I was feeling pretty confident about things after the CCP/CBC exam, and I decided I couldn't wait around anymore for my arm to feel better. I applied to about 15 CART companies trying to drum up some real work. I got promising responses from a few. It's three weeks later now, and I've only actually done any work for one, and that's only been a couple of hours. I'm hopeful about getting some classes from another next semester, but I'm not sure it'll be a full schedule.
I'm starting to have serious doubts about my ability to make a career out of CART. I don't like having downtime. I'd rather be working. Like it or not, I'm about to have an entire month off. I may actually have to invest in captioning. The good thing about that is I can start any time; it's not dependent on semester schedules.
I've been having a problem where I keep writng -fy as FAOI, even though that's "fie" and -fy should be FEU. I had SUR as Sur for some reason instead of sur-, which caused a problem somewhere, so I fixed that. I wrote that Frozen was a "prison success movie," which was just weird. I guess it's good that it translated that way, but I certainly didn't remember that I'm supposed to write "princess" as PRIN/S*ES. Maybe I should change prison to PR*IN.
Jill posted a brilliant idea on depoman. Instead of just having "-ville" and "-borough" and whatnot just attach, she has them defined to cap the previous word *and* attach to it! I updated a few pertinent entries of my own to do that, and it's totally awesome.
I also joined the Eclipse group on FB, where I've learned some great tricks. You can use ALT + S/ALT + A to add a single word to your spelling dictionary instead of having to run a spellcheck which pushes you down to the next misspelled word whether you wanted to go anywhere or not, which is a lifesaver. There's a command to bring up your steno notes if they're not showing up on a transcript.
The most important thing I saw was a reminder to upgrade to Version 6.0.0.12. I was on .9, and I don't even think I knew there was another update. If I did, I didn't know it was a stable one. I upgraded, and it turns out they fixed the auto-brief window so it works in keyboard macro output! They fixed it around the start of the semester. I *so* wish I had known that! It would've been amazing. I've got it going now, but there's only one week left in the semester.
I haven't had time for dictionary maintenence for a while, but there was a period where I was making good progress on it. I decided it made more sense for ya'll to be YAL and -ial to be Y*AL, so I changed 961 entries. I was really used to doing -ial as YAL, though, and it's not going over so well in my writing yet. -cade needed to be KA*ID to avoid conflicting with Cade, but there weren't many of those. Similarly, -tate (141 entries) got updated to TA*IT to avoid conflicting with Tate.
-gate (162) had to be GA*ET, for obvious reasons. I was writing -ality as ALT and it wasn't translating, so I did 434 of those. Latin was defined as LANT, which made sense. I'm not sure I actually even write it that way, but I updated 86 -lant entries to be LA*NT. -rate words (465) weren't working as RA*T, although I thought I fixed that already. I went ahead and did 84 -fied words as FAOID and FID, so that should work no matter which way I do it.
BER is ber-, so I updated -ber (208) as B*ER. "-zation" words (273) weren't coming out properly. I think I decided they should be fine as STKAIGS, but I defined them all as STKA*IGS for some reason. I wanted my para- prefix (232) to be PA*R, but it wasn't defined. -cate (238) wasn't working as K*AT. YOR is yore, so -ior (84) had to be Y*OR. I'd probably write yore as YOER, though, so I'm not sure I really needed to do that one.
I'm down to only 13 more problems to fix, so maybe I can get them done over winter break.
Undiagnosable
I had the Botox injections in my neck and chest about a month ago. They didn't help at all. I thought they even made it worse for about a week, but it might've just been the way I was sitting. I called the doctor, and he said give it a few more days, so I did and called again. He was supposed to call back, but he didn't. I didn't follow up because it didn't seem like he had any other suggestions. The Botox was super expensive, and I wasn't planning to do that again.
Instead, I started going to a chiropractor. He said that he could definitely help me, and my spine was out of alignment and pushing on nerves that were affecting my arm. He said my neck didn't have enough backwards curve, so my head is too far forward, and that's throwing the curve in the small of my back out of alignment, too. He wanted me to do two visits a week for four weeks, then one visit a week for two weeks, and then see where we go from there.
I've had five adjustments now, and it hasn't made a bit of difference. The chiro says he's not seeing any problems in the area that would usually affect that part of my arm. He's confident I'm going to see results if I keep going. I'm not so sure, but I might as well go through the entire course of treatment. This chiropractor won't be in network for my insurance next year, and my last appointment falls in January, so I probably won't go to that one if I'm not feeling any better.
I stopped doing the exercises from physical therapy. I did them for three months without any improvement, so I think that's a good enough try. I'm doing a few now that the chiro suggested. I'm also using a Denneroll pillow/pad/thing under my neck to try to restore the proper curvature.
I'm about at my wits' end with this thing. It's driving me crazy. It's not just that it hurts when I write; I can't write properly. My hand doesn't do what I tell it to, and it affects my product. I monitor my accuracy, and it's still above 99%, but it's so maddening having something like this keep me from doing my best work. The pain makes me dread having to start every class, and it feels like it's ruining my whole life and it's never going to go away.
The worst part is I don't know what the problem is or how to fix it. I bought a heating pad and tried that, but it doesn't help, either. There's a nerve or something on the inside of my upper arm and when I touch it, pain shoots all the way down my arm. That's got to be the problem. I don't understand why no one can figure out how to fix it.
I wound up calling the rehabilitation specialist a couple weeks after he never returned my call. He said maybe it's a muscle problem, or maybe an MRI would help. He wants me to come in so he can do another exam and see if he missed anything, since we've pretty much ruled out thoracic outlet causing the problem. He has such limited appointments that I can't get in to see him until a week from now, and even that one I might have to reschedule. He's not in network on my new insurance, either, so I'll probably have to find someone else to look at the MRI after I get it done.
I'm starting to have a new pain in the small of my back. I'm not sure what's causing it. I thought it might be because I tried out writing with my steno machine in a lower position for a few days, but it didn't make my arm feel any better, so I stopped doing that a while ago, and my back pain hasn't gotten any better. I got a memory foam mattress topper, so that could be it. I'll be sad if I have to lose the topper, though; my mattress is way too firm without it.
Instead, I started going to a chiropractor. He said that he could definitely help me, and my spine was out of alignment and pushing on nerves that were affecting my arm. He said my neck didn't have enough backwards curve, so my head is too far forward, and that's throwing the curve in the small of my back out of alignment, too. He wanted me to do two visits a week for four weeks, then one visit a week for two weeks, and then see where we go from there.
I've had five adjustments now, and it hasn't made a bit of difference. The chiro says he's not seeing any problems in the area that would usually affect that part of my arm. He's confident I'm going to see results if I keep going. I'm not so sure, but I might as well go through the entire course of treatment. This chiropractor won't be in network for my insurance next year, and my last appointment falls in January, so I probably won't go to that one if I'm not feeling any better.
I stopped doing the exercises from physical therapy. I did them for three months without any improvement, so I think that's a good enough try. I'm doing a few now that the chiro suggested. I'm also using a Denneroll pillow/pad/thing under my neck to try to restore the proper curvature.
I'm about at my wits' end with this thing. It's driving me crazy. It's not just that it hurts when I write; I can't write properly. My hand doesn't do what I tell it to, and it affects my product. I monitor my accuracy, and it's still above 99%, but it's so maddening having something like this keep me from doing my best work. The pain makes me dread having to start every class, and it feels like it's ruining my whole life and it's never going to go away.
The worst part is I don't know what the problem is or how to fix it. I bought a heating pad and tried that, but it doesn't help, either. There's a nerve or something on the inside of my upper arm and when I touch it, pain shoots all the way down my arm. That's got to be the problem. I don't understand why no one can figure out how to fix it.
I wound up calling the rehabilitation specialist a couple weeks after he never returned my call. He said maybe it's a muscle problem, or maybe an MRI would help. He wants me to come in so he can do another exam and see if he missed anything, since we've pretty much ruled out thoracic outlet causing the problem. He has such limited appointments that I can't get in to see him until a week from now, and even that one I might have to reschedule. He's not in network on my new insurance, either, so I'll probably have to find someone else to look at the MRI after I get it done.
I'm starting to have a new pain in the small of my back. I'm not sure what's causing it. I thought it might be because I tried out writing with my steno machine in a lower position for a few days, but it didn't make my arm feel any better, so I stopped doing that a while ago, and my back pain hasn't gotten any better. I got a memory foam mattress topper, so that could be it. I'll be sad if I have to lose the topper, though; my mattress is way too firm without it.
CCP/CBC Hopeful
This probably would've been a better post if I had had time to write it a little closer to the event, but c'est la vie. I was feeling a little under the weather when I took the exam this time, so instead of being nervous, I tried to focus on just feeling sick and being angry that I had to go take a test instead of being nervous. I cut time a little close on getting there; I wasn't sure if you had to be there half an hour before the exam started. I think I made that time by about 30 seconds.
I was kind of concerned about getting set up and entering the terms in time, but I didn't have anything to worry about. I got everything all set, worked out the terms, and got myself in a comfortable writing position, and then decided not to do any practice material. I never practice before I CART for real, so why practice then?
I didn't try to do any fancy briefs with the terms. I knew I wouldn't remember them and I'd default to stroking them out, anyway. I think I did make briefs for a couple, and I think I actually remembered to use them. But for the most part I just wrote the words a bunch of times and tried to get possible misstrokes in my dictionary.
I had to wait for the CRR to be given first. We had the unusual circumstance of a candidate taking the CRR, and then going over to the next room for the RMR. The chief examiner let us know that after the CRR, she wanted everyone to stay seated, and the CRR/RMR candidate would gather up his things and go to the other room before she played the CBC/CCP exam.
One of the candidates said something about a lot of "movement" during the exam, and the examiner said she saw it. I had decided to just sit with my eyes closed during the CRR and wait for it to be over, so I didn't see anything. I thought maybe a lot of people went by the door or something.
When it was time for my test, I was nervous I wouldn't have enough time to get comfortable and get in the groove, but it turned out to be fine. I wrote the warm-up minute, and it was pretty terrible at first, but I got things under control before the test started. I kept getting nervous and feeling like I was losing control, but I tried to focus on getting my arm comfortable. I can always write better if my arm feels like it's in a good spot.
I also continued my new strategy of looking down at something in the same spot my computer speakers are at home instead of looking up at the whiteboard, and that worked well. I could just kind of zone out/let my eyes glaze over, but also focus on something at the same time. I think it must be training from when I CART that when I look away from the screen, it takes pressure off and makes it easier to write.
There were a couple sections where I dropped the ball and it was a struggle to push through, but I did it. The topic we were given was "patriotism." I think the text was some kind of Presidential acceptance speech. It felt really comfortable and familiar since I've been doing a political science class all semester. That probably helped me be less nervous, too.
After the exam, one of the candidates was complaining about how the RMR candidate was "a mess," and was messing around with his equipment and stuff. I guess that's what was going on during the CRR. I don't think it would've bothered me even if it had happened during my test. I couldn't see anyone during my test, and I couldn't hear him doing stuff even with my eyes closed. The chief examiner said she would let NCRA know about it.
I feel really confident about the exam. Barring any formatting/equipment/other weird issues like that, I think I passed. It's about a million times harder to wait for what I think are passing results than it was to wait for what I was almost certain were failing ones. They said we should have the results by "mid-December," so I guess I've got about a week and a half left until I find out.
I was kind of concerned about getting set up and entering the terms in time, but I didn't have anything to worry about. I got everything all set, worked out the terms, and got myself in a comfortable writing position, and then decided not to do any practice material. I never practice before I CART for real, so why practice then?
I didn't try to do any fancy briefs with the terms. I knew I wouldn't remember them and I'd default to stroking them out, anyway. I think I did make briefs for a couple, and I think I actually remembered to use them. But for the most part I just wrote the words a bunch of times and tried to get possible misstrokes in my dictionary.
I had to wait for the CRR to be given first. We had the unusual circumstance of a candidate taking the CRR, and then going over to the next room for the RMR. The chief examiner let us know that after the CRR, she wanted everyone to stay seated, and the CRR/RMR candidate would gather up his things and go to the other room before she played the CBC/CCP exam.
One of the candidates said something about a lot of "movement" during the exam, and the examiner said she saw it. I had decided to just sit with my eyes closed during the CRR and wait for it to be over, so I didn't see anything. I thought maybe a lot of people went by the door or something.
When it was time for my test, I was nervous I wouldn't have enough time to get comfortable and get in the groove, but it turned out to be fine. I wrote the warm-up minute, and it was pretty terrible at first, but I got things under control before the test started. I kept getting nervous and feeling like I was losing control, but I tried to focus on getting my arm comfortable. I can always write better if my arm feels like it's in a good spot.
I also continued my new strategy of looking down at something in the same spot my computer speakers are at home instead of looking up at the whiteboard, and that worked well. I could just kind of zone out/let my eyes glaze over, but also focus on something at the same time. I think it must be training from when I CART that when I look away from the screen, it takes pressure off and makes it easier to write.
There were a couple sections where I dropped the ball and it was a struggle to push through, but I did it. The topic we were given was "patriotism." I think the text was some kind of Presidential acceptance speech. It felt really comfortable and familiar since I've been doing a political science class all semester. That probably helped me be less nervous, too.
After the exam, one of the candidates was complaining about how the RMR candidate was "a mess," and was messing around with his equipment and stuff. I guess that's what was going on during the CRR. I don't think it would've bothered me even if it had happened during my test. I couldn't see anyone during my test, and I couldn't hear him doing stuff even with my eyes closed. The chief examiner said she would let NCRA know about it.
I feel really confident about the exam. Barring any formatting/equipment/other weird issues like that, I think I passed. It's about a million times harder to wait for what I think are passing results than it was to wait for what I was almost certain were failing ones. They said we should have the results by "mid-December," so I guess I've got about a week and a half left until I find out.
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