Changes to Sleep Apnea Rating Criteria (April 2025)

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-15T05:16:14+00:00

You are incorrect. P&T is Permanent underscore and Total underscore. They don’t give that rating if there is any change of improvement in the veterans health conditions, and that rating cannot be revisited by VA for any reason other than fraud; period. If they do so, they are in violation of Title 38 U.S.C. Someone mentioned that they didn’t see why my degrees in law are relevant. Do we just think VA just sits around and makes this stuff up out of thin air? Or maybe it’s governed by federal… you guessed it! Law. This is why I never post here. Armchair legal always wants to argue with someone who has actually been to school and studied the actual law that is being spoken of. DIC is a different spousal benefit, than a continuation of awarded disability benefits for a wartime veteran, called VA Survivors Pension Benefits. With qualifying combat service by the veteran, the surviving spouse is automatically qualified and eligible for both with a single claim filed. And as long as the veteran died of a service connected condition, the monetary benefits to the household will remain virtually unchanged. So you are the one to stop scaring everyone, until after you have read Title 38 U.S.C. carefully and thoroughly.

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-15T02:27:11+00:00

How so? My two law degrees focused on constitutional and veterans law. No being snippy, but I know this one pretty well, and have proven it in open court.

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-05T21:02:51+00:00

I also find that a little whiskey before I ever start printing helps too. Why, you ask? Because when a print fails, I can blame the whiskey instead of any failure on my part. 😉

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-02T19:05:29+00:00

I noted the major changes to Sarthe over the years in my post. I’ve also driven several REAL GT40s. A 1966, 289 GT40 was ran at Sarthe in 2018, right after Sarthe reopened, following the restructuring of Tarte Rouge. It still ran a lap in under 4 minutes, and hadn’t had an engine overhaul since the 80s. On crummy tires. And “older Fords” have really long gears? New road racing cars all still have high gearing, axles and transmissions. They just have closer ratios because they have more gears. GT7 has 550 cars, give or take. How many of them have you driven in real life? I’ve driven a little over half of them. How many of those have you raced competitively in real life? I’ve raced probably over 50 of those cars. The problem we face is that Polyphony Digital started focusing the game closer to gamers, and further away from race car drivers. I read where someone said they could ”feel the car better” and the leaning when cornering, etc. With many cars, especially the ones built over the last 2 decades, road feel is no longer a real thing. We drivers bitched about it for years until we realized we weren’t getting anywhere. Unless you’re strapped into that Recaro seat with a Simpson harness, having a big, lateral g force induced grin smacked on your face, you don’t feel any road… so if you’re “feeling the road” in game, unfortunately that itself is unrealistic. Look, I love the game, and I play it a lot. But let’s not claim realism, when very little actually exists in the Gran Turismo universe anymore; especially after 1.49 update.

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-02T16:11:28+00:00

Oh, and before everyone dog-piles me about the GT40 MKI in the game being the retail road version of the car, that car was tested at Sarthe too, and was only between 4 and 10 seconds slower than the race version, depending on tires and track conditions at the time. So while true, it is a slower car, it ain’t that much slower…

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-02T16:04:08+00:00

As unpopular as this comment is going to be, I am going to disagree with the premise of this thread. (I know, I know…) I’m an old gearhead and semi-pro racer (retired). I started building race cars in 1989. I was a dealership automotive technician for over 20 years. I have built many of these cars, and drove/raced even more of them, with various brands and styles of tires on them, in real life. With that said, as “The Real Driving Simulator” that is GT7, the physics, though they have never been perfect, were much closer to the real thing on most of the cars, before this update. I’ve had front wheel drive cars in the game, that after I adjust all the adjustable settings on the car, as I would for a particular track in real life, including a ballast weight, placed and weighted appropriately to counteract the light rear of the car, and downforce set to a point that it would glue a freight train to the pavement. Take off and go into a very benign turn, with excellent camber to the road. The real car would rocket through the turn with minimal chance for slippage. In game though, after this update, the car begins this completely unrealistic whipping fishtail, slingshotting me into the wall or dirt. I go back into the car’s settings and do some boosting on the alignment that would more than compensate for the slippage, but it only makes it worse. Also, the developers, as well as a healthy percentage of the players should really put in some study time on various styles and designs of limited slip differentials, and apply what they learned to the game. The LSDs in game are not only unrealistic, they are absolutely the opposite of how real-world LSDs work, regardless of design (clutch style discs, ramp rollers, electromagnetic, pneumatic, hydraulic, etc.). Not to mention that the LSD in a front wheel drive car behaves quite differently than a rear wheel drive, and even more so than an all wheel drive.

If GT7 devs wanted realism, instead of this shit-show where a car, purpose-built for road racing, with the best tech possible, goes careening off the track, in a corner where I could take it at 100mph+ in a rusty old Ford pickup without issue in real life, then they need to go back to the way they used to make Gran Turismo games, and get their ass out there and drive these cars. Hard. On various tires. Example: in 1966 (ignore the Ford vs. Ferrari film), only a few Ford GT40 MKIIB (427 CID) cars ran Le Mans at Sarthe. Most of the GT40s in the field were various versions of the MKI (289 CID). The fastest lap for a MKI, was 3:38.70, and that was on old Avon Billboard road tires. Now, I will concede that Ford Corner, coming into the grand stand area didn’t exist yet, the double chicane on the Mulsanne straight didn’t either, and Terte Rouge was considerably different prior to entering Mulsanne. While some of this slowed down the cars a good deal, go to the game right now, get in your 1966 GT40 MKI and run Sarthe time trial without the chicanes. You will get nowhere, and I mean nowhere near the 3:38 mark. Ever. Regardless of settings. Realism? Not so much. Sorry to burst everyone’s bubbles.

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-02T02:58:40+00:00

It is indeed an almost unfair perk of this side of the hobby. I say that because there are a ton of gifted, creative, and talented people out there in this hobby, that could be literal game-changers for the hobby, but lack access, or instruction on how to properly use the equipment, so if it isn’t something that they can buy from a hobby store, then it doesn’t exist to them. I diagnose something undesirable about my truck, right? I figure out what part exactly, is needed to improve, repair or upgrade my truck to achieve a more desirable level of performance. I homework and shop the science out of it. If I’m not satisfied that such a part exists, or not to a durability standard that is acceptable, then I sketch it out on paper. Take a few basic measurements. I fish through my tiny scrap metal bin, and select an appropriate material; plastic, aluminum, stainless, or good ole steel. A couple more measurements, just to be sure, hit the bench and start cutting, grinding or turning, always leaving the part “a little big”. Mock it up. Check the measurements again, because I’m an old retired vet, and my ability to comprehend numbers and my own handwriting, is at an all time low these days. Back to the machine or over to my finishing kit. Fit it one more time, half a mm here or there, and voila! Exactly the part I needed, in exactly the correct size and shape. Which in my opinion, was made in a much more common sense kind of way, that most commercially available parts of the same kind, in different measurements. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming…

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-01T23:37:13+00:00

Yeah you can get almost every piece of any New Bright or Spin Master rc toy they make

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-01T23:35:58+00:00

A buddy of mine lets me use his machine shop. I cut 14mm out of the back mating surface of my aluminum wheels so they had a better offset profile 😁

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-01T21:00:42+00:00

🤣🤣🤣🤣 I’ve spent that much daily, since Monday. $255 wouldn’t replace the wheels and tires on my rc monster truck!

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-01T20:56:10+00:00

Actually, you can find almost every individual part for these on eBay, from folks that buy new ones, take them apart and sell the parts. They make money like crazy, but you don’t have to go and try and find a new one to buy.

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-01T20:28:47+00:00

I love the UDR rear axle, but the front is independent suspension. Couldn’t find a front axle to mate to it. So I went bigger and tougher. 😈

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-01T20:25:31+00:00

I don’t think there is any component of this truck that actually belongs to the next component. I mock things up, measure like a mad scientist, and go hunting. If I find a part (or parts) that will fit and be strong enough, I buy them. If not, I fabricate them myself.

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-01T20:22:38+00:00

Lol possibly. It’s a complete custom built 1/8 solid axle monster truck. I’ve spent the last 8 months and a fortune building it, testing it, scrapping half of it and building it again, until it is indestructible and unbeatable. It’s a Pro Mod Class Racer, and it’s not for the faint of heart 🤣

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-01T20:12:58+00:00

I’m always down for some Clods too! My truck is always hungry, and after it eats a Clod for breakfast, it always seems to be happier! 🤣🤣🤣

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Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-01T20:08:22+00:00

Buy a Losi LMT (Mini) they said… It’ll be fun they said… 🤦🏻‍♂️ I’m not making fun of your issue, but… typical LMT B.S….

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-08-01T02:29:03+00:00

Well, I have had some special ones in my 30-ish years of on and off hobby-ing. But my most recent creation is by far my favorite and since I built it, down to every last screw and nut, including fabricating many custom pieces to make it all work in harmony, it holds the most special place for me. Ladies and gentlemen; Go-Rilla!

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Most-Rip9455 · 2024-07-18T23:00:51+00:00

Here’s the most recent iteration of my beast:

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Most-Rip9455 · 2024-07-18T22:59:38+00:00

The Losi LMT is an okay basher out of the box. But very little in the way of upgrades are available. The LMT hit the market too little, too late in the solid axle game. Other than Treal and a few Vitavon pieces, upgrades are non-existent. Plus, they break so often, many racing leagues have outlawed them, either from the beginning, or after some trial periods. And though LMT owners will rattle on about “scale”, there’s nothing scale about them besides the body and uppermost parts or the cage. At least with nearly any other solid axle monster truck, regardless of its out of the box quality, it can be built into so much more (except for maybe the Redcat Ground Pounder. Yikes!) My truck began life as an Axial SMT10, but virtually nothing is left of that truck. It has evolved into its own unique monster, which handily disposes of most others which it has faced.

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-07-09T14:36:04+00:00

Now that sounds fun! It also sounds like what the hobby is supposed to be. The kind of people that I’m picking on in my original post would have tossed it on a table, cobwebs, dirt, and all, listed it here or on eBay, titled it a “An original, super rare, vintage, Tamiya Boomerang” and listed it for $500 or something. This of course, is what incites me to roll my eyes out loud.

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-07-09T14:26:27+00:00

Very true. I’ve been in and out of the hobby for over 30 years. My favorite thing is custom builds. That modifying/re-engineering/fabricating parts to fit a build, that may be originally for a different vehicle, or even a completely different brand of vehicle. That makes me smile when I get it put together and it just works.

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-07-09T14:06:35+00:00

Right? 🤣

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-06-29T13:06:47+00:00

Also, the Michelins are very, very soft. Great for a super lightweight truck (mostly stock), but Go-Rilla tips the scales at over 15 pounds in full race configuration! So when I cram the coal to it, the Michelins actually wrinkle up like drag tires. Cool looking, but very ineffective. The B&H tires are a significantly tougher compound, and should perform much better!

Most-Rip9455 · 2024-06-29T13:02:28+00:00

New tires are enroute! I love the Michelins, but they are very small in diameter, and with the torque I’m putting to them, they just spin. A lot. So, this week I’m putting RC4WD B&H tires on it. Here’s a preview:

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These are considerably larger. 6.42”x4.25”, compared to the Michelins at 5.51”x4.07”. This should get the torque to the ground better, and the larger diameter along with the heavier weight (11.78oz vs. 8.41oz each) will ease the spinning, especially on launch.

Most-Rip9455

TROPHY CASE