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I am am in a rural area with lots of trees - sm

Posted By: Laura E. on 2009-03-08
In Reply to: Help -- I need alternatives to dial-up - in the boonies

so when I had Bluesky (or what ever the name it) come out they said too many trees for the satellite. My one neighbor just got Directv high speed.....she also has lots of trees. So I may be looking into that (have Directv now just not the internet hookup). But I currently use a Sierra Wireless Aircard 875U. Unlimited and costs me $67 a month. It is through AT&T but I know Verizon has it too, as well as Sprint. You need to make sure it works where you are first though, but their websites can help you there. I love it. Not as fast as DSL but a huge step up from dial-up. I have it set up to use on my desktop, laptop, my backup desktop, and my daughter's computer. The only thing I have with it is it does not work everywhere...when I try to use it on my laptop...unlike the commercial where they show the guy in the middle of Africa or wherever he is. But I have been very happy with it.


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Just moved to a rural area
Have a satellite dish, no cable.  The phone company out here does not provide ULD.  One job I would like you need ULD, and the other you need internet access, no satellites accepted.  Does anyone have any ideas?  Is there a way you can get even dialup without having to use long distance?
I'm not in a rural area. I'm in a big city and everything is SM
outsourced. My beloved company, run by a very decent man, was bought out by Edix. I thought they were bad until Spheris took them over. God help us.

Then there is the large community hospital, who has a "sweetheart deal" with another outsource company. You would not believe the garbage that goes on in this field.
Yep, I agree 100%. I live in such a rural area, though, that my neighbors, the natives, think I'm
NUTS cause I keep my dogs in the house, and actually still walk them on a leash in my yard.  We all have about 2 - 5 acres minimum each of woods in our neighborhood, and no real dog laws at all! Dogs run at large 24/7, which is no picnic for me with my dogs on leash, either!  And they ALL keep them outdoors, tied up with the chain and the smelly old dog house.  I think they just look at dogs strictly as deterents? Not sure really, come to think of it! Cause even if they were getting robbed, Fido couldn't get off the 6 foot chain! Oh well!  I used to be sad all the time for the plot of the dogs here, but I can't save them all! Only my guys!
You must live in a metro area because rural areas pay even less per hour.

Of course you can buy a big house for 130,000 in a smaller town and the same amount won't buy you a pot to pee in, in a place like San Diego or the D.C. area.  It's all relative.


I live in a small rural area and they housed some evacuees at a nearby military base
crime went UP in our little community that previously HAD a ~very low~ crime rate. It is a FACT. I'm not saying all NO residents are like that, but MANY seem to be.

My mom was raised in conditions like this poster describes. Mom's parents died when she was 7 (father) and 9 (mother). Her teenage sister (newlywed) raised her and 4 other siblings. They had next to nothing. Not ONE of them turned to a life of crime. Not ONE even graduated high school but they still made good lives for themselves. Life was rough for them, but they didn't blame it on everyone else and cry around about what the president should be doing for them. It is all about RESPONSIBILITY and taking what life throws your way. IMO.
PA - Pittsburgh area is one locale, Philadelphia area also.
TriState area - PA, NJ, DE.
trees
Well, you just helped me make up my mind--I'm planning to buy a new artificial tree on the 26th (love clearance sales!) and was debating because while I don't really care to have a prelit tree, it's getting harder to find a pretty tree without it. Looks like I'll keep shopping until I find one that's not prelit.
BBQ, slaw, cornbread, ham, casseroles, lots of veggies, chicken pastry, lots of desserts!! BIG fami
.
Of all my Christmas trees..
In the 1960s we had the aluminum tree with the color wheel! I still remember it vividly today (I was a small child). I was in an antique shop the other day and they had one set up as decoration (not for sale).  I wanted one!  I'll have to check E-Bay!
poplar trees sm
They grow tall, grow fast, die easily, one fell during a storm and broke a fence on the next street, my neighbor had to pay for a new fence, as that's the way it works, not your liability, stay away from them, they make a mess, unless you have an enemy.
Lots of inexpensive decorations at Big Lots. Had a party last year.
s
I live in the NE and let me tell you, there is NO shortage of trees.
cc
Too many trees to see forest? My point was
x
Interesting history of Christmas Trees
Christmas Trees

How it All Got Started | Trees Around the World | Rockefeller Center
Related Links | Tree Trivia

How it All Got Started
Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter. Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive season with pine, spruce, and fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.

In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. Many ancient people believed that the sun was a god and that winter came every year because the sun god had become sick and weak. They celebrated the solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would begin to get well. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return.

The ancient Egyptians worshipped a god called Ra, who had the head of a hawk and wore the sun as a blazing disk in his crown. At the solstice, when Ra began to recover from the illness, the Egyptians filled their homes with green palm rushes which symbolized for them the triumph of life over death.

Early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called the Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The Romans knew that the solstice meant that soon farms and orchards would be green and fruitful. To mark the occasion, they decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs.

In Northern Europe the mysterious Druids, the priests of the ancient Celts, also decorated their temples with evergreen boughs as a symbol of everlasting life. The fierce Vikings in Scandinavia thought that evergreens were the special plant of the sun god, Balder.

Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if wood was scarce. It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.

Most 19th-century Americans found Christmas trees an oddity. The first record of one being on display was in the 1830s by the German settlers of Pennsylvania, although trees had been a tradition in many German homes much earlier. The Pennsylvania German settlements had community trees as early as 1747. But, as late as the 1840s Christmas trees were seen as pagan symbols and not accepted by most Americans.

It is not surprising that, like many other festive Christmas customs, the tree was adopted so late in America. To the New England Puritans, Christmas was sacred. The pilgrims's second governor, William Bradford, wrote that he tried hard to stamp out "pagan mockery" of the observance, penalizing any frivolity. The influential Oliver Cromwell preached against "the heathen traditions" of Christmas carols, decorated trees, and any joyful expression that desecrated "that sacred event." In 1659, the General Court of Massachusetts enacted a law making any observance of December 25 (other than a church service) a penal offense; people were fined for hanging decorations. That stern solemnity continued until the 19th century, when the influx of German and Irish immigrants undermined the Puritan legacy.

In 1846, the popular royals, Queen Victoria and her German Prince, Albert, were sketched in the Illustrated London News standing with their children around a Christmas tree. Unlike the previous royal family, Victoria was very popular with her subjects, and what was done at court immediately became fashionable—not only in Britain, but with fashion-conscious East Coast American Society. The Christmas tree had arrived.

By the 1890s Christmas ornaments were arriving from Germany and Christmas tree popularity was on the rise around the U.S. It was noted that Europeans used small trees about four feet in height, while Americans liked their Christmas trees to reach from floor to ceiling.

The early 20th century saw Americans decorating their trees mainly with homemade ornaments, while the German-American sect continued to use apples, nuts, and marzipan cookies. Popcorn joined in after being dyed bright colors and interlaced with berries and nuts. Electricity brought about Christmas lights, making it possible for Christmas trees to glow for days on end. With this, Christmas trees began to appear in town squares across the country and having a Christmas tree in the home became an American tradition.

http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/holidays/christmas/trees.html
jobs don't fall off trees, have you noticed?
and the state labor board is like AAMT (s/b IAMT, Indian Assoc of Med. Trans.) not REALLY for the employee, if you know what I mean. Have they done anything for you?
The trees are the main concern in a hurricane (sm)
the lake didn't even get close to the house during that supposed "100-year flood" in 1993 (not allison, the other one).  We went to the other side of Houston for Rita, came back the next day.  It was a mess with limbs all over but no trees down on our property.  Next-door neighbor had 3 down.  We've decided for the next one, we will stay in the garage and hope no trees fall on the house.
i have wildblue and connection is very reliable to me with no trees, but sm
especially if you will be going through VPN, it won't be very productive for you cuz the VPN slows down the download rates. i am connected at 100 mbps but that is nothing. download rates are extremely slow, sometimes as slow as dial up.
LOTS and LOTS of video tapes and DVDs.
x
I worked for a rural doc. So much fun! :)

We even had a patient in the waiting room one day that brought in a paper bag with baby chickens in it as it was too hot to leave them in the car.  Nobody in the waiting room gave it a second thought.


It was great fun to work there.  They called it a "medical center" but it was in an old house with less than state of the art equipment.  The country folk swore by "Doc" and "Doc" didn't think twice about going out at 3:00 a.m. to make a house call.


He never would have dreamed of asking for a co-pay up front and even let one farmer's wife pay with fresh baked pies.


They sure don't make them like they used to.


P.S.  We still had typewriters back in 1994.  :)


I have the same problem and we are not THAT rural....sm

It is very frustrating to feel so limited in your job choice b/c of something like that.  I have never really had any major problems with my dial-up and have been told by two different techs. that I have excellent connection speed considering it is dial-up.  Frustrating though....


rural hospitals
If this is an extra job I would certainly make it worth my while. I worked at small hosp. for 5 yrs that did not want to work us from home. Kept saying they could not but I knew better. Eventually I went off on my own and have been home since. We had 3 FT. They hired 2 in my place and 1 PT for wknds. I type at night now to catch them up. They still had 1 PT and 4 FT, but I charge them 15 cpl. I clear in 5-8 hours what they all 4 do in 1 day, literally. Still did not want to put me or others at home. Want me to drive 45 miles 1 way to type, after I've pulled my reg. 8. Now what I do, whether they know it or not, I dial up on my C-phone into thier system and type at home, save it to disc (they monitor email + HIPPA) drive over for about an hour and transfer work into thier system. So if they have a phone in line you might check with them about on call stuff being typed at home, especially if this is stat work. It will certainly get back to them quicker. This is just fear of the unknown. This same hosp. has now, instead of firing those not doing work and hiring a good worker or paying them OT will pay me double the amount. They have also moved the weekend girl to FT and are letting a file clerk/PT IC do the weekend x-rays and still want me to help. That's 5 full time typist and 2 PT for a 43 bed hosp. Thier may reason was not to put thier network on home computers, which they all ready do. Won't give me network access but have given it to the weekend girl. Plus they are paying a consultant out the wazoo to tell them why this is not working!

If you are going to be on call, make sure you have set days or hours that you will be on call and that you are compensated. Don't let them just pay you for the work you do. Your time is worth money also. In other words don't sit home all day 3 nights a week waiting for a phone call and get paid for 1 hours. I have done this in the past where I worked and was on call on weekends for x-rays. There might be 1 or 21 or none. I got paid by the hour. If there were none I got paid for 1 hour for showing up. Ask an x-ray tech or someone who gets on call pay. They get a flat rate for being on call and then they get paid for the individual call.
Would you walk three blocks in 110 degrees at 3 p.m. in Arizona - no trees, no breeze, no wet SM

except for sweat.  It's brutal. 


Now is 110 and supposed to get hotter.  Yesterday was 113 in the shade


Anyone ever plant hybrid poplar trees? They are those fast grow ones
that are supposed to grow 8 feet a year.  Some claim they send up too many "sucker" shoots from the root areas, some love em.  I need a wind break on the N. and W. sides of my lot, and was thinking of these.  Anybody ever plant these?
Actually, I live in a rural community sm
and left a hospital where that was very good pay.  Starting wages for MT was $8.00 an hour with a 25 cent raise every year if you were lucky.  $11.50 would be like gold for the transcriptionists that work there.
Rural America wages
Last year interviewed for two transcription jobs. Neurology office $13.50, hospital $16.00. (the most I have ever been offered) I was offered the neurology position, but declined and the hospital job was given to someone with less experience, i.e. less $$$, they were hoping to add an addition MT on, but did not. I have over 15 years multispeciality office transcription experience including running my own business for 10+ years. I basically learned on the job, sort of fell into transcribing 20 years ago. I am also a Certified Medical Assistant (silly me, actually went to school for that), I have worked in physicians office over the past 20 years part-time doing medical assisting and transcribing and worked my way up to $11.50/hr. Unfortunately in the office MAs are being replaced by regular high-school graduates, $7.00 per hour, etc, and of course they can do transcription too.. ha ha. Since I live in a rural area the opportunities are limited and each position would require a lengthy commute and with high gas prices that is just crazy, so I decided to go employee with national. Since I get paid by production I can make more $$$ that way overall but the cpl rate is not nearly what it should be, you just keep working harder for the $$$. I would not recommend anyone get into this field by choice as technology will eventually whittle us away to almost nothing. If you want medical, go for the top.. doctor, RN, nurse practitioner, PA, etc. Decent wage and some respect, too.
Rural doctor situation...

I hate going to the doctors office.  My daughter has had a sore throat for a week and went in to see doctor this morning, sat there for three hours.  We have gone through six different pediatricians/primary doctors in 11 years.  How are they suppose to know if there is something really wrong.   Doctor looked at her (daughter, 17)  throat and asked why she had not had her tonsils out.  Did not ask her history.  She has not had a throat infection in over 10 years.  As a toddler she had frequent throat infections and naturally large tonsils and doctors never once stated they should come out.  Now, she is worried.  She is a vocalist and does not want to that to effect her singing.  Anyway, I'm getting off the subject here.  We went in to see the doctor in clinic to find out he quit Friday and there is an interim doctor (who we've seen in ER and who has filled in for other M.D. in the past and like a lot better than current M.D.  Too bad he is not staying).  Is it that inconvenient for doctors to locate a practice in a rural area? Our area might not have much but we are only 30 minutes away from one medium city and 45 minutes away from a moderate one.  Our little town is now down to one doctor when at one time it had 4-5 family practices.  We have a hospital, but no doctors.  LOL.   


Thanks for letting me vent, but this is really getting riduculous.  The doctor today did inform me that he was trying to recruit either some doctors finishing their residency or maybe some middle aged doctor from the N.O. area that would like to start over.  We have great facilities, just no doctors.


I give, where in rural Georgia
are you talking about? I think I could put up hearing that more than I can with what I hear out of the Atlanta stations, at least it is not butchering the English language - just maybe their own language like I had mine from moving from Tenn. I understand that nexted above- I have heard that and even worse. I have a daughter-in-law who is parapro right outside of Atlanta (Jonesboro) and supposedly they are not to correct children when they speak incorrectly- she says heck with that and does. Can we say ebonics?
Regarding unlocked doors, rural or not
My sister once left this true-crime book at my house and I read it, I guess because I wanted to have nightmares for a week.  It was about serial rapists (WHY does she read this stuff?)  Anyway.... one thing I noticed was that almost ALL of these perps walked into people's houses thru their unlocked doors, usually in the middle of the day.  Sure your husband may be right about if someone wants in they'll get it, but just like anyone else, criminals prefer to do things the easy way.  Why help them? 
I'm an IC for a mid south rural hospital...
Although I get paid per minute of dictation, I have done the math and I make 10-11 cents per line.  Patti is right, it doesn't matter per line or per minute.  Its what you make per hour.  I do radiology and the basic four every day with the same dictators with a new one thrown in every now and then and have been doing so for 13 years and make anywhere from $20-35 an hour working average 5-6 hours a day.  Did not ask for a rate increase until my 8th year in which they balked at and began looking elsewhere.  Two years later asked for another rate increase in which they readily agreed to but keep better track of what I do.  Better to start low and become valuable to them than start too high.
mostly trees limbs causing damage by falling on wires and rooftops

much minor roof damage and blew signs down around in those towns, enough to tell there was a storm, but NOTHING like further south!


I have two artificial flame resistant trees in my garage. Too bad you're not closer!
DH has to have the real thing, which I don't care for.
IC working for a small rural hospital
I have worked for a small rural hospital as an IC for 9 years, this year I asked for a raise.  Hospital thought about going to a national until they found out how much they charged.  They contract their transcription themselves.
In 1995 I was making 12 cpl for a small, rural

Changes were gradual.  First, we were allowed to start working at home at 12 cpl, instead of the hourly wage.  We still were employees and had the same benefits.  This saved the hospital money in overhead and we were all happy.  Then they started using outsourcing services for holidays and weekends.  Gradually, the whole MT dept was phased out and we had the option of going with the service handling the hospital transcription or finding another job.  The service kept us at this rate of pay for a short time and then gradually started implementing "incentive bonuses" and lowering the line rate of pay.  It evolved over the years to what it is today.  Starting line rates were lower and incentive bonuses done away with.  Health insurance is contingent on production, but their platforms crash regularly (as do many, many others) and we either have to work extra to make up the loss or just eat the financial loss altogether.  The services overhire to make sure that their TAT is met, which means unstable availability of work, which in turn affects production, in turn affecting benefits. 


The logic today behind all the changes is the "lack of experienced MTs in the U.S.", thus the need to hire people outside the country, who have even LESS experience with the English language and slang medical terms, at half the price of hiring American MTs.  The MT field in general has to be able to compete and so must lower their rates to keep clients from going offshore at half price.  And now with the advent of VR, the MTSOs using it try to justify the cut in line rate to the fact that we're no longer "typing", we're "just editing."  It's been a gradual evolution, but not in a positive direction.


And in all of this, AAMT has not come to the aid of the transcriptionist.  It has furthered the promotion of offshoring and has developed ways to enhance the MTs adjustment to VR instead of enhancing the MTs value and amount of worked involved in VR.  When the AAMT doesn't step up for the very ones it says it represents, why would the ones using the services respect, understand, or value the MT either?  


It is pretty rural where I am too, but the sprawl is coming - sm
My friends in the area (been here 8 years now) are people from the old school my kids went to, now a couple parents at the new PS they are going to and my neighbors. I am lucky in that I live on a private road with 14 houses on it. It is our own little world/community and we all get together now and then and have about 2 big parties a year (Daytona and 4th of July). I am close friends with one neighbor. I don't really have a "best" friend here (they are back home where I grew up in PA who I see 3-4 x a year) that I go shopping, etc. with, though Mary and I do things now and then with our kids. See if you can get friendly with your neighbors, good to have a local support system in place if you need it. Maybe a local library or club. Our area is slowly building up, have a supermarket now 5 minutes away versus 30, a local library, 2 dance studios, martial arts, a couple restaurants, Curves, movie store, etc. Try to get involved in some local club or activity, great way to meet people, or voluteer down at your local elementary school 1 day a week or something, they can always use some help. I keep very busy with work, Curves, taking the kids to dance (there are adult classes too), library trips in the summer, etc. I am pretty social though I don't mind being by myself either; so I try to keep a happy medium, but getting out and involved in something is the key to meeting new people. Give it a shot.
Do you think a company pays less for rural pay than city?
Does not make sense to me.
If you're a baby boomer, you certainly remember aluminum trees w/ color wheel.I
a
I worked in a rural physician's practice for years.
He eventually ended up joining a group.  He still has his office in the same place, but is financially part of that group.  Unless they join some sort of group/organization so that they can get group rates on lab, insurance, etc., it is really hard for them to survive.  The community lost its hospital several years ago.  You said your community has a hospital, but is it a full-service one?  Our next nearest town with a hospital is about 35 minutes away.  Now the 2 hospitals in that town each have satellite physician clinics in our little town.  When I was working for this physician, we had a total of 4 doctors in town.  Now, through these satellite clinics, we have a good number.  Before this physician joined this group he recruited numerous physicians over the years.  Unfortunately, he was not able to assure them enough of a salary and benefits to keep them.  There is simply not enough money coming into these small clinics.  They have to satisfy Medicare and insurance regulations, just like the big clinics.  The recruited physicians all eventually left for greener pastures after being actively recruited by other facilities.  One physician I remember tripled his salary when he left there. 
just some information for MTs in rural areas where high speed is not available

Hi all,


Was just on the Sprint website a little bit ago and checking out wireless cards for my laptop since I will be moving to an area that doesn't even have landline service available yet.  Sprint is now offering a wireless card that is a USB card and apparently will work with both a laptop and a desktop as long as you have an available USB port on your computer.  Might be something to think about


 


Opinions please! I have been asked by a small rural hospital to do their overflow. SM

It is clinic notes that are pretty easy to type.  Some of the work is digital and some is still on tapes.  They want me to come in and pick up tapes, and they want me to print and deliver reports when I pick up the tapes because they don't know much about setting up a remote printer.  I made an introductory offer of 12 cpl for the first month and then 15 cpl if we both feel like continuing to work together.  I felt that since I am going to be out the cost of gas and ink, my offer was more than reasonable.  Well, they countered with a flat 12 cpl period with a one year contract and then we reevaluate at that time.  While I was mulling that over, she called back and asked if I would be interested in doing some radiology for them in addition to the clinic work.  So basically this account will keep me very busy and is not going to be just overflow.


So now I'm back to thinking 15 cpl and because they balking, not offering the introductory rate anymore.


What does everyone think?


The phone line has to support DSL signals. Most rural lines don't due to distance from central of
x
If it rains hard, the wind blows hard and there are trees
nearby, it snows heavily it will mess up the signal.  The speed is not constant, sometimes as slow as dial-up, but at least still connected.  Many companies will not allow satellite. 
Is DSL not available in your area?
It's worth it to have it.  It's tax deductible as a business/work expense.  It's only about $35 a month here total, compared to $20 a month for dial-up.  It's so much faster, more reliable and easier to use than dial-up.  It also doesn't tie up your phone line like dial-up does, so no need for a second phone line and no getting bounced off the Internet when someone calls while you're trying to work.  I'd still have it even if I couldn't write it off on my taxes.
I'm in the D/FW area and we have taken in several ...
and Dallas is making sure the children are in school, there are special job fairs to make sure the adults get jobs, even though our economy was terrible to start with, companies are making jobs for them, and every one that is interviewed says they are never going home and making their home here in Dallas/Fort Worth. I know they need places to say, what happened to them is terrible, but this area really did not need the strain of all the added people. Several of the people have been offered new housing back in their state or such, but they say they do not want to move again. I just think everyone needs to be looking at the big picture as to what is going to happen in the long run, as New Orleans is going to need some of their residents to come back and help rebuild. I have a son that has been looking for a job for over a year in the field he went to school for and has had no luck and now he has to compete against 1000s more people. I just don't get it.
If you have one in your area, may I
They are a corporation who apparently does give a rat's a** about its employees. They don't give their top people big bonuses, etc. and instead pay their employees a living wage...a REAL living wage and have one of the best reputations for treating their employees like real human beings from all I've read about them.
See if this is in your area
http://www.wildblue.com/

bay area MT
Since you mentioned you were also from CA, I was wondering if you have seen much about relocalization and eating local? I have read a lot about this and try to only purchase goods that are produced within 100 miles of my home in the South Bay or if not available within that radius, only from our state. I have also started my own vegetable garden growing different types of squash, lettuce, spinach as well as others in addition to fruit. Everything I am growing is either from seed that is not genetically modified and is organic or I purchased from the nursery from organic growers. My housemate is suprised at how much variety we have with our container gardening. She was just saying this morning that she never realized how easy it was to grow things yourself.

Another thing to support your local farmer is to sign up for a CSA. They had an article not too long ago about how organic goods really wanted by consumers, but even though these goods are organic, they are being brought from different parts of the world, which kind of kills the organic goodness considering you are expending oil to deliver it.

As for offshoring of our work, I have found since I moved to CA getting close to a year ago that there seem to be a lot of companies who do not offshore and will not consider it a consideration. I think there is hope:)
bay area MT . . . sm
You see, I am right!!! They also had an article not too long ago about what the true savings from offshoring work has come out to. Instead of getting the 50% to 60% or more most places advertise to cut costs, the only real savings has been around 20%. They had an article about that in our local paper as well as I think I saw it on Yahoo News if anyone wants to search for it.
What area are you in because....
I had to fight to get $1.35 per minute IC directly from a hospital and was told that was the average.  I recently did some math and figured I was being paid between 8-9 cents per line.  I get 10 for a PT IC position.  Trying to figure if I should ask for more again, especially since I get several different doctors now that they use hospitalists.
Is this in the KC area?
I'm from a town just north of KCMO and plan on moving back in a few months and was just wondering if you worked for one of the hospitals there? I currently work for a national, but am hoping to get a local job when I move back.
None in my area.
Many are mad at this organization because of their stand on things. I am not happy with them at all.
if it's available in your area
This may be getting off topic here but there are some states which have monetary assistance (moolah to you and me) for small small businesses (SSBs). It is the same as first-time homebuyer money, which is aimed to get people into homes who otherwise wouldn't have the downpayment money. But you take classes, come up with a business plan, and I don't know what all else. I was in the homebuyers program for 1-1/2 years, taking classes, working on perfecting credit, etc, and eventually got 10K. In some of my monthly classes there were small small business people participating for state money for starting a business. You will, of course, have to check in your area. Just a thought!