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One way to beat the high gas prices...

Posted By: SM on 2005-09-10
In Reply to:

Gas prices drive man to commute by horse

By Associated Press

MINOT, N.D. --Jim Jundt was so determined to rein in his spending on gasoline that he got out of bed early and rode his 14-year-old quarterhorse mare to work.

Jundt lives 15 miles south of Minot and works as a mechanic at Goodyear Tire & Auto Service in the city.

He said he and his co-workers had been talking about rising fuel prices, and he joked that he would ride his horse to work if gasoline ever hit $3 a gallon.

His co-workers laughed, but when the price at the pump soared to $3.20 last week, Jundt headed for the barn.

He said he was only five minutes late riding his mare, Patty, to work.

While he worked, Patty waited patiently, eating hay out of the back of a truck.

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One way to beat the high gas prices... - SM

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with the gas prices going sky high and, therefore, (sm)
the prices of food and other items more than likely going to skyrocket, what is everyone doing to plan for this?

And you high prices take the jobs overseas
There is a happy medium, she is not an MTSO, no IC overhead, etc. So I think that she can charge .12 and make a good living.

The prices of homes are high, but the RE taxes are a bit lower.
Welcome to the East Coast! There is really nothing "cheap" on this side of the US.

Good luck - hope you have a smooth transition!

Is that beat red as in your husband beat or
is that beet red as in the vegetables you eat? Noticed you said he was going to kill you. Hehe

OMG, you got me beat...nm

got me beat too!
18.68 minutes of dictation and 72 lines this morning. Slow, slow, SLOW!

got you beat!!!
I worked on a 65-minute dictation on Monday followed by a 15-minute dictation. They ate up most of my day!!! Workers' comp. Ugh!!!

I got you beat

Not counting medical insurance and my taxes, close to $7000 a month.

And I don't live in California.

and the beat goes on nm
x

I would not beat yourself up on it - sm
I have done the same thing/similar on a few reports. I took over an account from one lady and for probably a month half the letters would still have her initials on them depending on which computer I was on....I forgot to fix the template on my laptop. I sent a report through with the wrong Dr. name just the other day; but luckily I was able to go the the FPT, delete it and fix it and re-upload. I also left out the word "to" in a letter, so I went back and fixed all the ones that they had not retrieved as yet (about 15 of them). I have also sent through a letter once with the salutation wrong...whoops, I figure they caught that one though when they went to pring it out. I did fix the copy we kept in our records though. But when I spot a mistake after the fact I always let my supervisor know. It has never gone against me and they appreciate the heads up so they can fix the problem, and believe me you will never make the same mistake twice (or at least not as bad the second time).

OK, you got me beat.....LOL
I live in Michigan....only 10 here today..>BUT< Windchill is -15. Stay warm now. I sure am trying. LOL.

Don't beat yourself up! sm
When you start a new job, you are fighting everything...formats, platform, new voices, account rules AND you are trying to get up to speed as soon as you can. THIS is the time when we all make the silly and thoughtless mistakes that we have carefully learned to avoid, or so we thought. This is why QA exists.

It takes time to get every little thing under control, no matter how much experience you have and how careful you are. Your brain can only handle so many problems at once. Pick one to tackle for a few days at a time until it locks into your brain and move to the next one. Change your Expander for these spelled out things (see below) and do the best you can. It WILL get better. You are only human.

Since I have accounts that are b.i.d. etc. and ones that are not, I have left the bid=b.i.d. and gone to bidx=twice a day. It was surprisingly easy to get the hang of that, believe it or not. I think it was because I didn't have to hear "B-I-D" and think...oh right twice a day.

I think I have you beat! I have a 65 Mustang
coupe in my garage, all original. My husband bought it 2 years ago for 1200.00, cleaned it up, put the original color on it. Runs like a top, still the original tires. Had it appraised for $15,000.00. Can't beat that. It sits next to his 79 corvette. Mine's purtier, though.

Wow! You got me beat. I do remember. . .

The financial office I worked in that went "computerized" and there was like one mainframe and you had to save your stuff on this HUGE floppy that was about the size of an LP and carefully walk to the mainframe at the other end of the building so that static from the carpet wouldn't "shock" the info off the floppy.

Only one printer too and that was in the basement. You had to stand in line. And we thought we were so state of the art. But actually. . . .we were!

Got you beat...check this out
I am 4'9" tall (short) and I can definitely relate to your problem. Never use top shelves...never have!

Don't beat yourself up or second guess your
decisions. You love your dog, and made decisions based on what you believed to be best for her. As for spading/neutering or not, it seems to just be fate or whatever. I have had spayed dogs die young of cancer, or died young of other problems. In general, I have had more luck with not neutered or spayed dogs than vice versa. So much is in the bloodlines of our dogs - unless you breed them for generations, you just don't know, and so much of it is genetic. So I personally believe our dogs are predisposed to certain ailments, just like we are - and try as we do to prevent things in our pooches, its gonna happen anyway. No what I mean? There also is a lot of controversy over neutering and the ages to have it done. I personally believe in having it done after the dog matures - it does stunt growth cycles, usually unseen in females, but observable in males. I know in Europe, many dogs are not spayed or neutered, and European dogs have longer life expectancies than US counterparts. The whole neuter/spay campaign in our country had so much to do with the responsible pet owner thing and to stop unwanted pups, etc. I understand how you felt - you knew your dog was not in danger of having an unwanted pregnancy! Sounds like you were/are a wonderful dog owner! I'm sure you made all the right decisions - when you begin to doubt, just think of something happy - block it!

In a heart beat
Am currently trying to get on with them.

I have you beat in years by
23 years and I make nothing as compared to what I did in the past. I make 4C for editing and 8c line for straight. I am fast so I still bring home what I want on my paycheck and do not want to increase my hours at this point in time. Like I said, a lot of the companies you will speak to want certain times and days for you to work. Think I have only seen 1 post where any different but give it a go.

No need to briar beat yourself...
I haven't been in the field nearly as long as you have but I did psych for approx 5 years, got fired from my inhospital job, came home and started taking care of my aging/bedbound mom and started working from home. I tried others with OP's, and signed on with a couple of companies to realize that I really did not know all that I thougfht that I did about transcription. After about a year I was able to land a job b with a psychiatric hospital account...Wow...even so, I still don't know alot of things. It is ever changing but I love it. I feel like a turtle at times but hey I get the job done....I am sure that you are a great Transcriptionist and your speed will increase as mines has but it is like going to rehab and learning to walk all over again, we fall down but we get up...believe in yourself.....

If You Can't Beat Them Join Them

There's an old saying which says "If You Can't Beat Them Join Them" I dunn think any of us can stop outsourcing and I dunnt feel there is any point crying over loss of income. So I have followed this ("If You Can't Beat Them Join Them") and I did't lose a dime as the companies outsourced big time. I have myself started taking 100% more work than before and am outsourcing them to individuals in India (the quality generally is good) who does the transcribing (obviously I get the work done at a much lower rate than what I myself get paid). By doing so my hourly rate works out even higher than anno's

Line counts -sm - beat ya

Hey since everyone is bragging I just did 563 lines in 2036 minutes -- sorry had to put that in but it is true but I forgot to sign off my document on as I went to bed. Guess I don't make the 2000 club in the last 24 hour period.

I am sure the paparazzi have beat her to the punchline
dd

also can't beat Stedman's Immunology
maybe get used on e-bay or here? Good luck - once you get it down it's a breeze.

Right! Andrew is top notch! You can't beat it!
They will work closely with you. Both places she mentioned are great. They turn out such great MTs that all the nationals will be running into each other breaking down your door in the desire to hire you. I know when I graduated I had three call me in one day alone! Let us know how it all works out, okay Dumbfounded? Best wishes, good luck, take care and all that other good stuff.....

Ears now beat red and they are off for good.

My ears are not beat red and killing me. I love the NC and they help quite ambient noise even with the feature off but wowzers. Back to my cheapos for me. I may try the Koss headphones and see if they are any better. Hubby is not working so he gets to do all the running. He is going to kill me.

I just read the article and was going to post but you beat me to it.....

Gotcha all beat - over 64 and love to dance nm

Tropical paradises. Hawaii cannot be beat.
dd

I agree. Certification does not beat experience ever!!! nm
x

Gas prices
Last saw between $2.36 and $2.43 at the independent stations-- name brands a lot higher.

Gas prices. sm
Regular jumped from $2.58 to $3.19 per gallon today.

This is ridiculous!

Gas prices

Subject: Gas Prices

I went into the Shell gas station this morning and asked for five dollars
worth of gas.

The clerk farted and gave me a receipt.

Gas Prices
Wow, I need to come to Georgia. Her in NY they're still close to $3.00 a gallon, although I think the last time I checked it was down to the $2.50-$2.80 range.

Gas prices
Gas prices here are up over $4.13 a gallon. It is definitely times like these that I am glad I work from home.

Gas Prices
It is no mistake. I live in a little town called Carmi, IL which is 1 hour from Marion. All towns around us went up considerably last night. Carbondale IL was $5.29 a gallon and McLeansboro, IL was $4.89. I do not know how long they stayed that but I do know there went up there. ABSOLUTELY CRAZY

17 years, my husband's got yours beat, he's STILL crying over the Notebook!

Or as the immortal George Carlin said, "If you can't beat them...
arrange for them to be beaten."

Our prices went from $2.55 to $2.99 this morning. nm
x

Gas Prices Shooting Up
Ours jumped 23 cents yesterday. Ouch!

lovely gas prices
2.99 in West Texas .... and I have a hundred mile rnd trip to get to work *sigh*. I wonder how much longer I can afford to GO to work! LOLOL

Rising gas prices
I am currently paying $3.39 a gallon up here in NY. Heard it may go up to $6.00/gallon possibly before it lowers in price again.

not sure of the prices in your area

..but gas here is $2.73 (cheap stuff)

Home prices have gone through the roof here. We sold our home last year for 250, and we bought it 2 yrs prior for 170. In our area, homes sell before they even make it to the MLS listings.

I am an IC and have no problem finding work. I have actually turned away 2 offices last week.

Oh, health insurance, may not want to hear this one--we pay 200. per week for a family of four.

I live in the Tampa area.

Best of luck,

Sunny!

European prices.
Taxes are the main reason gas prices are so high in Europe. The taxes are used to provide things like outstanding public transportation and universal health care. I'd be glad to pay $6 a gallon if health care was covered and I could ride excellent public transportation anyplace I needed to go. That's a bargain!

hair cut prices
Just curious, how much do you pay for a hair cut and how long does it take? My stylist just raised her prices quite a bit and without notice. I'm sure it varies quite a bit. I live in the Midwest (small town) and now pay 12 bucks. What do you pay?

haircut prices...
Wow...12 bucks is not expensive at all. I'm in the southeast and pay total about $40...that's for shampoo, cut, blow dry, and tip. As far how long it takes, I am assuming you mean to get a hair cut? Mine usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how much I get cut off, stying, etc...consider yourself lucky!

hair cut prices
I live in the Southeast as well and would love to find someone for $12! My stylist is $45 for wash, HC, blowdry. It takes 45 minutes to an hour.

Hair cut/prices
Well after going to high priced hair salons and paying 30-50/cut/blow dry. I found a great stylist at yes - SuperCuts, costs me 15.00 cut/blow dry and she actually cuts my hair the way I want it instead of the way she wants, and it is only 5 minutes away from my house and I call ahead and make an appointment with her, so I am very happy. I have tried so many different places and now color my own hair with Loreal Preference and get my hair cut at SuperCuts and it works for me. Guess you just have to find the right person to style/cut your hair to your liking.

Not with current gas prices ...
I wouldn't. And you are talking about a total of 4 hours of driving per day, 20 hours per week, that you don't get paid for. You don't say where you live, but do you get snow, ice, etc. in the winter? That would be a nightmare.

It's good money, but personally I don't think it's worth it.

True about prices. sm
You are correct; services are competitive right now. I was very explicit about the services I offered and gave her a competitive price. It is her right to go to someone else and to shop around, but she seemed to know enough information to have made a choice. She also said she had a few more calls to make. I'm just curious because I get sometimes get calls from offices asking around like they're looking for the cheapest price. This one sounded so promising. Guess I can't keep my hopes up and move on.

slashing prices
I would just have to charge for the extra ink. Tell them that printing letterheads for them cost a little bit more. So I could cover the ink costs.

food prices
They certainly are! If you have a salvage grocery in your area, you can save quite a bit. We are blessed to have three. Some cans a bent - I only buy the ones with a ding, and boxes are bent. You have to be selective, but can save quit a bit. Also if you have an ALDI store, they are less expensive and their products are good. Hope this helps someone.