As some of you may know, the VA has a clandestine program for Veterans that they do not advertise and are trying desperately to conceal. The Independent Living Program, or ILP as it is known, is run by the Vocational Rehab folks. Since the wind down from the Iraqi Olympics,  the money has mostly flowed to Vets with documented disabilities to help them reintegrate with the jobs market. VR&E subsidizes the Vets with tools and educational opportunities to learn a trade. Killing is a very limited field of work and there is little demand for it outside the military and perhaps the Mafia. Retraining to more basic skills is needed. With the new gas pump technology, the time honored gas station attendent/ windshield washer guy is extinct. No more can you set your sights on a future in the oil industry.

But written into the VR&E charter was a codicil for Vets who are now 100% P&T. Even though we are precluded from  becoming productive members of society, our mental needs must be met. We cannot live on the pablum that comes out of TVs. Drew Carrey and the Price is Right are not mentally stimulating. Prior to the inauguration of the 44th President, we had a robust program that provided those of us knowledgeable of such things a valuable path to recreational stimulation. Vets were applying for, and being granted funds for greenhouses, tractors for rural uses like snow removal and gardening, etc. Some received computers to keep them connected with the outside world via email.

All this came to an abrupt halt with “change we can count on”. No more were sewing machines given to women Vets to while away the boring hours. Gone were the tractors. Reloading equipment for guns was withdrawn. Computers were right out because we suddenly didn’t need these things “for the ordinary ability to live independently”. In their stead were those cute little grabbers for things on the shelf above your reach. Grab bars in showers and tubs became the new “need”. A cordless telephone was the new “independence tool” freeing us up to roam about the house recklessly with no fear of falling and not being able to rise. We had 911 at our beck and call! Why, a set of chains for the car eliminated the need for that snowplow. A new paradigm was unfolding  before our eyes.

I applied when I came home from the hospital. One of our formidable members (Loyal) told me of this cornucopia awaiting us. I immediately applied and in August 2011  VA sent out an independent contractor to assess my needs. I was denied a month later. I filed for an Administrative review which I surmise is VR&E’s version of a NOD. I agreed with them that the greenhouse and the sewing machine were a reach, but insisted that the computer was a legitimate request based on my needs for this site. I delved into all the fine print in 38 CFR and tortured the regulations to prove my point. Being proliferous with words, I must have made my case. The head of the Seattle VR&E ILP program for the Northwest (Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana called me today. Their “Information Technology (IT)contractor”  wishes to make an appointment with me to survey my computer needs for the claim. He wouldn’t say I had won, but why would they need to determine my “needs” for a second denial?

I’m accustomed to denials so I won’t get my hopes up. Just think. With a nice dockable laptop, Windows 7 and dragonspeak, I’ll be more able to venture afield to American Lake VAMC and help the incarcerated Vets make life miserable for VA. Whoo-doggies.

Everything you read here is a gift from my wife’s real estate company’s computer. It’s on loan to me until the VA can replace my donated laptop that expired in March. I would like to think the work I do here is worthwhile. The fact that I disparage the VA is not for discussion. The mere fact that I help Vets is the predicate for the need. It would be justice if VA provided me with the seeds for their own defeat.

Sidharthism (a sect of Buddhism) practiced in NW Thailand and Laos holds that you will reap what you sew. The phrase “what goes around, comes around” summarizes their belief system perfectly.  I’ll keep you informed on developments.