My story . . .

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I was hired by MQ in April for clinic work. The clinic account was huge and always behind when I first started. There were constant emails begging for people to work extra and on weekends. Slowly, it started running out of work and they started slowly adding more and more accounts to my pool until I think I was up to around 20 (yes, 20). Most of this work was ER notes. I complained several times. The ER notes were done by some of the worst dictators I've ever heard -- mostly American's, but sounding like they were eating while competing in the world's fastest talker competition. I complained -- several times -- about no work, multiple accounts and the quality of dictators. Finally, I received an insulting email from my supervisor telling me that I should be able to do this work. I promptly replied that I could "do" this work, but that they did not pay me enough for the headache and resigned on the spot. They really complained about everyone sending things to QA and QC, but with most of the accounts I was on, every report went to one or the other. I'm not used to turning in reports filled with blanks and I and was not comfortable with the quality of work I was producing. I'm certainly not the best Transcriptionist in the world, but I'm not the worst either and I actually care about what my work looks like. With MQ I was lucky to make 100 lines an hour. With my current job where I have been almost 2 years I make about 200-250 lines an hour and I also have gotten another part time job working for a local person where I make about 250-300 lines an hour.

I already had a full time transcription job with a smaller company I love and only went with MQ part time for tax purposes. My experience was not a good one. I personally would not work there again nor recommend employment there. On a side note, an MT I used to work for locally went to MQ, she lasted a little over a year. She referred someone who started 2 weeks before me and she lasted a little over 2 months. These MTs left for basically the same reasons. I can say that experiences will vary depending on what office you are at as will pay. An MT I know was hired by a PA office at 7.5 cents a line for acute care (15 years acute care experience). I was hired by the Dallas office at 9.25 a line for clinic (8 years clinic experience). My base was actually 8.25. I had to produce 6,000 lines in a pay period with 1600 of these lines done on the weekend to get the extra penny a line.

Letterman went on and on about wanting to be on Oprah's show. Well, Oprah never called or took his calls. Then she was reported as saying that she doesn't watch Dave's show and doesn't know what he is doing. So Letterman finally laid off and didn't say much more about it because she never called.

So to him it probably was the event of the decade because he has been wanting to see her for so long!

I was working for an endocrinology group and did a little transcription on the side to earn extra money. A couple of years later, I was working as an RN for another doctor when my hubby became ill with a rare disease and needed full-time care. When I resigned my position to care for him, the doctors approached and asked if I'd be interested in doing their transcription at home to earn a paycheck. I jumped on the opportunity and have never looked back.

I will say in the beginning, I earned more than I ever could have as an RN; however, with VR and outsourcing, the wages have steadily dropped in this job to the point that I'm starting to feel a struggle to stay afloat. So, yes, it was easier years ago than it is now.

But deep down inside, you must know that you could not have saved her. When people are going to suicide, they will find a way. She made a choice. It was her choice. Yes, the therapist was an egomaniac and didn't listen as well as he should have, but I have a feeling it would not have helped. It may have delayed it by a day or two, but I don't think it would have prevented it.

I'm so sorry you carry this around with you. I hope you find a way to really come to peace with it at some point.

I struggle with the same problem, but I also have other factors that are causing my issues. I am battling swollen extremities due to my last trimester of pregnancy, but before the swelling began, I not only typed a lot but also knitted a bunch of stuff for the baby. Then swelling compacted the problem and I am unable to "heal."

My doctor told me to stop doing any activity that is aggravating the situation. Ha-ha. I quit everything but being an MT. I use ice packs a few times a day on my thumb joints, hand and thumb stretches, and range of motion exercises with my hands and thumbs. If it were safe I would take ibuprofen too. I bought some fingerless ergonomic gloves this weekend that keep your wrists in a proper straight position while allowing finger motion. They are for anyone who does any kind of repetitive motion. I think they are helping, but I have only used them for 2 days. They are available in most pharmacies and some craft stores.

After that, he did not email me anymore and I did not email him or call him anymore. I thought this was the end of it. Then a few months later Bret Shipp from WFAA shows up at my home and starts asking questions about the confrontation and about Cindy

Once I heard the name Cindy Burleson, it became clear why the reporter was there.

Cindy Burleson and Lisa Taylor have been harassing me and my family for almost two years now. She goes by eBay user IDs : lavinder17@hotmail.com , fireyredhead1960, cindysilver2004, curtain_climbers, officerfredfw

They have done everything they can think of to ruin my business, my reputation, and basically my life. They have accused me of anything they could think of, and have reported me to anyone they could come up with in an attempt to reek some sort of revenge against me and have me kicked off of eBay.

I was first contacted by Cindy Burleson in Feb. 2004. She had won one of my auctions for $1.50. She told me she was going to my house and pick up the item. I told her I do not let anyone from the internet come to my house. She insisted that she knew where I lived, and she was going to come over. She got really mad that I refused to allow her in my home. She began accusing me of bidding on my own auctions. The auction had started for $1, so she was accusing me of committing fraud to gain 50 cents ! She reported this to eBay, and emailed my customers with this ridiculous claim.

She then started calling me, and emailing obsessively, then she got her daughter, her boyfriend, and her friends to email me. I have received well over 1,000 emails from her and her friends/family. I got over 500 from them in one day alone. I did call her quite a few times to try to get her to stop, I threatened legal action, she just kept emailing and calling. I gave up, and stopped responding to her harassment in February 2004 and changed my phone number to stop her calls. That is when the real horror began. She is on a mission to do everything she can to effect my life, my business, and my family.

She took one of my emails to her and changed it to say that I was coming to kill her. She sent it to eBay so that they would cancel my account. I had a copy of the original email with the time, date, and ID numbers. I was able to prove to eBay that I did not do this, and they eventually reinstated my account. Meanwhile I was suspended for 30 days with no income because of this lie.

After all of these false allegations from Cindy and her daughter I began to suspect they were the ones up to no good on eBay, so I started to research her accounts and I found out Cindy would list items (such as Tiffany jewelry) and Lisa would bid against other bidders on the items to drive the price up! She had accused me of this when her and her daughter were the ones really doing it ! I showed eBay and eBay suspended the accounts. Neither Cindy Burleson or Lisa Taylor have been allowed on eBay since that time.

Cindy and Lisa both knew it was me who reported them and it only fueled their hatred towards me. Needless to say the story did not end there.

She handed out my home address and phone number to everyone she knows. They then started calling and driving by my house (then would call and/or email to say they had driven by) I filed a police report with the Johnson County Sheriff after they came by late one night in May 2004. I thought it would end after that but the worst was yet to come.

The 10news story states I was arrested for "harassment" and shows the mug shot from that �most recent� arrest. The only reason I was arrested for harassment was because on 3-15-2004 Cindy Burleson filed a false police report against me with the Grand Prairie Texas police department. Apparently her story did not hold water, so action was not taken by the police. The following week 3-22-2004, Lisa goes back to Grand Prairie Texas police department and tells them a different story (someone must have told them their first report did not do it and what they would have to say in order for the Grand Prairie police to take action). A warrant was issued for me after the second report. I obtained copies of the 2 conflicting police reports and there is absolutely no mention of any �death threat� in either of the 2 reports. In fact the reports say I had called 5 times, not the 30-40 she is claiming now. The strangest part of the 2 conflicting reports is that they were both taken by the same police officer. This is a matter of public record and can be verified by anyone through the Grand Prairie Police Department.

Now I ask you, if you were the police officer who took the initial report and knew full well it was false, why would you accept a second report with a different story from the same 2 people and allow them to use different names and addresses, but the same phone numbers ? Not to mention the fact that neither Cindy, her daughter, nor I resided in or around Grand Prairie at all.

Bret Shipp of WFAA was advised of all of this, but he made absolutely no mention of these facts I provided him with in the story they did on me. I guess the truth did not make for a �juicy� story in Bret�s eyes.

I had no idea I even had a warrant for this until the night I was pulled over in my hometown of Cleburne a couple days after Christmas. I spent 5 days (including New Years Eve!) in jail before I could come up with the $5,000 bond they put on me ! Once the DA looked into the matter my bond was refunded in full and no charges were filed. I still spent 5 days in jail because of this woman's lies !

She has continued to harass me and my family. She said that she has been �terrorized� but I have not emailed, called or initiated any contact with her since Feb. 2004. She and her daughter have continued this for almost 2 years now. Every so often I get some kind of strange email message from her. She tells me she likes my house, my car, my truck, and my wife. She has sent emails to my wife stating she has had sex with me in an effort to have my wife think I cheated on her. Both her and her daughter send me emails asking if I am having a nice day and that they love me, stuff like hugs and kisses and such. She even ran a criminal background check on me, got all of my personal information, then emailed to tell me she had this information. She emailed me in July 2005 saying she had driven by my house and saw me smoking in the front yard. She told me how �white trash� she thought that was.

Now I ask you, if someone is harassing and �terrorizing� you, why on earth would you be emailing them to antagonize them and drive by their home which is more than an hour away?

Cindy was frustrated that I was not responding to her emails and phone calls and proceeded to involve the Media and tell them the same bogus story she told eBay about me threatening her life. In fact, I found out about this whole �Ebay Bully� story from HER!! She emailed me to show me what she had done.

After the 10news story aired I started receiving many emails from irate eBay users cussing me out left and right. I was lead into numerous chat forums and discussion boards which were discussing this �Ebay Bully� story and even going as far as posting satellite images of my neighborhood and specifically pointing out my house on the image! Then eBay canceled my accounts telling me I had become a "legal liability" to them, and they could not allow me to conduct business on their site. This entire ordeal has become an ongoing nightmare from which I cannot seem to wake up.

I am an honest small business owner, just trying to make a living and take care of my home and family. I have been selling on eBay for 7 years. I have 1000�s of happy customers. It is unfortunate that I have lost my sole source of income due to a couple of persistent people with nothing better to do than to come up with ways to destroy my life. I now have been put out of business, and have no way to support myself or my family.

I have suffered loss of wages, false imprisonment, harassment, defamation of character, and now public humiliation at the hands of Cindy and her clan. I honestly cannot believe something like this could happen over a $1.50 auction. If it had not happened to me I still would not believe it.

The scariest part of this whole ordeal is that I have come to realize that Cindy Burleson is not going to stop. She is obsessed with me, and has made it her life�s mission to harass me and my family. If it happened to me, it could happen to anyone out there.

My ex and I were divorced when my son was 11. We lived in the country so in order for my son to even get a job, he needed a vehicle. I bought him a used truck for about $2,000 which was all I could afford. It was a stick and he had a lot of trouble driving it. He was responsible for the gas and the insurance. When he graduated from high school, his dad gave him a card with a professionally made gift certificate in it that said "Good for one vehicle of choice." He even had it notorized and signed by an employee of a car dealer. He gave him the card at his graduation party in front of everyone so he (the dad) could look important. After the party, he called my son to tell him that that did not mean he could go out and buy a Corvette or anything like that. To make a long story short, when it came time for my son to get his car, he wasn't allowed to pick anything that he wanted, his dad decided on the vehicle, color, extras etc. I do not think we owe are kids a car though, just could not help sharing my story.

I met my husband through a neighbor actually. I used to think I'd never get married and I always said that "if I didn't meet somebody between my house and my car and my car and job, etc. that I'd never meet them" (always busy at work or school, no social life).

Well, my neighbor used to babysit for my husband who was divorced and whose wife had hired my neighbor to babysit and he would come to pick up the kids when he got off work. He says he saw me getting out of my car one day and going into my house from work and noticed me and he says he knew we would be together from that moment. I myself recall noticing him in his car as I drove past him one day and I thought "who is that?!" My defining moment would come later.

After I met him through the neighbor, our children kept trying to play matchmaker and bugging each of us to ask the other out. I refused and I heard through the kids (my son and his son and daughter) that he had said that he is too shy, yada yada yada, and I thought oh brother can't these kids give it a rest already this guy doesn't want to go out with me. As time went on, we finally did meet (neighbor playing matchmaker) and spent an evening playing cards at the neighbor's house and I thought I'd probably like to go out with him as he seemed really nice and we had a lot in common but when he called to ask me out a week or so later to the movies I already had plans (with my mother to go shopping) and when I called him later to invite him to a Christmas party for my job he already had plans with his children so I started to think a date would never happen. However, right after that, on New Year's Day I awoke to a pounding on my door. Being Saturday, I didn't feel like getting up and answering the door. Embarrassingly enough, I was going through some tough times as single parent financially and thought it was probably a bill collector or something and I didn't want to deal with it. Later in the day, I left the house to run an errand and only when I returned I noticed a tag hanging on my porch railing. It was from a florist. So this is who had been knocking at the door...hmmm... I thought it was certainly from one of my sisters. I called the florist and told them I was home so they could deliver and out of curiosity asked who the delivery was from. I almost fell over when they said his name. Here comes a dozen roses with a card that says "Wishing You a Happy New Year". I called my sister and told her "I'm going to marry this man!" I can't explain it well here obviously but I just felt overwhelmed by that gesture and somehow certain we would be together. To make a long story short, we have been together for 7 years now and though only married for 3 we felt as though we were married from the very start. I just felt talking to him that I had known him somehow from before...it was like he comprised all the best attributes and aspects from each man individually that I had ever seriously been involved with before and it was all rolled into 1 person (vs. 1 nice thing about this guy and 1 nice thing about that guy)...almost as if I could see looking back little bits of him in each of the guys I had dated before and I like to think that it was those things that reminded me of him (when I didn't even know him yet) that attracted me to those people in the first place but they weren't him and I had been searching for him all along if any of that makes any sense at all. I am an old romantic. He is the sweetest soul I've ever met and he is my best friend I can honestly say.

I know this is boringly long but the bottom line is that I do believe in soul mates and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we were meant to be together. It is astonishing how many things had to fall into place for him and I to be in the right place at the right time for our paths to cross and I feel it was fate. I truly did in a way find the man of my dreams in a sense between my house and my car (when I first noticed him and he noticed me

)...God does have a sense of humor!!!

I have in-laws in their 90's. They live about 3 miles from DH and myself, and 8 miles from their daughter. They have another son, who lives about 2.5 hours from here, apparently they moved that far away because MIL always expected that son to come over every weekend if they lived closer.

So my husband cuts the grass, cleans the gutter, shovels the snow. Even though they can't walk outside the house in the winter because they are so old, they are right on the phone the minute he walks in the door at 4:00 p.m., "nicely wondering" when he can come up to shovel the walks?

Last year, he came home with some talk about how I was supposed to go up at 10:00 to check the post office box. Seems they had some meds that were coming in the mail and if they weren't in the mail that day, they had to call the doctor and run into the drugstore to get some. These are people who can't think out of the box. I mean, the ONLY option was for me to go up there at 10:00 to look in the darn box. They couldn't call the mail order pharmacy, they couldn't call Cheryl, the postmistress to see if it came, they couldn't ask the neighbor who was going there anyway to see if it was in - no the only thing was for me to go up there at 10:00 to check the box. So I called sister in law and asked what this was about. She asked me to go up and check the box at 10:00 (not even asking if I was available - I mean what if I was having a tooth extracted at 10:00?) and when I told her I couldn't, boy did she unload on me! About 20 years worth of resentment came spilling out. Get this, sister in law doesn't work or have kids but boy she sure doesn't like changing her schedule to take care of her own mom and dad. She's got too much to do so I'm supposed to do it? Even with a business, and 2 school age kids? She ended up calling me a "selfish b****" and formally declared "World War III." She then told my mother in law she couldn't "babysit" my kids anymore (what's to babysit with a 10 year old comes over to watch tv?) and did other nasty things. So, according to her, I'm doing nothing and I SHOULD help, but that's not my take on the situation. If these people have three grown children, two of which do not even work (the big brother is retired) and the three of them can't handle it? Sheesh. Not saying that's your situation but there might be some of the same stuff in there...

My friend's daughter works in a dermatology office. They are opening a new additional office. They determined that with the opening of a new office, it was far better to now buy a system for transcribing their own documents and it also allows doctor to input the codes for billing. So, they no longer need their Transcriptionist or their coder. Their coder is going to do other duties at the office and their home transciptionist is SOL.