,
Brenda
Brenda Hein, CSR
Official Court Reporter
371st District Court
817-884-2895 (office)
817-884-3358 (fax)
bhein@tarrantcounty.com
Reporter's Record
July 20 10
Page 2 of 7
Word of the Month
Enrich your vocabulary by learning a new word.
Enrich your writing by entering it into your dictionary!
chary
\CHAIR-ee\
adjective
1 a : discreetly cautious: as
b : hesitant and vigilant about
dangers and risks
c : slow to grant, accept, or expend
Example sentence:
"And in causes both small and large,
controversial and less so, he was never
chary about voicing his convictions."
(Charles McNulty,
April 7, 2010)
Los
Angeles
Times,
Did you know?
It was sorrow that bred the caution of
"chary." In Middle English "chary" meant
"sorrowful," a sense that harks back to
the word's Old English ancestor "caru"
(an early form of "care," and another
term that originally meant "sorrow" or
"grief"). In a sense switch that
demonstrates that love can be both bitter
and sweet, "chary" later came to mean
"dear" or "cherished." That's how 16th
century English dramatist George Peele
used it: "the chariest and the choicest
queen, That ever did delight my royal
eyes." Both sorrow and affection have
largely faded from "chary," however, and
in Modern English the word is most often
used as a synonym of either "careful" or
"sparing."
This month's word is from Merriam-Webster.com
Page 3 of 7
July 20 10
Learning to Retire
You know, I never write much about
Tom in my articles. Most of our
adventures are written wherein Tom is
understood to be involved. But leaving
me aside for a moment, just consider
this question: Have you ever wondered
what it’s like to live in Tomland?
Well, Tomland has been exceptionally
active these past couple months,
especially the month of May. And while
I had lots of topics for May, I always go
back to what it must be like to live in
Tomland. So for May, let’s just go visit
Tomland. So stick close to me and
hang on to your britches, because I
have a feeling it’s going to be a bumpy
ride.
Now, there is a saying, that you may or
may not be familiar with, about a topic
that men think about every 8 seconds.
You’re not familiar with that? Okay,
use your imagination. With that in
mind, this could conceivably be a
rather short article. To remedy that, I
have decided to take literary license
and provide some narrative along the
way.
In the mornings, I wake up and due to
the intensity of my involvement the
night before, with either the TV or my
crossword puzzle, I might find myself
waking up in the easy chair with the TV
on, or I might be in bed. Then, due to
my ever present RA, there is always
some level of pain during the getting
up and moving around process. But,
once I’m up and moving around,
nicotine deficiency kicks in; first
priority. Coffee, the second.
In the words of my bride; the view I
see in Tomland is always forward.
Straight ahead. As if wearing blinders.
I say; No need to worry myself where
things are. I can always ask. Someone
will know. And if they don’t, maybe
tomorrow. And for the most part, so my
days go. Simple and uncomplicated.
Reporter's Record
by Lola McClane
Every day’s a holiday; every meal a
banquet.
Bumps along the road of life? The only
thing that rocks my world. Well, except
when I hear the little woman’s voice
and realize she’s pointing out the fact
that I had somehow failed to return the
milk back to the refrigerator, or the fact
that the RV door failed to close as I
exited through it. Funny, how that
happens!
continued on page 4
Reporter's Record
July 20 10
Learning to Retire continued from page 3
“'Lola,' I blurted
out, 'where’s my
billfold?' She
informed me it
was not her day
to watch it.”
Aah, then there’s the larger bumps.
For instance, I’m driving along,
minding my own business, and a bluehaired couple turn in front of me and
wham, I feel myself bouncing off their
car. What a mess! Rent a car, wait for
the truck to be fixed. That bump has
been traversed.
Again, I’m driving along, sitting with my
little bride, listening to Bluesville on the
XM Sirius, RV in tow and Pow. An RV
tire blown. Pull unto a truck stop, two
truck drivers help me change my tire
and we’re on our way. Another bump
left behind.
Oops, maybe not so fast. Driving
along, I suddenly feel the need to put
my bottom teeth in my mouth. They get
to bothering me and I take them out
and put them in my shirt pocket, if I
have a shirt pocket. If I don’t, they also
fit nicely in my jeans pocket. Except
this time! I reached my hand into my
pants pocket and the only thing I pulled
back out of that pocket was two dimes,
a penny, and pocket lint. Hello Bump!!!
No problem! I can live with a caved in
lower lip. In fact, the little woman told
me I looked cute. I looked cute until
May 5th when I got a complete new set
of store bought teeth. That was a
prolonged bump, but finally, history.
We left the Jeep in Arizona this
summer instead of driving it back and
forth. When we got to Rockhaven Park
at Clinton Lake in Lawrence, Kansas, it
was time to look for another car. Only
took us two weeks to find a pretty cool
car: a 1994 Ford Taurus station
wagon. Seven seats and seven seat
belts. The back two seats face toward
the back window. My older grandsons
named our car the “Shaggon Wagon."
Yeah, that’s my grandsons!
It only took four weeks for it to break
down on me as I was driving home one
Page 4 of 7
by Lola McClane
day from town. I had to walk about two
miles and I called my bride to come
and get me. She was nervous hearing
from me. She said it was because the
first time I called her to come get me, I
had wrecked the truck. This time, the
car broke down. She seemed upset.
Oh well, whatever! As long as she
came and got me.
Craig, my oldest son, knew a
repairman and brought his trailer,
helped me move the car, and two days
later, the car was up and running. The
little woman was bemoaning the cost,
but she did seem to agree with me
when I reminded her it could be worse.
Sometimes logic can win out.
Although, it’s usually hit and miss with
my kind of logic. But that’s okay with
me.
Life moves on. But bumps still continue
to show up. Like the day we were in
Sam’s in Topeka. I had made a
purchase. We were exiting Sam’s. I
had my hands full with my purchase,
putting change back in my billfold,
billfold back in my pocket and a gust of
wind blew my sack out of my hands. I
quick turned around and between us,
we gathered up the loose ends, got in
our car and headed toward Lawrence.
Driving along, I felt an emptiness in my
back pocket.
“Lola,” I blurted out, “where’s my
billfold?” She informed me it was not
her day to watch it. Not funny! This
promised to be a very large bump.
I turn around, go back to Sam’s. Check
out the parking lot where I was parked.
Nothing there! We went into Sam’s.
The wife went to the cashier and I, as
a last ditch effort, went to customer
service. I keep reminding the little
woman, there ARE honest people in
this world. Sure enough, a truck driver,
one of the good ole’ boys, had picked
continued on page 5
Page 5 of 7
Reporter's Record
July 20 10
Learning to Retire continued from page 4
my billfold up on the ground in front of
the door and took it to customer
service. See, if you don’t know where
something is, just ask someone. That’s
what I’m talking about.
And now it’s time for my nap. That’s
another one of my priorities as the day
progresses. I have a grandson’s
baseball game to go to tonight and I
want to be sharp so I can pass along
my wisdom of the game. Hope you
enjoyed your peek into my world. Now
I’m going to visit the dream world.
Well, there was one thing I wanted him
to comment on about Rockhaven Park
and our run for safety, but when the
eyes begin to droop, I’ve learned
you’re not going to get the scoop. So,
I’ll carry on.
Rockhaven Park had changed since
we left last October. A nice picnic
shelter with electricity had been
constructed. We had a new concrete
building that housed showers and
bathrooms. That building is situated
near us, which is nice, but the
downside is our view of the corner site
has now been closed off. That’s
unfortunate, since that’s a popular
corner for the deer to come out into the
park and graze.
As for the new shower and bathroom
concrete building, we are glad,
because up until now we did not have
a safe place to go when the infamous
swirling winds of Kansas began
swirling. Speaking of which, we’ve
already experienced one trip to the
safe house.
I found the whole experience a rather
humorous study in priorities between
Tom and myself. Late one afternoon I
was sitting in front of my computer. At
the time I was talking on the phone to
Paula. From behind me I heard Tom
say, “We need to go to the shower
by Lola McClane
building for awhile, Lola.” I took the
time to shut the computer down.
As we left the RV making our way to
the shower house, I took a quick
inventory of Tom’s and my important
take-along treasures.
Tom had put on his heavy robe, heavy
shoes. As he walked, he was checking
out the clouds. In one hand he had a lit
cigarette and in the other hand was a
pack of cigarettes and lighter. How
simple and undaunting.
Then I came along in my coat and
sandals, head down, watching where I
was walking so as not to step into a
puddle. I had my purse slung over one
shoulder, a Sudoku book tucked under
my armpit. Continuing to visit with
Paula, I was holding my phone up to
my ear with one hand and with the
other hand I was holding a glass of
wine.
Now isn’t that a funny slant on people’s
priorities? During our brief visit to the
safe place, I sat in one of the lawn
chairs that Tom had put in the building
during a prior storm. I sat my glass of
wine down and continued to talk to
Paula. Tom, on the other hand, stood
in the door of the building and watched
the clouds. After a short period of time,
he announced the bad looking clouds
had passed on and said we could go
back into the RV. We both returned to
the RV and I went back to sit at my
computer, still talking to Paula. Tom
continued to survey the skies. Another
crisis, averted, each in our own quirky
way.
So, on to the next crisis, whatever that
may be. You can bet Tom and I will
make it through and you can bet we’ll
do it in our own quirky way. That’s
what I’m talking about.
“I found the
whole
experience a
rather
humorous
study in
priorities
between Tom
and myself.”
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Reporter's Record
Crossword Fun!
from bestcrosswords.com
Across
1 - Notches
6 - Culture medium
10 - Small children
14 - Hawaiian greeting
15 - Chadic language
16 - Ashtabula's lake
17 - Foot-operated lever
18 - Ancient Semitic for "Lord"
19 - Anger
20 - Early late-night host
21 - Verse of four feet
23 - Rapturous delight
25 - Spuds
26 - Alley ___
27 - Banish
29 - Influential person
32 - Pointed arch
33 - How was ___ know?
36 - Run-down quarter
37 - Goddesses of the seasons
38 - Spahn teammate
39 - A collection of articles
40 - Shrivel
41 - Brainy bunch
42 - Man of many words
43 - Nipper's co.
44 - 15th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
47 - Caused by an earthquake
51 - Exercising prudence
54 - Injectable diazepam, in military lingo
55 - ___ Hashanah
56 - Formerly, formerly
57 - Tenuous substances
58 - Between ports
59 - Cosecant's reciprocal
60 - Opposite astarboard
61 - Adventurous exploit
62 - Drunkards
63 - Leases
Down
1 - One of the two equal sections of a cone
2 - Pertaining to the small intestine
3 - Musical endings
4 - Capital of the Sudan
5 - Gal of song
6 - Monastery
7 - Capricorn's animal
8 - Banned apple spray
9 - Not absolute
10 - Cylindrical
11 - Declaim
12 - Large cat
13 - Prophets
21 - Sugar amt.
22 - Boy or man
July 20 10
Page 6 of 7
Answer will appear next month
24 - "You've got mail" co.
27 - Everglades bird
28 - Capital of Shaanxi province, China
29 - Ed.'s pile
30 - Cheer for Manolete
31 - Kind of reaction
32 - Exude
33 - Author Fleming
34 - ___ the season...
35 - ___ roll
37 - Loftiness
38 - View of the sea
40 - Came to
41 - AT&T rival
42 - Linux variety
43 - Fam. reunion attendee
44 - Mine prop
45 - "______ by any other name…"
46 - Meditates
47 - Satisfies
48 - Person who dresses stones
49 - Inactive
50 - Throws
52 - Small combo
53 - "___ She Lovely?"
57 - Needlefish
Last month's solution
Page 7 of 7
Tarrant County
Court Reporters
Association
July 20 10
Reporter's Record
“Quotable”
Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.
Malcolm S. Forbes
Contact Us
401 W. Belknap St.
Fort Worth, TX 76102
info@tccra-online.com
Officers
President
Brenda Hein
bhein@tarrantcounty.com
President-Elect
Kim Cherry
(August 19, 1919 – February 24, 1990)
American publisher, Forbes Magazine
Get Involved!
To submit articles, briefs, bloopers, classifieds, poems, reviews, comments, or
other ideas for this newsletter, please contact:
Brenda Hein
bhein@tarrantcounty.com
or
Reporter's Record Editor
info@tccra-online.com
kcherry@tarrantcounty.com
Vice President
Lisa Morton
lmorton@tarrantcounty.com
Secretary
Robin Worley
reworley@tarrantcounty.com
Treasurer
Monica Willenburg
mwillenburg@tarrantcounty.com
Immediate Past President
Frances Janezic
fbjanezic@tarrantcounty.com
Newsletter Editor/Publisher
Stefanie A. Newton
i.steno@gmail.com
We’re on the Web!
Visit us at:
www.tccra-online.com
About Our Organization
The Tarrant County Court Reporters Association meets the first
Wednesday of the month (except July) at 12:00 noon.
located in the
Worthington Hotel
200 Main Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
parking validation available