for dinosaur

I know that Dinosaur and I have tried [2008-11-18]
to start a Union back when CBay Holdings was buying out Medquist. Guess what? Here we are today, another cut in pay.

I'm with you Dinosaur. They lied [2008-08-05]
and lied and lied to us for the past year and a half now so their words mean nothing. I don't have far to retirement and I hope I can hang on long enough for that before this whole company falls in on itself....

for dinosaur [2008-05-15]
selectric still is the best keyboard and the displaywriter was the only one besides dictaphone word processor that actually was intended for us. My dad retired from IBM in Raleigh and he designed the covers on the toaster. TX for the memories.

to dinosaur/headseat [2008-02-09]
I only use a headset if the volume is really low. Besides, long-term it'll harm your hearing. Also, mine are incredibly long, even if I shorten them. They're more trouble than they're worth! To each his/her own, though. Just a thought...

For Dinosaur - got your email - please read [2008-01-17]
thanks for the apology. it really wasn't necessary, tho. not offended here. we have our ups and our downs, need time to vent and replenish ourselves. you and i are 2 members of the oldies but goodies club!

To Dinosaur [2005-11-09]
And I want all of you to ask yourselves if the primadonnas and poseurs at AAMT have ever done one darned thing to help you. Really ask yourself that.

Thank you... [2008-11-03]
For the validation, Dinosaur. I was mortified by my supervisor's (as well as the OP's supervisor) *oh well, we'll catch it next time* attitude towards her missing an entire week's worth of pay. I was further mortified when she told me it was MY responsibility to make sure my time sheet was correct when the system was down and I had no way to ensure anything was correct, and emailing her was my only alternative to have my hours logged. I think supervisors like the OPs and mine are few and far between...at least I hope they are. Like the OP, it just makes me see red when MTs have to fight to get the monies they are clearly entitled to. Thanks again :-)

I have done all the above and went beyond. [2008-10-22]
Dinosaur and myselfhaveasked to start a union. We have wrote to EVERYONE including news mediaalong with so manyothers on this board just beforeand during CBaypurchase. I think a lot of people on this board are statingFACTS. They arerealistic and not looking through rose colored glasses. It sounds to mea higher up wrote about us being so negative. Good, we got your attention at least. I am a happyperson. I LOVE LIFE andlive itto thefullest. I help people in need and work in the shelters andhelpout with delivering Christmasgifts everyyear throughour church.I rather help outpeople than work. I have received so many thank you cards from so many people in my life and thank you gifts. It is so gorgeous outside rightnow and I never want to take anything for granted in life. Ijust do not like what MQ hasdone to us MT's,QA, etc.,and stating facts is not being negative. Just like I am stating a fact that I do not like peas andthose waxy yellow beans or people who cut me off on the road.Oh, I forgot, I guessI ambeingnegative in your eyes. I also do not look at life through rose colored glasses or act like Snow White. I am meand I love who I am. I just do not like howwe are treated and if MQ is this way to their employees, it will soon trickle down to other companies because MQ is supposed to be the largest company and others might follow.I look at it like thehousing marketand what Fannie Mae along withbanks did and now look what happened to our economy.One good thing came out of thisis CNN 360talks about the culpritsof collapse,CEO'sand the higher ups that caused this mess out of GREED.

sorry, [2008-09-22]
it should be not too eager instead of not to eager. It is late and I am after all a real living dinosaur. Please forgive misspellings. I am tired.

Ike on it's way to Texas [2008-09-11]
Dear Moderator,please keep this on the MQ board. These are MQ employees and I am not sure they visit the main board. To our friends in Texas, Ike is coming your way as you well know. We have MT friends in Galveston and Houston. I have tried to contact you personally and could not get through to your email. Please place a post as soon as possible so we know you are okay. If you need anything please contact me and I will do my best to send it to you. We are praying for you. Dinosaur

you will be great. [2008-08-07]
You are a dinosaur in your own right. Highly experienced MTs are hard to come by these days. Are you 28 years as an MT or 28 years with the Q? Best of luck, you will do fine.

It has always been about the clients and not employees. [2008-08-05]
Even the caller from Impact Center stated this. That is why us MT's need to do something. We need to take a stand just like Dinosaur states in her post below, This is important, take a stand.I am for the clients, but treat us employees fairly and not decrease our wages. Okay. You are a patient and you go to a private doctor's office. This is the best doctor in the city, but his office staff is horrible. The staff is rude, cannot keep appointments straight, keep you waiting too long, billing not done properly, etc. You will probably leave and go see another doctor. I was always told, even in school, you make the employees happy by treating them with respect, good pay, as they are the ground workers and keep the company running smoothly and basically make the higher ups look good. We are not treated that way. We are all not on the same page. Some get raiseseach yearand some take 10 yearsto get a raise. Some have primaries and somegetcesspool. By the way, did it or did it not state in MQ letterabout: I transcribing the work for (insert your primary account)or I transcribe the work (insert your accounts) for ateachinginstitution. Doeshe not know about the cesspool?We need to take a stand as Dinosaur posts below.

From Keystrokes to MD-IT, back to MQ. [2008-07-28]
I quit MQ a year ago because of the drop in our ASR income and the sudden cesspool. I was with Keystrokes who told me I needed to buy my own computer which was apparently compatible with Vista. A week after I started with them, they changed their minds, said they had too many glitches to work out. I was stuck with a brand-new computer, all new programs, totalling over $1000. My loss. I then bought a C-phone to work on another account they offered me, but it felt like a dinosaur compared to MQ's DocQscribe. I left for MD-IT in Colorado. The recruiter and the MTs I worked with were nice. The account I was put on was surgery, which I have worked on with MQ very profitably in the past due to my Expanders (pre-ASR). There were only two other MTs on the account, and they had been with it for 15 years, basically stuck in their ways. I had to learn to think like them, but even between them they disagreed, so I never really got a straight answer to many things, creating quite a bit of confusion. Also, their program, ExpressScribe, was difficult for me. The typing screen is smaller than DocQScribe and any time you hit a key on the keyboard, it kind of blinks. The technical department couldn't fix this. You also had to buy your own Expander program, which had its limitations. Also, you couldn't just click on a doctor's name, you had to look it up on the Internet, then copy it down by hand, then type that into the screen - cutting and pasting didn't work because of the formatting, which by the way had to be done all by hand, with every single document. When I went back to the recruiter with my suggestions to improve it (as it worked with DocQscribe), he said he would put it on the list for the technicians, but it could take months. I felt like I was transcribing with only one hand and one eye shut, very compromised. I stuck it out with that company for a couple of months, then came crawling back to MQ. Maybe I just had an unusual amount of bad luck, but I think MQ is a good fit for me. I have over 20 years' transcription experience and have been with MQ for going on 8 years now. They have their glitches but now at least I know what's out there.

Link below. Makes me SICK. Do not forget the female mentioned was awarded [2008-07-26]
a 25,000 bonus for getting the SEC filings done and once done, CBay came into the picture. I was going to work today to help out for a few hours, but for what? Peanuts? While these guys make under300,000 with raises? Where is my raise? Us MT's work hard for their potbellies and we make them look good.We are told we are so needed and if it was not for us MT's, they would not have a job. Well? We should all call in sick and fight. Okay, enough venting. Link below posted by Dinosaur.

One more thing........... [2008-06-26]
Count me in on the conference call. I would like to say one more thing about MTs and charities. We are a very giving group of people. I've been in the business since medical records were chiseled on stone tablets and in that time I have seen us do some great charitable works. When the Mississippi flooded in 1993 we took up collections, donated food and clothing items for our fellow MTs in the area as well as the general population in need at that time. Then there was 911, I do not recall a company wide contribution, but I know our office and many othersdonated blood,supplies and money.When Katrina hit we donated money, PTO to our fellow MTs. When Desert Storm started and then the current war in Iraq our office (they were still open then) went in with a local hospital in my area and sent needed items to the troops, donated items for Christmas packages for the troops. Every year our office would contact a local church and adopt a family in need, we donated non-perishables (including pet food, not usually thought of but very important), collected money for fresh food items and even presents for the children. I can remember carrying the items into the apartment of a family, and the woman who lived there (raising two small children on her own) stating I've never seen so much food! She had tears in her eyes. When you see the lives you have helped first hand it is a wonderful feeling, but more importantly, it makes you want to help as many as you can. My point is, we are wonderful on our own, we do not need to have MQ donate for us. Actually, I would like to see a comparison of what MQ donated (without benefit to the company such as tax deductions) compared to us. After all, in most cases the MTs did not receive tax deductions for their contributions. I would get along great with you and your grandmother. Save the voiceless. If I have misspelled anything or left out a word or two, please forgive me, it is late and being the dinosaur that I am, I am very tired.

LOL ... u yelling at me? LOL. I was agreeing with you [2008-06-04]
my dinosaur post was a sarcastic play on the post above mine ... peace out ...

My apologies to sm [2008-01-16]
I would like toapologize to sm the MT I attacked in my post yesterday. I launched my attack without provocation, no facts, without knowing her situation, without knowing anything about her at all. I did it out of anger, not at her, but at my frustration. She isa very experienced, intelligentMT, who is well educated and well versed in all the subjects I accused her not to be. She has accomplished much on her ownand is almost a dinosaur in her own right (not quite but working up to it)and I hope she will forgive my stupidity. I know we get angry at the situation such as it is, we have all lost money, some more than others, we all hate the cesspool, we hate the fact that there are no answers to questions or returned email or phone calls, but we are all in this together. We need to support each other and not place blame one another. I hope you all learn something from this old fool's stupidity.

here's the stats, ma'am ... [2008-01-15]
i'm 48 years old. been doing MT work since i was 21. own my own home (bought and paid for by me single-handedly, raising 3 kids as a divorced mom with only $200 month in child support). btw, you'd better learn to care about global economy -- it's what is effecting the issues you are talking about. i'm not worried about you or any group of MTs getting a union. you can't agree on how to transcribe most of the time and every single one of you get all upset if someone doesn't think just like you. no fear about you teaming up! lol heads up, dinosaur. there is no age limit on college or vocational institutions. you can do something if you want to. issue is that you don't want to change. go ahead. kick and scream all you want. you won't change a thing and you're going to die poor and unhappy when you could have had good sense and reasoning to recognize the direction the job market, technology and economy are going and do something for yourself. i have a nice nest egg to fall back on and will have more. painfully obvious already that i'm doing better than most of you. i'll not be a wal-mart greeter or a burger king senior greeter. lol what did you make last year with all your screaming fit? my check stub shows $61,292 and some change (here at the q, i might add). cry on, cry on. putting in my ear plugs. can lead a horse to water but can't make 'em drink. good luck tho.

You can't say you blame them? [2007-10-28]
You are certianly entitled to your opinion, after all this is America equality for all, not just big big business and CEOs. I have been around a very long, long, long time, I'm practically a dinosaur, 25 years with the same company (mulltiple owners of course). I've even been on both sides of the fence, management and MT. You say they will outsource, they have ASR (which by the way was created by JPL who admit, they cannot get it to function properly) and you will be happy to do the work left, because we who take a stand to secure our/your futurewill all be fired. There is a federal law that protects the employment of those seeking to join a union, but just for kicks and giggles, let us say your correct. Where do you think this company, and more importantly, where do you think your job will be in 10 years? Let me think! Could it be outsourced and ASR? You bet, and that would leave you/we/us most probably working for minimum wage, proof readers for a machine and/or ESL MTs, our skills and profession reduced to dust. And yes, it is a skill and a profession. We willhave to takea second jobso we can pay rent/utilities/morgage/food as MQ no longer pays a livingwage,and we will be asking the client/customer, Can I supersize that for you? or Welcome to Wal-Mart. Is that where you want to be in 10 years? Believe me, 10 years ago, I thoughtASR was something out of Star Trek, but now it is here, if we don't do something nowthere will there will be no tomorrow for us as we know it. Since the companywent up on what is currently known as DEP I have lost half of my annual income, $10,000.00 in just the first year alone. Ask yourself, is this where you want to be in the future? LOL now!

Oh, you are so right, if we thought technology....sm [2007-09-26]
itself would be a great boon for the profession, we are finding ourselves sorely mistaken. This is one of very few, if any fields where you can get more experience, continuing education, better technology, more knowledge, speed, accuracy, proficiency, etc., and make LESS AND LESS in the field. We are, sadly, NOT recognized or honored for the work we do....if I could have seen into the future.....???? Very enticing these days to just leave and go back to other fields, but for some strange reason, I really do LOVE medical transcription. Why do most all MTSOs just love the dollars that we make for them?? Nice to meet another dinosaur, take good care!!!

ah, okay, but we are paid for spaces. (sm) [2007-09-25]
I'm a Selectric dinosaur too :-) You know, sometimes I think we were better off then even with the white-out and paper and the racket of the typewriter. Tape drop-off, do your work whenever... Things were so much more simple. I guess the best MT era was pre-internet transcription when we were paid for headers and still had a little more flexibility... little did we know what was evolving. Oh well, do the best with what ya have, right? But things ain't gettin' no better for us, that's for sure.

Well, here is how it went with me...sm [2007-09-19]
Now this was back in the days of Guns N Roses (not Wine and Roses!), or before, (I got my first PC experience in-office transcription, it was an APPLE IIe, which is a DINOSAUR circa 1985....my very first jobs were on IBM Selectrics, how's that for technology? Anyway, I had tons of in-office and clinic, had graduated from a locally prestigious program, had worked for years as a Med Tech, and I had to really beat the bushes and push my way into the door of a hospital; most hospitals want experienced only, are not willing to train, but then, how do you get the experience (the training programs in acute care did not count). I finally found a desperate Diagnostic Imaging supervisor who had learned on the job 40 years earlier, and she took me under her wing. Then, on after a while, I wangled my way into the Acute Care HIS pool for coverage and learned tons there part-time, working lots of overtime....this was how it went with me, sometimes you have to truly sell yourself and your abilities, be super confident, tell them you will sit down and transcribe anything they want for an interview, and if you do well, and if they have the manpower, you just might make it in! All the very best to you, please e-mail me anytime, I am pulling for you!!!!

The Answer Is: Yes, it's going to be like this for the [2007-07-16]
foreseeable future. So I guess it's evolve or croak. I'm like the dinosaur in The Far Side. Looking up and seeing little snowflakes. Hmmm.... I don't know about the rest of ya'll but I'm not good at learning on the fly. Makes me nervous. I need time to process what I learn.

Yes, I quit and gave 2 week notice [2007-04-10]
after 11 yrs. I quit for all the reasons that everyone states here on the forums. I just couldn't take the inconsistencies and demands on my time, lack of work, etc. etc. At the time I was PT and was still working on a dinosaur account with a c-phone and land line. Gave them 2 weeks notice, and after a week, they shut down my phone line. Well, that made me a tad cranky. I couldn't even get my last week in, but then... I was out of work, so what's the diff? I used my own equipment, so nothing to ship back. I just signed off one day and that was the end of it. They never even asked for an exit interview, but they did call twice offering me a bonus to return. I was lucky to be able to afford to take several months off, which I enjoyed. I also found a great company to work for, and I'm very, very happy. Won't ever go back to MQ.

D'OH! DVI headphones died [2006-10-17]
And I can't find any locally. I've E-mailed in for another pair, but so far haven't heard back and haven't been able to get through on phones today. Sigh. I hate to buy some and have them shipped when the legacy account will be switching over to the new platform in a few weeks. Heh, when I showed the old set of headphones, the office supply places acted like I brought in a dinosaur fossil. I got a grand total of 300 lines in 5 hours today, and tonight is going to be even worse.

Dial-up/DQS, what I was told [2006-07-24]
I attempted to go to DQS a while ago using dial-up. For me, it was a production nightmare. I couldn't afford to stay on it nor could I afford satellite (what was available when I checked into it was $600 install, year long contract, and $50 a month - but I have since heard there might be other options, IF they install in my area). I have also heard varying stories on how dependable satellite is - some say it goes down for them at the slightest bit of rain - some say that it is fine until a big storm... I felt it was way too expensive to try without a little bit more surety that satellite would work for me. I'm in the boonies too but not that remote. I also wasn't thrilled to commit to a year and that kind of money when I also heard that MTs from the office I am with (we were all with a company acquired by MQ) had experienced a decrease in pay simply by going on DQS, even after the learning curve, even though they were on the same accounts they had been on for 10 years. I have heard other MTs from other offices who are quite pleased and insist their production is equal to or better... I have also known other MTs who have high speed internet but got dial-up as a fallback and had to use it and did OK - just OK - production wise. I was told by tech back when I tried to go over that the DQS platform was simply not meant to be used with dial-up, that there is far too much being transmitted to make things go smoothly with dial-up (Note, this is all paraphrasing what I was told). I have had to stay on the diminishing dial-up accounts on a different platform in the meantime. The only thing I liked about DQS was the actual transcription screen - the rest of it (the ADT screen) was the most top heavy time consuming way I have transcribed in 20 years. Give me WP51 and quickly typing in the PT name and other info any ole day. There's no bogging done or getting stuck in an ADT screen that way. Call me a dinosaur... Anyway, seems that some of us do great on DQS whether high speed or dial-up and some don't. I hope it works for you! Thanks, that was my 2 Cents! :-)

Still waiting [2006-05-16]
For MQ to send meshipping labels to send back this hulking dinosaur. They contacted me back in December about the computer and I never heard from them again. The monitor weighs at least 30 pounds and I'm sure not paying out of pocket to ship it back! Its here when they want to come get it. It is an old one and the value probably isnt even worth the price to ship it.

What exactly are they doing with all [2006-03-29]
these old PCs that they are demanding back? Mine is a couple of years old, obsolete by now. Are they actually sending these old dinosaurs out to new, unsuspecting MTs who have been foolish enough to take a job with MQ? I imagine a whole pile of these dinosaur PCs sitting next to FranQ's office...

Since beginning of December [2006-03-14]
For them to send me the UPS tickets for my dinosaur. I started working PT for another companyin October, officially left MQ for good in late December, and have never been HAPPIER.

Yes to c-phone and still INET; questions for dial-up DQS MTs [2005-11-02]
I'm with Baltimore/Columbia office (formerly Herndon and formerly ddi). I have previously posted here regarding that I only have dial up available to me and that DQS was a total production nightmare for me - a serious pay cut and incredibly high stress/frustration espl when attempting to do any sort of search with ADT screen (still think typing in the info as I have done for years and years was so much more efficient, but call me a dinosaur...) Not willing to invest in satellite at this point, unsure where things are going. Anyway, I am on the straggler INET accounts (I count two accounts that still come up in my pool) and one acct on the C-phone. I have not heard definitively that these accounts will either go to DQS or simply leave MQ if they do not make the transition to DQS but have had supe speculate that this may happen. I have also heard speculation that this one c-phone acct may continue on and INET will be continued specifically for this acct, as it may be increasing in size due to combinining with another hospital. Yet another said No Way to this, that it wouldn't make sense. I have heard differing supe opinions on all of the above. No one seems to know or be willing to commit to a definitive plan. So much flux and lack of concrete information. Questions: I am curious - any other Balt/Columbia MTs out there still on INET too?? Question for dial-up DQS MT - is there any DQS MT successfully and easily (meaning working a normal 8 or so hour day, 5 days a week) maintaining a good line count/production (i.e. one that is equal to or greater than your line count with whatever program you were on before DQS) again, with dial-up? How about previous INET MTs who are on DQS (whether dial-up or DS) - are you able to maintain line count that is equal to or greater than your line count on INET? I am eager to hear someone say yes, but as of yet, no INET MT has spoken up and the ones I know personally give a big hearty No Way answer (i.e. all have experienced pay cuts in the form of decreased production related to DQS - they are all very experienced and productive MTs, all with 20 or more years of experience, not newbies, not low producers). So, eager to hear some positive experience with DQS and dial-up and eager to hear from INET MTs who are on DQS and making good counts - but not hopeful. Thanks!

Compared to actual "professionals" I know, engineers, a PhD [2005-10-19]
etc, MTs are comparative hillbillies. It doesn't take a great mind to type someone else's words. I have NEVER gotten any professional respect for being an MT. The only people that respected me were moms who didn't want to go to work and wanted to know how they could stay home and get a paycheck too. MT is a dinosaur and it should be allowed to die its death with some dignity.