Are My Crystals Loose?

Jacqueline Schmidt — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 21:31:00 GMT

Thanks to Ken Combs, RMR, CRR, who sent in an explanation of the term "crystals loose," which was published in one of those funny excerpts in the September JCR. Ken writes:

The submission of an excerpt from Dorothy Linda Minor of a witness’ testimony about “had my crystals loose,” brought a smile to my lips. After a heavy evening of partying and wine tasting, I’ve more than once thought I had crystal or two loose.

Having reported probably more than my fair share of medical cases, I can vouch for the numerous times a witness has tried to come up with a medical term he/she thought she could pronounce and ended up slaughtering it.

After reading it, I showed it to Kathy Lund of our office and found it very interesting how she reacted to it. She said if she were proofreading a transcript and saw “my crystals loose,” she’s look it up just to make sure there wasn’t some phrase or word which sounded close.

And she did exactly that. Here’s what she found: “Degeneration of the salt-like crystals (otoliths) in the utricle which break free and float into or attach themselves to the semicircular canals. Symptoms include: attacks of vertigo with rapid and pitched head motion (e.g. rolling in or out of bed or simply looking up). “

So this is one time the witness was correct.

Do you have a good excerpt from a transcript? Send it in to me or add it here.

Proving Usefulness and Providing Relevant Advances

Jacqueline Schmidt — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:01:00 GMT

A few times a year, an article will just fall into my lap. In June, this one arrived from the Delaware Court Reporters Association, who had invited attorney Greg Varallo – yes, of the Varallo court reporting family – to speak at their convention. Neith Ecker, RDR, CRR, DCRA’s current treasurer, had told Greg that, given his background, he could speak about whatever he wanted. He chose to speak about the relevance of court reporting in today’s world. Here is an excerpt:

It is my contention that, in almost every one of those cases, those who embraced relevant advances in technology to deliver their services faster and more effectively not only survived, but in some cases did better than before. Correspondingly, I believe that those who failed to embrace relevant technology suffered, and, in some cases, lost altogether.

Allow me, if I may, to illustrate the point with a few concrete examples. Let’s start with the first incursion of technology into the court reporting world - - the introduction of machine shorthand in the courts. I actually know a little something about this because it was my grandfather, Vincent Varallo, Sr., who, in 1937 was hired by the president judge of the Philadelphia Common Pleas Court as the first machine shorthand reporter in the Philadelphia court system. In order to prove that it worked, granddad was assigned not one but two judges, and reported the proceedings of both for a full year to “prove” that the predecessor of the shorthand machine that you all use every day was actually more useful than taking steno notes by hand.

Greg Varallo's full speech will be published in the September JCR. Watch for it!

JCR : JCR

Are My Crystals Loose?

Proving Usefulness and Providing Relevant Advances