I think you'd be a great writer. (U already are.) - nm
Posted By: Flibertygibbit on 2007-07-26
In Reply to: I don't think this gig is bad at all...(sm) - Hayseed
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She is a great writer. I read
In the Meantime, by that author, she used to be on Oprah a long time ago. Thanks for the poem, enjoyed it, especially the last line.
I'm a steno writer
I went to school to learn how to use a steno machine, like in court, to "type" my medical reports. I have been doing this since 2000. I trained at 225 words per minute back in the day, so now I have a reservoir of speed to draw from when dictation speeds up. I rarely need to lift my foot off the pedal with steno.
I think steno is the fastest way to produce a report, but now that MQ is forcing us to do ASR work, I am not using my machine as much. To me, this is unacceptable since they only pay 70% of our base line rate for ASR. I have hung in there so far, but I'm fast approaching the need to get out of MQ since I used to produce 2000 lines a day easily with steno, way less now on ASR reports.
They say ASR is 30% faster than non-ASR thus they justify knocking off 30% of our base rate. Not true. ASR has slowed me way down, can barely make the minimum each day. Last I heard, they will not take us off ASR if we request it. I'm getting madder by the week and losing tons of money in the process.
lanier voice writer
Does anyone know of any companies that still use these? I am a die hard Lanier fan! Thanks.
lanier voice writer
 HELP! I'm going crazy. All of a sudden my foot pedal went down on this unit - I have opened it and replugged a million times to no avail. Any solutions or suggestions/ Thanks!
Writer and PT marketing consultant
z
Meant professional writer. Know what HIM is. Sorry. nm
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Lanier Voice Writer 1000
Client uses phone in Lanier Voice Writer 1000 with MTs coming into the office to transcribe. What is necessary to hire at home transcriptionists with this system? Are there tapes involved, will a c-phone work or can you not hire at home transcriptionists with this system? Thank you for any help you may have.
What do you need a Master's Degree in to be a science writer?
?
For all the fans, very interesting insight from the writer of the show.
Shonda Rhimes long take on part two:
From Shonda: It's the end of the episode (as we know it)
Original Airdate: 2-12-06
So Dylan’s dead.
And I have to admit, I’m a teeny bit relieved.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Kyle Chandler. He was great as Dylan. Smart, funny, cute, and very much in charge. I was, in fact, a little bit in love with Dylan. Not as in love as I am with McDreamy or Burke but…you know, there were moments during the filming of the episodes when Dylan would be saying something bossy or helping Mer down the hall, pushing that gurney and being all bomb squad-y, moments that I was thinking, hey, maybe he doesn’t have to explode.
But still I am relieved. Why? Well, I’m glad you asked. Here’s why:
At the end of Act Five, there is a scene. Scene 52. I wrote this scene about fifteen minutes before I had to print out the script and hand it over to production. It reads as follows:
INT. OR CORRIDOR -- CONTINUOUS
Meredith leans her head out. Sees Dylan heading down the hall. She's just about to open her mouth...
...When the ammo explodes. When Dylan explodes. Fire, shattering glass. Meredith is thrown backwards.
Okay, that’s…what? An eighth of a page? A sixteenth of a page? A tiny fraction of the script, right?
The ammo explodes.
Dylan explodes.
I wrote those words and was actually ignorant enough of the horrors to come that I gave it to the production team and then slept the sleep of babies and angels for several nights in a row.
The ammo explodes.
Dylan explodes.
Seriously? SERIOUSLY?
All of the sudden, you find yourself in meetings with real live bomb squad guys and special effects guys and a very tense director and everyone is asking you things like “When you say, bloody rain…you actually want bloody rain or just like, some blood spatter?” And things like “When Dylan explodes, you wanna see chunks of Dylan or do you want like, a Dylan vapor?”
These are thing I don’t want to think about. These are things that make my head hurt. The ammo explodes. Dylan explodes. It’s in the script. I wrote it. I know that. But I don’t want to think about Dylan chunks or bloody rain. I don’t want to think about it at all. I like to write things and have them happen. I like to keep myself in a kind of stalker-ish fog in which I believe my characters aren’t characters but actual people. It’s how I can write them. So when you ask me about Dylan chunks, my brain gets all twisty and shuts down. Because Dylan’s a person, a very real person to me and I love him and it’s not my fault he has to die and besides…yuck.
But I’ve got Rob Corn on my ass.
Rob Corn doesn’t care if I try to kick everyone out of my office when they bring up bloody rain or he doesn’t care if I try to pretend I can’t speak English when someone asks me about bloody chunks. Rob Corn is the producer on our show and it’s his job to make things happen and, if I am stupid enough to write Dylan explodes on a piece of paper, Rob Corn is damn well going to make sure that Dylan explodes. Behind his back, I like to call Rob Corn Bossy McBossy. It doesn’t sound affectionate here but in real life, it’s really sweet and kind. Trust me. Anyway, Bossy McBossy told me that we had to do tests so we could figure out how exactly Dylan explodes.
Tests? Dylan explodes. What’s there to test? HA! I’m clearly an idiot.
They built this model of Dylan’s body and one day I am herded out onto the back lot of the studio at the request of Bossy McBossy Rob Corn. Then I have to stand and watch as 20 or 30 really happy guys (testosterone is a powerful thing) position the model of Dylan just right and explode it into tiny little pieces. Twice. It is very loud. Wow. Dylan explodes. I’m all, “great, thanks, way to go, very manly.” And I turn to flee, prepared to head back to my office, happy that the Dylan explodes part of this is over so I can pay attention to the other stuff, the estrogen stuff, the fun stuff like Bailey and George giving birth and Derek describing that kiss to Meredith…
…But Rob Corn raises an eyebrow and very gently says, “Uh, Shonda?” and I go really still with horror. Because I suddenly start to realize that a) that little test was only the beginning and b) that, for the rest of my life, I was going to regret ever typing the words Dylan explodes into my computer.
They blew up test dummies. Tall dummies, dusty dummies, dummies with helmets, dummies without helmets. They blew up test dummies filled with fake blood. They blew up pieces of our set. They set off an explosion on the set of our operating rooms. They used stunt girls and stunt guys. Ellen let them pull her through the air. I think there were blue screens and green screens and animated pieces of debris and glass. The genius special effects guys added fire and smoke and things I can’t imagine but things that made it amazing. The sound guys added over 100 layers of sound elements so that, if you have HD and you watch with surround sound speakers, the explosion flies at you and passes you and swirls around you.
Dylan explodes.
The explosion was beautiful. Amazing work and truly impressive. I told everyone so. I can’t believe the amount of talent and energy that come together to make this show happen. But next time I get a Super Bowl and post-Super Bowl time slot, I’m gonna write something different. Something a bit easier. Something less time-consuming and expensive. And without so many bloody chunks.
Dylan puts the ammo down and goes to have a sandwich.
Enough about Dylan, may he rest in peace. I want to tell you about the difference between the first episode titled “It’s the End of the World” and the second episode “(As We Know It)”.
I tried really hard to make the first episode very male and the second episode very female. I wanted them to fit together, like puzzle pieces. So that I could have two episodes about the same thing but that felt very different from one another. The first episode is all amped up energy, all naked girls and screaming and bombs and running down hallways and men saying things like “Get out of my OR.” The second episode is all long pauses. Long pauses and sitting and pushing out babies and kissing in linen closets and lots of discussion about how the hell this is all going to end. The first episode is what happens when danger strikes. The second episode is how we deal with danger when it strikes. The epicenter of this episode is the hallway/gurney scene. It’s the first scene I envisioned at all when thinking of these two episodes. I kept saying, “there needs to be this scene where Meredith and Cristina move down the hall really slowly with the ammo and Dylan and talk about boys.” And everyone kept nodding very politely with tight smiles the way they do when they are sure you have gone off the deep end. But Elizabeth Klaviter (she’s our super smart medical researcher) got on the phone with the bomb squad guys and the doctors and she got them to tell her how this would be possible. How I could get that gurney rolling so Meredith and Cristina could discuss the state of Cristina’s relationship. I needed that discussion which, for me, is really just a big old metaphor for how we deal with the tragedies in life. You’ve got your hand on a bomb but you don’t want to talk about it over and over, you don’t want to face it – so you talk about something else. Most of life is talking about something else. Plus, I found this really cool song by The Greenskeepers that I was dying to use.
George is a big key to this episode. If you pay attention, he’s the one who serves as our witness. Through most of the episode, he wanders around, a bit bewildered. He’s the one who feels the most helpless. And then he has that moment with Hannah where she talks about the nature of cowardice, where she says that to do nothing is to be a coward. And he acts. He helps Bailey through giving birth. In the first episode, he’s fantasizing about what it would be like to see three women in the shower. In the second episode, he sees what three women in a shower is like in reality. Because, guys, women don’t just climb in a shower and start soaping each other up for no reason. Hello!? Life isn’t porn. Life is Meredith, bloody and battered, being gently cleaned off (chunks of Dylan) by her best friends. And so he leaves. Because what he is seeing is too intimate.
The last thing I want to say about this episode has to do with Meredith. Because all she really wants is some kind of reason to live. I’ve heard a lot of talk about Meredith being whiny but the truth is, she’s got a mom with Alzheimer’s, no other family to speak of, and the man she loves is married. She’s pretty freaking lonely, people. She’s got a right to get her whine on. So, when she falters, when she doesn’t want to pull her hand out of Mr. Carlson, it’s partly because she’s got nothing to hang on to. As she says in the first episode, she needs a reason to go on, she needs some hope. Which is why she has to picture Derek to get through it. And at the end, when he shows up at her house (and he shows up just to see for himself that she is alive), she has to ask. She has to ask him about their last kiss because if she’s ever going to get out of that bed again and keep going, she needs a reason. She needs to know there’s someone out there for her. She needs some hope. And Derek (can Patrick Dempsey be any more amazing?) describes that last kiss, the last kiss they had as a happy couple, in such perfect detail that Meredith knows she’ll be okay. Because he wouldn’t remember that kiss so well if he didn’t love her. He couldnt. Its her sign.
He loves her. Even if he can’t be with her. Even if he has a wife.
He loves her, people.
I told you, there’s hope.
I can’t promise you anything because, like I said earlier, the characters are alive for me and thus, I can’t make them do anything against their will. But my fingers and toes are crossed for the Mer/Der love…
Once again, thanks for watching the show.
Anything by Elie Wiesel...he is an amazing person/writer..nm
nm
Too bad the writer didn't address the true reasons why this is not
an attractive field to enter.
Who in their right mind would spend time and money training in a dying profession? Can you say EMR, ASR?
Who in their right mind would spend time and money to train for a job which conceiveably could end up paying minimum wages, few benefits, little reward?
How many have spent time and money training only to find there are few companies who will hire newbies, few companies who offer flexible work schedules, few companies who work with you to make a living wage rather than to throw you into a pool of accounts guaranteed to keep your wages low?
How many expert MTs have left the profession due to reasons above?
CEOs need to wake up and take care of the excellent MTs they can manage to retain; quit messing with our paychecks with creative line counting, quit throwing multiple accounts at us and then expect 1000s of lines a day, quit basing our health insurance on production rather than hours worked; quit expecting us to be happy to work outside our scheduled hours because you provided no work within our scheduled hours with your too tight TATs, and on and on.
How often do I recommend this profession to young people? Never.
I'll write it..I am a professional freelance writer as well as an MT
Let the ideas roll!
digital phoneline with Lanier voice writer
I recently had my unlimited long distance suspended because of the time I was putting in on the lanier voice writer. I as going to switch to digital through the cable company with a data line added for access to dial tone. Does anyone have any suggestions good or bad on the digital phone line used with the LAnier voicewriter. Please let me know.
Thank, Lisa
I just sent it to 60 Minutes staff writer - You guys help me- please read
Who ever mentioned sending it to Lou Dobbs, Dateline, or anybody else, please send this along yourself and name who you sent it to here on this site, so it is not duplicated to the same person too much. Girls, I don't want any credit for this - I just want someone to look into this who has access to any credible sources and figures. What ever it takes to get this out there - please help me do it. We are talking about 30 MILLION jobs and counting. I have already sent it on whitehouse.gov and to 2 newspapers. Copy the thing. Spread it around as much as you can and encourage others to do the same.
Sitcom & screenplay writer/philanthropist. - no message
:)
Saw him on CMT show with John Fogarty. Great, great singer with a neat personality and drop dead
gorgeous without seeming to know it.
Great post. I swear by both Advantage and Frontline Plus-- both work great! - sm
I don't know about "natural" approaches for the house. I have always used flea bombs in the past before the miracle of Advantage and Frontline changed my life. Have not had a flea problem at all since I began using those products about 10 years ago, dose all the dogs religiously once a month with the Frontline Plus except in Dec.-Feb. to save a few bucks and because the ground is generally frozen by then and no fleas are scurring about. -- Hope you get flea free soon.
Thanks to all. Got some great feedback and ecouragement. This board is great.
My rant passed, ate a late lunch, now back to the trenches.
GREAT GREAT SHOW! I still think Ellen Pompeo
should have gotten the Emmy/Golden Globe whatever it was for the show. I like Sandra Ho, her character just needs more depth... Next week looks AWESOME!! Maybe there is still a chance for McDreamy!! First season DVD coming out with deleted scenes! Can't wait to get it & watch it!!
It is a GREAT company and great deal! I've had
Vonage about 6 months now and I love it. The only mistake I made was trying to keep my original phone # - I wouldn't recommend that. You have a temp # for a while, and the other provider can fight for the old #, etc. Go to vonage. com. They have new features all the time! There is even a new soft phone that is a phone on your screen. You don't need a real phone when working - just headset. It has 800 #s you can have very inexpensively - great voice mail. You get emails when you have new messages, etc. I only wish I had used them a year ago! Nothing but good things to say, and I complain about everything! 
Sounds like he will do great then. Again, best wishes for great success!
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That's great Patti. Thanks. Have a great time at the beach.
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You should feel great as a transcriptionist if they think your work is that great!!!
It is not your fault they approached you. I think it would be a different storey if you were the one searching for the job to take away from a company. They obviously want to get rid of the company and if you didn't take the job they would probably ask someone else. You should enjoy the better position and not feel guilty!!
Great post -great job of wording your answer! (sm)
Original poster - I completely agree with this answer, especially the part about finding yourself and using all that you have learned intellectually and connecting that to something that you will also enjoy with your heart!! You have so many wonderful options for your future - much more than many of us.
IT - great program, great support system. nm
dd
Thanks for all the great advice! You guys are great!
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Great job
Hi, I'm interested in finding somewhere flexibile also as I have a little one at home. I'm interested in radiology only. If the place you work for has openings in this specialty could you let me know?? Thanks!
That's great!
I think sometimes people think you are trying to "replace" the dog that died. It's not replace at all, it just helps fill the void. Just like you can never replace a person, you can't replace a pet. They each have their own special place in your heart. Adjustment period - I KNOW!! But it works out. Good luck with your new baby.
great - thanks for this
I've been looking for something like this. Now I have it.
Wow--that's great! Thank you so much
for info
That's great! I like that! Put that right at the
edge of town so noone can hear us scream!
Being an MT is great. Though like with
any job there are going to be issues. If you work in an office, you have to put up with all the crap that goes with it. If you work at home, you don't have to read these boards. There are a lot of negative people in the world, mostly on here! You will have bad days but overall the good will outweigh the bad. I have been an MT for 15 years, 11 of which I have been at home. I have tried going back to an office setting, several times, but have never been happy. I come back home to work and things are fine for a while until the job starts to suck but I get over it. I have children but they go to preschool/school. They do not stay home with me unless they are sick, have a snow day or a short school break. During the summer, they attend camps and preschool. This is not a job to get into to stay home with children. It is a career as an MT, not a daycare provider.
I'd say go for it. You will get out of it what you put into it, like everything else in life! Good luck to you.
GREAT JOB!
I am glad to hear that it worked out -- an IC MT's worst nightmare (I have always had that fear). And extra pay to boot!
Sorry, but not my man. I have a great
husband. We have been married for 23 years. I know he doesn't cheat because he is home every day right after work, calls if he is going to be late, never goes to bars and works his butt off for our family. I'm not saying there haven't been issues but the good in him far outweighs the bad!
You might try giving it another shot. Not all men are scum!
You all are great!
nm
Great
Good for you. Now you need to set your sister straight. I would be so mad at my sister if she did that..I just dont know if I could ever talk to her again, at least not for a long while till she *grew up*. So happy it turned out right for you.
Great help, thanks
s
great pay
Sounds like the hospital I worked for in Florida. We made 18.00 an hour plus 8 cents per line over so many per day which gave us a bonus of around 1500.00 monthly. Those were the days!
Great TL
I must say, my TL is a gem. Of course, everyone else in management bites the big one but my TL is fair and honest. She has to walk a thin line between keeping her team members happy and letting management think she is totally one of them, but she manages to pull it off.
That is so great to know...thanks! nm
nm
Pay is great.
Don't know about others, but just today in two hours I've made $200 - of course THE best dictator is working today so that is not the norm - but my account pays quite well (per report). I started doing radiology when I worked in a hospital - they "made" everyone do it, so thats how I got my start. When Medquist hired me 8 years ago they automatically put me on radiology - initially I didn't want to for some reason - but now I'm glad I did! Don't look for voice rec takeover just yet - radiology is THE most important department most places and they are VERY picky about stuff - I'd say we radiology MT's still have many good years ahead (but then I could be totally fooled and cryin' the blues in a year or two).
Now its back to the fray - still have 6 hrs. to go and hoping "Dr. Wonderful" stays on the entire rest of my shift!
that was great! nm
Thanks so much!!:) Great to be here:)
nm
This was great!
Thanks!
MDI is great
I think MDI is a great company to work for. There is always work to be done, always other accounts to work on if I run out or the account is slow (which is not too often). I was a team leader at one time, but I got caught on a tough account that expected the impossible. Things have improved with the account and I would be willing to try it again. While I was TL, I was always available for the team 24/7. If you have a problem with getting in touch with your TL, call Deb or even Liz (as she is always stating on this board). There is no sense in you not being happy with your job. I really could not ask for a better company!
I use theirs and it is great.
Extremely easy to use and to add to.
Wow-Great job! Thanks. nm
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Sam-e is really great!!nm
;
I am KY also! Great to have another around.
Oh Great....
 And you'll remember to say "They spend a lot of $$$$ in our country," when you lose your job to one of them, won't you? That thought is BOUND to bring you lots of comfort as you watch your checkbook dwindle down to nothing and your family do without.
WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great Help
They will answer any question you have regarding Microsoft Word. It's a computer support forum. They seem to respond pretty quick, too!
http://forum.sitefever.com
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