health, life, transcription, work

Lest you think I forgot you —

I’m alive!

Kids have all been sick again. Ryan is home sick with the intestinal garbage (I think he fell asleep). Colleen missed 3 1/2 days this week, Chris missed one. Mom was here this week and now she doesn’t feel well. My days may be numbered. Rog was sick earlier this week while he was out of town.

I still have so much work!!! It just keeps coming. Legal interviews, hearings, a focus group, and even working on a web site for someone! Rog just got more work approved too – YAY!!

Some pics — and then back to work!
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First, the brand new sink we got in our bathroom last weekend! Rog and his dad worked about 8 hours on this! The old one had quit working and only leaked drips of water and nothing else.
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Ryan just a little while ago – I thought he was sleeping —
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Then he turned over and looked at me and said “cheese” —

 

 

 

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What he’s watching – or sleeping through, by now! He even loves the teen shows like Hannah Montana and Zach and Cody…

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What I’ve been eating. Too. many. of.
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How I type – for the non-seasoned to transcription world readers – though the ORANGE is an extra item that I didn’t know was there – suppose I may eat it with my lunch? This is my money maker and occasionally cramp-in-the-foot maker!! I switch feet, often. It’s sitting on my scanner so I have some height so my foot doesn’t get too sore… I download audio into Express Scribe or For the Record and type away.
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Today’s ice/snow storm. I don’t think we got it as bad as south –

and I just realized I completely missed the news that would have told me (12:30 p.m. now)

Back to work!

 

Christmas, health, NaBloPoMo, transcription, work at home

Decorating almost done – and apparently sickies coming back

I’ll have to post a pic of our tree decs tomorrow (2 strands of lights still not working – I haven’t had time to pursue it really). 

But got breakable ornaments up out of Harm’s (Ryan’s) way today and Rog bought a new star for the top of the tree that I’ll put on tomorrow.

Chris got sent home from school yesterday and Colleen the day before. I took them both to the dr. yesterday – believed to be viruses. They finished their meds for sinus infections last week.

Now Ryan was coughing most of the evening and I’m wondering if he’ll make it to school tomorrow.

So far I’m healthy (knock on wood) but feel very very tired tonight. I did nap for a while. I am going to just go to bed, and hope that Chris goes to sleep (he’s pacing). At least he’s not taking 89 baths like he did Tuesday night!

I am getting a lot of nice legal cases to type – finished one and proofing it now and have another for tomorrow and early next week. Then I received a long speech transcription project for late next week and week after (hopefully they’ll accept it then as that’s when I can do it!!!) that is a referral from a local company I used to work for!! Word of mouth recommendation is nice!

Yawning and my eyes are watering so shall try and sleep and hope Chris doesn’t drag me up over and over again…

health, NaBloPoMo, transcription

Yesterday – migraine day from you know where —

All chronicled on the transcription board —

“Great. Up at 5, starting my day, to finish my 15 pp of proofing, a little British QA, and then planned to take a nap.

I now have a migraine aura. I can see the screen right now but in about five minutes I won’t be able to — the flashing lights are going all over it and soon I’ll have the black “spaces….”

crap.

I can lay down in 2 hours once my kids are all gone – I pray I don’t throw up. I hate throwing up migraines.

Off to take 2 Excedrin Migraines and quit looking at computer screens …
Well, thank God for that extension I got —

LATER
I took two Excedrin migraine and laid down while my daughter got ready for school. I think that kept this from being a killer headache, though I still feel it and have sensitivity to light. But don’t feel nausea at this point and the aura is gone.

Unfortunately because of my laying down my daughter missed her bus, and when I went to drive her my battery is dead. So she’s home. She’s sick, too, though.

at least my boys are in school.

* proof my 15 pp

* Do British QA

* get car jumped

* nap — well kinda, but I couldn’t really stay asleep. It was weird – every time I was about to drop off a vehicle went by and woke me up. Sigh. I also took a shower.

Now – I want to EAT – I really haven’t eaten all day.

I have had 3 places offer me more work and I can’t figure out which to take and balance with what I already have scheduled next week, both work-wise and appt-wise – I almost want to take a little breather….

 

children, life, transcription, work

Our first major bonfire of 07 —


June bonfire 002

Originally uploaded by

criscollrj

.


What a beautiful night! After a few days of [for me] oppressive heat I really enjoyed a day in the mid 60’s today and an evening by the fire with us heating grilled hot dogs and s’mores 🙂 We wore long sleeves and jeans and enjoyed the fire and got rid of a ton of “burnables” from my cleaning the office.

In other news, Chris has finished his first week off of school and has one more week off before he starts summer school June 18. There are some pictures in the Flickr area of where we visited his summer camp yesterday (he got to enjoy a hot dog there too!). They seem like they will be very capable with him over the summer and he’ll have a good time swimming some days too!
Continue reading “Our first major bonfire of 07 —”

organizing, transcription, weight, work

Craving order, and Chocolate Cake

Ahh, just remembering the days when Ryan laid on a boppy pillow and napped while I typed.  When he was three weeks old I began my legal trans again, just a little, and I remember how I reached my arms around him to type on the keyboard.  Now he’s starting kindergarten in 3 months.  All day kindergarten.
Continue reading “Craving order, and Chocolate Cake”

transcription, work, work at home

Instead of “The Dog Ate My Homework,” it’s–

5-11-07 (have to figure out how to change dates on these after the fact!)

–“My Headphones Sound Like Crap and I Didn’t Know It.” And this is why the transcription company I failed should give me a second chance!

Oh my. As any reader (hello out there 😉 ) knows, I was upset that I failed a test for a transcription company that is spoken of as the cream of the crop. I just accepted that I must have messed up a portion of it and thus was not chosen.

Lo and behold, my headphones broke last night. I had bought them in February, high-falutin 😉 noise-reducing RCA headphones. Then I plugged in the old ones I used before that (that have no pads on them – uncomfortable) and was amazed at how suddenly the audio was clearer. I relistened and found ALL KINDS Of errors and omissions and corrections that had to be made to my document.

Then I realized today that I took my tests last week or two on those awful headphones that broke last night (I would never recommend RCA noise reducing headphones now!). I thought they were so great and didn’t realize what I was missing.

Well, I had the whim today of checking my test file and lo and behold FULL of errors and inaudibles I should have caught. The other headphones must have inserted some kind of wind into the files. I emailed them (it probably won’t work) but explained that I just found out about a huge problem with my old headphones and would it be possible to look at my resubmitted, re-proofed files again.

I’m just so grateful I caught this before I turned in a terrible file today – I’m doing my first project for a company I worked at last year – what a bad impression THAT would have been.

Now I’m sitting here thinking about the conference I did for the local guy a few months ago and how I was complaining about the poor audio – maybe it was all the headphones then too.

deafness, transcription, work

Trying to add perfect contracts — and thoughts on hearing loss

The life of us entrepreneurs (is that what we are?) — always seeking to do the best with our contracts yet keeping an eye on what else is out there. Sometimes there is enough variety in one contract to keep you going strong (Rog is kind of in that position now with his company, thank the Lord!) and really I am very lucky too with the places I work for that I can do a variety and get a lot of work. I am mostly doing insurance transcripts now just recently, which I love, as I was getting burned out with some other stuff I had been doing but it was later in the day and I just couldn’t keep up with it.

My eyes are always open though – there is a company I’d heard ravings about so I tested with them last year, and to my disappointment I failed the test (didn’t know why at the time but later looked it all over and saw where I’d missed two directions). Then I passed like 4 after that and one was the insurance one which I am enjoying greatly.

So then I hadn’t tested in almost a year. When I heard that this place had opened their testing doors again after 10 months, I was nervous. I missed the first round of testing in March, but when they were ready in late April I was like the first one to test. I went over this test with a fine tooth comb. I relistened 4 times. I re-read the direction at least 5 times. Held on to it an extra five minutes before mailing, looked at it again. And finally sent it out, on April 26.

I had been waiting all this time for a reply, but kept busy, helping one company through her really busy week (then burned myself out and got sick and couldn’t do any more of that at this point), then got back with the morning insurance calls – much easier on me and the family – and applied at 3 other places to do some legal trans (hopefully just in the mornings!). Then tonight – the green Eprompter light was on. The GREEN one. The email my test results come to. I had been looking for it for 11 days. Had been looking for invitation to test for a month before that. The green one. There It Was.

So then I hit the wrong button and opened my real player or something — grrr. Got that closed. Opened the email finally –

Rejection. I was so disappointed. Even though I know this particular contract only accepts 10% – I was very sad. I actually cried. I didn’t cry last year, but last year I figured was a fluke. I ALWAYS pass tests. I actually do. I’m very determined and usually pass them. I go over them with fine tooth combs. I’m a perfectionist nitpicky OCD freak when it comes to transcription testing.

Well – I take that back, in 2000 I DID fail a test but it was a HUGE one (like 6 hours long), it was a “paid” test, and I over-scheduled myself and did that test along with a huge back-load of other work AND my computer crashed – I didn’t get that job — but I digress.

HOW CAN I FAIL THIS TEST TWICE?

Then I start worrying it’s my hearing. Is my hearing going more? But that’s silly – I added a contract last month and got a good score – and my other contract (insurance) keeps giving me work and added me on as a proofer too – if my hearing was going would I still have these contracts?

I hope my hearing loss is not quite as progressive as the boys. I don’t know if there’s going to be a day when I can’t transcribe any more – but so far it seems the headphones enhance my hearing greatly, and I always clear up most of my inaudibles on my second listening. I have had no complaints, usually. But, it is a fear.

I have one hearing aide – can’t remember if I ever wrote it in here. I don’t wear it often (should wear it more). I got it last summer. I do have a “high pitch” hearing loss in left ear and a less severe one in right ear no aide in that ear). I just have trouble in large groups pretty much. Otherwise I hear fairly well.

 

transcription

Present is stable, now I’m worrying about the future —

So what do I do? I start worrying about work for next year. I’m testing with different companies to make sure I have enough work for next year There is enough work now for 10 people. But I know they slow down so I’m trying to set up another company. I have like 3 I’m thinking of – 2 I worked for before and one I’m trying to get into. One I just worked for last year but now they don’t get back to me – I don’t know if I upset them because I took such a long break! The other one I did corporate but not legal, and now I want to do legal, and I just heard you might have to have three years’ experience to get in and I only have 1 1/2 years, not 3. The third I filed the test for last year and am retesting end of this month (they’re very hard to get into). Then I have another company I just got but I heard she’s a real nut case to work with. So…. I’m all worried about this now and —

you know what? I think I just always live to have a PROBLEM to solve—-

I gotta run, I’m actually working and have work coming out of my ears 🙂

 

children, life, transcription, Weather, work

Zoo and new car


Zoo 010

Originally uploaded by

criscollrj

.

My blog revision site for some reason is not working, so I’m just reposting this. We went to zoo yesterday – pictures are here — this is Colleen (bottom) and her friends that were in our group. We had a blast – a COLD BLAST! If you click back a few pages in the pictures – you’ll see us in shirt sleeves in the back yard – yes, it was almost 80 degrees Tuesday night. Chris went running to the school yard that night and laid DOWN in the grass and looked at the stars. Had a BALL – took an hour to get him home – bribed with bubble bath 🙂

Continue reading “Zoo and new car”

life, transcription, Weather, work

Spring fever!

70 degree temps today sure got the kids ready to play! I think spring fever has sprung. I didn’t even realize that Easter is less than 2 weeks away, and the bulbs are coming out (of which many I didn’t plant and I will have to wait for next fall). Already bought some new bulbs to plant now for fall blooming. I can’t believe it’s coming so quick – seems we just finished Christmas (and we won’t talk about the Christmas tree that really isn’t still up in the basement fully decorated, a little table top tree in the corner that I haven’t had time to put away – we won’t talk about that —-)

We both have a lot of work which is a blessing! I just got invited to test at some new places for transcription which should leave me a very well rounded list of contractors to work for, especially next year when Ryan starts full-day kindergarten. I plan to work about four days a week then – maybe 4-5 hours a day – maybe. And Rog is being offered more opportunities with Sunlark.

Getting in the mood to do yard work AND spring cleaning. So much to do! We need to get contractors to finish more work on the basement from damage we had from the flood last summer. And washing windows and walls would be nice!

Happy spring, everyone!

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