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Dear fellow MTs...sm

Posted By: Need some opinions please on 2006-12-01
In Reply to:

I am stuck and don't know what to do.  I keep going back and forth and now I am afraid to make any move at all.  Could use some of your opinions on this situation.  At the moment, I have two part time jobs.  The one I have worked for a little over 3 years as an IC.  The other I just started about 4-5 weeks ago.  I did seek the company out and I started with them full time employee so I could get some PTO for once in my life.  However, I had to switch to part time employee because of the schedule thing.  We all know as an IC, we have a lot more flexibility and this is very important to me, and the new company is a set schedule that must be followed.  Long story short, I went into the new job hoping to make better money, work smarter, not harder, and drop the IC job.  But, 5 weeks later, I just still can't drop the IC position so I am now working more, working harder, and working more than full time and I need to make a decision.  The new job pays better but after taxes and all, not really!  It is an employee position so I have to work a given schedule.  The job itself is basically the same as my IC job, not easier, but maybe slightly more difficult to make lines.  The IC job is a job and at one point, I was treated very unfairly by the owner and that bothers me a bit because of fear of that happening again, but for the most part, it has been good to me and is considered one of the best IC jobs out there.   I really am stuck and need some opinions/advice from you all that have made the leap from IC to employee or employee to IC.  I feel I am at a dead end being an IC, but yet I need the flexibility to some extent.  I don't know what to do.  Both companies are considered GOOD ones by MTstars company board criteria.  Any and all opinions/advice appreciated.  TIA


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Okay fellow MTs I know this
was probably asked many times before, but where do you all get the little spongy things that go on your headphones? Mine got a hole in and they were the last pair I had. Do they sell them in any stores?
Or you could help your fellow MTs by...
Taking the time to object to this settlement. Opt out and object!  I am sending letters to the attorneys to do just that. 
Not the OP, but he seems like such a sweet fellow.
nm
A fellow MT was asking for votes
for a singing competition she is in - like an American Idol type thing in her hometown

www.whiznews.com/ycitystar.php
Hello, fellow Iowan!
There are plenty of MTSOs online. What are you looking for?
Need my fellow MTs opinions...sm

I've been working from home as an IC for my 7 years of MTing.  MUCH has changed in my life and I find that it may be time to leave the home office and get back into the world of the living.  I spoke wiht a hospial in my area and got a bit of info - full time position Monday through Friday, full benefit package, tuition reimbursement, life insurance, healthcare, disabiliy, etc.  The top pay is 6k less than what I'm making now, but that is not that important as there are other factors I have to take into consideration.  My question to those of you who are in-house MTs, would you share your hourly rate - just a ballpark.  This is the first time I've ventured down this path and actually received figures from a potential employer. 


So, what do you all think?


Fellow struggler
I, too, struggle with my line count (though slowly growing).

I have a few accounts but ENDLESS dictators with one of them.

If I didn't use an Expander I would be toast. Between spelling, word/drug oddities, and making tons of various sentence expansions (to help conform to soooo many dictators), I feel there is no other way.

It is true it takes time but worth it ultimately.

Any knowledge you can gain as far as medical language would be a big plus too. That is another problem I have ... trying to retain the meanings of things to verify if they fit.
g'night fellow vampire! I'm right behind ya (sm)
Hey, stick figures would be okay... heaven knows we're ALL thin in THIS city!!

Thanks for the fun ;-)
She is a fellow MT. I thought it was the right thing to do as many might know her. why?
x
Thank you fellow Northeaster. I'll try it! sm

I'm a Mainer.  It's getting chilly tonight.  I'm not happy. $2.499 for heating oil here and old man winter is coming. I'll break out the heating pad. :)


Thank goodness we have a wood backup and some wood.  I've already told the hubby and kids to break out their socks and sweaters because that thermostat will NOT go above 65 this winter.


to fellow psych major
I would like to start working in the field before I get my BA.  Do you know how many credits you would need in order to do that, and is an AA degree far enough to begin work?  You're a lot closer than me so I figured you might know this.  It would be a big weight off my shoulders knowing I could work within three years rather than 7, which seems so long.  Thanks in advance
fellow animal lovers/MTs

boycott Iams pet food - they have been charged of horrible animal cruelty in testing their food, see web site below. 


 


www.peta.org/


good morning fellow MTs
Does anyone have a used C phone for sale. E-mailed a few people on board who said they had one but have not heard back from either one. Thank's in advance....
A fellow co-worker said it was all mucked up

last week.  I think she's off today though so haven't heard.  Wouldn't doubt it. 


Ok to snag this and send to a few fellow MTs? sm
This really rings a bell for me, and I know it would a few friends of mine, also. I would never copy it and send it on without asking permission, though.

Merry Christmas!
Fellow QAs/editors: Using a mouse 8 hrs a day
is really making my right hand hurt.  Has anyone found a mouse that's more comfortable?  TIA!
Just wanted to say STAY SAFE to my fellow Tx MTs. sm
I am in East Texas and although we don't expect the hard hit, very high potential for flooding, tornadoes, and power outages.  Everyone take care of yourself and prepare if you haven't already. 
Good 4U! Fellow people-pleaser here LOL.nm

OT - Restoration of faith in fellow humans.....
Homeless man receives rewards worth $4,000 for honesty
7/25/2006, 9:55 a.m. ET
The Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — A homeless man is finding out that it pays to be honest.

Charles Moore, who found and turned in nearly $21,000 worth of U.S. savings bonds, has received rewards worth $4,000, The Detroit News reported Tuesday.

Moore, 59, was originally given $100 from the son of the deceased bond owner, but residents here and in other states decided that wasn't enough.

A Belleville man sent him eight trash bags full of returnable bottles and a bowl of coins. Three people pledged a combined $2,500, while two Troy businessmen donated $1,200, a shopping spree at a men's clothing store and a lead on a job.

"I was thankful for it," said Moore, who lost his job in Toledo, Ohio, as a roofer, moved back to his native Michigan and can't find a job.

David C. Smith, of Albuquerque, N.M., gave Moore $1,000. Smith said he and his fiancee wouldn't have thought twice about what to do if the bonds had belonged to them.

"We would have given him the whole amount, period," Smith said. "No questions asked."

Moore said he plans to use the money to find an apartment.

He was searching for returnable bottles in a trash bin when he made the discovery last week. Moore took the bonds to a 24-hour walk-in homeless shelter, where a staffer made some phone calls and tracked down the owner's family.

___

Information from: The Detroit News, http://www.detnews.com
I'd make fellow VLC students aware, to
nm
Hey fellow Montanans, I'm in Lolo, crazy!. nm
nm
Wow...cold reply. No empathy for a fellow MT at all. nm
s
You are welcome! I'm glad to help my fellow MTs. And to answer your philosophical
questions...  it does seem they stack the deck against us.  So that's why we have be sneaky, more clever, and technically savvy!
Nice to see a fellow dirt-roader. :-) nm
nm
Fellow of the American Association of Medical Transcription
x
A fellow back brace wearer! I wear one too. sm

And I wear a waist-nipper type undergarment underneath the back brace, for comfort and because it seems to help my back too (not as much as the brace, though).  


I put off using the brace for a *long* time because my doctor discouraged it, saying that it's a substitute for strong back muscles, so better not to wear the brace and strenghen the back instead.  Yeah, right!  I did exercises every day for months, and I would still have back pain if standing for more than 5 min.  (Chronic, muscle spasm type stuff, supposedly from mild scoliosis, but who knows...)  I would be in misery with a burning kind of low back pain after doing something as simple as going to the grocery store.  It was awful. 


Now I wear the back brace for anything strenuous, and my back feels sooo much better.  I found the brace at Walmart, under $20.00.


(Disclaimer:  This was just my experience.  Consult your own doctor!  )


Hi, Fellow Georgian. I've been editing for years SM
and love it. This is a good move for you once you get used to the common corrections and work out your own ways of making them quickly. Like programming in a hot key or keystroke combo for backing up to erase a common, insert a period, and drop in a "The" to make two sentences from one runon. And so on.

It's great that your account is already trained on most dictators. So often, the speech recognition system is just beginning to learn the dictators and most reports are a mass of mistakes. People usually get paid more to train the system, but it can be irritating at that point. At your point, you'll breeze through twice the reports you used to, dropping in corrections here and there, and it'll be much easier on your hands and wrists. Plus, once you get used to it, if you read fast and speed up the dictation you'll likely make more money editing than transcribing. I do. Enjoy.
I knew I would get the support of my fellow 'gals.' As a poster said below, no affair -he's
been there 2 weeks. And the way he puts it, "nothing but construction guys down here." Yeah right. He's only 5 miles from the newest casino they just built and he's always telling me how there's so many people down there and I know for a fact he's gone a few times and I know those gals serving those drinks aren't ugly!! But then again, neither am I! LOL

Hell, I never thought I'd need the book, "He's Just Not That Into You" married! Tha's why I AM married! MEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't live with them, can't live with them.....
Fellow is a highly respected title in the medical field tho--
not for medical transcriptionists!
Hello fellow transcription princesses - my daughter pimped my computer LOL (sm)
Yeah, I hate that word too but she did!  She has this Barbie software that changes your icons and background color and sounds...so everything on my computer is fuscia, pink and purple and I have a cute pink barbie hand for a cursor and every time I spell check I get this starry wand sound.  It's actually kinda fun...helping me stay awake and making things a little more cheerful. This is the third day since she did it and I think I like it :-)
My best friend and fellow editor laid off this close to Christmas! sm

 For everyone complaining about his or her jobs, it could be worse.  My best friend, who has been in this business for years and years and years, has a work ethic like nothing I have seen before, and is a genuinely caring and gentle soul, was laid off today from her job via a conference call!  To add insult to injury, she is scheduled to have two surgeries next month, which she scheduled for after the holidays to accommodate her employer, even though she can barely see, which she will now be unable to have since they are terminating her health insurance today as well.  They were aware of her scheduled surgery and knew she had been waiting for some time to have it.  We will not even talk about what impact this has upon her family, including her young son, particularly here at Christmas time.  How do you explain no Santa to a young child? 


She is always the person helping everyone else, both in her personal life as well as professionally.  I have witnessed her struggles and she always keeps a positive outlook.  I think this will finally "do her in."  Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers, as well as the other THIRTY people who lost their jobs today.


They say that everything we do comes back to you ten-fold.  I hope it happens quickly for this heartless company. 


 


Thank you fellow MT. I love that site.....good source of info without the complaing....
Thanks again.
Thank you fellow MT. I love that site.....good source of info without the complaining....
Thanks again.
Thank you dear!

But, my dear, you see, when you are able to

see another MTs line counts and the job #s that they have done, and how they skip many, many reports, when the work was sent and how the job #s went for each job type, you then KNOW when someone is cherrypicking!!!  It is also great that you are able to go into the system and check out the job #s she DID and know that they were the best of the best dictators!!  Believe me, it does make a huge difference to those of us who do not cherry pick.  The account I work on is relatively small and only 5 or 6 MTs working on the account.  When the cherry picker has her two days off, I really, really make great line counts.  The rest of the week is a real struggle.  I say keep showing the other MTs work. 


This is definitely not someone's hallucination; it is a reality and happens all the time.  Once an MT gets all the proof she needs, then it is only common sense that she should go to the supervisor to point it out and the situation should be corrected.  What I try to do, at times, is go on very early in the morning, around 2:00 AM; do all the "crap" that she left for me plus then be able to get some of the good guys.  There have been times where I've been tempted to skip the bad just like her and leave her the bad!!  However, then I feel guilty!!  Cherry pickers need to be ousted from MT work.  Do the job that comes up and be happy about it!!


Then my dear ..
You have no clue about the workings of an inner city.  I am not saying walk into bullets or gangs .. what I am saying is that you have no clue how the plantation mentality looks to the rest of this world .. lining up all the wrongs do not make them right and it is downright ignorant to be so obviously insensitive to those who live differently than you do.  Mother help us all when there are people like you who have no concern for simple human suffering .. this is not a race issue god blast it .. it is a human issue and we all got here and are going out of here the same damned way. 
Hello there my dear
You HAVE deserved it honey. But this post is neither the time or place to discuss your "bonus." (I am chuckling and I think you know why).

My dear, I think you know your beauty is more important to me than any report you could ever type. Perhaps, the next time I drive by, you could be in, um, lets say, your birthday suite? UH OH - I hope my wife don't catch me on here (shaking in my boots).

Smooches and Kisses my lovely.

Frankie Boy
Sorry, my dear
I am sorry you had to share it with so many women that night. It was getting difficult to get 15 gals hands around it.
Believe it or not, my dear...
Until recently MQ was THE best company around - and many of us do not want to "jump ship" just yet - we're trying to figure out how to "take a sad song and make it better" and not have to go to these other truly foul companies that aren't big enuf to pay what MQ pays and benefits MQ has which most other companies can't begin to compete with. Its like New York City - people complain about its problems all the time but nobody wants to leave to go to Podunk, Iowa. Well, we don't want to go to Podunk Transcription Company, thank U very much. MQ has a huge amount of potential and the fact they are going thru changes is to be expected - and we have every right to work together on a solution for us all. So go back to Podunk!
OH DEAR!

Much work!  I would like to add ADHD has nothing to do with intelligence and autistics would never be able to speak out a story as you have detailed, or plan a revenge, especially weeks ahead.  Her previous environment and genes I think win the cause of her behavior, and sociopath does comes to mind, seriously, and children do and are maturing much earlier now-a-days. . .especially females. 


Thanks dear!!!!nm

x


Oh dear LOL
  Doc just said, "She takes ginkgo biloba, when she remembers", I needed that today!
Dear
nm
Oh dear!!
Yes, veteran MT made a typo on CONTINUE....happens from time to time with rheumatoid arthritis and AGE....still trying to make a decent living....even after a big pay cut for me and fellow account MTs from my current employer without a reasonable explanation. Unfortunately, I do not see the situation changing for the better for any American MT. Have a beautiful Saturday.
Dear RE
I believe you should contact an attorney or Google "free legal advice" and ask these questions. I do think you would still be violating your non-compete even though they pursued you. You should explain that to the company recruiting you and they should understand. Good luck to you.
Dear QA . . .
I understand there are two sides. I have nothing against QA -- really I don't. I feel we all learn and better ourselves from mistakes. However, I think everyone needs to be on the same page and QA would do better to leave out nasty comments when there is no need for them. Really I left a blank while typing an ESL doc that I had only typed 1 time before and QA faulted me for omitting dictation? Since when is leaving a blank for a word or two you cannot understand omitting dictation? And when I questioned in writing the "QA Head" about conflicting feedback she/he never bothered to respond. Do you have any idea how confusing that is? I want to do right by the company and be a good MT but how is that possible when no two QA people follow the same rules? I am the first to admit I am far from perfect but I give it my all. With almost every other MT job I have had I was taken off QA within a week or two. I guess I was already angry because my check was late, this only added fuel to the fire. There are days I feel good and days I am made to feel lower than dirt. I pray this board will always be here for those of us that need to scream and vent. :-)
no, dear, it's all about you and how you - sm
and how you utilize yourself with the knowledge and tools you have accumulated.

sheesh...you just Won't (not Don't) get it.
Oh, dear.
Doctors do not take it kindly when you take a swing at them. (Just ask that unfortunate, long-gone children's dentist I once went to....)

But seriously... take a good deep breath, let it out, then take another one, and remember, it'll all be over quickly. And whatever you do, do NOT watch that needle coming at you!!

Interestingly... I was about your age when I thought I was going to have to change jobs. Of course, back then, I'd been doing MT for about 8 years on typewriters, and I'm not sure they'd invented the word "ergonomics" back then... and the workman's comp carrier laughed in my face, because they hadn't figured out the concept of repetitive strain injuries back then either, except when it came to farm workers using short-handled hoes.... But "girls" sitting at desks? Fuhgeddaboudit. Go fix your lipstick, and shut up. (No, not quite, but close.)

Anyway... keep that left wrist immobilized as much as you possibly can, and watch out that you don't overcompensate with your other hand and make it start hurting too! (I know whereof I speak. Trust me.) Do whatever you can to adjust ALL of your daily movement activities--every little bit helps--and speaking from the point of view of an old geezer-chick, get used to living with pain. 'Cause the older you get, trust me, something hurting is going to be a way of life. You just sort of learn to ignore it after a while. Case in point--that would be me, still transcribing nearly 30 years after I thought I was going to have to quit.

And get that computer arrangement fixed up! :)
Now, Laurie --- if what the others say is what they WANT to, same for you dear...
you're seeing what YOU want to. You're not the authority to say you see him for "what he is". You see him the same as others -- for what you WANT to see in him.

You're no more superior in knowledge than anyone else. It's your opinion versus theirs. LOL
oh puh-leeze, my dear

You don't know what I know, who I am, what I have experienced, and how I got to where I am today. So, don't tell me what I know or don't know.


Save your excuses for Oprah!!!


It's those causes that keep these people in the whole that they pass down from generation to generation. They need to do what Montel Williams said:  "Pick yourself up by your boot straps."


Let me leave it at that, before I say something I'll regret.


that much less they have to give us, my dear:)
You'd think they'd have wanted to save to postage on that amount though, especially the two center !!!