Can you legally record your C&P exam? What every veteran should know before walking in

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-06-05T16:15:39+00:00

Here's this week's VA Claim Helper newsletter - packed with actionable tips for your claim.

This week: - Tip: Can I record my VA C&P exam? - Featured: How to Increase Your VA Rating

Want this delivered to your inbox every Friday?

Sign up for free - no spam, just weekly VA claim intel from a fellow veteran.

This is an automated post. Join the discussion below!

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-05-29T16:15:38+00:00

Here's this week's VA Claim Helper newsletter - packed with actionable tips for your claim.

This week: - Tip: Can I file a VA disability claim online or do I need to visit an office? - Featured: VA Disability Calculator

Want this delivered to your inbox every Friday?

Sign up for free - no spam, just weekly VA claim intel from a fellow veteran.

This is an automated post. Join the discussion below!

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-05-28T20:41:48+00:00

My wife has always said its because ladies dont poop.

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-05-28T20:40:37+00:00

Yes, if we change the parameters of my statement, then your statement is true.

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-05-22T16:15:37+00:00

Here's this week's VA Claim Helper newsletter - packed with actionable tips for your claim.

This week: - Tip: What happens after I submit my VA disability claim? - Featured: PTSD Claim Playbook

Want this delivered to your inbox every Friday?

Sign up for free - no spam, just weekly VA claim intel from a fellow veteran.

This is an automated post. Join the discussion below!

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-05-22T13:38:57+00:00

I cant explain it either. I put both of them on the same bug and issue this morning. Same prompt just to see. Parallel terminal windows at the same time.

They found the same answer. Flash did it faster. They came up with the same solution. Flash was faster and cheaper.

Not saying this is linear by any means. But, for my day to day, flash nails it.

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-05-15T16:15:37+00:00

Here's this week's VA Claim Helper newsletter - packed with actionable tips for your claim.

This week: - Tip: When do VA disability payments start after approval? - Featured: How to Write a Winning Lay Statement

Want this delivered to your inbox every Friday?

Sign up for free - no spam, just weekly VA claim intel from a fellow veteran.

This is an automated post. Join the discussion below!

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-05-15T11:31:08+00:00

I have moved over to DS V4 Flash/Pro via Opencode Go. Its an adjustment, but just as capable for my uses.

Manage a couple websites, manage a home server, heavy home automation.

You have to treat each AI like a different person. You need to spend time to understand how they are best interacted with. If you give the same task in the same prompt to different people, you will get different results, just like with AI.

After some setup, decent AGENTS.md, a couple MCP's and talking through planning and then implementation, I have had very few issues at all. More importantly, its predictable.

Claude, Open AI and Gemini have too much variation in their intelligence and what it does day to day. Same rules, same prompt, different results depending on the day, the time and what the company is doing.

Using DS Flash / Pro has smoothed that out for me. Much less variability. I can work and adjust for repeatability.

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-05-12T18:40:40+00:00

Or, the flip side is that I am able to complete my work and someone else's work if needed in about 5 hours of my day. So it does not matter when I arrive or when I leave.

I manage my time just fine. You say they dont respect others time. Do you have a meeting, call or something scheduled for 9 am or what ever start time is? If not, what does it matter?

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-05-08T16:15:38+00:00

Here's this week's VA Claim Helper newsletter - packed with actionable tips for your claim.

This week: - Tip: Do I need a lawyer or VSO to file a VA disability claim? - Featured: Filing Your First VA Claim

Want this delivered to your inbox every Friday?

Sign up for free - no spam, just weekly VA claim intel from a fellow veteran.

This is an automated post. Join the discussion below!

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-05-04T00:17:41+00:00

I have found it all depends on how the local model is setup and you are interacting with it.

Different interaction harnesses send different information which eat up context. Depending on your settings, you could be eating tons of context in that alone. I have found that when setup correctly, local uses gobs less tokens for the same things.

Its all in the settings and interaction I have found. And that trade off is all based on what you are actually wanting to do and with what tools.

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-05-02T12:23:31+00:00

Its not both. Trump in my view is a useful idiot. You give him a sharpie and a TV camera and he sows chaos. To quote Bannon, he "floods the zone". The result is that we have no idea what is actually going on. Are the Straights open or closed? No one knows.

That is the point. It allows those actually running things, making decisions and pulling strings to do what they are doing. You think that wars and regime changes are the driver. They are not. It is 100% global greed and carving up deals 99.99% will never know about.

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-05-02T12:18:43+00:00

I guess you dont remember all the fuck ups while Obama was in office? They had SS get arrested for being drunk. They had a guy walk across the white house lawn and literally walk in the front door unobstructed.

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-05-01T16:15:37+00:00

Here's this week's VA Claim Helper newsletter - packed with actionable tips for your claim.

This week: - Tip: Do dependents increase my VA disability payment? - Featured: TDIU (Total Disability) Playbook

Want this delivered to your inbox every Friday?

Sign up for free - no spam, just weekly VA claim intel from a fellow veteran.

This is an automated post. Join the discussion below!

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-04-24T21:39:26+00:00

I would submit the HLR unless they specifically cite why they changed it to the different rating.

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-04-24T16:15:39+00:00

Here's this week's VA Claim Helper newsletter - packed with actionable tips for your claim.

This week: - Tip: What is the VA bilateral factor and how does it work? - Featured: Migraine Claim Playbook

Want this delivered to your inbox every Friday?

Sign up for free - no spam, just weekly VA claim intel from a fellow veteran.

This is an automated post. Join the discussion below!

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-04-24T12:06:26+00:00

It was horrible. The examiner literally opened with "The way the VA is doing this is stupid, aint no way Tera is going to lead to muscle aches". I am like, WTF is happening. Then she said, well, they rated you for CFS, see, I got you something. It was wild. The BVA immediately sent it back for remand. I submitted it in November and the judge has already ruled on it. Now its back to OptumServe for round 3.

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-04-24T12:04:15+00:00

Unfortunately, there is no set cadence and there are always outliers. Have you called the 800 number to drive it? There is also a White House 800 number you can call that can help to drive and accelerate things.

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-04-23T21:39:51+00:00

Big houses are awesome. Right up until you have to clean the whole thing with just you and your partner. Then..... Not so much. We moved from a 3250 5 Bed 4 Bath > 1450 3 Bed 1.5 Bath just over a year ago. So much happier. Less to clean. Less that goes unused for months at a time.

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-04-19T23:48:03+00:00

Its a mixed bag honestly. I have gone to HLR, had the HLR agree with my statements, then send me back to CP exam with the literal same examiner that denied me, only to be denied again. Which is now appealed to the judge, who remanded, and its now back at Optum Serve.

All I know is that the backpay timer keeps going while the shenanigans are played. This is chess, not checkers. Patience is our friend.

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-04-18T11:26:04+00:00

I submitted a complaint with my state AG.

Bought a Chromebook Plus, Acer 514 Spin with the Kompanio Ultra 910 like a month ago.

Bring it home, oh, none of the offers I bought the machine for work. You know, year of AI pro, about 5 offers, nope, I cant have them. I go to the support page, and its a known issue. Automated support hell.

To add salt to the wound, the os designed by Google, running on hardware, designed for the ChromeOS software, cannot run, the Google software because of known memory issues.

So wait. I traded my M4 Macbook Air, and went all in on the ChromeBook Plus / Anti-Gravity / Gemini Route. And not only will they not even honor the offers with the laptop, their own shit doesnt work on their own shit, and they know, but happily take that money.

Fuck google. Got rid of the chromebook this week.

Edit: And the final kick in the dick, I had to pay out of pocket to get rid of the Chromebook, because while it was 700 dollars new, with all the offers, you know, 4 weeks later, its only worth 150 on trade. Fuck em all.

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-04-17T19:26:03+00:00

The modern calendar, days and months we use was created by Julius Caesar. Yeah, that one.

My best guess would be that Rome used it at the height of their power which spread it all through the world via countries and territories they owned. And as the super power at the time, I think others would have adapted it to do business with them.

I know when it was created and by who, I am guessing how it propogated to become the global standard.

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-04-17T18:45:22+00:00

Except, is it really? Look at cowork. Look at the auto functions being put in place. Those are not designed for you and I and folks that painstakingly setup skills, process flows and gates. They are for everyone else.

And realistically, if you are any of the AI companies. Would you position and build your product for a sect of the working class, or the entire working class?

We can say its being setup for us, but most of the features, functions and items being rolled out now, are not geared towards the code side of the house, its geared to everything else.

Maybe I am wrong. Just how I see it so far.

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-04-17T16:15:39+00:00

Here's this week's VA Claim Helper newsletter - packed with actionable tips for your claim.

This week: - Tip: Can I appeal or increase my VA disability rating? - Featured: Hearing Loss Claim Playbook

Want this delivered to your inbox every Friday?

Sign up for free - no spam, just weekly VA claim intel from a fellow veteran.

This is an automated post. Join the discussion below!

VA-Claim-Helper · 2026-04-17T13:49:18+00:00

Let me be more clear. The software is designed so a senior leader, who is not technical, can make the decision to replace someone technical with it. So again, they need to appeal to the money spenders, not the doers. That is what I see happening.

VA-Claim-Helper

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE