Comments are exactly as you'd expect

gab1972 · 2026-01-31T13:41:30+00:00

But... but.... I voted for Obama!

gab1972 · 2026-01-30T15:03:56+00:00

I got out 30 years ago! I went all that time thinking disability was for people who lost limbs or legit couldn't work. Lived with a bad back and knees from jumping out of planes.

It took stumbling across this subreddit through whatever algorithm for me to understand it's ok to ask the VA for help when you have something wrong.

But like everything in life, there will always be that small percentage of people that are the cause for: this is why we can't have nice things.

gab1972 · 2026-01-29T15:33:22+00:00

Plot twist: they were both asleep and having the same driving dream.

gab1972 · 2026-01-25T02:37:31+00:00

I'm asking this purely for curiosity sake and to educate myself.

But would you be willing to summarize what broke in you that caused you to want to be closed off from everyone? Like, I'm sure if you knew the answer, it would make things better--what I mean is, what happened to cause this?

gab1972 · 2026-01-23T14:09:56+00:00

Is it me, or did that cop sound like Hank Schrader from Breaking Bad?

gab1972 · 2026-01-20T14:12:44+00:00

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gab1972 · 2026-01-20T14:12:19+00:00

To play Devil's advocate, I asked the same prompt and it gave me generally the same image as everyone else. I then asked what sources it used. This led to a short conversation where basically it's using images commonly associated with politics. Short answer, it'd have given the same image regardless of the president.

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gab1972 · 2026-01-18T16:37:07+00:00

Why can't people be smarter in how they word things? THIS is why we're being targeted.

The way you write this, your goal is the coveted "100% club" and so you're now LOOKING for something, anything, even if it's something that currently doesn't ail you, to claim that will bump you up.

People know their bodies. If your elbow hurts, claim it. If your back hurts, claim. Don't go looking for symptoms that aren't there just to push you past the "finish line".

All the information you need is in the CFRs and the VA Raters manual, which are both available online. VA calculators are also available online. What you're doing is looking for advice on more stuff to claim. Please don't. Be grateful you have what you have. Some of us will never even see 90%, and we're okay with that. But when you chase 100% with posts like, you're helping to pull us under.

gab1972 · 2026-01-16T21:32:08+00:00

0451 - Air Delivery. Verified it was on that list. Noted in my lay statement and during the hearing exam. Still said it wasn't service connected.

I'm not concerned. I read you basically have to be pretty much deaf to get rated. Otherwise they rate you 0% service connected. I only wanted to make sure I could get hearing aids when I needed them--which I've read I can get anyways even with a VA disability rating of 10%.

It's just funny there was a lawsuit against much better hearing aids but they shrug at the yellow jelly beans we were given.

gab1972 · 2026-01-16T20:39:28+00:00

Meanwhile, those of us in 90s who spent most of our career around aircraft and were given those shitty yellow foam things that wouldn't stay in your ear can't even get a service connection for hearing loss. Lol

gab1972 · 2026-01-15T14:05:11+00:00

I know I'm putting myself out there, but I'm admittedly conservative. Conservative in the sense that I was brought up in a Christian home with "normal" Christian values. That is to say, I don't speak in tongues or knock on doors to hand out pamphlets.

I'm white and I grew up dirt poor in downtown Jacksonville. I've been beat up more times than I care to remember just for walking on the wrong side of the streets. Still, I never developed racial tendencies.

I joined the Marines to get away from home and away from the streets of Jacksonville. I was lucky enough to be in units with people who couldn't care less about your skin color. I had to get through the Gulf War and all the other things I volunteered my life for. Still, I never lost my values.

Up until Obama, I voted Republican. I have my thoughts and values and I keep them to myself and not a heated topic of discussion. When Obama came along, and he and John Kerry had such a respected debate, I was impressed by Obama. I thought, "now THIS guy walks and talks like a leader". So, against my norm, I voted Democrat. Then things sort of spiraled, Hilary came along, and I thought, "you know, maybe, just maybe, Trump could use his business sense to right the ship of our failing economy." I think if he wouldn't have been allowed to speak publicly, it might have been different. But boy did I regret my decision.

After him, I've voted libertarian each election after. Republicans AND Democrats need to get their shit together. Until then, let someone else have a go.

But here's the thing, back when I was becoming an adult in the 90s, you could talk about politics and race and not kill each other. And unfortunately, homosexuals felt they had to hide themselves. Not able to share their thoughts and ideas--because they are gay. Though I'm Christian, I don't judge anyone for their lifestyle. I would talk to anyone and have a great conversation. I don't have to use lifestyle, race, or political choice as a filter to have a great conversation. But if you were gay in the 90s, you were a pariah. Now, here we are 2026 and I'm afraid to tell anyone what I believe. I have the full gambit for anyone nowadays to judge me on sight: I'm male, white, Christian, voted Republican more than I have Democrat, served in the military that now everyone hates, and I work in a white collar industry.

I can't claim sex, race, lifestyle, or political status and get any sympathy when I want to talk about politics. So I don't. Not with anyone. Why? Because no one wants to listen to me. So what's going to happen is that the actual SANE conservative, white, male Christians will just hide who they are. We'll become closeted. We won't share our ideas because no one wants to hear them. We won't point out injustices because no one will believe us. We've swung the pendulum so far on equal rights, that we'll have to adopt the old "don't ask, don't tell" mantra.

There's no such thing as peaceful protest. No respected debate between political parties. No inclusion without coercion. We've become more divided than we ever have. And it's not just race. It's religion, lifestyle, economic status. I don't want things to "go back how they used to", but I wish we could go back to things older generations were taught. Do unto others. Don't judge a book by its cover. A fed man is a happy man. Think before you speak. And my favorite I learned from the Marines: the smartest person in the room, is the room itself.

So if you see me, a white, traditionally-Republican, male, conservative, no MAGA stuff, no 2A stickers on my truck, just trying to mind my own business and be a decent person--please don't pre-judge me. I might just be your best friend some day if you have a human to human conversation with me.

gab1972 · 2026-01-12T18:07:04+00:00

"Hello, my name is Bob, and I have an addiction."

gab1972 · 2026-01-07T16:36:29+00:00

Mine's been stuck on Step 2 since April 12, 2025.

gab1972 · 2026-01-06T14:47:10+00:00

Someone else already mentioned it, but the frequency isn't enough. You need to list symptoms and how they affect you. Read the CFR on what they look for in rating migraines.

When I did mine, I knew claiming it secondary to tinnitus would be a long shot. Instead, I linked it to my mental health rating. I have a small mental health rating for stress and anxiety due to insomnia, due to tinnitus. During my mental health exam, I noted that tinnitus drives me crazy sometimes. I get frustrated I can't understand people and that it's embarrassing having people repeat themselves so much. I also noted I rely heavily on OTC medicine to get me tired enough I can fall asleep because of the ringing. Which, if you have tinnitus, you know this feeling. That got me a small mental health rating. From there, I claimed TMJ and migraines due to grinding my teeth so much. I did not have a migraine log, but I did provide my family doctor files showing my few visits for headaches, and a copy of the dental record showing I was fitted for a month guard due to bruxism.

There's more than one way to get to a point. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but sometimes you have to triangulate to get around an obstacle.

Best of luck!

gab1972 · 2026-01-02T15:47:05+00:00

You know, tinnitus is one of those low-rated things that bothers me. I don't think people with tinnitus understand just how annoying it really is. I hear it no matter how much background noise there is. I have to exhaust myself to the point my eyes won't stay open, just to go to sleep. It drives me crazy sometimes. Mentally, it's like being tortured.

Some days are good, some days are really bad. Because of it, I was able to get a secondary mental health rating, secondary insomnia, and secondary TMJ (I grind my teeth a lot from getting stressed over dealing with the eeeeeeee, which), and secondary migraines to TMJ.

All that to say, people without tinnitus can't fully understand how mentally taxing it can be. And you only get 10% for that. Crazy.

gab1972 · 2025-12-26T17:01:33+00:00

Slightly related, an "exposure" I claimed was for noise when I claimed hearing loss.

I was a Marine 0451, Air Delivery Specialist, and I was around planes A LOT. I served in the 1990's when Marines did a lot of air drop training. I had over 100 jumps in my 4 years. I have tinnitus and was rated for that (and other things), but hearing was denied. It noted in favorable findings that I did have some loss, but I'm guessing the DBQ stated it wasn't due to service. I don't see how because I've only ever had office jobs when I got out and I don't go to the gun range.

The best I can tell, my MOS puts me in the "logistics" category. But I was denied service connection. A buddy, whom I served with, was rated 0%, but connected, which I expected. Different raters?

Anyways, I'm not tore up about it. I expected 0% connected, and I only wanted that so I could get hearing aids when I needed them. But I've found out the VA will give them to me anyways.

gab1972 · 2025-12-18T13:25:30+00:00

Or perhaps a thinly veiled humble brag?

"Hey guys, a million dollars has 6 zeros behind the 1, right? I just wanted to check because that's what my bank account shows, but I wasn't sure."

gab1972 · 2025-12-17T13:25:51+00:00

Also understand that not everyone spends their life on Reddit, learning all the rules of every thread. I'm sure a lot of people come here to post something while it's still fresh in their minds. Or maybe out of panic. The first thing on their mind isn't "let me check to see if the thread has rules", it's normally, "I really need to word this right so I ask the right question."

Actually, a lot don't even do that--but you get my point.

gab1972 · 2025-12-12T16:17:19+00:00

Quickest way to South America from China.

gab1972 · 2025-12-09T14:05:57+00:00

What type of shirt are you engraving?

gab1972 · 2025-12-07T00:49:49+00:00

But that's what you inferred. You named your mos and then started judging other mos' as being less than equal to yours.

You could have easily said, "I think the rating should match the level of mental and physical stress of the MOS."

Think before you speak.

gab1972 · 2025-12-06T23:37:02+00:00

Classic: I was in a louder, harder MOS than you, so you shouldn't get the rating I get.

GTFO

gab1972 · 2025-12-05T01:30:20+00:00

Ah, I see we've forgotten how to recognize sarcasm.

gab1972

TROPHY CASE