So, for all you lucky listeners, you now know who’s behind the curtain. Please, I beg of you, do not use my name here. There will be a time and a place for my coming out party but now is most definitely not a propitious  time . I have no desire to queer the deal being fashioned at the CAVC between counsel for the appellant (moi) and the Appellee (Eric the Red)

Thank you very much to the callers who asked us the questions about my parrot Buddy (Budette?) and the interesting one about keeping your hand in at the VAMC.

I have a rather jaded view of the medical system there. My Personal Care Physician (PCP) is very dedicated to his job. He moved here from Louisiana and loves the Northwest. Who couldn’t love it? In addition, Dr. Scott Daigle is kind and caring. What he isn’t is able to remember me when he sees me and say, “Yo-bubba. How they hanging?” I get the same glassy-eyed stare with a final recognition several minutes into it with the “Shoot! Now I remember you. Two years in-country. AO Porphyria. GSW right leg. Right? Got it.” Usually that’s followed by ” So what can I do for you today?” Well, seeing’s how the VA asks me to come in every once in a while, piss in a bottle to make sure I’m not a crackhead and takes a few blood samples, my guess is you’re going to tell me, Doctor. He forgets 100% disabled folk like us are entitled -nay- encouraged to come in frequently as the caller stated. It does give VA an eyes-on moment to make sure you’re not going to fly to New York for the 25 K Marathon and Fun run. Make no mistake about it. VA has gone dumpster diving in Veterans’ c-files who are six months away from a truly protected rating (twenty years) and taken back something to prevent them from keeping a 100%er. Vindictive is too mild a word to describe it. Look at all your VISTA Consult notes and at the beginning they start out with W/A (well attired) and NAD (no apparent distress). Some are obnoxious and say things like Veteran appears to be well-tanned and fit. You could look like Cousin Fester and they’d say that.

Lastly, I wish I’d had a chance to interject this at the end of the hour. When Undersecretary For Excuses Allison Hickey was busy moonwalking the backlog argument past the Congressmen, I had one of those “moments” and busted out laughing. It would be the same if Col. Sanders was giving a speech to a Colosseum full of chickens. I honestly think she expected them to give her a standing ovation at the end, too.

I googled her name on Google Images and came up with every picture ever taken of her from the Academy through to now. I think she looks more authoritarian with the original auburn hair. You just know she’s the brunt of every blonde joke that comes down the pike.

You be the judge:

I wouldn’t trust her in my cockpit but at least she looks natural here

Workable but we know redheads can be unreasonable

Did you hear the one about the blonde Undersecretary for Benefits…

I’m wondering how I’m going to explain this to Cupcake. Fortunately she’s in her Mediterranean mode (black hair) so I get to dodge that bullet for now. Mark this page. You heard it here. If Brig. Gen. Hickey suddenly goes back to auburn soon, you’ll know she’s reading this. Either that or she’s going to do it to be incognito at the next HVAC barbecue up on Capitol Hill.