Don't stress over gifts at Christmas -
Posted By: me on 2009-09-19
In Reply to: I can no longer afford to do anything except - IGNORE Christmas altogether.
that is NOT what the holiday is about - haven't been able to afford gifts for MANY years now - and when I can again I will be VERY conservative about it.
We have been brainwashed to think we HAVE to exchange gifts.
The best year was when I cooked a really good meal for all and placed one small gift at each place setting.
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Any Christmas gifts/bonuses from...
Any Christmas bonuses or gifts from Futurenet Technology?
CHRISTMAS GIFTS FROM COMPANIES
Well, last year I received an email from the owner of the company that indicated that a nice surprise would be arriving in the mail. Initially, I was impressed; thought that was very nice; I thought that maybe they were sending a gift card or something. However, It turned out to be the company calendar. All during the holidays, there were absolutely no personal greetings from any of the supervisors, managers or company owner with HAPPY HOLIDAYS, MERRY CHRISTMAS or HAPPY NEW YEAR, etc. The only mention of the holidays was an email from my supervisor with a request to give my preference for which holiday I would be working, and then to receive an assignment back from her, indicating whether my preference was approved or not. My first choice was denied.
This year, I'm with a different company. I have received no calendars or cards or anything solid. A few of the managers and QA had holiday greetings written in their status sections on the chat board. Despite the fact that I am an employee, nobody forced me to work on any holiday, just asked me whether I would be working or not. Despite there being no SPECIAL TREAT arriving in the mail, I think I prefer my current company's approach.
Last year's company could have kept the calendar, as far as I'm concerned. The company owner could have sent everyone a freebie ecard and I would have been more impressed, had more warm, fuzzy feelings, etc., etc. She could have done this without spending a single cent.
Bottom line is that I would much rather receive a kindly greeting from the major players than to receive a calendar or a mug or pen with their advertisements displayed on it.
Just my opinion, of course.
Anyone get any Christmas gifts from your MTSO this year? If so, what?
:)
Totally. Stress of less and less money. Stress
My health is starting to slip because I never have time for exercise anymore. I can't afford healthy, fresh foods (they spoil too fast), and I can only go to the market once every 2 weeks. I'm depressed. I'm over-snacking. I have headaches. MT work makes me feel completely hopeless. I work for this invisible, omnipotent being that affects my life so adversely, and I can't even confront them in person, because the MTSO's all exist in that netherworld of the internet. They're nothing but evil electronic impulses that chain us to our computers and ruin our lives.
Stressed? Oh, yea - you better believe it. And an entire nation of people feeling exactly like I do? That's pretty da***d scary.
Christmas morning here and not even a Merry Christmas
NM
You don't need that stress..
or stick with the radiology. Who needs that? You must feel so degraded! What a poor ethic that company has... I feel sorry for their clients!
Does this job stress you out?
I do love so many things about being an MT, but does it stress anyone else out knowing that you HAVE to type a certain amount to get the bills paid? I try to explain that to my husband. I seem overly stresseed a lot because like I tell him, if you have a NORMAL job and one day you just aren't feeling that great, you can still get your paycheck because you are clocked in. A foggy head or drained feeling doesn't affect your work. Being an MT, you are pushed to type or you don't get a check. You have a slow day and your paycheck is affected. It's staring to REALLY stress me out!!!
Stress at Amphion!
I left Amphion for TT, too, and I can sure relate to the stress there. Sheesh. I was on the big university account, which I really liked, but I stressed over the QA reveiws every single month, and I absolutely hated the mandatory overtime. Granted, Amphion is the ONLY MT company I know of that pays true overtime for working over 40 hours--and doesn't quibble about it--real overtime as in time and a half per hour over 40--plus your lines, which is why I will not work over 40 hours for anyone else, not as an employee, unless I get true OT. I also miss the no major holidays on that university account and I HATE the 2 weekend days per month at TT--because on those 2 weekend days all I get is crap, BUT my stress level is a lot lower now--that's a good thing. If I were on a better account, I would have absolutely nothing to complain about. HAHA.
Fortunately, we have insurance through my husband's work and it is great. I don't get these exorbitant MTSO insurance prices either. My husband's company has about 200 employees and they have BCBS and the family rate, including dental is $250, a month!
No matter where you go it is always something.
You got it!! Not to mention that the stress of
have to use our PTO for sickness rather than fun. I also never got anything of substance approved as far as days off, so my PTO time was useless, just part of the games of no work and getting sick over no work. I feel so sorry for those who stay in that situation, thinking they are going to lose out on PTO by starting over. Its your LIFE at stake, right? We are so worth more than PTO at MQ. 
Still Stress-Free...
Some of us still enjoy stress-free living w/o a care in the world.
We never had kids! (LOL)
More money + more peace and quiet = Stress-free living forever!
Does it stress me, nope but tell you what I would do if it did
I would not sit here complaining about the lack of work, no decent salary, not enough to pay bills on and so forth. I am sure most on here lot younger than me and I can almost assure you this profession is not getting better, in fact seems to be headed the other way. Why wait on some job that stresses you, not enough money to live, cannot make it, why not find something else to do? Is it that important just to stay home and not be able to live on this pay now? There are jobs out in the world. Why not train for something that maybe would not be outsourced and make a decent living. Lots here sound like the passengers on the Titanic. Someone fill me in on just why everyone is stressing just waiting around.
Regarding Gifts..
I have always received business gifts and cards, not huge gifts, small seasonal gifts, cards of goodwill, etc. Even a sincere Happy Holidays is nice. I don't know if you meant to address this to me or not. I wasn't complaining about a gift..
gifts
I received a throw blanket with the company logo...kinda nice, but I would have preferred a paycheck that did not bounce. I have had three checks bounce and only one has been rectified. Happy Holidays!
It's not how old we are and it's not about gifts...DER!
why assume that acknowledgement translates into a gift? That word was never used except by you. We did get a very nice Happy MT Week email, so case closed.
Not worth the stress...move on...I did.sm
I went with a co. started on 10/25 and turned out the platform really sucked..too much stress. I quit..got hired two days later..move on. Your home is your life..you don't need to be stressed out over your work when your work is at home.
Not enough for the stress they're putting me through . See msg
From what I've read in the past, and my experience, they pay anywhere from 7 cpl to 10 CPL (I personally make 8 CPL with 10 years experience, no raises since I started there despite numerous requests for one). THIS IS FOR STRAIGHT TRANSCRIPTION. Most of us work on ASR now (voice recognition) which pays 70% of your pay (example, I make 0.56 CPL for ASR). I have lost a LOT of money since ASR began. I average around 150 lines per hour for ASR. I averaged around 250 lines per hour with straight transcription. In other words, I made around $20/hr before ASR, now I make $8.40/hr, just above minimum wage in my state.
I only work flex-part time now for MQ and work full time somewhere else that pays fairly with NO ASR and NO outsourcing outside of the U.S.
It is my strong belief, after 10 years of working for MQ, that we will all lose our jobs soon now that the board of directors is Indian based. Believe it or not, they can pay Indian workers even less than they pay us.
Yes, they pay shift differential, 0.5 CPL more for evening shift, 1 CPL more for night shift.
A slew of workers have left since the news so it is my belief that's why they're hiring now. If you're interested in a short-term job, fine. Good luck though.
THIS IS MY OPINION ONLY.
Don't stress. Tell her you are nervous, and she will be very nice about it. sm
You can't ask for a nicer group of people. They worked with me through my husband's long illness, house problems due to his illness, followed by a few health problems of my own that I still think are the after-shock of dealing with his illness. He is fine now, I am fine now, and I will never again look for another job because Keystrokes treated me like family, not just a number.
I had been at the Q for 17 years in some form (company I worked for was gobbled up by them) and was very nervous but they were very gracious about and put me at ease. That was 3 years ago and I am grateful that I took the plunge.
Does anyone else feel the stress mounting?
I don't know if it's just me, a bad year so far, or what, but it just seems as though this job is becoming too stressful for me. I've been doing this for almost 18 years and I have never felt as stressed as I do now. I can't even begin how many companies I've switched after a 2-4 year period because they keep changing the terms of employment that were originally agreed upon. It just seems that they expect more and more and more and give less and less. At the job I work now I have a primary account and 4 backup accounts, yet I have to sit and wait for work on all of them.
They changed platforms that doesn't pay for what was agreed upon when I took the jobs. Used to pay for everything, including spaces. Now, it doesn't pay for patient information, which I have no objection to if the information is automatically entered, but it seems like we have to enter more and more information all the time. It doesn't pay for headings in a report any more.
Every new secondary account that they give me is more time intensive than the last one. I normally work on acute care accounts, but as a secondary they gave me a clinic. I thought to myself, at least now maybe I can get some better lines because it is clinic. On this account, we have to look at an email they send every week that lists all patients seen that week. We have to search for the physician dictating, find the patient he is referring to, take all the data from the email, and then enter it into the patient information fields (none of which is paid for) and it can't be copied and pasted because it is all in different fields.
I've been so afraid to look for another job because I'm being paid a good line rate, until we go to VR rate (within the next 2 weeks) at more than 65% less than my current line rate on accounts that haven't even been trained on the system. This is just getting so frustrating. I've sent my resume out and get replies offering me 8 cpl employee or 9 cpl IC.
I'm really sorry this is so long. I just needed to vent and try to network here. If anyone knows of a good company that will appreciate having an MT with skill and experience, and will pay a fair line rate for it, can you please email me? I promise I'll keep it confidential. Thanks for letting me vent!
Did not mean to stress you out! After all we need health insurance
have not met line requirement for insurance and pharmacy... did not mean to stir a kettle, just wanted a reality check... you sure gave it to me!!!
I wonder if they still give little gifts to the MTs. nm
nm
HOW DARE YOU ?!?!?!? We have gotten gifts every sm
MT week, cards for every birthday, Christmas gifts.
Obviously you are NOT one of the managers or you would know that THEY not SHE give a lot to everyone.
What is your problem ??????
Thanks OSi for the MT week gifts
Received today a nice OSi t-shirt and also notification of a donation made in my name to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, along with a pen and pad from the foundation. Very nice. 
Repetitve Neck Stress Injury
 Repetitive Strain Injury Advice: Bad Neck Pain-I have a lumbar support chair but I am still getting repeat shooting pain in my neck. Is there anything I can do to ease this? Better support while I am working etc.? Any advice is appreciated before I run to the doctor.
Good question! How to handle the stress.
Would be a good thing, but what does a person do?
Received my gifts today!
They really are nice. Thanks so much MDI/Transcend. Nice to be recognized.
well i have received gifts from employers
and i too have been in the business for over 30 years, in various capacities, various states and on-line. I have received everything from nice cash bonuses, to fruit baskets and smoked turkeys. But i never 'expect' a gift and rarely see one anymore from employers. Nowadays with all the so-called political correctness, they'd probably be in trouble if they didn't offer similar gifts for every various religion's major holiday....
I forgot a couple gifts
A couple years they gave us calendars, which of course had things in the date boxes related to Spheris, but on the top pages they had dictation blopers from the doctors, some of those were pretty funny.
You need to use them for production & to presvent repetative stress injuries. nm
s
Aren't gifts a "voluntary" thing...
This is one of my pet peeves. Let the company decide on a yearly basis if they want to give a gift. A gift is no longer a gift if it is expected and kept track of. But, all in all, Merry Christmas to all.
Left end of July for a company paying more and I set my own hours. Much less stress too. (nm)
x
TYPO -- wow I am upset. It is causing illness due to stress !!! Does TT care? NO n/m
and inability to meet my payments that I have normally had no problem paying. It is so disgusting.
Don't send me a Happy Friday email. Send me some of your paycheck, mgmt. Nor do I want to hear you guys ROCK! If you mgmt people had no paychecks, you wouldn't be saying that, would you?
Your paychecks come from MT's -- NO ONE ELSE !!! And YOU want to pay us 1/3 or 1/4 of our line rate for your crummy VR dictation. What a disgrace !!!
Calling other people's gifts "cheesy", are ya? Not nice
nm
What world do you guys live in where you EXPECT GIFTS? SM
people are unemployed all over this country. Count your blessings.
Wow, expecting a gift. CHILDREN expect gifts. Maybe..
your gift is the fact that you have a job during this current economic crisis. If you get something, fine; if not, are you going to quit? You still have 4 days to wait by your mailbox for your gift, if you should get one.
JLG used to send birthday gifts (not "bonuses"). It was a nice thought though! Don't know
x
Good and Bad - some gifts bought/missed WMX benefits call (sm)
Of course I procrastinated to attend the call on my day off, then off I went with my daughter shopping.
Did I miss anything much other than explanation of health plans? Is there a web site they referred to you? Should I call HR and admit I am a moron?
TIA
What's greedy about it? Have always received xmas gifts/bonus as employee
x
Nada...... Can't complain though, great line rate is worth no extra gifts at X-mas. nm
x
Christmas
Heard on the new last night that Coca-Cola will not be using Santa's image this year on any of their Christmas products. They will use a picture of a polar bear instead.
Nothing for Christmas
The company I have worked for for almost 2 yrs send me a $20 thing of candy. The other company I got nothing, not even a Merry Christmas.
If Only...What I wish for this Christmas.
Reading posts below how so many MTs just wish or hope that they may get some sort of recognition - a bonus or a gift or anything for their hard work for the year. I cannot say how angry I am - steaming mad - to read the derogatory posters who call these hopeful or disappointment MTs childish or greedy. Its so heartbreaking. American workers for decades regularly received Christmas bonuses in every single industry, period. We all did. Our parents did and our grandparents did. If they didn't, that probably meant they were the bosses or business owners, and they happily were the ones giving out the bonuses or gifts to their beloved workers. THIS IS SICK that other MTs can bash those who still have hope, or those who desperately need the $$, anything. A lowsy $25 gift card might feed their kids for a day. Yet its A-OK in our country that the CEOS and our OWN BOSSES get 6 and 7-figure Christmas bonuses every year, whether they run our companies into the ditch or not. They aren't called greedy or childish. We continue to work ourselves to the point of breaking 24/7, and darn sure do have the right to hold out the most meager of hopes that yes, MTs, there is a Santa Claus, he does care, and maybe we might get a $25 token of appreciation from our employers, who are darn tootin' making a boat load of greenbacks thanks to our labors. Merry Christmas, and I wish if I were rich that I could find a list of all US MTs and send each and every one, newby or seasoned pro, a $25 gift card and a Christmas card. I truly wish I could do that. Maybe someday I will. Don't be ashamed to hope for a present - good grief we get nothing else, nothing.
Christmas
It is coming....already spent mind....
Are you allowed to say Christmas?
Pretty soon, everything is becoming so politically correct, we won't be allowed to use the word Christmas anymore. Maybe they were insulted - you should have sent a holiday card instead.
But, no - I don't think I've seen a Christmas card or bonus in years. Boy, in the good old days at MQ, a few years back, we actually used to have Christmas parties - imagine that!
CHRISTMAS IS AMERICAN
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Majority rules here in America. MOST people celebrate Christmas in this country. If I were in a Japanese country I would expect to see oriental things all over the place and if I were in Israel, I would expect to see Hannukah all over. What is wrong with people? The world has gone totally nuts.
Maybe it's a Christmas gift
in appreciation of a year of hard work. Does Amphion ever send Christmas gifts to MTs? If so, why gripe?
Merry Christmas to you, too!
nm
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to all.
Christmas Gift
Those morons sent me chocolates for Christmas. Unfortunatley my son was here to accept delivery. I would have sent it back. I'd much rather have my PAY!!! They have the nerve to have BONUS pay in their ad for new MTs when they can't even pay the ones that are working there now. I was on their payroll, so it had nothing to do with IC invoicing. I think they guesstimate at lines because they are never close to what I have actually typed. Glad I'm done with them!
Christmas Gift?
My gift  was an email from the company wishing me a Merry Christmas and then they sent out emails Christmas Eve and Christmas day asking MTs to log in and work some;-)
Christmas present
I also received a nice present from mine this week,as well as nice thank you gift at Thanksgiving! I've never received a single, solitary thing from any other company that I've worked for before. I feel appreciated.
Now THAT is what the spirit of Christmas is all about. (sm)
When I worked in house at a local hospital we used to adopt a family each year and had a blast doing it. We were a large department and would provide food for the holiday meals and all the Christmas gifts. One year we took my little truck with the camper and literally had it filled with boxes of food and presents. One lady in our department is of a religion that didn't believe in Christmas, but wow, did this lady come forward with food products for the family. One year the mother of the family we adopted even sent us pictures of Chrismas morning. That was truly a heart warmer too.
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