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Life is too short to be miserable

Posted By: MTinNC on 2008-07-19
In Reply to: Needing to vent..... - Summergirl

I am in this profession because I honestly love the work, and I love being an IC (setting my own work hours, being at home, etc.) I started out working for local doctors at home, then when that situation changed and I had to go to a company, I was blessed that I hit a good one first thing and have never had to experience a bad one. I am telling you all of this to hopefully encourage you. It is possible to be happy in this field, and there are good companies to work for. Life is too short to be stuck in a job where you are yelled at, bullied, and ready to throw in the towel. I hope you either start looking for a different MT job, or start pursuing another career - something that makes you happy.


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life is too short
Just chalk it up to your value system being different from your value system. Nothing dumb about it. I have seen the same happen.
Life is too short
to let these kind of games drag you down. You know what you contributed and "she" knows you are the one who provided the original data. She will have to live with her dishonest type of manipulation. You cannot change her, you can only change how you react to her.

Keep doing a terrific job for your own satisfaction. The only person you need to "oneup" is yourself. Set goals to outdo yourself and know that the better you do, the more satisfying your job will be. It takes 2 people to play the game. I suggest you bow out of the game and it takes away the fun for the other person.

I have been there too. It will happen anywhere you work if you "play the game." The choice is yours. I hope this helps. I only mean it in a supportive way.
Life is too short....
don't sell your peace of mind and health for a few bucks - you can never buy it back at any price once it's gone.  Take care of yourself.  
Life is too short . . . if you can afford it,
xx
Take a vacation honey...life is too short to

worry about jobs, bosses, money, etc. Believe it or not, there are other jobs out there no matter what the doom and gloomers say! Be kind to yourself and your family...you come first.  


"That's Life." It was only on a short while a few years ago, but was really good. nm
x
I agree. Life is too short. Be the bigger person and keep reaching out.
My sister is a big 'ol gossip.  She has talked about me more times than I can remember and she has been telling our mom on my all my life.  She and I would have bitter fights as adults and not speak for months at a time, but then one day I realized that she's never going to change.  So I basically stopped confiding in her things I didn't want to the world or my mom to know and moved on.  We have a great relationship now mostly because I won't allow myself to be in a position where she can make me angry.
I used Short Keys, not Short hand for Bayscribe, it worked fine.
x
I'm miserable

My doc says I'm "legally" menopausal now.  The hot flashes are horrendous.  I can't take HRT because my mother, grandmother, aunt and first cousin all died of breast cancer.  Guess I'll just keep sitting outside in the 20 degree weather (until my neighbors who think I've gone insane call the psych squad on me).  What a difference a couple of years make -- I remember wearing sweats and covering up in an afghan to transcribe in the middle of summer because the A/C froze me!


that would be miserable!
Good luck to you in keeping them from getting demolished!
Ditto, short ERs or short OPs....short anything! sm
And I especially don't like long OPs, they are the most boring for me, and the doctors pause a lot cause they have to think more. I just want to be done with it! Next!!! ; )
Yes - another thin one here - & it's miserable ! .
I have the usual, mid-priced, office chair from Office Depot with the thickest padding I could find within my price range. Felt okay for about a month then, like you, I had to sit on a pillow! My tailbone just felt like I was sitting on bare metal otherwise. Pillows are cheaper than chairs - so that, too, is what I do! I also added a lumbar support attached with Velcro, but normally when transcribing sit more foreword in my chair in order to reach my footpedal & don't get it's benefit (only when not working). I'm not only thin-I'm short in comparison to today's standards - I'm 5'1". What about you?
HAHAHAHA - miserable MT too, eh?..nm
xxxxx
miserable the last month or so?....nm

Between the miserable QA personnel and

physicians who misspell medications, I'm fed up.  Not only are we supposed to check the spelling of a medication, even if the physician spells it, but also, if he or she dicates a letter to a patient, we are supposed to confirmt the patient's address; street as well as zip code.  This is an absolute waste of my time, as the patient's addresses are not listed in any part of the demographics, but on the patient's CHART, from which the physician is looking at while dictating!   I get even more inflamed when I receive an email from QA that ALWAYS include an explanation mark (!) in the opening sentence.  I mean, who in the heck do these people think they are?   I find them rude, demeaning, not to mention totally unprofessional when they care corresponding.  Talk about forgetting one's roots, and how it was for them when they started.  The tone of their emails speaks volumes that they are miserable doing their job, but get their jollies off by writing to you like you were a little kid.  So if you love pulling rank and demeaning people all day, join the QA Department and be miserable like the rest ofl them.    


ps I am NOW totally miserable
Not "not"
Not happy without being miserable?
I've been coming here for the past 2 years. I am a working MT who has paid my dues and been just as disappointed as all of you here from time to time. But the one thing I can't understand is why SO MANY of you can't seem to be happy if there isn't misery in your life.

Yes, you are warning newbies of the perils of this career. Yes, you are frustrated and want it to improve, want company and comfort...But there is so much toxic waste on this board. If you tell yourselves and each other how miserable it is in this field, you will all remain miserable.

Flame away and call me whatever names you want, but when you lay down tonight, you may just agree that wallowing in so much misery is not the way to live when life is so short. If you hate it, get out. If you aren't sure, don't take what every one says at face value. If you love it, share the love.

I have never seen so much misery in one place among so many people. It's contagious. Please do yourself and all of us a favor and try to find some happy thoughts. You might just find you enjoy yourself, and your career, a lot more.
My ex was wealthy and I was sooo miserable
without going into detail, I will say my health suffered from being with a man whom I sensed did not love me in a deep fashion. That fact cancelled out the 9,000 sq foot home (attached 4 car garage), 2400 cash allowance monthly, the need for me not to work, vacations to exotic places and luxury cruises twice each year, a walk in close the size of my present bedroom. But, you know, I was so lonely. At least with your husband, you will have a man who loves you when you are old. I left that life to nothing, zip, lost my place in MT world after 20 yrs and had to start all over, his attorneys royally screwed me and yes, I was so poor I was hungry, sold all those clothes at second hang consignment shops and begged someone to hire me (MQ at 0.06 cpl). I had dogs so had to buy a home which took every cent I had. Walked out with nothing in the end. I am happy but at 40, that scene is not one a person can go through without subsequent scars.

I am alone now. A fireplace is my company along with two cats. Seven years later, I am at peace finally but I really did let myself down by putting myself through the hell I lived trying to get my life back on track.

The secret to happiness is being thankful for what we have - I say that every day.
I'd say a combination of B and C. House may be miserable, but after
watching all House episodes, he does have a heart, albeit surrounded by iron, lock with no key.
Unless it is ongoing and to the point you are completely miserable!!
c
Right! It's pretty obvious who the miserable person is here!

Agree with oncology. Miserable stuff! nm
s
Life is life....the haven't bonded the same as if it were a 2-year-old!
nm
I am not miserable, I love my job, all is well with me, but gross tacky humor is just that.
z
Long short forms vs short short forms

Carla,


A long short form is usually easier to remember. So I would definitely assign the short forms as suggested by Kelli:
SmithCThead
SmithCTabdomen
etc


In most Expander programs you would opt for a short short form as you have to type the whole short form before you can expand.
In Instant Text you don't have to type the whole short form: you type the first two letters of your long short form and then you can type any of the following letters.
So in this case you would type smcth for the first one, smcta, and you may also type smhead, smabd


This is possible when you use the Instant Text marker key to expand. If you use the space bar to expand, you may be better off assigning the initials as suggested in the second response, as you would not be able to "jump ahead".


Marianne


I make sure the job is not my life and that it does not take over my life. sm
I have been at this 25 years, even once had my own accounts and worked 24/7 with cat naps to keep going but no real sleep. I really burned myself out. Now I work a regular 40-hour week, but it is not my life. It is a means of making money so I can go live my life. I work for a company that is not all about production. They want us to take our time and do it right. I am doing that, and it feels so good to be able to work at my craft and be allowed to do a good job while I am at work.

But after I get off, I have my family and I take time to have fun and enjoy life. I think that is the key to not staying burned out. You need down time, time to have fun, exercise, relax, etc.

Exercise is very important, too. It rejuvenates the hormone system so you have more positive hormones flowing through your body and helps get rid of stress.

That's what I do.
The short of it.....
When management sends you E-mails filled with typos, they are going to you, not to the client.  Since you aren't paying management, it doesn't matter if every word they type in their E-mails to you is spelled wrong.  See, management's paying you to transcribe error-free reports.  Understand now?
PRD short cut help

I have been using the PRD short cut program on an old DOS-based computer in WP51.  I have upgraded to Windows XP with WordPerfect X3 and wondered if there is anyway to use the PRD with this program.  I have had to use other short cut programs for Word on my XP computer but have recently had to move all my WordPerfect work to my new computer and need a short cut program for it as well.  I would sure love to be able to use the PRD.  Anyone with any helpful information would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks so much!


I do think it's too short but...
the company I work for only gives you 2 days. :(
short msg

My guess is that VIPS like this would have decoy names, and they should.


I agree that AHDI or whatever AAMT wants to be called now is just another thing to watch and not trust.  That said, why should anyone want government to be in charge of everything and be trusted to not screw it up?  They've shown us already (both parties) how well that's worked, so I'll handle my own "change," thank you.


AHDI is another form of big government making things more difficult for us.


one can short of a six pack! nm

Don't sell yourself short....
I charged docs/clinics 12-14 cents/line 5 years ago. They had no problem with this. Being paid by the hour in Canada at home where I work for a local hospital I make $18.33/hr plus 14% in lieu of benefits plus 4% vacation pay ($21.73 per hour) For contract work MT's in my area charge $25 per hour or 14 cents a line. This is not through MT companies - just for docs asking for extra help and our Physiotherapy Depts that do independent medical assessments contract it out to local MTs. Hope this helps. I'm in Ontario
Don't sell yourself short.

If you think that you need to "lower" your rate because you're not driving and picking up, then charge .10/line; otherwise, I would stick with the .11/line and consider it a "raise" if you get the job. Honestly, if the OM is happy with the quality she'll get at .06/line, then you probably didn't want that account anyway because I have found those OMs are the biggest pains and you're better off without the aggravation. JMO.


My short story
Somebody removed themselves from the picture before someone in the extended family tried something with me and if they had spoken up there is a chance I would not have that horrible memory now.  I yelled loud and clear so that no one else had to go through what I did.  I don't care how old he is, unless you are clearly mistaking his actions - which I doubt  - then something is wrong.   This is probably easier from you to step away but if you read or found out that he had tried this with a 7, 8, 16 or 20 year old or even someone else or he had with his daughters -- could you then live with yourself.  At least tell your mother the reason why and if she choses to put her head in the sand, so be it but you told someone.   If you have questions about what you feel or think is happening talk to someone but do something. 
I'd get up and kick my dog if I got that. I like short SM
little tonsillectomies and stuff. :) Keeps me awake.
I have Short Hand. Never used the others -sm
You can install ShortHand on multiple PCs. I like it. You can actually have one shortcut for a few things (found that really, really useful). You do have to pick from the list which one you want, but I'd rather be accurate even if it might slow me down a little. It has drawbacks too though. If you forgot to put -ed on the end of a word for instance, and you go back and do that and if ed is one of your shortcuts, it will expand when you don't want it to. You can save your personal shortcut dictionary (which is nice for backup) and install it along with the program on other PCs. You can also convert an old PRD dictionary from WP if you had one and possibly others too.

It works with anything windows and you can have multiple dictionaries for multiple jobs or facilities that might have different rules.
Short message for you........sm

I do many things, am an MTSO for 10 years who just now had to get an occupational license because the city I live in now demands home offices to have one, now had to send off to the county with copies of OL to get county license...I'm an IC for 10 years and also do some weekends for a national...


where do these people get their info from, that all ICs are *prima donnas* - N_O_T......WOW....the narrow-minded and ill-informed......surround us.....unfortunately.....


You know you're short when...

My boyfried recently bought me a new office chair for my birthday.  I was very happy as I desperately needed one.  The funny thing is that even with the chair all the way down, my feet wouldn't touch the floor...LOL.  My toes touched the floor, and I could still manage to push the foot pedal, but it was killing my knees after sitting for long periods from the stress of my legs just "hanging" there.  So, my boyfriend build me a very nice platform that is about 4-inches high that sits under my desk.  My feet rest on it as well as the pedal.  I'm 5'3".  I know I'm no amazon, but I didn't think I was THAT short...LOL.  Guess I was wrong.


depends but usually short
If I have a short attention span that day, short reports keep me awake.  If they're long, I tend to lose focus and get tired.
The reports are usually short
I have done both acute care and Radiology. Radiology by report usually works out to more money in your pocket. Since I switched to radiology I never want to go back to acute care. My line rate stayed the same, but I make 50% more money!! I agree, Stedman's Radiology is wonderful. You can get it on CD and keep it open while you work...quicker to look things up.
short hand
I've been using it for about two years and love it! Good luck to you.
Short-cut system
Try PRD - I used to use it with WordPerfect and it was the best Expander I have ever used.
short response
Where in my message did I say that the test should be "used?" I simply provided a couple of links for reference.

And I feel you are being rather judgmental. Simply because something is not difficult for you does not mean it is not difficult for another individual.
The short and sweet of it, you get what you pay for.
p
Boy, how short sighted you are.
I think you are the one who does not understand too well. You say unless you are laid up in bed unable to move then you work and take care of your family, but since when is being laid out the only disability that would prevent one from performing their daily activities? True depression is a disability and sometimes something a person might battle their whole life. It is easy for you to say, just put your big girl panties on and deal with it when you obviously have never had to overcome this disability. Maybe you need to educate yourself a little more before you speak out about things you obviously know nothing about.

Unfortunately, attitudes like yours are what have held some people back from accepting their problem and getting treatment for it. Mental illness is a disease, not something the OP could turn off and on when she wanted, not laziness and just as debilitating as "being laid up in bed."

And you might not have called her a crack head directly, but the slap in the face was just the same by comparing the two.
Here is the long and short of it
Most of the time gross line comes out pretty darn close to 65 characters unless you do addresses and a lot of numbered lists. If you uses lists, you may lose out. If not you will probably gain a little. You will really have to evaluate how your notes are normally set up.

Personally, after being somewhere for 3 years and doing a good job, I would expect a lot more that 8 cents per line gross or otherise. Just me.
short vent.....sm

Please, Dr. resident, Get A Kleenex.  I've never heard so much sniffling and outright snorting in one report.  I'm sorry you have a cold or allergies, but holy cow, doc, you're gonna suck the phone up your nose! 


Thanks for letting me vent.


Short cuts

Ctrl U - underline


Ctrl A - blocks all


Ctrl S - saves


Ctrl X - deletes


Ctrl C- copies


Ctrl V - pastes


. . . and my favorite Ctrl Z - brings back something you accidental delete.


I hardly ever use my mouse as it breaks my rhythm and slows me down.  If I think of anymore I will send them your way.  Did you know that if you hold down your Ctrl key and use the arrows you can move around a document that way?


 


 


 


The short cut keys help.
You move around the document much more quickly. The short cut keys for the header, ccs, template, etc are key. I'm not a huge fan of the alt+K but I still try to use it. I also use just my autocorrect for expanders.
short-cuts
I've lost my short-cuts...could I have hit a key on my keyboard?  Thanks!! 
SHORT HAND

I have never used Instatext, but I have used ShortHand for 10+ years and love it.  It is versitile, easy to use and I can use it in every system I work in.  I have used it in Meditech, Citrix, Star, and all worked well.  AND I was able to convert my FlashForward to it and my autocorrect to it.