Late Late Late Late

Hurry up and wait... It seems like these people who are processing the claims for veterans do not care... I hear people loosing their cars, apartments, going on food stamps. I also heard this morning that 89% of vets have still not been paid their money for school. I have also heard that colleges will not let you continue until they are paid by the VA... what is going on? They have been telling vets also that they have finished processing about 190,000 claims and only have 70k to go? why lie... just tell the TRUTH. Here are a few articles that I have came across so far from the news.

LA Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gi-bill25-2009sep25,0,4692259.story

Cleveland (this is nice of them):

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1253781221213220.xml&coll=2


SureWest: http://www.surewest.net/news/read.php?rip_id=%3CD9ATTEH84%40news.ap.org%3E&ps=1011&_LT=HOME_LARSDCCL3_UNEWS

Notice from the VA

Wow... took 6 weeks to just get a letter telling me that they have my application? I am confused as to why it took this long just to notify me that they have my application. But basically I think is because I call often and this is a form to just get me off their back. It reads as follows (with some of my reactions):

We have received your application for benefits. It is our sincere desire to decide your case promptly (yay they got back to me). However, as we have a great number of claims, action on yours may be delayed (NOOOOOOOO seriously). We are now in the process of deciding whether additional evidence or information is needed (well I have called a bunch of times and you said you have everything you need). If we need anything else from you, we will contact you, so there is no need to contact us in the meantime (HAHAHA yeah right... you will hear from me tomorrow, Monday, on what the hell this letter is exactly and if you are actually processing it or not). If you do write us (maybe they got my complaint?), be sure YOUR file number and full name, or have it at hand if you call.

If your mailing address is different than that shown above, please advise us of your new mailing address. You should notify us immediately of any changes in your mailing address. (then it goes on to tell you about other contact numbers and benefits).

Now I could be wrong but this just sounds to me like they don't know how long it will take to process my claim and that they have not necessarily stated to do so as they told me when I called on Thursday... I heard from a lot of people that the letters they receive is how much they will be receiving... Any one else get a letter like this?

BAH Fact

San Francisco has the highest BAH payment in the Nation. A great way to get the most of your 9/11 GI bill is to move to this area and commute to school.

Here is a link to the BAH PDF:

http://images.military.com//ContenFiles/2009-bah-with-dependents.pdf

Cheers!

Vets+impatient+with+GI+Bill+payment+delays

Vets+impatient+with+GI+Bill+payment+delays

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More Stuff for sale

I have some heavy duty stands for sale.. they where fairly expensive when I first bought them (I will double check but I think they are 4-6 ton) $25

I have a full box of 5W-20 of oil never used (all of them are 5W-20 even the white one) $ 8

I have a jack that has a wheel that comes of but works well 2 ton - $10

2 black ramps - $20

Take it all for $55

*they are a bit dusty but everything works very good... Ill make sure the items are all cleaned off before you take them :)

Today's creation

So now I am at the bare bones of food and needed to feed my kids, me, and my wife. Almost out of instant soup so had to make something. I had a few port patties left over,



some hot sauce,



some white beans,



garlic,



spices,



tortillas,



and cheddar cheese,



I ended up grabbing some salt and pepper, oregano, and onion powder and added it all together with the above ingredients and cooked it.



warmed up the tortillas and cheese,






loaded the hot sauce and the mix,



and had a hot and tasty meal.



this ended up feeding all of us and it was not half bad. I think it would have been better if I had black beans but this was better than instant soup or something else random.

Today I wrote my congressperson

Today I wrote my congress person due to the fact that the VA is not helping at all. I hope this will expedite the process to where I can get my payment in a timely manner. Here is what I wrote:

I am writing you regarding the Post 9/11 GI Bill recently passed for veterans to attend a college of their choice while receiving a monthly payment to help with living expenses.

At the start of the process I was told that the process will take about 10 days to 4 weeks. I am now on my sixth week with no payment and the only thing I am getting is an attitude from the people handling these cases.

With all due respect sir, what is going is wrong. Several hundred, even thousands of veterans including ones with families, like my self, are running on no funds. I currently have a negative balance in my bank account after using all my savings. Granted I have looked for part time work ever since I quit my job in case something like this did happen but due to the harsh economy I was not lucky enough to land a job.

I cannot stress how disappointing this process has been and now I am in desperate need in receiving this money from the VA before I loose all my belongings and go homeless with my pregnant wife and 4 children. I hope there is something you might be able to help me with or point me to the right direction because I have had no luck trying to talk to the people in charge of the process.

I appreciate any help offered with my situation.

You are more than welcome to use parts of this letter if needed for your letter to your congressperson. Best of luck to all you vets out there!