You can't make things worse and could make things better.

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Marla in So. California pays 11 cpl for a 55 ccl, Oracle pays 9-1/2 cpl, MDI-MD 11 cpl, JLG 10 cpl for gross line, etc.

Of course, these are rates negotiated and paid to qualified MTs.

I also go water the plants - sometimes just being out in the sunshine for 20 minutes or so wakes me up and gets me going again.

I also do the online thing for my kids:  Gap, Old Navy and Abercrombie Kids.  I occasionally look at Sephora for me.  

And yes, exercise does help.  I either take a run first thing in the a.m. or around 1:00.  The morning gives me a totally different spin on the day - I feel better in general the whole day and much more positive.  If I wake up too late for that, I end up going around 1:00, as I find that around that time I start wandering mentally anyway.  I used to feel guilty for taking the hour or so away but realized if I added up all the minutes I spend staring at the screen (waiting for the words to type themselves) it would be more than an hour.  So I try to use my time wisely and for myself by exercising and feel more focused and positive afterwards.  This is a habit I'm still creating.  I've been doing this a while now and I still some days have to convince myself it's okay and the hour is going to help me, not hurt me.  After I'm done I'm always glad I went. 

Thanks for posting this question - you gave me some good ideas. 

answer phones, let machine pick up. Turn ringer off on cell phone. Stay off boards, turn tv down or off. I don't know about others but I need a little background noise so I keep tv on a volume where I can hear it but not truly understand what is going on. I keep it on the music channel just so I hear something in the background. Don't think about the dirty dishes, laundry or 100 other things needed to be done in the house.

If you need a drink, get one before you start, same goes for a snack. I get a bowl of something to snack on before I start working such as pretzels, carrot sticks, m&m, etc. I bought an oven timer to keep on my desk. I set it for 3 to 4 hours and then take a little break when it goes off. When I first sign on I can work for 4+ hours w/o getting up.

Make macros of phrases. The phrases are the key. If you're forever typing something over and over and saying "I should make a macro for it," don't say it, do it. Closed head injury precautions are set as "chip-" in shorthand. I also do a lot of consults and at the end they have their own little "thank you for allowing me to participate" statement. I use the docs last name with a T at the end of it for the word thank you such as "SmithT" because not all the thank you statements are the same. WDI is written discharge instructions, wci wound care instructions. Macro your labs and headings so you don't have to keep typing them. If the word or abbr. needs to capitalized make a macro. igg comes out as IgG. The less you hit your shift key, it's saving a key stroke. 05m comes out as 0.5% Marcaine, etc. Make something you can remember. I'm at the point now where I've done the same accounts for years and hardly make macros, maybe 1 or 2 a day. If I make a macro today I write it in a notebook sitting right in front of me. It's a quick reminder for me.

Hope some of this helps.

people get a bit testy.  But, guess what?  We are all adults, aren't we?  Long ago I learned to not take offense to things, remarks, opinions, whatever - as most often taking offense only drags you down personally.  Why let things get to you?

MQLover has every right to express her opinion.  Is she the only one who ever slams back when she gets slammed?  Hardly.  That is a natural reaction.  It's a defense mechanism.  We don't all feel kissy/huggie all the time, and we especially don't when we express our thoughts and get smacked for them. 

If someone's post irritate or bother you, why not just skip them?  There's a heck of a lot more to life than getting upset of bb posts. 

Gas heater in the living room and an additional small heater for my hands, if they get cold.

I found it was less costly to install a gas heater than use the fireplace.

1.  Run Disk Cleanup - click Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Disk Cleanup.

2.  If you use Internet Explorer, click on Tools | Internet Options. Click on the buttons that say Delete Cooks and Delete Files.

Close your browser, restart it, and that should resolve your problem.

Boy, I hear you on how time consuming and tiring it can be to get ready to go!  We don't have any kids but we have three small dogs (which are like kids to us).

We camp almost every other week-end, May through September, and I try to do as much as I can during the week to get things ready, a little each day that I can.

Also, I have bought as many things as possible to leave in the camper so I don't have to take things from the house to the RV/back and forth.  I try to stock the cupboards with foods that can be left there for the season.  This year I also bought us underwear that stays in the RV all summer. When we come home from camping, I wash it and back it goes to the RV.  (Then in the fall, it will come in the house and we can throw out old underwear and buy new again the next year for the RV.) We also leave warm clothes in the camper all season as they are usually part of our "winter clothes" anyway.

We also keep our RV electrical plugged in all season so I can leave many things in the refridge and freezer, without using up our propane to run the fridge. We have an outside outlet on our house so we can do this.

While we are camping, I make a list of things I note we will need to buy for the next camping trip; otherwise, I would never remember what I needed. I also have made a "Camping Checklist" of things I need to remember to take each time and things I need to do before we leave. That really helps me a lot.

HTH some.  Have fun camping!  We will be going on "vacation" (five days) in our RV next week and we can hardly wait.  Even each week-end away is like a mini-vacation for us.

1. Separate accounts. Get a credit card in your business name to run all business purchases through. That will simplify things immensely. Get a business checking account (you can choose Jane Smith DBA - doing business as -Transcription Services Limited if you are not incorporated).

2.  The first year that you are an IC, do not worry about quarterly payments. You do need to withhold enough from your paychecks to be ready to pay your regular taxes as well as an additional 7.5% self employment tax come April next year. Put all of this in your business account.  The second year, 2007, - as long as you pay 100% of what your taxes were in the previous year, you will not incur any fines. So if you paid $8500 between your husband and you in your taxes this year, next year divide the $8500 by 4, to get $2125. Watch your husband's withholding and every quarter, take what has been withheld from him and add whatever it takes to make $2125 from yours. I.e. he has $2000 withheld, your quarterly payment should be $150 - allowing a little extra.

I agree it is worth it to find a good CPA that will help you get organized and give you deadlines for filing, as well as help you find deductions that you are entitled to take. But after that, easy enough to do on your own if you do your own taxes anyway.