you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]Tom_Bombadil 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (5 children)

Eat their black boxes.

[–]exPFCwintergreen 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Yeah, I'd have to be really hungry to eat one of the actual people. Really hungry. That was a snap comment. Currently I'm trying to deal with the VA for the first time, and it is a nightmare since I live outside the US. So I am a bit irritable right now. Just called the VA number that's on their website, and some recorded voice is rambling on...then she suddenly said "or you can call 1-800-garble," and she said it only once. Sorry to dump on you.

[–]Tom_Bombadil 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Any success with the 1-800-Garble number?

[–]exPFCwintergreen 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Thanks for asking. I got steamed up and was yelling at the recording, so decided to cool down and try again tomorrow at a different time. Being on hold for twenty minutes on an international call really isn't good for my health, and I think the neighbors thought I was yelling at my wife. I have issues with bureaucracies and foul language.

[–]magnora7[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Yeah the VA is almost designed to be that way, so people won't use it, so the government saves money.

[–]exPFCwintergreen 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah that is correct. The web site is designed like a sort of puzzle. It used to be even worse I'm told. I was on a vet list-serve and the horror stories those guys told about paperwork and waiting months. But it is supposed to have gotten better, since in the US you can go to certain places and get help with the docs, but not abroad. I don't want their pension since I already have one with great medical in this country, and am not allowed to have two. But they have a compensation that I've just become eligible for that doesn't violate the terms of my pension. I don't want to shock anyone, but it's for Agent Orange and is quite a reasonable amount. So, now you know my secret: an old codger in your midst. I feel no effect from exposure to one of Monsanto's greatest hits, but if you were in an area where it was used, you qualify, and I definitely was in a few of those areas. Anyway, I got out five months early because when you come home with less than five months to go, they don't know what to do with you, so let you go, and I am all in one piece. So I'm one of the lucky ones