About this time of the year the weather changes and Monsoon starts. It finally rained and not a minute too soon. I know the tomatoes will suffer but we haven’t had any appreciable rainfall since May. The good news is a record harvest. This will be of immense interest to the boyz in the VR&Ehood. Ever since they surmised I had three greenhouses and didn’t need any more, I haven’t heard much from them. Nevertheless, it’s incumbent upon me to keep them up to speed and let them know how I’m fairing with what I have.
Life is good post-hepatitis. I’ve managed to divest myself of everything VA and use the VA Choice Card exclusively for dental. Maybe I ought to start presenting it instead of Medicare.
The farm is out of control. The big pumpkins we planted turned out to be small, ghostly white ones. Wrong seeds in the wrong package. I suppose if you’re a White Supremacist, they’re just the ticket. The manure pile, on the other hand, is regurgitating pumpkins from some we fed the goat last year. They, oddly, weigh more than a VW bug. The corn’s longer than my forearm. The butternuts need a hand truck to move. And the corn, ahh, what can I say. Thank you yet again to Leigh and Paul Burch for turning me on to Silver Queen. My chest freezer runneth over and we’ve just begun.
Mark, formerly Hepsick and now, a winner, came by for his graduation present after being cured. Nice Bike, huh?
This will be a year to remember for many of us. Our numbers have been severely decimated over several decades with Vets dying from worn out liverboxes. It’s refreshing to see more in remission and a future that we never thought possible. To think that a doctor would be satisfied with a 34% remission rate using Interferon/Ribavirin boggles the imagination in light of our more recent 99.999% numbers.
asknod
brewerkelli
cspencer02
jamesaurora
kcraveiro
Laura
Veterans Claims Help 
Come to Florida if you want rain, I have not seen this much rain day in and day out and nighttime, too, all during July and most of August since the monsoon season in SE Asia. Floridians who have lived here for decades have never seen this much rain in the Tampa Bay area. However, we are still high and dry in our home and community, and happy and so far in good health, too, so we are most fortunate. But, the monsoon season here has put a real damper on my primary recreation, saltwater fishing or any fishing for that matter. (Yes, a person can fish in the rain, but down here it is not advisable especially because of all the lighting we get with storms; plus itâs not wise to be out on the Bay or the Gulf during storms in small craft).
Hope you are well, you seem to be and going great guns. I still follow your posts fairly religiously (although I admit skipping the garden / vegetable ones) and still find them a rich trove of good information, tips and research. Your post about the veteran with anger management issues who worked as a bouncer and possessed firearms and got all pissed off at you was a good one. I enjoy firearms, have a CCW permit and like to go out to the range at least once a month and see if I can still stay in the center body mass, plus, I am a strong 2nd Amendment supporter when it comes to the individualâs right to possess and bear arms. But, there are some folks (a lot of them actually) who should not own or come into possession of firearms and that fellow in your post is certainly one of them.
I also continue to be amazed at the VA regarding not only some of its denials of compensation or under-rating of vets claiming PTSD and TBI, but equally befuddled by the number of vets I meet who receive compensation for PTSD but whose claims, when I engage them in conversation, seem awfully thin on substance / merit with little to no real stressors (unless one is the proverbial eggshell thin skull type soldier or marine), yet theyâre receiving significant PTSD ratings considering their conditions (or lack of one). Perhaps, I am too cynical and hardened but I find a number of those I meet who are receiving PTSD compensation (whose award I would question), often seem to have made a career out of poor life choices having nothing to do with their military service and some are just good scammers. Yet, I also meet a good number of veterans from my generation or younger who could or should consider such a claim but for their own reasons, often on what they perceive as principle, wonât consider it and just keep on moving forward.
Anyway, I am still an AskNod fan down here in Florida and still doing some VA advocacy. I am, however, thinking seriously of coming out of âsemi-retirementâ and getting back into the legal game full time after the New Year; I like the action, find it stimulating and would primarily focus on Veterans Advocacy, plus Social Security Disability (it goes well together). Plus, I had a couple of wins this year at the local and BVA level that were very rewarding in a personal as well as professional sense for me because my vets had been so badly screwed over for years. We are, however, going to be traveling overseas for most of November and December and not return until Christmas day. So, there is no point in gearing up and launching fully until after our trip, too much time out of town to keep on top of things until we return. Iâll focus my marketing effort in the Southeast, Florida and Georgia primarily. I like to stay where it is reasonably warm during the winter even if I am from Michigan.
I didnât get out to the NOVA San Francisco meeting because of conflicting personal and professional commitments as well as other travel plans that I had committed to with my wife. However, I am registered and will attend the NOVA conference in Chicago during October. Any chance you might wonder back to the Midwest for the Conference? I like Chicago (despite the high homicide rate there) and spent a good bit of time there over the years on various legal business and always enjoyed it, although I donât recommend ever going there after October through Mid April as you never know what kind of weather will welcome you. I checked with Bob Walsh and he is planning on being there. Bob has been a mentor to me since when I first became involved with veterans advocacy and in my opinion is one heck of a great guy in addition to being a fine lawyer. Bob is also one wild and crazy fellow in a very good sense and I would say a âsavantâ when it comes to veterans law.
Keep up the good work and best wishes.
Semper Fidelis
Charlie Brown
Charles E. Brown, Attorney
Member: Michigan, Georgia, and California State Bar Associations
Accredited by Department of Veterans Affairs; VA POA: 4M8
Member of National Organization of Veterans Advocates
Law Offices of Charles E. Brown PLLC
16245 Diamond Bay Drive, Wimauma, FL 33598
Office: (248) 891-1331; Fax: (813) 419-4064
Email: cebrownlawyer@gmail.com