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My aunt has extremely low rate for land, no frills but

Posted By: Ticked with internet service on 2007-12-13
In Reply to: AT&T - Busy Fingers

I was told according to where you live- mine no frills over $30.00 a month but now say I can have a land phone, will not work, but still pay for it? Erks me.


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Hey Aunt Lou

My cat "Nosey" passed about 7 years ago at the age of 20.  She was most wonderful but developed kidney cancer.  You know what I did at that time, I wrote a special letter to "Nosey" telling her about her life with me and my son, all the things she loved to do, her favorite foods, her favorite toys.  I documented in that letter the day, date and time that she passed and the things that I buried with her as well as where we buried her, overlooking the lake amongst the flower garden and telling her the beautiful new rosebush we planted next to her in remembrance!  I put one copy in a ziplock bag with her and kept one in her file in my desk.  I have a file for all my babies.  I do truly hope she has a couple more good years with you.  I am sure she knows your love and will always be looking to see you again after she has passed.  If perchance you go first, you will only blaze the trail for her!!


Thanx Aunt Lou
Now I need every one to pray for my 17 1/2 year old Pup.....I MUST leave Wednesday for Parris Island to pick up my son from the Marines for his 10 day leave.....but my little dog is not doing too well right now.  I have already made arrangements for him to stay at the vets while I am gone for four days....but, believe me, that does not make me feel that great.  I want to be with him.  I thought about taking him with me but then worry that the trip will be too much, although he loves to ride in the car; he's really never been left behind before.  What in the world should I do????  I will be staying at the military hotel on the base and they don't allow pets!  The only thing in the world that comes before my "puppy" is my son.. but this could be a bitter sweet trip.  I will be so much more than happy to see my son again, but I most definitely want to be with my dog when the time comes.  So please say some prayers and ask that Chi Chi will hang in there long enough until my son and I return!  After all these years together it would seem so unfair for us to not be together at that time.  Any support and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.
Hey there Aunt Lou....

The trip was well worth it....my son's graduation from Marines at Parris Island was most somber, impressive and moving....his platoon was the Honor Platoon.  We are home now, however, we came back to our little tiny barrier island Friday right after graduation, (due to Hurricane Dennis), instead of Saturday.  I had my own Crucible to endure.....went for approximately 42 hours with only 3 1/2 hours of sleep....still can't sleep but BOY am I tired. 


My "puppy" made it OK at the Vet's office but still is not doing well overall.  My son asked me this morning if Chi Chi would be alive when he comes back in about a year, unfortunately I had to tell him that I did not think so.  You are so kind to remember my son and my pup.  I will post when and if there is anything going on with either of my "babies" because I know you will give me support.  Thank you and God bless you. 


To aunt lou
Not off - right here with you. I haven't stopped working since I got up and will be on until midnight. Then, tomorrow, I start again for another 8 hours.

Merry Christmas! I don't want to sound like Pollyanna, but I'm glad to have the work. Didn't have any last Christmas season, so I'm just thinking to myself that things are looking brighter.
My aunt really did not like it when
she broke her hip and rehab came to see her. She said not much time spent on her as typing away on that computer.
Not a Mom, just step-Mom and aunt

I tried for years to have a child, lost many early on in pregnancy and it was many years ago prior to the advances that they have now adays.  But I do have two step-daughters -- one remembers me one does not even though I am divored from their father.  She and I have stayed close and neither have seen their Dad since our divorce.  But I have two nephews and a niece in the area that I am very close to who now have children ranging from 4 to 18.  One of my great nephews told me yesterday,  I am not a Mom but close, better than a Grandma because I am special Aunt Patti.  So that made my day.   For some reason the Lord chose for me to be that special person to my many nephews and nieces which I truly enjoy.   And I get to send home when they become "too much".   Love it and cherish my time with them.  


 


oops, Great-aunt's name was Molly *lol*...nm

cigs took out my parents, grandparents, aunt

Unfortunately, I still smoke though - it's the worst drug habit I have encountered in my many decades.  For me, it's the only drug habit I have had.  It's tough, so I sympathize with the ones who are trying to quit and KUDOS TO THE ONES WHO HAVE!!!!!


 


Global warming my Aunt Fannie... Check history, there have been numerous cycles like this
x
Same as on land

That is so funny as one year I had my aunt and uncle visit from NYC -- where I was born -- and they asked if I had power and sewer system, etc.  And we are the same as you are on land.  They about died when they walked to the walkway, looked down and saw 53 homes on the water, it is a awsome site when you are from a large city like NYC.  I have cable TV, Comcast internet, the wires are in the concrete walkways.  Before they built this new moorage we had wooden walkways and our power lines, etc. were overhead and they were dangerous.  But they come undergrown from the street above and through the concrete walkways.  Have natural gas heat.   Portland has one of the largest number of floating homes as Seattle now has a moratoreum on building anymore.  So our prices are rising finally.    We are safer than normal homes near a river during a flood as we only go up, up up as we are hooked onto pilings on three sides of our houses.   So we float upwards.    Thanks for asking. 


 


From the Land of Make-Believe
x
This is the land of the free.
that works them to death has made the wrong choices in life. 
IT COULD LAND IN COURT SM
Sorry for the shouting, I also did legal and one of my reports from a service with my initials on it was evidence and they questioned the doc on the stand. They say the report belongs to the doc but who knows when this will change. Thank goodness I had nothing to do with it, but they did ask him where it was typed, by whom, the time and date. Some docs do doctor the date to cover their kiesta and that's a hard decision to make. If the case were serious enough, I would question it or send it back with a note and document that note and make a copy. Sorry to be so serious but I've been in this a long time and I've hear it all. Lots of CYA stuff goes on (cover your -ss)
If you are using a land line you don't really have
unlimited long distance, they cap it at 5000 minutes, which isn't enough if you work FT.   You could get a prepaid card - I think at Sam's club they are about 3 cents minute.  You can also use a company like (can't remember name, but has 10-10 in it) that is less than that.  There may be other similar companies too. 
Someone is in la-la land and guess who?
The OP. PA registration called and they said no breast or gyn exams on license. I bet they were about as amused as I was asking the question but I like to hear for myself.
Darned right - people are in la-la land

we're "refusing" to work? Rely on the kindness of strangers, or what? People really need to get a grip on reality here.



Did Discovery land safely?
nm
HAHAHAHA - you must live in the land...sm

of DELUSION AND DENIAL (de Nile as in river *LOL*)


Women use both sides of their brains, a rarity for a man.......*wink*


Ooooohhhh, Biltmore land! :)
Lucky you to be able to visit it so easily!

Hidee Ho! Dictation Land...
I have one doc who always says that before her dictations. It always makes me chuckle...then I wonder...where exactly is Dictation Land? LOL
don't remember land of the giants, but
I remember I just loved Gilligan's Island and Bewitched.
Is C-phone for land-line only?

Won't pretend I understand VOIP but I know its available with my broadband.


You are trying to land this digital account with
You should require they purchase their own recorders.  That is only fair, but that is just my opinion.  Let them know you need some help with the purchase of the recorders. 
Land an account using your web site? sm
I'm setting up a web site to hopefully obtain clients. My question is if I get an account what can I do to be sure they pay me and I not get stiffed for doing work?

Was thinking about using BuyerZone or some other type of site to acquire payment from the client. If you have any suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated.
Wait to land the accounts first

Hi!


I say wait to land the accounts first before you think about what equipment to get. You basically want to use what your client is using, not make the client switch around to your set-up. Maybe others will say differently. But I figure you save $ that way by not getting unnecessary stuff.


Good luck!


BTW, I was just reading that self-employed folks really need to increase their fees once a year just to keep up with inflation. I think a lot of times MTs who are ICs for services forget that the service is their client, not their boss. ICs need to negotiate for the right line rate because remember, you are paying for a lot out of your own pocket now.


Diane


If you use dial-up then yes you need a land line - sm
But you don't have to have long distance at all. I have 2 lines in our house, one is the main line with unlimited LD through Verizon, my other line (also Verizon) is just a connection at about $30 a month, no long distance on that line. I have AT&T as my internet provider, though may change my package now as I have one of those 875U aircards (also with AT&T, but could have used Sprint or Verizon if I wanted to) and not sure if when I connect with that it has any bearing on my unlimited package with my dial-up, so I might as well save some money and scale back on that charge. We have no package deals. I have a TracFone, my DH has a company cell phone that they pay for/handle. Your situation sounds a bit screwy; I'd investigate getting either a better deal or seperating everything and see if that works better.
I need a land line and I need it now-suggetions?

I moved and I can't get a land line for (perhaps) another week.  I've already lost a week's income because of the promblem (THANK YOU, CHARTER!!).  I need a quick fix.  I am open to any and all suggestions to getting set up on Friday with a land line or VoIP, even if it is with Vonage for a week until I get my land line phone to work with my DAC phone.  I just moved into this apartment on Monday, but I let Charter know on 1/4 that the previous tenant had turned in her keys, but until she pays the outstanding balance -- heck, she probably hasn't even gotten her final bill yet!!!), they put a "freeze" on phone service. I got that unfrozen yesterday by going into their main local office with my lease agreement, but I have already lost a weeks' pay because of this and I need a quick fix.  They installed my ISP and TV today. I REALLY need to work this weekend.


I am probably in real jeopordy of losing my job.


On top of this, when my son and his roommate came over last weekend to help me pack, they told me they had both lost their jobs to a family of Indians who had come in and bought out their store's owner.  By our State's examination, only one passed the English literacy exam so she is the only only who can answer the phone.  Since the 4 Indian brothers need the managers' positions and they bought 4 stores, 4 managers (my son any his roommate and 2 others) are out of jobs and another 25 or so have left because of the new managers' incompetence. 


Please offer help in getting a land line so I can work.  I am feeling so overwhelmed and it is hard to think with this kind of pressure.  I'm thinking of installing Vonage's VoIP for a week until Charter can get their act together and I get their service.  It's hard to reach other services like ATT when I don't have a phone to contact them.  Charter changed their protocol for getting land lines last week (just my luck) and did not tell my installer/sales rep of the changes.  They are telling the independent distributers it is because of having to reset 911.  I call that baloney.


Can I get a cell phone? How would that connection fit together? OMG, I am so in panic mode.  Please kick around some ideas so I don't have to start job hunting after 1 week after moving. 


Wow, you live in LALA land
You got I'm rich from my post-wow you are delusional. We live paycheck to paycheck like most of our friends and family, and yes we have health care coverage but over the years more and more of the cost of that had been switched to us rather than my husband's employer.  And I know more than 5 people in Canada and Europe who hate their national healthcare coverage.  Didn't know I needed to list them all.  Go back to lala land.
If it weren't for needing a land line for DSL
My cell phone is my primary phone and I have more minutes and free long distance than I can use per month. I got basic phone services and locked it from any LD calls to save money and my land line still costs $30 a month. I feel I'm wasting that money but there isn't anything I can do. I won't drop my cell phone because I have my kids on as extra lines and they wouldn't have a phone otherwise.
Wanting to land my own local account

I am currently working part time IC for two different people, I have a little less than one year transcription exp, all in family practive or GI...I have been thinking about trying to get my own account locally but not sure about some of the "in's and out's".  Those of you who do this, do you have someone who covers for you when you have to leave town?  I have always had someone to QA my work, so if I do my own account and have a question(blank) do  you call the office and ask or do you leave it blank?  I am kinda back and forth w/ the idea, I know I would make more money, but not sure if I want ALL the responsibility. 


No land line even? How far away from civilization will you be? Hospital?
s
7 years clinic experience and cannot land a job

Any suggestions??  I have 7 years clinic experience and am looking for work.  Seems like I cannot get a response back to test or interview.  I need a company that offers TAT, not set hours.  I send in resumes and cover letters daily...What else could I do??? 


Also, in the meantime does anyone have suggestions on "practice files".  I want to expand my skills/specialties.  I have not done radiology and have always wanted to get into it...Thanks for any advice!


Yeah, what land are they living in? Copy the page indicated - sm
and fax it to them. Also ask then where in the book does it say "non Hodgkin lymphoma". Too weird.
Internet service without land-line phone

I recently looked into this subject myself.  If you have Verizon available in your area, you can purchase a plan at about $55.00 per month with a two-year contract.  You will receive a card that you can insert into your laptop, which will provide you with unlimited Internet access at the speed of DSL.  As far as I know, there are no other cell service providers that have come up with this type of card yet, but I'm sure it's bound to happen in the future.  Another option is to purchase a satellite telephone and phone cards as you go along, but the cards are really outrageous in price.  One last thing that I would suggest is that you phone cell providers in your area to see if they have any technical gadgets you could attach to the cell phone for Internet access.  Many of the satellite phone companies have separate packages you can buy, which can be attached to laptops or PDAs.  I also have a TracPhone, so I know it does not come with hardware that will do the trick.


 


Good luck to you in setting everything up.  With the way that technology is moving, I'm sure there must be a way to accomplish what you want. 


If you have a cell phone, why not use that for your LD calls and CX the LD on the land line?
.
Charge him an hourly rate. The current rate is
between $15-21/hr. according to your location. If he had to use an independent secretarial service, he would be charged much more. You can look in the Yellow Pages in your area under Secretarial Service and ask them what they charge, then charge accordingly knowing you can back it up.
Company states cannot use Vonage. Any suggestions for land line unlimited long distance? nm

Extremely helpful - thank you!!! nm
nm
It was extremely perverted.
Be grateful they took it off. I would repost whatever you had to say.
this is extremely sad. I started on with MQ
0.0775 cpl.  You're only going to get desperate newbies with that pay.  If you want an "experienced" MT as you say, pay them what their experience is worth. 
They are extremely close.
From what I know of both companies, oddly enough it is MQ catching up to changing its operations to par with Spheris with the new Rewards Plan.

However, while Spheris has already had their compensation/benefits package settled for a while, they seem to be aggressively pursuing purchasing other companies and increasing their offshore entities.

MQ seems to be focusing on it's US clientele.

MQ has ASR and if Spheris has it, I haven't heard of it yet. I would imagine ASR came in with a recent purchase if Spheris has much in the way of it right now.

You are welcome.
ok now I see it - extremely annoying. NM
x
I am extremely careful

Geesh, June.  I am extremely careful, and my girls have been told not to open the door unless they know the person on the other side.  You know children do not always listen.  I had been down the hall using the bathroom, and my 13yo thought the 16yo had stepped outside and locked herself out.  Since it was a soft knock and a familiar one, she thought she knew who was on the other side.  When she realized it wasn't who she thought it was, she shut the door right away and came and told me there was a man in our garage.  We've lived here for 10 years, and this is the first time anyone other than family has knocked on that door.  There isn't a lot of crime in our area, and we leave our garage door most of the time.  We never have any problems.  I know...there's always a first time....never say never and all that...but I am careful. 


A couple of weeks ago, religious solicitors walked up to our door.  I was working, and my 16yo opened the door to them because they were women.  Not anyone she knew, but she opened the door because she didn't find women to be intimidating.  That's why I say children don't always listen to what you say.


After those Missouri boys were abducted in rural areas, I've talked to my girls again about being careful, beiing aware and watching out for each other. 


My hubby thinks I'm paranoid.  I'm the type to keep my doors locked at all times, day or night, and he thinks it's silly because we're in a rural area and probably fine.  When I dispute the point with stories from the news, his rebuttal is that a locked door will not keep out someone who wants in.  Maybe not...but they'll be a lot more noisy trying to get past that locked door than they would an unlocked door.


 


It works extremely well for me. sm
I am in a very, very rural area as stated; all woods.  I was also told it works as good as your cell works.  Our cells are "patchy" in this area, but are fine in our home and we have all metal roof too, which usually causes outages but not in our case.  I was constantly frustrated with Wildblue and no signals on bright sunny days even.  Like I said, in 3 months I have not had one problem with losing a signal and I am on the net 24/7 almost literally, lol.  I know in my case, they gave a 30-day refund in case it didn't work out for you.  So I would say give it a try first and if it doesn't pick up well for you, then look into HughesNet.  The wireless was the BEST move I have made period and I am extremely happy.  I did call tech suport on it when first setting up and the hold was very minimal and tech was very helpful.  I was fixed and up and running within 5 mins with AT&T.  Now I will say my first bill was also about $170 as they bill in advance so I had to pay first month and then 2nd month, but to get started all I paid was for the USB thing itself.  Oh, if you do go with wireless, don't get the "cards", get a USB one that way you can change it from different computers and be mobile with it rather than just working in 1 computer.  Say if you have laptop and desktop you would switch the USB between computers and if you got a "card" it would only work in one of the computers, the one which you bought it for. 
Anybody else notice extremely low IC pay?
I have always worked as an IC acute care transcriptionist. My line rates have always exceeded what an MT can make as an employee, which is only logical because as an IC, you have to pay your own taxes, no benefits, etc. I always peruse job listings on this and other boards, just to see what's out there. Lately, I have noticed a disturbing trend. It seems like most MT companies/MTSOs are only offering .08/line for IC. Unless that is for a gross line (and goodness knows gross lines are a thing of the past), that is outrageous!! When you consider that an IC has to pay approximately 15% of his/her income in self-employment taxes alone, that means a net rate of about .068/line! While .08/line for employee status is still low (in my opinion), at least social security and medicaid taxes are paid, and there are usually benefits, PTO, etc.

If I were an MTSO, I would be embarrassed to offer .08/line to any quality IC MT. For a newbie, sure. But for any MT worth his/her salt, .08/line for IC is an insult.

I know that competition with overseas firms makes it seem necessary for American transcription companies to lower their MT pay in order to be competitive. However, American MTSOs will never be able to compete solely on price; overseas transcription companies will always be able to do it cheaper. It is a slippery slope that has already lead to the failure of many American transcribing firms. The question for American transcription companies should not be can we do it cheaper, but can we do it better??

In today's market, American MTSOs need to stand their ground and quit underselling themselves and undervaluing the value of their American transcription workforce. American MTSOs need to start marketing themselves differently, stressing quality, accuracy, dependability, security, and good old fashioned patriotism. I don't care how low the overseas companies can bid a job. There is no way they can compete with the quality and accuracy of American transcriptionists. I myself have worked for an MTSO who lost a contract to a firm in India, only to have them beg her to take them back a few months later because the quality of the overseas work was so horrible. I am quite sure this is not an isolated incident.

While there are always going to be hospitals that will try to get by on the cheap, there are also hospitals and doctor's offices who realize that they get what they pay for and will put quality first. If you compare transcription services to cars, overseas work is the Hyundai while American transcriptionists are the Cadillac. Cadillac would never slash its prices to compete with the cheaper imports. They know that they have to cater to their own market, people with more discriminating tastes.

I am fortunate enough to work for a company that realizes the value of its services and takes the stronger, wiser stance. They are not after contracts at any cost. They will pass up work if they have to bid ridiculously low just to get it. And guess what? Any bid that only allows you to offer your IC transcriptionists .08/line IS TOO LOW!! And any quality MT is not going to stick around at those rates.
I find it is extremely so! sm
THe other thing is, unless you are ultra fast or so wonderful you are in high demand, you won't make a living at it. I know some cake decorators and it is high pressure. I could make and decorate 3 cakes in a day, of the 2 or 3 layer variety, but they wanted 10 or 12 just the decorated part. I found that daunting myself.

I can only make one of my signature cakes a year (heart shaped cake covered with handmade, real buttercreme roses...think about 150 to 200 roses) about once a year and I need to have time off of work to recuperate anymore. My hands ache and ache!
I get extremely car sick
I posted on the gab board and while I was typing this message moved, so am copying my reply here too in case the other message gets lost -

I get extremely motion sick in a car. I cannot read at all. I can't even read maps to help husband in areas we don't know (can't tell you how many arguments we still have over this and it's been 25 years), and if there are a lot of road signs I can't read them, therefore I would imagine that if you can't read due to motion sickness typing would be hard, because as an MT I am always reading what I type to make sure there are no typo's or I don't hit a wrong key. A couple years ago we took a drive to the Mendocino coast in California. Lots and lots of curves. I thought maybe I had grown out of it (motion sickness), but my DH had to keep pulling over. I was so sick it was awful.

If you take a product like dramamine it will make you drowsy (I should know cos I'm the Queen of Dramamine) Taken enough of it at different times and I end up sleeping through the trip if I take it. I'm not sure if they have any non-drowsy. A lady did tell me once that I should eat a little carbohydrate before I travel and that might help. Again, a big "might" and I don't want to take that chance.

I think the biggest problem with typing while a vehicle is moving is the constant movement of the keyboard. If you go over a bump or hit a rock or swerve, your sure to hit a wrong key. I'm not sure I know of any employer who would allow this. I'd be more apt to be looking at the scenery rather than concentrate on what I'm typing.
You are EXTREMELY lucky...
I can't remember the last time I even took a day off, let alone a week or weeks. I've often put in way more hours in a week than you say you work regularly and still have never come close to the kind of money you're making.
You would need to be extremely fast on your
computer in order to straight type 3000 lines per day. I never did that many and said before, used to have people seek me out in the office as they would hear me typing fast and they wanted to watch me. Straight probably for me never got over 2500 if that. Having said that, had 2 bosses at different times and would be willing to say both probably consistently got that per day. Your speed, I would think, would have to be around 150 to 160 or higher. Can you do that?
Ugh - how extremely nauseating and immature -
nm
I don't think that's " a big IF." That is an extremely sturdy structure. sm
It has a drainage system in the lower levels so it's not like it's going to fill up like an aquarium. It also has an extensive generator system, so it's not going to turn into a giant greenhouse effect. They did not direct people there "to contain the bodies."