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My similar experiences.....

Posted By: JulieP on 2006-03-30
In Reply to: Clients - MommyMT14

First, I'm sorry about this loss, but you must NOT dwell on it.  You must move forward for your sake and financial sake.  This is unfortuately such common behavior in this business, and reading your post did not surprise me.  I have been an IC for over ten years now, and the practice you describe is SO common.


I have learned throughout the years to set aside as much money as I can so that when the rug is pulled out from underneath me, I'll have $$$ to fall back on.  I also keep a supply of hundreds of stamps/letterhead/envelopes handy so that when this happens, I don't have to go broke buying this stuff and marketing for other clients. 


Basically the same thing has happened to me.  I just lost one client last month due to them finding a cheaper rate, and another account I have had for eight years is going EMR next month.  I will then be officially out of business, you might say.


But that is NOT going to keep me down.  I'm doing mass marketing to doctors, attorneys and all kinds of businesses who need "virtual transcriptionists," and you know, I feel if I market enough, the law of averages is going to be that I WILL find new clients.  You must have faith in yourself and do not take what happened to you personally.  Yeah, it was lousy, rude, and unprofessional of them not to give you any notice after years of good service, but what can you do?  Don't lose a wink of sleep over it - move onward and forward, and you will be successful.


Good luck!




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I had similar experiences after my mom died (sm)
On my mother's birthday, after she died, the smoke alarms went off in my house. They were not in need of new batteries, nor was there even a hint of smoke in the house.

They continued to go off at different occasions, each of which was a "special day," either a birthday or a holiday that she enjoyed.

My mom was in marching band when she was in HS and pretty much made me follow in her footsteps. It was okay, but not a decision I would have chosen. My daughter inadvertantly, through a scheduling glitch ended up in marching band her first year of high school. She ended up loving it. At sleep-away band camp the following year, in the chaparone's quarters (where I was sleeping), the smoke alarm went off during the night. It was kind of funny though, because it went off in another chaparone's room and I didn't even hear it. The other chaparone told me about it the next day and what she went through to get it to stop (basically had to beat if off the wall). When she told me, I just smiled and said, "Oh, that was my mom, she just got the wrong room."

I always thought how proud mom would have been that my daughter ended up in band and even ended up being the drum major her senior year and what a difference it made in her life.

That was the last I've heard of mom.

I'm a strong believer in God, but somehow I think it's possible that those close to us have "ways" of letting us know they're still loving us, even though they have a strange way of showing it! Kind of like when they were alive LOL! ;-)


I have had similar experiences with a company
doing that. Its the purpose of the production emails - to shame you into boosting your production to keep up with the others - whether the others are actually real or not has always been a matter of speculation to me....But you are feeling exactly what the sender wants you to feel! Terrible tactics to me, but works for some.
My experiences are like yours..

I've done - and do -  the same thing you do.  The difference is your docs treat you well. Mine treat me like yesterday's newspaper, but in the big scheme of things, it doesn't matter.  What DOES matter is that I get my invoices paid on time, which they are. 


My hubby tells me even though my docs don't say so, they do appreciate me because they send me checks every month.  And that's why I'm in this business - for the monthly checks - no other reason -   . 


I don't want docs calling in to dictate and instead cracking jokes and telling me what their kids did the other day.  The fact of the matter is I don't care.  I look at that as taking up my precious time!  Wanna' chitter-chatter with me, doc?? Then let's chitter chatter at a cocktail party or dinner, but don't do it on my company time/dime.  Hehehe! 


Bad QA experiences
At a previous MTSO we were, also pretty much on our own until an account executive (never an MT)took it on herself to start doing QA and started sending us corrections. She actually wanted us to listen to a sentence then make it more concise, and to use as many abbreviations as possible. This was an ESL physician. I told her to get real. I did agree to conform to her bizarre style issues, and said I would correct grammar, but I would absolutely never deliberately do anything that took that much extra time and reduced my lines. I talked to my supervisor and that put an end to that.
very well said. my experiences exactly, as well.
e
I have a lot of the same experiences you do -
I am not afraid to go out, but it just does not seem worth the effort to get up and get dressed and made up just to go to the grocery store... I, like you, am only happy going out with my husband. It is causing a big strain on our relationship as I feel that since he is out of the house all the time, that when I want to go with him he should always take me everywhere he goes. He thinks I should just get up and get out of the house on my own. He does not realize that working at home for so many years I have been isolated and, especially since we moved to a new town, I don't know anybody and since we have no children for sporting events, school events, etc., I really have no way to meet people. We have finally moved into an area after 4 years that has a community pool and I have met some people there, but it remains to be seen if a friendship develops with any of them.

I used to think that working at home was wonderful, and don't get me wrong, there are many benefits to it, but I also feel like mentally it is not really a good thing for a lot of people. I have a relative who also works at home and she is just like me - not only mentally, but physically we are suffering. The weight gain for one thing - the lack of sunshine, the lack of exercise, etc.

I myself have finally made the choice after 15+ years to return to school and get a degree that will allow me once again to leave my home and still make the income that I am accustomed to as a transcriptionist.


Anyone with experiences to share sm
I don't suppose anyone has ever worked for both companies and can give me the real scoop?
More graveyard experiences

I've worked graveyard before and will be starting again tonight.  I've learned a few things from past experience that can help this time. 


One is bright lights at night and blackout curtains during daytime sleeping hours.  Another is turning off the ringer on the phone before going to bed, arranging with a neighbor who is generally home during the day to take true emergency calls from certain people and ring my doorbell if necessary. 


I try to keep in mind that a lot of other people aren't readily available during the day or able to do what they like during the day because of work, either in or out of the home.  I also remember how lucky I am to be able to work from home and not have to deal with a commute, among other things.


Give myself some unwinding time after my shift and then do the best I can to adhere to regular sleep hours that least interfere with regular activities outside of work.  There will be times, of course, when I'll need to be flexible on the sleep hours to take care of things that must occasionally be done during the usual sleep hours schedule.


Accept that there will be days when the rest of the world will not be tip-toeing around because I want to sleep.  Watch out for sleep-deprivation crankiness, try my best not to take it out on other folks, and apologize promptly if I do.  It does help to explain the situation yet not use it as a recurrent or frequent excuse.


Make use of caffeinated beverages at the beginning of my shift and limit them toward the latter portion.  Remember that power naps during breaks may work for other people but that the temptation to keep hitting the snooze alarm could be overwhelming for me.  It was one thing when I was an IC, but not cool as an employee.  Better for me is to something semi-active during breaks and make myself get up and stretch on a periodic, regular basis.


Keep in mind that it will take a little while to get used to the new schedule and see what sleep hours seem to work best for me through trial and error.  I'm lucky that I have a natural tendency toward nightowlism. 


Sorry for the length of this essay and best of luck to you!  Would that there were a yawning smiley face...


 


 


goes to show how much our experiences out here vary... Everyone comes from a different POV

My experiences with home offices...
I used to have my office in the living room. It was really difficult for me and my family.

I moved it into the dining room ... again, was just a bad fit and crowded/cramped everything.

Finally I moved it to my bedroom. Now at first, I had my desk sitting out in the open and it became depressing. While I enjoyed the privacy and quiet (I could actually shut my door), it was all I saw when I was in my bedroom. That blank monitor staring at me, either making me feel guilty by not working more or making me dread going to work.

Soooo, then I got creative and I've been thrilled every since.

I pulled all of my clothes out of my closet and bought a beautiful armoire with drawers and a rod in the top to hang clothes. Beautiful asset to my bedroom.

I purchased a smaller but very nice desk and fit it right inside my closet. I have a lovely little lamp on my desk, streamlined all my paperwork to a minimum and put as much as I could live without (in tangible form) on the computer. Have a small vase I keep fresh but cheap flowers in. All I have is in the closet and I can close it up out of sight when I am done. I can store my books up on the shelf above plus I have a small CD player up there to play soft music while I work.

I did not want an ugly office chair anymore. I really liked my upholstered chair in my bedroom. So I had my son put rollers on it and now it is my chair. When I'm not working, I just turn it and angle it into the corner like it has always been...when I need to work, I just sit and slide right under my desk.

I could not be happier with this set up and it has been this way just over a year now.

It's funny how people have different experiences (sm)
Three of the best doctors I ever got to transcribe were podiatrists. We did clinic notes for one and did the op notes at a small freestanding surgical center for the other two. They were all great, lots of repetition, clear, lots of lines. Those were the days....
What other experiences have you had with clinic work.
I have worked for 3 local companies (including current)and this is how it is mostly done locally. The alternative was with no patient list and guessing at how the name is spelled because physician did not spell it. I do have all my addresses in a Word file, and if it used once it goes in there. For physician office accounts how do your experiences differ? The physicians are very resistent to investing in equipment on their end. It is difficult enough to get them to change from tapes to a digital recorder. I do agree that this system of doing things is awkward for the MT (me). I was just wondering what alternatives there are in dealing with clinic accounts, since is this is what constitutes the majority clients of companies I have worked for, and who I have worked for directly myself. I knew I was not making as much money as many of you. I guess this is one of the reasons.
My experiences while working graveyard were (sm)
both good and bad: Bad: During the spring/summer months, I wanted to be out catching the rays and walking the beach, but my body kept telling me, "It's time to sleep." Additionally, my diet was a little off; eating a Stouffer's dinner at 3:00 a.m. just seemed out of order. Also, I started watching those Judge shows in the afternoons, thus, not putting the lights out until about 5 p.m., leaving me only about 5 hours to sleep -- not enough for this bod. That experience taught me that I am definitely a morning person.
As you can see, experiences vary very widely SM
But--It's the future, so leap in! Figure out every way technology can do the work for you much, much faster. Start programming your corrections into your Expander from day 1. All of them. Not just a few main phrases, but virtually every word within them and every possible variable. Program in all your punctuation corrections. Like changing ". He " to ", he" and vice versa within at most 3 keystrokes. You'll do it all day long.

It's true people are making less in general these days, but any time I hear of people still being able to support themselves fairly acceptably I pretty much know they're still typing out most stuff out the looong way. Alllllllllll of it alllllll day looooong...... That's really sort of analogous to people who refused to learn word processing, insisting on staying with Selectrics and Liquid Paper. Back then, like now, we upgraded our skills or went broke.

And if you don't already, practice reading fast until you get that skill up there. There's a lot of reading to this.

Don't bother fussing about what a mess VR can make of some dictation. All that counts is what income you can make from cleaning it up. (Tho skimming through reports that just need a slight buffing IS a pleasure.)

My last thought is that this business is in flux, and it's true some companies are not paying equitably for this work. Yes, a greatly increased pool of skilled workers for each good job does mean pay has gone down for MT overall, but if you feel you're producing fairly well compared to others in your position and your income still has dropped signficantly over what you earned doing transcription, you need a better company. OTOH, if you've worked hard at developing these new skills and can't seem to do decently, it may no longer be the field for you. Either way, plan on being ready to move on if necessary. Don't wait many months to figure it out. Best wishes!
Travel to Florida/Disney - experiences?

We are planning a trip to Florida for the Daytona 500 in February - we are having problems lining up a hotel in the Orlando area that includes suites with kitchenettes and also has shuttle service to the major parks in the area. We want something in the mid range, maybe 3 star or 4 star, and will only have 2 tweenagers traveling with us - the rest will be adults. Can anyone recommend a place to stay with some atmosphere, pool area, restaurant, etc.?


We've been there before when our kids were young and stayed in very basic motels which was fine. We hardly spent any time at the motel anyway. This time, with some going to the NASCAR race, there will be down time for others, so a nice pool/outdoor area would be a plus.


This is a place to come where MTs can share their thoughs and experiences
I'm one of those MT who's very miserable right now, I admit that, because I've been looking for a good company to work for as an IC for a very long time now.

I'm glad there are other MTs out there who are happy and content and able to pay their bills, but for the time being (the last few months), I haven't had that luxury, and I need help, whether it be a good job lead or just the camaraderie of other MTs who really can relate to my situation right now.

Here I sit, ready, willing, and able to work (and work HARD and long) while the company I've been with since the beginning of the year keeps telling me they've run out of work. Meanwhile, I've been searching for another job, seems like for AGES, but even if I'm lucky enough to actually get a response, nothing has panned out for one reason or another.

My apologies for ruining the mood again. I'm just thankful to have this place in both happy and miserable times, because unlike others in my "real life" who keep telling me to get a REAL JOB (uggghhh!!!), this place is frequented by other MTs who really do understand.

By the way, I have 15 years experience and do multispecialty clinic and hospital work (except ops), if anyone's looking for a dependable, reliable, hardworking IC MT. I will do ops, too, if anyone wants to give a noob a shot at them..

Thankful for this board.
It goes both ways. Not all those with positive experiences are skilled or professional.

Some are in it for the referral bonus, some are company recruiters posting anonymously.  It's really hard for anyone to tell the motives, but you can usually tell from the way a person posts who is on the up and up from those who are just spewing sour grapes and those bucking for the referral bonus. I tend to believe negative posts that don't personally insult other posters over positive posters that completely rule out any type of problem.  If a person is saying that their company is perfect and there are NO problems, that should send up red flags.


Go to eopinions.com and read the personal experiences. I was not impressed.
As I recall, there were numerous people who had such extreme swings in their electrolytes that they ended up hospitalized.  Be very careful.
I've had nothing but excellent experiences working with wives as OMs.
:)
Anyone have any GOOD experiences with a credit counseling service/

If so who were they and what did they do?


 


 


TO the person who emailed me about their experiences on the multispecialty clinics, etc.
I tried twice to respond to your email and help but it keeps coming back undeliverable.

??

I would like to hear about personal experiences with lumbar supports
nm
People are just telling their experiences, stating their opinions.
It's only normal.
LOL I did something similar.
I used a desktop timeclock and stopped it every time I got interrupted or distracted.  I'm very productive when I get up first thing in the morning and type before everyone else gets up.  I've also learned to shut the computer down completely when I'm done working for the day and go do something else entirely.  Unfortunately, I've been sitting here waiting for work for three days now.
Does anyone know of something similar
I cannot get my foot pedal to work with this program.
I think the 2 are actually very similar -sm-
...at least that is what I've heard. I, too, use WP. It looks like most nationals and online companies use Word. My current supervisor mentioned to me recently that the two platforms were very much alike - maybe try setting the tabs to specific points just like we do now in WP and see if that works? At least until someone who does work with Word posts... lol
Wish I could be more help.
Another one similar
Used to work at a hospital where you had to manually input the patient's names.  The doctor said the name, it was extremely foreign and sounded like it had about 20 syllables and then without missing a beat he said "and it's spelled just like it sounds."  I groaned out loud and then the doc said laughed and said "oh, just kidding you know!" and he then spelled it very clearly.  It made me feel like this doctor actually realized there was a human on the other end of the line.....better than the doctor at the same hospital that used to dictate while shaving his beard with an electric razor!!  Using the urinal while dictating or flushing is my other favorite.
Yes, it is similar sm
IT has your ST converted expansions on the left (if you set it that way) and what would be the list you see at the bottom of your ST in Word on the right. Unlike ST, the line does not travel, however.

If you have both programs and want to learn more about IT, feel free to contact me. I have about enough mastery to help convert an ST glossary to IT and I have set my IT about as close to ST as I can. I have not had the time to completely figure out the "singles" glossary needed to run concurrently so I can use single letter shortcuts, but I have been told how to do this.

If you are an ST user no other program will ever be quite as fast for you, but IT is the closest I have found. I am not that much slower and I have been playing with IT for a whole week...

I would tell you not to worry too much about converting over truly. I am adding lots more expansions that are similar to the singles and/or the just start typing see it in the line and use it stuff. I use 2 x 3, 3 x 2, 2 x 2 and 1 + 1 + 1 codes with extra tags for s, ing, ed, ly ending etc. The good news is that with 26 letters in the alphabet and an astronomical number of possible combinations, I don't think it likely I will run out of possibilities. Also, ST limits the length of your expansions, IT does not. Given that you can add full strings of text, full sentences, etc. the speed has the potential to come up dramatically. I would not use IT to make and use normals, I prefer to create Word or WordPerfect documents, I know you could use it for this purpose too.

As I have said, it is really all about the glossary. However, I'd prefer the way ST operates.
Oh so similar! sm

Different kind of work but the similarities are striking.  When I did speak up, I was basically told I should think about taking a hike.  In my case, something wonderful has come along that is taking me in a different direction.  I will continue to do this work either full or part time in addition to that but with an employer that I know and trust.   


I don't know the answer except find a good, fair boss/company or pray for something to come into your life to change things up.  It is very sad for the good ones of us.  I guess you could job hop and be the newbie all the time and get the good work.    Just kidding (sort of).   


I just went through something similar- sm
the lady doing an old account of mine just disappeared one day, so I got to clean up the mess she left, just finished it up last night finally, had about 200 minute to wade through on top of my usual work. I compared voice files to the work she had turned in to figure out what dates she had done what work. They should have provided you with her last couple of weeks of work so you could have avoided the duplication. Hard to say what to do, I would not be happy about eating it but it is probably the thing to do, but make it clear to them that if they give you any more work in the future that ends up being duplicates that you will have to charge them. If they want to avoid that they should provide her previous month's work to you so you can check it to make sure there are no duplicates.
I have done something similar
I had read that when trying to concentrate on a task/project, that you can get more done with 90 minutes of undisturbed effort and a short break.

It always takes me a good 15 minutes to get into my zone where I am at my fastest. If I keep interrupting myself then I never get there and the line count suffers.

To the posters who can't do the 410 (neither can I!), still over time the rate will get faster and faster.

Thanks for posting this simple but effective idea to edge up our $-per-hour just a little bit. It all helps!
Saw something similar last week (sm)
but it was a dog in one of those umbrella strollers.  Seemed quite content actually.  I gathered from the graying muzzle that walking probably would have worn her out before they got around the corner.
I am in a similar situation.

I, along with several other employees, have filed a claim in magistrate court.  The company, which was a corporation, has now closed its offices, and are denying that they owe us our last paycheck.  We are going to court to fight it, but I am not sure what we will be able to do.  The labor board told us that since it was a corporation, and since it is now closed, that they cannot help us. 


ROFL! I tried something similar.
I told my boys that they'd have to hug each other, apologize and tell each other three nice things if they were mean to each other.  They're such twerps that it didn't work.  They'd bearhug each other as hard as they could, sneer sorry, and say something like, "Your breath no longer smells like a camel's backside."  I give up.
Similar experience
Yes, I just had a similar experience like that. Funny thing, I thought the recruiter should have been a little nicer to me, unless he figured out quickly that he didn't need me. Had to sit and listen to him on his soap box for 15 minutes.
Another similar experience
I talked to a gal (not actually a recruiter, but one who runs a MT placement service) who had the same condescending attitude. She talked incessantly about her outstanding credentials, incredible experience and MT ability. I realized 2 minutes into the conversation that I did not want to do business with her. Then I pointed out she had misspelled some words on her website. I never heard from her again. LOL
I had a similar circumstance.

After my knee replacement I developed an infected seroma. The wound had been draining for several weeks and then one night I spiked a temp of 103 and had severe chills. I ended up in the hospital and had to had the wound incised and drained (7 weeks after my knee replacement). I was in the hospital for five days on IV antibiotics. I my case, if I hadn't had the IV antibiotics and I&D I would probably have had to undergo a repeat knee replacement.


I would say that any infection is serious and I would advise that you do what your doctor tells you. Take your antibiotics for the full 7 or 10 days as prescribed and if you develop fever or chills, call the doctor right away. It's nothing to take lightly.


Best wishes. 


 


 


Similar questions
From my experience testing, many are already similar or the same questions. 
I use Shorthand. It is similar to PRD
and can be set up to suit your needs. There is no limit to number of entries that can be made. You can enter several pages or just a single word. You can use the option to have a prompt or not. You can set it so you have to use an Expander key or just use the normal punctuation or space bar for entry. You can make a selection menu if you like.

However, I have found that for long reports (normals that you need to have entered if not in the typing platform) it is best to store them into a separate file and set a code for the expander to import a document into what you are using (also easily done in shorthand.) I probably save over 60% of my Keystrokes with this program.
I took Relora, very similar sm
I had consulted a naturopath, who tested my cortisol and found it was too high. I took Relora and various vitamins to get my adrenals back on track. I also gave up caffeine and refined sugar/"white" carbs, which fixed up my system. Without the caffeine and sugar, and with the supplements (including Relora), I ended up losing 40 lb and keeping it off.

:) I would still be taking it, but I felt so good and ended up getting pregnant :)
I had a similar situation at one job.
I was hired with a college degree to do customer service. They hired a guy without a degree to be a representative. I gave my notice because he was sexually harassing me, and they were only paying me $1,300 a month to raise my family of four on with no child support, welfare or social security. They gave me a nice raise of $500 a month plus bonuses, but they promoted him to be manager of another store. Shortly after I finally quit them, he got fired big time and they had to hush-hush everything. He was harassing other female employees, had his drug dealer show up at the store demanding money, and even got his wages garnished for child support on his girlfriend even though he was married to someone else. But hey, ethical and qualified women weren't even given a chance at the job. I've always wondered why I could never get ahead in the business world. I don't know if it's my gender or because I'm too nice and do the right thing.
I just went through a similar experience.

I have 15 yrs experience and have been away from doing MT work about a year and a half.  I applied at several companies.  I, too, failed the first test I took.   


Turns out that the new AAMT BOS rule which I wasn't aware of is that on numbers 1 thru 9 in a sentence, you have to use the digit and not spell out the word, i.e., 5 instead of five.  Once I clued into this I passed several other tests and am now back to work.  I'm sure you just as skilled as you ever were!! Don't lose your self confidence.  I agree that the best thing to do is brush up on AAMT BOS.  Good luck!!


Similar problem...but different...
park about 10 cars on the street and in their drive and yard (and have driven through MY yard sometimes to get out)..then proceed to sit on the hoods and party. My neighborhood went from a relatively quite, older neighborhood... to (forgive the expression)... just the hood...I'm devastated because I can't afford to move. I now have to accept loud, noisy, obnoxious neighbors (have 2 quiet neighbors left)... and the loud bumping music, the tons of dogs in their backyards... and the cars in and out all night .. you know, the ones that only stay 5-10 minutes  and never turn off the motor. Other than stay on the phone with the police, I'm not sure what else I can do.. no help to approach them, only makes them worse
I did something similar about 7 years ago
I live in the Philadelphia area and charged 12 cents a line.  I also had a few private clients and that is what I charged.  I think the average is 12-14 cents these days for the standard 65 character line.  Make sure you get it in writing.  Also, if you are going to bill them and not be on payroll, be aware that hospitals somethings are not too great with paying on time, maybe 30 to 60 days.  Make sure to bill in small increments weekly or biweekly so that if they ever default you can take them to small claims court.  If they owe you too much money, you would not qualify for small claims court.  I am not trying to be negative.  I just wanted to give you some info that I have learned over the years.  I also added in my contract 30 days notice of termination of the contract, how much I would charge, mininum amout of work expected, how I calcaluated a line, when payment was due, etc.   I hope this helps.
i had a similar problem and when
the police couldn't help out i finally called immigration.  within a day or so the house was back to empty (it was a rental).  about a month or so later another group moved in and the first night the neighbor on the other side called immigration (he didn't even bother with the police this time) and again the house was empty.  the owner of the house gave up trying to use the property as a rental and sold the house so now our street is back to peace and quiet.  it's amazing how all of a sudden they speak perfect english when you mention 'deport', 'green card' or 'immigration'.  personally, i could care less who you are or where you come from but if you cross the line and won't try to come to an agreement then i fight dirty!!! they can party and do whatever they want but they don't have to disrupt the entire street (or neighborhood) while doing it.
In a VERY similar situation...
I am actually going apartment hunting soon and telling my husband I am leaving. I am going to tell him we can do counseling, but that is up to him. Right now, I cannot live with him, whether we work it out or not. I really don't think we will be able to work it out because in my heart I really don't love him, I care about him, but don't love him.

We have a 3-year-old daughter and she is the highlight of both our days. I am not truly concerned about this affecting her because he will be very close by and will be able to take her whenever he wants. I know he will be good about that.

I cannot tell you to go one way or another, but with my situation, I am truly unhappy and have been for quite some time. The issues we have today are issues we had when we married. They aren't getting resolved and are not going to go away. I am 29 and have my whole life ahead of me. I'd rather spend that time with somebody who will respect me, listen to me, and make me feel safe and secure. Whenever I am upset and could use a hug, my husband looks at me like a dog. At least a dog will lick my face to make me feel better.

Give yourself a period of time to see how things go. If they are not better by then, you need to move on for you and your child.

I wish you well. You deserve better.
I had something similar happen
a couple of years ago. I went to download some work one morning, and found a couple of new MT names. I asked the office manager about it, and he said that they were trying someone less expensive to save money (I had raised their rates once in 5-1/2 years). I asked how much longer they planned to use my services, and neither he or the doc would give me a straight answer. When it took the new person 22 days to finish one day of dictation, they asked me to take it all back. I walked into the office, picked up my check, and left my resignation. They didn't give me notice, so they didn't get any. They ended up having three people screw up what I did perfectly alone. Oh well...

In any case, MommyMT14, I encourage you to move on, consider your options, and don't invest any more in these working relationships than the docs invest in you. The only job security is your self-confidence. You'll be fine--good luck to you.
I went through a similar situation.

I had worked for this one particular doc for 6 years.  I was very dependable, work was always returned on time.  I never missed a day.  I vacationed when he did.  Then one day I went to pick up my tape and his wife called me in her office to give me my check.  As she was writing out the check, she told me that "tomorrow we are going to start something new".  He was going to be trying some new digital dictation system.  I had no clue whatsoever that was coming.  I learnt the hard way, keep business as business.  I had developed a relationship with the office staff, the doc and his wife, which made the fall even harder.  I will never do that again.   Now with my other clients, I make sure it is on a business level only.


Sorry for your experience. 


LOL, I just posted something similar (sm)
I ~could~ listen to her if I had to, but I wouldn't buy her CD. I might search radio stations if she came on while I was driving. During her songs I usually listen for about 10 to 15 seconds and then go throw in a load of laundry or something LOL.
I had a similar experience

Good for you and you should be so proud and what a lucky little dog! :)


We rescued a tiny little Shih Tzu almost three years ago now. She had an injured eye that the owner never took to the vet to be treated and her eye had to be removed. :( A rescue place took her in and had her eye extracted and they had her spayed. She had ear infection, worms (so looked like she was starving), and kennel cough as well. We got her and I had her to the Vet every day for the first week. She was SO sick I thought we might lose her. Our vet was great and just charged me for medication for her. She looked awful too because the owner had hacked her matted hair. It look like she got caught in a fan! She was just horrible looking. You wouldn't believe the difference in her then and now photos! :) She is the most loving, sweetest little girl. She is treated like a princess too!


We have two male Shih Tzu as well that we love dearly. One has a lot of medical problems we are dealing with. I tell my husband I do MT to pay for their medical expenses. :D That is just part of being a responsible owner. We are going to be doing allergy testing on our middle "child" tomorrow and start him on injections as he has SO many allergies and has secondary problems due to this.


Anyway, our Shih Tzu snort water too. I find putting my finger under their nose where it makes them breathe through their mouth usually will stop it. Sometimes you have to do this a couple times. This is very common in short nosed dogs. Ours even drink out of water bottles so don't do it as much as drinking out of a bowl but still do.


Yours might be doing it more so due to the kennel cough or bronchial infection. It sounds like to me, by your description, that is more like a kennel cough. Mine have all had kennel cough and yes they did get their immunizations for that but did you know that that injection only covers a few strains of kennel cough so they can still get it?!? I didn't know that until all three of mine got it and had the vaccine!


Best wishes. :)


There's another one similar to Mary Kay... sm
called BeautiControl...talk about expensive!! On the other hand, I love Pampered Chef and most of their products, but can't stand some of the pushy consultants who think you just "need to have a party!"  I understand that they make a living doing what they do, but give me a break!