Category Archives: Tips and Tricks

R1–DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC

Posted on January 6, 2022 by asknod

Sometimes I feel as if I’ve been gifted a VA faery wand whereby I can just wave it and pumpkins turn into coaches and mice to steeds. Wait. Hold that. Wrong faerytale. Perhaps,  a truckload of silver iodide and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Aid and Attendance, All about Veterans, AO, BvA and VARO CUE DECISIONS, BvA Decisions, CUE, Humor, R1/R2, SMC, Tips and Tricks, VA Agents, VA Attorneys, VBMS Tricks, Veterans Law, Vietnam Disease Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

FORT FUMBLE, ANYWHERE USA–WHEN FIRST WE PRACTICE TO DECEIVE

Posted on January 2, 2022 by asknod

Happy New Year, pilgrims. I don’t ever want to come across as too bubbly and effervescent in these posts because I know there are many of you struggling to survive-both medically and financially. Concomitantly, I try to avoid giving false … Continue reading →

Posted in Aid and Attendance, Appeals Modernization Act, CUE, R1/R2, SMC, Tips and Tricks, VA Agents, VBMS Tricks | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

BVA-SMC(r)(1)–YOU MAKE MY DREAMS COME TRUE

Posted on December 18, 2021 by asknod

Last night, Cupcake announced she was watching a new series on the boobtube called Project Runway. The meaning of that phrase was indelibly planted in my brain in 1970 flying into a mountaintop Lima Site airstrip on top of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Aid and Attendance, BvA Decisions, Humor, Inspirational Veterans, SMC, Tips and Tricks, VA Agents, Veterans Law, Vietnam War history | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

LORD, TELL ME IT’S NOT THAT MEDRANO

Posted on December 8, 2021 by asknod

Cupcake and I were having coffee yesterday morning and I was scrolling down through my Google® newsfeed when I inadvertently administered (again) a coffee enema to my nose. The article described a former Marine, now a Veterans Service Officer (soon … Continue reading →

Posted in All about Veterans, CAVC Knowledge, CAVC ruling, CAVC/COVA Decision, Lay testimony, PTSD, Reductions in rating, Tips and Tricks, VA Agents, Veterans Law, Vietnam War history, VSOs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

2021-GIVING THANKS FOR MAKING IT HOME ALIVE

Posted on November 27, 2021 by asknod

Greetings from the Graham ménagerie-now only eight of us. Our pony, Big Shot (nee Buckshot) passed this fall from Diabetes Mellitus or what passes for pony diabetes. He’s buried out back next to Dude (another pony). Cupcake and I have … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% ratings, Aid and Attendance, Corona pandemic, LZ Cork, R1/R2, SMC, TDIU, Thanksgiving and war, Tips and Tricks, VA Agents, Veterans Law | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

SMC–YOU CAN’T GET THERE FROM HERE

Posted on October 27, 2021 by asknod

I’ve got a wicked case of RA in the R hand from too many legal briefs at an interim desk. I’ve already lost R ring and pinkie to it and now, temporarily the whole hand. It looks like an over … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% ratings, Aid and Attendance, BVA Hearings, SMC, Tips and Tricks, VA Agents | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

LZ CORK–I’LL SEE YOU AND RAISE

Posted on October 11, 2021 by asknod

How shall I start this article? It began in 2014 in a little bar in Key Center Washington over a scotch (neat, with a water back). Butch’s daughter, born shortly after he arrived in country in late 68, had been … Continue reading →

Posted in Agent Orange, All about Veterans, §3.156(c) claims, BvA Decisions, Earlier Effective dates, KP Veterans, LZ Cork, Obtaining a C-file, PTSD, SMC, Tips and Tricks, VA Agents, Veterans Law, Vietnam War history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What Resources Are Available to Help Veterans Start a Business?

Posted on September 16, 2021 by brewerkelli

Today, an estimated 2.5 million businesses are veteran majority-owned. If you want to join their ranks, taking advantage of available resources is wise. That way, you can get the support you need to make your goals a reality. If you … Continue reading →

Posted in Food for thought, Future Veterans, Guest authors, Tips and Tricks, vA news, VR&E | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

SMC–THE PLASTIC FANTASTIC LOVER

Posted on September 12, 2021 by asknod

I see from the asknod statistics that the most viewed items seem to be articles about Special Monthly Compensation- or SMC in VA parlance. I think, to VA, it is an inconvenient truth; an entitlement that has to be granted … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% ratings, Aid and Attendance, Duty to Assist, Humor, Lawyering Up, R1/R2, SMC, Tips and Tricks, VA Agents, VA Attorneys, Veterans Law | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

FORT FUMBLE, NEBRASKA–HELTER SKELTER

Posted on September 4, 2021 by asknod

Only in the corndog capital of the United States could you have a VA adjudicatory mishap of such epic proportions presented with a straight face. Nah. Just kidding. In this day and age, with the VA’s National Work Queue (NWQ), … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% ratings, Aid and Attendance, All about Veterans, Appeals Modernization Act, BvA Decisions, Duty to Assist, Earlier Effective dates, Humor, SMC, Tips and Tricks, VA Agents, VA Motions for Reconsideration, VBMS Tricks, Veterans Law | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments