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out of work? This has been going on for weeks now. I thought things would pick up by now?

I think its going to be a raw deal for those of us who have been here awhile. Only because it will be based on higher pay for harder work. In all honesty, I do not see them paying more than 10 cpl, and if they hand pick the worst of the worst, all day every day for those of us who can eek by and do them, we will be screwed. Honestly would rather have lower pay (no lower than 8 cpl) for easier work to keep my line count up. I've already been told many times that they give me the harder work because I can do it, but all day every day I would lose money.

They should base pay on experience, period the end! Keep the pool completely open to whatever work comes up, do not special assign harder work to those of us who can do it, because it slows us down incredibly! I agree, newbies need a chance to get their foot in the door with some easier dictation, but how are they going to learn if thats all theyre getting, and how about those of us who have been around the block, how are we going to earn a living for paying our dues in this business. Thats why i'm scared. Buh bye experienced MTs or what? What do you guys think?

and delivery. I do travel twice a week to this office. Plus, at times I will fax or email the reports free of charge. I live in Southern California in an upscale area.

Can anyone out there explain to me why when taking a test for a national company they would tell you, Note: The audio is bad and that is part of the test. Why in the world would a company want to give you a bad audio tape to test on? Is this a Joke? I feel this is very humiliating to a transcriptionist. Just give a decent test. How is anyone supposed to pass it if the audio is bad? I do not care who you are and how many years experience, if the audio is bad, then no one is going to pass. This is totally ridiculous. I am glad I am starting to look into coding for a new profession because these National companies are making a mockery of this field, which was once respected.

Does anyone know of a reputable company who is hiring for ER or clinic work and pays fairly well? I've just about had it with Medquist and my 23 different accounts.

I find my hands getting tired and shoulders hurt from typing so much. What keyboards do you use and how do you have it positioned? I type with my keyboard in my lap, just a straight keyboard, but still am not as productive as I would like to be and find my fingers not responding as quickly as I'd like. Also noticed I have a lot of pain in my ankle some time from the foot pedal and my knee hurts too. I have my seat positioned low so my monitor is directly ahead. Any advice would be appreciated. I'm going to buy a new keyboard on ebay because I work 2 accounts, one on a desktop and one on my laptop, keep having to unplug my keyboard from my desktop to place on my keyboard, is getting to be a hassle.

By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer 45 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The government's disaster chief waited until hours after Hurricane Katrina had already struck the Gulf Coast before asking his boss to dispatch 1,000

Michael Brown, director of the

Before then, FEMA had positioned smaller rescue and communications teams across the Gulf Coast. But officials acknowledged Tuesday the first department-wide appeal for help came only as the storm raged.

Brown's memo to Chertoff described Katrina as "this near catastrophic event" but otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely ended, "Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our responsibilities."

The initial responses of the government and Brown came under escalating criticism as the breadth of destruction and death grew.

Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said Brown had positioned front-line rescue teams and Coast Guard helicopters before the storm. Brown's memo on Aug. 29 aimed to assemble the necessary federal work force to support the rescues, establish communications and coordinate with victims and community groups, Knocke said.

Instead of rescuing people or recovering bodies, these employees would focus on helping victims find the help they needed, he said.

"There will be plenty of time to assess what worked and what didn't work," Knocke said. "Clearly there will be time for blame to be assigned and to learn from some of the successful efforts."

Brown's memo told employees that among their duties, they would be expected to "convey a positive image of disaster operations to government officials, community organizations and the general public."

"FEMA response and recovery operations are a top priority of the department and as we know, one of yours," Brown wrote Chertoff. He proposed sending 1,000 Homeland Security Department employees within 48 hours and 2,000 within seven days.

Knocke said the 48-hour period suggested for the Homeland employees was to ensure they had adequate training. "They were training to help the life-savers," Knocke said.

Employees required a supervisor's approval and at least 24 hours of disaster training in Maryland, Florida or Georgia. "You must be physically able to work in a disaster area without refrigeration for medications and have the ability to work in the outdoors all day," Brown wrote.

The same day Brown wrote Chertoff, Brown also urged local fire and rescue departments outside Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi not to send trucks or emergency workers into disaster areas without an explicit request for help from state or local governments. Brown said it was vital to coordinate fire and rescue efforts.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (news, bio, voting record), D-Md., said Tuesday that Brown should step down.

After a senators-only briefing by Homeland Security Secretary

"What people up there want to know, Democrats and Republicans, is what is the challenge ahead, how are you handling that and what did you do wrong in the past," said Schumer, D-N.Y.

Sen. Ted Stevens (news, bio, voting record), R-Alaska, said the administration is "getting a bad rap" for the emergency response. "People have to understand this is a big, big problem."

Meanwhile, the airline industry said the government's request for help evacuating storm victims didn't come until late Thursday afternoon. The president of the Air Transport Association, James May, said the Homeland Security Department called then to ask if the group could participate in an airlift for refugees.

___

On the Net:

Federal Emergency Management Agency: http://www.fema.gov

Homeland Security Department: http://www.dhs.gov

The memo from FEMA Director Mike Brown to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is available at: http://wid.ap.org/documents/dhskatrina.pdf

Finally have given in and am switching from WP to MSWord. I work from home. If anyone has any encouraging words about MSWord, I certainly would like to hear them. So far, I am going crazy, i.e., I have put in "gray boxes" but when I enter my autocorrect short cut for the "shell", my cursor goes to the bottom of the page and I have to page up 2-3 times. I am missing something?

My husband has a possible job opportunity in the northern Colorado area. I am just wondering if anyone on this board is out in that area? I am wondering what the average pricing is on housing, apartments, etc. Anything really fun to do out there? This would be in the Fort Collins area. Also, what is the usual temperature in the summer and winter, snow fall, etc.

I have found most of this information on-line, but I would much prefer to hear from someone who lives around this area. I would take a personal view over a computer anyday! We live in Florida now, so this would be a HUGE move for our family!

Have tested for both. Any pros and cons from either (or both) would be greatly appreciated. TIA..

of making templates? I have no idea what I am doing or where to start. I have looked in the archives, but keep finding posts related to jobs that pay for templates, etc. Thanks in advance

Also, is it possible to really use templates when doing a very large acute care hospital?

Not perfect just decent, I have a year experience so deffinately still learning, I work as an IC on Acute Care but the work runs out and I want to keep this job and have another MT job for I'm getting tired of my office job... Figure I might as well do what I like for a living

My doc tried to test it today and he said all it did was beep at him. He did use an author ID. Do you ever have problems with it constantly beeping? I tried using a cell phone and land line. I have no trouble. What could be the problem with him? My attorney also tried to access the system and it did the same thing.

own the older model that used tapes and never had a problem with it until it died.. I beginning to hate this one and I've only had it since Monday.

I have had this chair for about 8 years. I have to sit on pillows or else it feels like I am sitting on bare metal!

I am ready to buy a new one & would appreciate suggestions.

It's been a while since I worked with a C-phone, but I don't remember having to re-record, and I just remember hearing folks on these boards talk about how time consuming this can be and how the sound quality can be different.

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