Saturday night was a late one because of all the tornado warnings in Texoma. It seemed they would start around the Red River and rip north. Have I ever mentioned that I'm about a mile from the Red River the way the crow flies?  Yesterday was a recover day. I have the only concrete storm cellar in the neighborhood and when the watch is on I turn on the light shining over it, DC voltage no AC required. Saturday night was  one of those nights. I've promised not to ever have a lock on the cellar door and the only criteria for usage is their feeling of need. So today is catch up day. On ..read more

Cruiser wrote: ↑ 8:58 AM - Today william8004 wrote: ↑ 8:12 PM - 1 day ago Will DBQs have "DBQ" in the file name?  I'm asking because the files showing up in my profile include "Exam Request" or "CAPRI" all dated January 2024.  I had my C&Ps in February.  Now I keep seeing request after request asking for medical records. I'm thinking they haven't gotten the C&Ps from VES.  Thoughts?  Words of wisdom?  Talk me down?   My suggestion is to just wait for something to come in the mail to you from VA. You can drive yourself batty looking at va.gov and tr ..read more

Unless something has changed, that isn’t a Marine Corps belt buckle that he is wearing.  If so, that isn’t a real Marine Corps Drill Instructor.   I wasn’t a Marine, but I did wear Marine Corps uniforms for a couple of years while serving as a Navy Corpsman in an FMF unit.  That appears to be an oversized Navy belt buckle with an Eagle, Globe, and Anchor stuck on it.  Cruiser statistics: Posted by Cruiser — 53 minutes ago ..read more

As soon as the VA money is in your hands, VA is no longer involved.  What happens to it is entirely up to you, your wife, and a judge if a divorce is involved.  A threesome, but not the fun kind.  As for a divorce, your VA compensation is income, but not community property.  VA will ignore any order from the court to pay any portion of your compensation to your wife; however, when assessing how much YOU must pay to her it is generally considered to be part of your overall income.  Unless there is a state law in your state that controls how much the judge can order you ..read more

I tell folks who injury why I’m hanging out as a rater is that I was in charge for 20 years. I’m happy to deal with just myself and I enjoy the flexible that leadership doesn’t have. With retired pay, va comp, and federal civy pay, I’m good. statistics: Posted by Spunky — 9:06 AM - Today ..read more

william8004 wrote: ↑ 8:12 PM - 1 day ago Will DBQs have "DBQ" in the file name?  I'm asking because the files showing up in my profile include "Exam Request" or "CAPRI" all dated January 2024.  I had my C&Ps in February.  Now I keep seeing request after request asking for medical records. I'm thinking they haven't gotten the C&Ps from VES.  Thoughts?  Words of wisdom?  Talk me down?   My suggestion is to just wait for something to come in the mail to you from VA. You can drive yourself batty looking at va.gov and trying to figure out what VA is doin ..read more

Spunky wrote: ↑ 1:09 PM - 1 day ago Myself as an example.  Documented TBI event while AD.  Hospitalized for about 20 hours.  Altered state of consciousness for about 17 hours.  Pre and post amnesia  Darn Spunky, it sounds to me like you are more than qualified to be a VA Service Center Manager if not a Regional Office Director.  What’s holding you back? Sorry, but from one old VA employee to another I couldn’t help myself. Speaking as someone who has had three concussions ( none in service), I know what you are talking about.  The one I had in college pl ..read more

I’m not sure how a shoulder issue would cause a neck condition.  I can see a neck problem causing shoulder dysfunction due to a pinched nerve in the neck, but not the other way around.  This type of neuropathy travels in a direction from the point of the nerve insult moving outward away from the spine, not back toward the spine. Neuropathy due to a shoulder problem would go from that point down toward the hand.  Do you have a diagnosis for your neck issue? Cruiser statistics: Posted by Cruiser — 28 minutes ago ..read more

You’ve submitted your claim along with supporting medical evidence so I’m not exactly sure what “advice” it is that you are seeking.  Based solely on what the doctor said it appears that your TBI would need to be re-evaluated and I would suspect a C&P exam to accomplish this will be obtained.  Cruiser statistics: Posted by Cruiser — 35 minutes ago ..read more

I’ve never had a kidney stone, but my daughter has.  She says it’s the worst pain she’s ever had and she has three children.  She said they gave her morphine in the ER and even that didn’t help all that much.  Cruiser statistics: Posted by Cruiser — 44 minutes ago ..read more