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Same situation with me a couple years ago...

Posted By: sm on 2006-07-20
In Reply to: For those of you who have gone through a divorce...sm - TW

my ex-husband and I still remain friends to this day.  We saw a mediator, who pretty much divided everything the way we wanted to.  He bought out my half of the house, etc. and I even got spousal support for a 1-1/2 years (and we don't have children) and he paid my health insurance for a year.  The mediator will tell you how to file your divorce papers, etc. Cost me about $350 - he just deducted it from what I was getting.  Good luck!


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I did a couple of years ago

I did about two years ago, two years after I got divorced with a lot of debt.  At first I tried to settle the debts at 25-40%, and supposedly would have 3 years to do so, but then got sued anyway and had two lawsuits, so I was back to where I started.  Spoke to a lawyer about bankruptcy and he said go for it and encouraged me to do it myself.  Of course I didn't own anything except for a car that was worth about $200.00, so it was easy.  It was the last thing I thought I'd ever do, but it flew through without a hitch and four months from the time I filed it was over.  Yes, my credit has been stinky, but it's coming back.  Wish I would have filed sooner.


Don't know about your situation, but a lot of lawyers will offer a free consultation so you could see if it would be worth it for you.


Good luck!


A couple of years ago . . .

this lady in California won the lottery.  She divorced her husband and didn't tell him about the lottery.  He thought she was being very generous because she let them have their house and most everything else.  Well, he started getting all this mail for lottery winners and put 2 and 2 together and took her to court.  The judge was very hard on her for lying and made her give everything to the husband.   Live and learn.


A couple years ago...
someone told me 15-16 cpl, but I'm sure it's more than that.  This person "knew" or so she said.
I tried it a couple of years ago - sm
But I'm a hard stick and they won't do the back of the hand, so I was banned from donating. They did pay me $20 for my time, though, and I think they paid cash on the spot.

Apparently, the more you donate, the more they pay. The place I went to was crowded as heck and there seemed to be a lot of sitting and waiting involved so bring plenty of reading material.

I definitely would have done it on a regular basis had I not been a hard stick.
I was in a similar situation a few years ago, I got divorced. nm
xxxx
I did a couple years ago and it was of no help...just my experience..nm
.
Went BK a couple of years ago. It turned out
to be one of the best things ever.  Since then, we only use cash and have been able to save and pay off our house.  Unfortunately, the laws have changed and I think it is almost impossible to file a Chapter 7 now.  Anyway, good luck to you either way!
We went to Maine a couple of years ago and it
was a MAJOR disappointment.   It was nothing at all like you see on TV.   We were in southern ME and people didn't keep up their yards, no one had a single flower in their yard, although there were a couple of hanging baskets and people were not very friendly.  Went to Portland and couldn't get out of there fast enough.  Everyone we met was rude and the place was just so dirty looking.
I've used it for a couple of years now - sm
It's not really a typing program - Transnet is just the way to send the files over the Internet - you download the file, transcribe it, then sign it off. I do the downloading on one computer then type in Word on another computer. Works really well but has to have its own foot pedal (darn that Dictaphone!).
Yes. I made that my first couple of years.
Now it's at least twice that when I'm lucky enough to have a half-decent account. (Those are getting fewer and farther between.)
This happened to me a couple years ago

I worked for Golden Isle and they had the wrong state that I lived in.  They submitted a revised form AFTER I filed my taxes.  They had the state they were located and NOT where I lived.  What a mess. 


I used Tax Cut and put down document preparation or something similiar every year and never had a problem.   


I heard this on the news a couple of years ago, or maybe it was

Paul Harvey.  Graduates of the Naval Academy received diplomas with "Navel" Academy on them and they all had to be reprinted.  You would think with something like that they would have someone proof and reproof before it went to final printing, and then proof again after printing.  


Along with spelling errors that drive me nuts, bad grammar makes me cringe.  When I hear someone say "I seen" it is like fingernails on the blackboard. 


 


When I joined a couple of years ago it was something like $30 a month and you could either pay

monthly or have it deducted automatically from your account.  If you elected to pay monthly, I think the membership went up about $5 to $10.


There wasn't any high pressure sales.  I basically called them and asked could I come in a check it out and they give you like a week trial or two weeks (my memory is sooo bad!).  Then if you decide to become a member, you fill out the paperwork and they weigh and measure you (fun, fun) and file it all away.  And then periodically they will ask if you want to be weighed and measured to see how much you've lost.


They are really encouraging there (at mine anyway).  They gave way prizes for different things like if you came a certain amount of times in like three months, you got a T-shirt.  And then there are prizes for when you lose 10, 20, etc pounds.  And at mine everyone had a little paper doll that started out at 0 and when you lost weight you moved your little paper doll around on the wall.  It was kind of fun.


Well, I've just convinced myself! 


started at about 8K PT 2002, last couple years 12K but
I did not work much in 2005 for about 6 months when my 5-y/o got diagnosed with cancer and going through chemo, etc. So I would have made a bit more. I expect to do about $16K this year. I alternate my hours a lot though, about 60 or so minutes of work during the school year a day, but then only 30 during the summer, plus a side job that fluctuates ($300-500 a month). I am shooting for $20K next year, still not at FT (5-6 hours a day). I'll see how it goes. I think $12K for PT is good, but that is my opinion.
There have been lots of changes over the past couple of years (sm)
What kind of info are you looking for specifically? Are you asking about posting a resume on the MT Stars site? - or the JLG site? If the latter, I believe JLG takes applications on their web site.
I saw Meatloaf a couple years ago on a news show and...
he looked GREAT.   I guess he had had a heart attack and had lost tons of weight and was taking care of himself.  Apparently he's back on the McDonalds because he looked very heavy and not well at all.  Too bad.  He used to have a great sound back in the day.
I started a neighborhood watch a couple of years ago...sm
we were having similar problems to what you're having and they're gone now. Here's what worked for us. I gave every home in the subdvision a flier asking anyone that was interested in forming a neighborhood watch to come to an organization meeting and made the meeting a week later and on a week night, and gave my phone # in the event someone was interested but couldn't attend then. Out of 150 homes in my subdivision we had 40 people show up and 20 called expressing interest.

Everyone had the same complaints on the same "problem" homes and as a group we decided that each time the noise level was high enough to hear outside of the vehicle or house that we'd call the police. We all alternated placing those calls so the police department didn't think it was just 1 person complaining. The police department agreed to increase the patrols for our subdivision at all hours of the day and night and just having people see them ride through every few hours helped significantly cut down on the problems.

Over time the people that were causing problems either put their houses up for sale or moved out of the rental home and left when they saw that we neighbors insisted on a peaceful and quiet living area. It worked! When these problem homes left the problems with the trash thrown on the roads left as well.

In addition we were having some problems with some of the youth hanging out walking the streets at all hours and it was making some of the residents nervous, especially when the youth were walking through yards. So, we told the youth to stick to the roads, ask permission before cutting through yards to find out who cared and didn't care if they walked through them, and one of the men placed a basketball goal at the end of one of the cul-dec-sacs for the kids to play basketball after the neighbors in the cul-dec-sac agreed it would be fine. It worked - some of them started playing basketball there and they honored requests of homeowners that didn't want them walking on their yards.

Good luck to you!
I switched from WP51 to Word a couple years ago
I chose InstantText as my Expander because it would import my PRD list and that was important to me to make me feel comfortable out the gate. Several of my co-workers didn't really like IT but at the time, it was the one that had the easiest import function and I *had* to have my PRD to type! IT's not cheap, but I think it's well worth the investment.

Also, I highly recommend Laura Bryan's book on Word. There is another lady who is a Word guru, Cheryl something (I'm sorry I can't remember her name at the moment) who is also very good. Basically these are MTs who know you have to keep your hands off that mouse to make money, so they show you the keyboard ways to do things, in contrast to other Word how-to books for the general user which focus on the mouse.

It's a moderately painful switch, in my opinion, but once made, definitely makes one feel more 21st century. :)
Best advice - work in-house a couple of years
You really do need hands-on experience in order to be able to do this at home. You will run into terms that you will have no idea how to look up - like "booj aw boo" would you know to look under bougie au boule? Or "terry onal craniotomy" would you know it is "pterional" or would you spends loads of time looking for "T" words? If you work face to face with experienced MTs, they can help you when you run into similar situations. I'm not being snooty, I am only pointing out real situations that you will be faced with and the reasons MTSOs insist that before an MT can work independently at home they have at least 2 years experience. I believe that most of us have worked in-house in the beginning to get to the point where we can do this efficiently at home. Once you do get that experience, though, stand back, the MTSOs will be beating down your door with job offers. Good luck and hang in there! Remember we all had to start somewhere. Best of luck to you!
I've had Bellsouth for a couple years now. Reliable and no problems. nm
xxx
I switched from SH to Instant Text a couple of years ago and would never go back.
I increased my productivity another 30 percent pretty quickly. And you can still use your old shortcuts with IT. Browse through the IT Commands forum on Productivity Talk for tricks you never thought you could do with a text expander.
Besides the fact they've had a freeze for hiring transcriptionists for the past couple years.
The MT I know works a few hours, is required to take 2 hours off, then come back and finish her shift. Plus she has to work 4 hours on the weekend. They do work at home but keep to a strict schedule. I wouldn't want it.
I have 2 middle age couple friends. One couple became pregnant from condom failure.
This is not just "irresponsible" behavior! Both couples are "fixed" now, because for them, reliable birth control was NOT. But it's an error to assume this stuff happens to people who are unmarried or irresponsible. Both these couples are raising 2nd families, now, but it wasn't "irresponsibility" that did them in!
It will. I was in the same situation.
Mom was a total bipolar psycho - one day she loved being my friend and the next day she "didn't want to talk right now".  I haven't seen or spoken to her in 20+ years and the kids drifted apart shortly thereafter.  Good riddance.
sad situation
  I know what you're feeling.  We have a similar situation in our community.  My daughter is friends with the older sister and I graduated with the mom, so she and I went to visit the day after.  I know what you mean about flowers and food.  I am planning to go visit again in a few days and take some soup that she can just put in the freezer and heat up anytime.  I also bought some cards that I am going to send over the next few months just to let the family know we are thinking of them.  It's a very sad situation.  Hope this helps.
Everyone and their situation are different. sm
I had to do that, and it hurt, still does at times, but it was the best thing I ever did for myself. Basically, I had to do it to save myself from her constant criticism and bitter remarks. I know how you feel. Just try it and see how it goes, thats all you can do. If something hurts you that badly, get away from it.
You and I are in the same situation.

My goal is a minimum of $100 per day now.  (My old goal was $50 per day with kids home most of the time.)  I spend a lot of wasted time looking up patient and physician information, and I'd like to be more focused, too!  I tried job searching but I don't have time to do these huge long tests on top of working with the kids still home for summer.  There are some days when I just cruise through and do 200 lines without an Expander on an easy account.  I'm getting better, so I'm not going to dog myself over it.  I look back to what I was producing only six months ago, and I've improved a lot.  The Word Expander helps a lot.  I just wish I could get better and make more money in less time.  LOL  Ah, the elusive dream....


My situation
In my opinion, it is all about how much money you need or want to make. Obviously, working only part-time will bring in much less than money than full-time.

In my personal experience, having done this for 7 years, you most definitely can achieve your goal of becoming a productive and excellent transcriptionist. I have averaged only about 1.5 to 2.5 hours a day for the last 7 years and am satisfied with that. I work on multiple accounts and can type on an average of 300 lines per hour. There is no limit to what you can make! The more you type - the more money you will make - BOTTOM LINE!
I am in the same situation.
Just got a letter about the insurance and quota. I don't think they grasp the concept of no work, no quota.
OK....here's my take on the situation....
It sounds like you're fresh out of school...right? I think 87 lines an hour is not too bad for only three days of work!! This will take some time! You will never become your best because you will get better every single day that you do it!! In other words, in five years, you will STILL be learning and getting better!! Stop beating yourself up! And more importantly, don't give up!!! This is not a job that just anyone off the street can do!! This is a "learn as you go" job! Keep at it!! You WILL improve every day. Good luck and let us know how it's going from time to time!!
Nearly the same situation here

Sorry to hear that you are having a hard time.  I am in almost the exact same situation that you are in, minus the new account.  I am fortunate to be on a great account, but my 10-year-old son does feel sad that I work so much.  My work hours are nearly all during his time off (i.e., after school and on weekends).  It is definitely hard to balance time with him and work.  It doesn't help that my husband works a lot as well.  Oh, and we also have no family in the area


As far as advice goes, I guess the only advice I can give is to be patient with him, although you probably already are.  When I take work breaks, I try and make the time extra special.  And if he needs me while I am working, I try and respond immediately without an unhurried tone, which really helps.  If you act relaxed, they also tend to feel relaxed.  I know it's hard when you are stressed, but try and it may help.  I also emphasize how the "extra money" from mommy's job allows us to take vacations and buy little extras here and there.  He understands the concept of extra cash. 


I guess the best points to remember are:  Be patient, act relaxed, spend quality time together during your breaks, and maybe allow 10-15 minutes before bed to read a story (if you don't already).  Hope this helps a little.


I also have RBS. :-) My situation is the same every day. SM
I am sent 150 minutes of dictation on a list. This is in my Lanier queue and my only challenge is to see how fast I can do it. My goal is 30 dictated minutes per hour.

I use Timestamp.com and keep up with my time every day. I type till I don't feel like it, then I go somewhere else.

I use Shortcuts for Windows and my own version of macros.

I feel that I'm as successful as I can be. If there are other shortcuts to be taken, I've not found them.
same situation here..
My brother did the same thing after my folks died.  I finally figured it out ---- we really love each other, but just don't have a lot in common or have big conversations -- so he invited other people to converse and act as kind of a "comfort buffer" for him.  
What would you do in this situation?
I work for a small MTSO, (this is my second job) always have had plenty of work until the last month or so, have been told it was just "slow" - have a friend who works for another small MTSO in the same state - yesterday she told me that the company I work for has hired them to do some of their work, which I guess explains why we are slow all the time.  More than likely they did this to meet turn around because they were always asking for extra help and now never do, yet I wonder if they are trying to get rid of the higher paid transcriptionists, any suggestions?  Don't know if I should just stay and do what work is there or look for something that has work when I need it, feel betrayed because the company said it was slow and now I know different.  Like I said it is my second job so not totally dependent on the work being there. 
I am truly sorry for your situation....sm

I had nothing when I dumped my ex - no $$ and really not a pot to p*** in.....but I weighed out the pros and cons and my very own sanity won out.  My sanity was more important than possibly ending up homeless (which I did not end up being).  When I left I remember saying *I cannot wait to be divorced from you one year longer than we are married* - I'm away from him now TWO years longer than we were married and am SO happy I made the decision back in '91 to save myself (and my daughter) and become my/our own Hero. 


Best of luck to you...I sure know it is NOT easy.....


They never get it, no one does until your in situation. sm
You have got that right.  Like I mentioned in previous posts, I have quit even arguing with my sibling, and have accepted it.  They will have to answer for it one day, not me.  And the, "I have to work" drives me up the freaking wall -- like I don't.  Even my extended family do no realize I have a real job, they will never get it.
I had the very same situation and this is how I

Stop the invites.  Get on with your own life.  One of the posters suggested getting her alone and talking to her.  Forget it.  She's either too busy or only around at holidays - she's using you because she has no where else to go.  Once you cut her off, maybe she will think twice about being too busy!  - Good luck.  This worked for me.  Now I'm too busy and much happier without the "family-users" who abuse their blood relationship and turn them into guild issues.  Too many people think just because their family they can get away with this stuff and consume you with guilt.  I suffered for many years because of family-related guilt issues.  I'm much happier now since I put my foot down -


what would you do in this situation?

I have a younger sister who is ONLY in touch when she wants to be invited to Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner at my house, to brag about something, or to ask a favor.  The rest of the year she tells me she is *too busy* to be in touch more when I ask her why she does not stay in touch the rest of the year.  I would like to stay in touch and even have her and her husband over for gatherings, but I really feel as if this is all one sided and wonder if I should continue to try.  Any helpful advice would be much appreciated. 


We are in the same situation in VA.
It makes me so mad because that is all the schools teach. SOL....that's all we hear about. The schools push it because that's how they get more money! I don't think it is good for the kids. They may know who invented the cotton gin but they are missing out on learning something special from that "special teacher". Remember those "special teachers" in school who taught you something that wasn't in the textbook!
First of all, I'm so sorry for your situation and wish you the best....sm

Any pt report is open reading for anyone in an office or MT pool situation.  Your report could have gone to any one of them.  She was wrong to tell you ANYTHING and should be in trouble for that, not what she didn't tell you.  I have transcribed reports on close friends, neighbors, even relatives, and I NEVER tell anyone anything.  I even try not to let people know who my clients are so they won't know I might see something they don't want me to see.  I transcribed a report on a close friend of 20 years who had a potentially fatal disease.  I kept quiet about it, and it was a year until she told anyone.  That is just part of the business.  A good MT knows to keep her mouth shut or risk loosing her job and who knows what else.  Again, I am so sorry, and you will be in my prayers.


I have been in this situation
much much better bringing the MT back in-house, but keeping them at home.
tax situation
I am going to be starting a new job as an IC.  I have always been an employee or a statutory employee.  What are the benefits as far as my taxes?  What kind of deductions can I claim now that I could not claim as an employee?  I would appreciate any thoughts on this - I know you cannot be accountants for me - just would like an idea...  TIA.
Well, the way I see your situation is
you can a) either work and make what you need or b) you can babysit. I think that is what you are saying. Seems reasonable to me- just quit working and take care of the girls. Sounds like a coworker of mine- she is going down the drain working at 1 place, not making any money, offered an evening position with another place- does not want to take because she keeps her granddaughters then- makes good sense to me-
I'm sorry about your job situation
I had something similar happen to me a few days ago. The insurance company that I've been doing transcription work for over 7 years emailed me and told me they were going with a service. I really counted on that money. I do have another MT job so I'm not in the same position as you, but it stinks to be out of a job just like that when you least expect it. Good luck.
EXACTLY my same situation to a T (sm)
I'm going back to finish a nursing degree because I have to force myself to transcribe and I'm tired of working 7 days a week, till 11 every night to make $2000 a month.

I took a week off but I'm so ready to do something else!
Same situation...
I wondered how many were really in the same situation as me...looks like quite a few.  I work for three companies--one that is supposed to be full time, one that is about 1/2 time, and one that has always been very part time.  Where I used to be limited only by how many hours I wanted to put in, I am lucky to get 5 of 6 hours of work out of all three now.  I know it isn't their fault, but I get worried. 
Same situation

I had been away from MT for quite a few years myself. I learned in a quick hurry I needed to get more computer literate and to get a word expander.  Not all word Expanders work well with different platforms so make sure you check what is compatible with what you will be using before investing in one.   I did not want to tie up $3000 in a two-year course online so I went to nearby community college with an MT program and just took a couple of the specific classes related to file management, transcription editing, and advanced word processing. 


There is an unpaid internship program you can apply for.  It is called AIM.  I believe it lasts about 90 days, and you get continual feedback from QA.


Good luck with your reentry.


 


 


I was just in the same situation
Make sure that your laptop is compatible with XP before you do anything.  My laptop came with Vista and is less than a year old.  I finally found a job, but the company required XP.  It turns out that my laptop was assembled for Vista, and in order to install XP I had to make my own installation adding special drivers for my laptop.  Even if I did this, the video and sound drivers may not work.  Video and sound are really important!  I am reasonably computer literate, but this installation was a bit over my head, and it may not have worked.  The company I bought the laptop from told me that they may not be able to support me after I did this.  Great!  I figured that it would cost me about $100-200 for XP and $100-200 to pay someone to do the installation.  For that kind of money, it is possible to buy a decent second hand with XP on it.  I ended up buying an off-lease computer from Tiger electronics that has a one-year waranty.  It cost about the same amount of money, but it was faster and at least I got something for my money.
That whole situation just.....
sounds too shady really!  I couldn't work for someone who "forgets" to pay me.  I would tell them I don't "forget" to do the work and I don't expect to forget to get paid or else I will have to find someone else to work for.  That is ridiculously irresponsible of her!
Ok, i have a situation...sm
I am moving to the BOONDOCKS at the end of the month, I find out just now that High speed is NOT available in the area....they only have accelerated dial up. How many of you are still on dial up and do this job? I was on dial up YEARS ago and it worked out fine, but not sure how this is going to work, the platform i use now is iType and even with cable, the downloading of the voice files are slow.

Any suggestions? I sure cannot afford Satellite.
Sorry about your situation
I can hardly take it anymore either. I usually get stuck with an account that i just can't seem to get decent lines and I am more exhausted when I am done. It makes me feel so worthless.

Some have it pretty good in this business and are really suited for it ... not so hot for a lot of us though.

Hang in there. Maybe something good will come of it somehow. : )