Saturday, December 20, 2008

procrastinating leads to questioning

I do believe I wrote a whole post around this time last year about my lack of enthusiasm for gift-wrapping. Well, that's really what I'm supposed to be doing right now.

So instead, I'm messing about on the internet again. Okay, still. (How many hours ago did I find that KY ad online?) I *immensely* enjoy looking at things I would like to buy and/or do to my house and then immediately segueing into reading dire economic news that makes me think I will soon be living in a cardboard box (which will not require counter height stools or 100% wool area rugs.)

Speaking of which? Our transcription at work has now been outsourced to India by the hospital. My boss and I were discussing this the other day and I said, that's why I'm glad I've got me a hands-on type job. It really can't be done by anyone over in South Asia. He was like, "Mine could be! With videoconferencing!" Of course, that'd mean the patient here in Massachusetts would have to hit his own knee with the reflex hammer while the Indian MD looked on from across the globe, but stranger things have happened I guess. Anyway, we were pretty amused by the idea.

Also speaking of which? L found out this week that she is definitely being laid off in two months--though she gets seven weeks of severance pay after that, so the panic won't have to start unless she's not re-employed by April. Poor L. No b&bs in her immediate future.

But back to my original procrastination question. Assuming I still remain gainfully employed at the semi-comfortable salary that allows me to live my very, very modest lifestyle long enough to buy an island/bar height table for my kitchen that is 37 inches high, am I correct in assuming that I would want the barstools that are 26 inches high, not the ones that are 30"? How much clearance does a person need in between the seat height and the table height? And does it shock you that a person who doesn't know the answer to that question has nevertheless been consecutively employed for the past 27 years?

Okay, that's it. I'm wrapping. I mean it.

xoxo

4 comments:

crispix67 said...

Yeah, its pretty scary, isnt it.

I do miss my hospital job.

This freelance/depend on people to splurge stuff is kinda scary. But, so far Ive been able to supplement it with some housecleaning freelance jobs, and I got another call about one last week, a regular one..so...it isnt so bad.

And I do have some money saved...though some is gonna go for car repairs tomorrow. :( Damn CV joint thingys...prolly spending more than my car is worth...but theyre gonna go for good soon..and cost even more. :(

Uncle said...

That's a bit behind the curve, seeing the new cool is to bring the work back to the US of A. The theory being that the Indian transcriptionist is more likely to expose you to a HIPAA violation than the one in Appalachia, and cost about the same, allowing for overhead.

I'd say more, but I'd violate my agreement with self not to talk about work.

malevolent andrea said...

Here's the thing. We had a local one-woman transcription service we sent our typing out to for years, and she was fabulous. But at the end of the last fiscal year, the powers-that-be determined she was too expensive and too much of our budget was going to transcription and we had to switch to these other people who would do it for, like, a penny a line cheaper. We were given no choice.

My docs felt really bad and were really upsedt, b/c, like I said, the other woman had had our business for years and we were very satisfied with her in all ways. Well, the new, cheaper people they had us use were horrible. The docs were literally spending hours a week reading and correcting reports that came back before they could electronically sign off on them because they were so full of mistakes.

So then the word comes down that the transcrition's all going to India, no choice on that, either. And they were all ready to be completely up in arms about that too. Until the first batch of reports come back and they had only two tiny miniscule mistakes in all of them. They were *immaculate*.

My boss was saying that that's b/c transcribing is not a low status or low paying job over there, and those people doing our typing are probably very highly educated, in fact very well may be moonlighting or non-practicing physicians themselves. So sadly while the Appalachian typists may cost as little and be less HIPAA worrisome, I bet they're from the Stoopid Illiterate American land of rod iron and hammy downs, and the typing's more apt to be atrocious. (Not, I'd say, that administration would care. They aren't paying our docs any extra when they're in the office till 10 pm correcting reports so that what's on the LMR isn't a disgrace to their reputations.)

But you don't wanna talk about work! So what do you know about counter stool height? Will no one hjelp me with that??!!??? ;-)

malevolent andrea said...

Count the typos in the previous comment and laugh! :-PPPP