August 17, 2005: This is a copy of an e-mail I just sent to Stedman's. I urge any of you who agree with me to do the same. Their address is stedmans@LWW.com.

[Begin copy]
As a long-time customer, I want to voice my displeasure with your decision to force buyers to call you for a registration code when installing your electronic products. This obviously is an attempt to keep people from selling their older Stedman's electronic references. I can understand you wanting to protect your products from illegal copying and distribution, but I strongly feel that legitimate buyers should be able to sell their original CDs after uninstalling the program from their PCs. Yes, I know you can't verify that, but I see no reason to punish everyone for the deeds of a few wrongdoers.

When I update my Stedman's electronic references, i.e., buy new versions, I always sell my old ones to help offset my cost. I ALWAYS uninstall them before I sell the CD. Since you are limiting my ability to sell my old references, I must advise you that my future purchases from you are going to be severely limited.

With all due respect, I ask you to please reconsider this customer-unfriendly policy. If not, I will have to find another source for my references, which I do not want to do. I value the Stedman Word Book series and the QLEDB; they are excellent references. However, you are basically forcing me (and other MTs) to do so. Again, please reconsider and allow us to sell our old references!
[End copy]
 

July 7, 2005: Does it grate on anyone else's nerves when we are referred to as typists? This is particularly offensive when a national MTSO uses the term--they should know better. No disrespect to typists is intended here, but medical TRANSCRIPTIONISTS do so much more than type. I'm sure these companies don't mean it as an insult to us, but I can't help getting riled up every time I see this word used in a company e-mail. Oy! (Related: Oh, Typist!)
 

February 27, 2005: Any other MTs tired of quibbling with QA over insignificant style issues that are not client-specific? A recent wrangle I went through: QA insists that when "I's and O's" is dictated, that I transcribe it as "I&O's" instead of "I's and O's." Is it just me or is this kind of thing completely insignificant to providing a quality medical record and a waste of time for all involved in the wrangle?
 

February 3, 2005: Watched President Bush's state of the union speech last night. I can't tell you how disheartened I am with his proposed Social Security Reform. Please urge your representatives to say "no" to cutting our Social Security benefits!
 

January 27, 2005: Is there a name for the disease in which a person habitually clicks the wrong icon on their PC? I want to go to Word. Yeah, click the ol' Excel icon, Rennie; that's the ticket! Right on! I think I have discovered a new disease. What should we call it? Iconitis? Icantitis?
 

January 26, 2005: Cleaned out my IE "Favorites" today. Wow! This is more work than cleaning house! Actually, it was quite nostalgic. =)
 

January 20, 2005: A blog. I want to write a blog. I don't know why I want to write a blog. Why do I want to write a blog? Blog rhymes with flog. Blog rhymes with dog. Blog rhymes with frog. Ha! Well, frogs aren't so bad. I have a cyber buddy who lives in Hawaii, who is just nuts about frogs, so frogs can't be a bad thing, right?! A blog by any other name would smell as sweet...