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My office has a sliding glass door that I keep open, but it helps me

Posted By: not to feel closed off from the house. on 2005-09-22
In Reply to: My office is the space between my fridge - and my living room (sm)

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Office lunches come to mind, the whole crew would have a glass of wine
We managed to get through the Friday afternoon following the glass of wine. It's holiday time, birthday time, retirement time. Rare - RARE - occasions. I remember the doctors have a very very slight slur LOL. I probably lost a keystroke or two on my speed. The nurses were happier that usual. The secretaries laughed for a change. It's all good.
Sure, go for 12 cpl IF you want to get laughed out the office door!
/
Sometimes I need a *Do Not Disturb* on my office door
I can't break myself from being always available to my kids, and I guess I shouldn't complain because they're 25 and 18 and both still love to stop in my office door and stand there and talk anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour in the afternoon, but it really makes me so unproductive in the afternoon.  This is especially rough when I know I'm behind and need to be pounding the keys, but HEY, I know the day is coming when they don't stand here and talk to me, so I try my hardest to listen when they want to talk.  It's really tough though.  Anyone else have trouble with this?  When the talk dwindles I do tell them I need to get back to work and they're generally good about letting me, but I can't stop them when they feel the need to be here talking to me.  Guess I wish I had 2 sets of ears so I could work while I listen to them too.
I listen out loud in my office alone, with door
x
Have office in back of basement, does not have a door it is an alcove-like
room. No noise from the outside at all.
Open office
I am saying the same thing as I need to set up my laptop.  Someone told me that Open Office is compatible with Microsoft Word products - can switch documents between the programs.  I have gotten as far as installing it, but have not figured out anything further as of yet.  If you check this out and find it works for you - tell me how you did it!!   It has everything in it like Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Database - so hopefully it will work out to save us all some money - it is a free program.
You can do it but you have to be determined, have a solid office background helps, obviously an - sm
interest in the field helps too.  You don't get a lot of sleep when you are trying to work with kids at home.  I started this 3 years ago when my kids were 2 and 3, I basically only worked when they napped and at night after they went to bed.  I only worked part-time too, but for the 1st 10 months I had 3 PT jobs, so I was basically FT and obviously very tired.  But I was trying to get as much experience and exposure as possible. It has paid off for me.  I generally work 2 jobs at once as I don't like having all my eggs in one basket (I need a min. monthly income of $1K) though right now I am only doing one PT, about 3000-4000 lines every 2 weeks.  I am back to working nights and early morning now though at the current time. But a strong office background helps a lot, discipline, and determination.  My strong office and lab background helped a lot for me to make the transition to working at home and also I was used to working unsupervised.  You tend to get thrown to the wolves doing this so you better be able to land on your feet quick.  CareerStep is supposed to be a very good school though, I know a few people who did it and were hired straight away, granted that was 3 years ago and the work is a lot harder now at least with the nationals.  I prefer the small MTSO, generally a better grade of work and people. Good Luck.
Word vs. Open Office
I have an even better idea than spending money on Word. I'm doing this myself. Log on to: www.openoffice.org and read about it, then download it and start using it. I love it! It's absolutely free. No risk of marketers getting your email address and bombarding you with junk mail. I learned about it through our I.T. Dept. It works exactly like Word! You can even use the spreadsheet and other features, but all I really use is the word processing part. Check it out and let everybody know what you think. I'm very happy I learned about it. :)
Try Open Office - see inside
It's free and works the same as MS Word.

http://www.openoffice.org/product/
I have an Open Office package that came free
It's legit.  I bought a refurbished hard drive so that I could run XP as opposed to buying a new computer, and Open Office came loaded.  I just don't think it's Microsoft.  I don't use it because I use Microsoft Office 2003, but Open Office works very similar to Word and Excel by Microsoft.
I know quite a few people that use Open Office and are happy with it.
I thought it was free (donations accepted, of course), but perhaps that has changed.
Has anyone asked to be transferred out to an office that MIGHT be open for awhile. Is there anyone
in Amherst that is willing to get this situation taken care of or is that a lost cause.
I hear such mixed thoughts regarding getting accounts by going door-to-door soliciting yourself.

Is it worth it.  Are there many people out there that have landed new accounts this way?  Most MTSOs that have been in business for a long time say it is by word of mouth, but what about MTs like me who have been doing this five years.  I feel I'm ready for my own accounts and am not sure if this is the best route.


Any opinions?


No, but am slipping and sliding on the ice (nm)
x
On the sliding shelf. nm
nm
The sliding keyboard shelf
AKA the "return."
What is paid by page per sliding scale?
New one on the job board.  Never heard of such.  Just wondering.
You can't just open the attachment. You need to save it to a file and then open SM
your wave player and load it. 
Glass of wine
I did not mean to start a war.  I know the difference between a glass of wine and a "problem with drinking" as my father was an alcoholic as well as ex-husband.  And just to let you know the open bottle that I opened Sunday evening for my glass is still in the wine case/holder with one glass missing.  I will probably have to throw it out as I usually have one glass and forget that it is there to finish it.  Would not make a good alcoholic as I forget to continue to drink -- just my one beer or one glass of wine every couple of weeks.  Also, I usually wait until I am very near completion of my work before I "pop" the cork.  But again, did not mean to start a war. 
Glass of wine
Patti, unfortunately on this board lately, anything can start a war.

Like you, I sometimes start sipping a glass the last 30-60 mins. of my shift - about once a month. Ignore the hostile postings - some of these people read 2 words, take it out of context, and post in response to things that weren't even said.

Personally, I'm glad you posted because I felt a little guilty about sipping an ounce or 2 while working - I grew up in an alcohol-free home, but I certainly saw what alcoholism did to some of my friends' families.
Glass top stove
Have used these since the 70s. Be careful what type of pots you use on these. Never use any pots except the ones that are all metal underneath. The finish can come off the pretty red and blue pots and burn onto the stove. Check the bottom of your pots before you use them. If they have food embedded into the bottom, sometimes this will burn right onto the stove. Use the cleaner for a glass top stove. You can let is soak on the spots with a damp cloth on top of it and then go back and rub some of the soil off, but you have to keep repeating this until gone. The razor is okay under certain circumstances. Someone one stuck a contact paper onto one of mine inadvertently, not realizing the burner was on. Luckily for me I had the razor handy and got at it right away, while the burner was HOT. There's a lot of little tricks to keeping these nice. However, I did have one, a GE smooth-top free-standing range where the finish did actually chip off, which turned out to be a warranty problem. If the stove is new, maybe there's a warranty on it? Good luck. Try to relax and don't drive yourself wacko over it.
chug a glass of water
X
A glass of wine with typing

A while back there were several messages when someone made a halfway joke about drinking and I never answered but I do have to admit that when I sometimes have to work on Sunday nights or some late evenings I do sip on a glass of wine while typing, not an entire bottle but a glass of wine.  Just thought I would not comment on it as several people were shocked that anyone would even consider it.  Not all the time but occasionally and in moderation. 


That is my Sunday comment.


Glass etching, maybe? see link

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_wood_glass_etching/article/0,1789,HGTV_3348_1383604,00.html


 


glass cleaning wipes
They are in a plastic tube kinda like the wet wipes but are made for monitors and TVs.  Wal-Mart has them.
Glass half empty....

I can agree on a few points here.  If you expect to be stroked, you won't find that in healthcare at all.  I have worked in a hospital setting, have my own accounts, and also currently IC for a company online at this point.  I just love what I do, and I'm pretty good at it.  A lot of what you write is true in that this profession has evolved, but think about it this way.  If we didn't evolve, then how long would a patient wait for you to get that report off of the old typewriter?  How many people would go months and months before finding that lung mass or brain tumor?


Just like the typewriter has evolved, the technology in which we diagnose and treat patients has evolved with leaps and bounds.  I still feel I'm doing a service to the patient.  I like my job because I know it helps people.  I'm sort of behind the scenes at this point and not visible to the patient any longer unless there's one in the waiting room when I pick up my tapes (doctor won't go digital), so I see the difference I can make.


Do I need to be stroked and told I'm doing a great job?  No.  I know I do a good job, but being told that every day or two is not why I'm in it.  Money is just the means of a transfer.  No one told me I'd get rich being a transcriptionist, but no one told me how much I would learn about the human body and functionality of it either and that I could most likely take that experience into another field.   


Wow, when I type a report on a patient that has a serious illness, I think my lucky stars.  I think at this point, reading your post, I may go back to school.  My transcription skills could really help me become a coder (are they stroked/given raises every year?) or maybe I'll become a nurse (are they stroked/given raises every year?), or maybe I'll become a physician myself and pay my transcription enormous amounts of money and remember to call and thank them to express a job well done when really I should be calling my patient with the brain tumor or lung mass or any other disease.  I wonder if the maintenance guy sweeping the hall deserves a raise or the nice lady cleaning the windows, then again maybe the physician himself wouldn't mind being reimbursed for the services he renders to someone without health insurance? 


Buck up camper....  It's going to a long trip! 


 


I do the same thing now and then, have a glass near the end of my work, usually takes me an
I find it relaxes me a little and I type a little faster, but I certainly don't do it on a daily basis, maybe Friday or Saturday night when I am winding down. As for the open bottle, get a vacuum system for it--rubber "cork", then pump the air out of the bottle, it will keep for a LONG time, no more tossing of flat wine. Works great!
screen kind? Glass or trinitron?

Windex or rubbing alcohol on glass :)

Let me guess - you see glass as half empty too, right?
I tend to see the good in people and think positive.  There are exceptions to everything.  I don't focus on those - I move on.  Your posts remind me of someone who goes to a a restaurant and says to the waitress 'Every time I eat in here the food is bad!' - so - she says 'Why do you keep coming back?'   
Glass if half empty for a reason
Someone is drinking out of it!

You make it sound like we are all a bunch of whining babies looking for a pat on the back. That isn't really the case. The truth is, we just want what is fair. There was a time when you worked as an MT and made good pay. You got benefits, maybe even a paid vacation. You were respected by the doctors you worked for because you were generally in office with them and they saw how hard you worked and what you put back into the office.

As work has been outsourced to services, these jobs were lost. The MT who used to work in house, have her nice benefit package, get paid an hourly rate, and had the opportunity to develop a relationship with the doctor she worked for, is now an IC working at home. She has lost her benefits. The doctors she transcribes for in her pool of work don't even know her name. She is "the typist." She is paid by the line with no guarantee. She bounces from company to company only to find that most are the same. They make promises that don't pan out. She runs out of work at one company, which means no pay. She works on a ridiculous and inefficient platform for another (less pay). She ends up bitter, and who can blame her?

I think many of us feel the same way. I have worked in this business for six years, and the pay that I was offered then is the same as now (8 CPL). Why has this not gone up? God knows the cost of healthcare, groceries, and gas has gone up. We shouldn't expect COLA?

I don't want a pat on the back. I don't even care if I ever hear a thank you. I want fair pay and respect. I want to be treated like a person, not like a machine hooked to a keyboard.
While I agree with your glass half full

there are few points that are not necessarily correct..at least with my company MedQ.


While I can still "type in my pajamas" I have no automy over my schedule, need to clock in, in my own living room, to maintain an impossible TAT.  I agree schedules are very important...but rigid scheduling held to the minute is not even possible in an office envirment, let alone your own home.  A 10 hour window has and always will be a more productive way to produce your work.


I do not agree we have it good.  I feel it is an abomination that our profession and hard earned skill (a skill that takes a minimum of 3 years to perfect in order to work at home...alone) is paid such a paltry amount.  I have never complained over the years of not receiving one raise...I was more than happy making my 45-50 K a year...but systematically reduced to 20-25 K a year..and working harder for it..is unacceptable.


What really frustrates me is the axiom.."well you don't like it..go somewhere else."  I wonder how nurses, x-ray techs, pharmacy techs..and other group of medical professionals that also require 2-3 years training before performing their jobs would take being systematically deducted 40-60% of their pay..and told to..You don't like? Go somewhere else!  Of course that would not happen to them...they have a union to protect their interests.


So while I agree constant bellyaching gets you nowhere and the inevitable deterioration of this profession is a fact, I am not grateful for this job...nor do I think I "have it good."  Other than the extremely poor economy which does in fact make me grateful to have any job....it is patently unfair and criminal what has been done to MTs.  And until I see contracts between MTSO and hospitals that delineate how ASR work is paid at 40% less than MT work..I will never believe hospitals pay a lower rate for ASR.  They have no idea what work goes through ASR and what does not. 


How do I get it ST to open when escription is open?

I'd like to have a tall glass of eggnog spiked with a shot of rum.
dd
i've got a clear glass L-shaped desk,
and plain buttercup yellow walls (here when I moved in).  I'm going to go into business with a family friend painting (faux finishes, murals, etc) so I'm thinking of painting my office with a stone look wall (on the wall with the window) and a mural of some sort (probably italin)on the wall that I face.  I will eventually knock that wall down anyway so that it's open to below/looks over the family room so if the mural isn't that great it really won't matter-and if it turns out great- the wall will probably stay
How about grilled fish like salmon? Add a glass of wine and you're all set!
nm
Holy Cow, a gallon of Jack Daniels? I had a whole juice glass once sm
and was sick for a week, can't imagine a gallon.
Have most people had good luck with their MQ office closing and moving to the regional office. Have
things gotten better or worse for you.
Yes, I lost mine. I upgraded the Office 2000 package to Office 2003. sm
I have over 2000 autocorrect entries and lost them all as well as my supplemental dictionary for my Stedman's spellcheck. Lots of grief!

Maybe you will be lucky and not lose anything. Good luck to you.
another thought - if you can't see under the water, possibly broken glass, or other sharp objects
which could cut you, and cause infection or tetanus. 
Merlot, white zin, chardonnay, sometimes daily 1 wine glass with din-din. Maybe 2 if I am thirsty
No alcoholic tendencies.
Might be able to rent one from an office supply or office machine repair shop
s
I gave a tin of toffee for each office and a Lia Sophia necklace to each office manager. ~nm~
x
I gave a tin of toffee for each office and a Lia Sophia necklace to each office manager. ~nm~
x
how do you even get through the door with --sm
that big head of yours?! keep up your attitude and one of these days someone is going to adjust it for you. then we will be LOL
door--sm
I do woodburning as a hobby and when I bought my woodburning tool, it came with a *hot knife* attachment, which is a small blade that screws into the woodburning tool and heats up. It cut through this fairly thick plastic quite well. It took about a half an hour, which was less than having tried to cut it with a utility scissors or knife. worked for me! :^)
What's behind door #3?
I'm in it because I have an interest in the medical field, but I'm too squeamish to do the hands-on stuff! :-P I won't get rich doing MT, but so far it's paying the bills.
AT&T is going door to door here trying to get
for cable, internet and phone.  They knocked on my door and told me how much less it would be per month if I went with them.  No way.  I don't trust AT&T back from the days when they were a monopoloy and I had no choice but to use them for my long distance.  I swore if I ever had a choice I would NEVER use them again.  Time Warner may be more expensive than AT&T, but I'd rather pay more for Time Warner than give AT&T any of my business.  And I don't trust them not to jack up the prices.  I've been a happy Time Warner customer for many years now and unless they jack their prices up drastically, I'm staying with them.  My internet is NEVER out more than just a brief period, and that rarely happens.  The phone service is cheaper than AT&T and the cable is fine (DH uses the TV part more than I do).
Office politics. That is why I enjoy working at home. In the office,
people are in other people business. Just mind your own business.
And one more I told the LDS at my door (sm)

I do have a question!  At the end of the earth when God meets us in the sky, how do you think we will get there, in spaceships?


(They haven't been to my door in a long, long time.)


Best Buy does it too- was 2 feet from the door, guy saw me pay, still had - sm
to show my receipt, which I had already put away in my wallet. Pain in the butt!