Meet Sparrow, an average man passing an average life…
Friday, October 2
It’s cold in the morning now when going for a walk, but don’t worry because ol’ Sparrow, the wuss, is toasty warm when he heads out…The cold gear tights are now in rotation and so are is the watch cap liner I bought last year…Today is was a bit below freezing when yours truly headed out, which is a great temperature to walk in…You’re grateful the hot summer is over and the brutal cold and snow that will prevent walks is still a few weeks off…Heck, it’s even still warm enuff to get some deep breathing in.
I’m not entirely certain my reflective vest is doing much good…Recall I gave it a test in a dark kitchen with a flashlight last week, but I think I might stick it on a fence post or something and stand back and see how it looks with actual oncoming traffic.
There were several messages from Mr W on arrival at the Veterans Service Office this morning…Recall he was the older vet I made a house call to last week and who for a time thought he was going to get evicted from his house, tho some investigation on my part showed he wasn’t, at least not yet…Apparently, Mr W did not have a good week, one of his messages said he’d been transported to the ER here in town and apparently the paperwork required to get the VA paying for it has been started, tho Mr W did not say who this was…When I talked to him he indicated a laundry list of maladies and said he has an appointment on Wednesday at the clinic in the next county.
The first appointment was Josh and he was actually a bit early and caught me without my falsies in because, frankly, I seldom wear them anymore, especially because you have to wear a mask everywhere…Josh would like to file a claim for PTSD and he’s already rated at 30% for his shoulder and he would also like to file a claim for his hernia that was diagnosed when he got out…He said he worked mortars in the army and I asked how his hearing was and he said it sucked and I said that would make a good claim, too.
It’s important here not to talk like a snake oil salesman and promise a vet three grand a month…You explain the process to him: there has to be an ailment caused in the service, there has to be a current problem and there has to be a doctor will say that the current condition is caused by the previous condition…Then you might have something…I told Josh to make an appointment with his VA doctor and tell them what you want and let’s see what the results are…As it was, we did file a power of attorney form so ol’ Sparrow can represent him in front of the VA and an intent to file so any claims awarded would have today as the start date for payments.
Mr J was early for his 1500 appointment, too…Recall we’ve been in email contact with his daughter in New Zealand and he’s in his 70s and is a Vietnam vet and he’s distrustful of the VA based on some experiences he had in the 1990s when he was trying to get a couple of claims approved…He didn’t want to come in, but Christy said I was OK and evidently another vet he knew said I wasn’t Satan incarnate, either, so he favored me with an appointment.
He’s an interesting man…He hasn’t had a job for 30 years and hasn’t paid taxes in that long and I think he’s a carpenter by trade, and he’s been working for cash or trading his labor for whatever needs he might have…You might think someone like this would show wear and tear from this hardscrabble life but no, he was clean and so were his clothes and his long hair, beard and mustache were clean and showed signs of recent attention.
In situations like this, you best be listening and ol’ Sparrow as all ears…He told me, at length, about his past problems with the VA and if he rambled, oh well, I want him to have a good experience with me so he doesn’t flee, so he can get whatever benefits he’s earned…I told him I respected his past experiences with the VA and I also emphasized I do not work for the VA, I am employed by the county to be of service to veterans in dealing with the VA and he seemed to like that.
I did tell him things have changed since the 1990s when the VA was dismissing claims left and right…I told him that all Vietnam vets are now presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange and that the VA now presumes certain ailments were caused by this exposure, so there was no longer any need to prove these things…He does need a VA physical and his medical care application was sent in before his daughter called me – she did it online from New Zealand – and once we have that we’ll know his health and what he would and would not be eligible for…We did fill out and send in the usual power of attorney and intent to file forms and we made an appointment for next Friday to fill out the VA pension application…It’s not much, it supplements whatever income you have to get you back up to the federal poverty level – about $12,000 for one person – and he has no income at all right now and I will have to find out if having lived off the grid for the past 30 years will cause a problem.
Sparrow’s Sleep Log:
1800 Thursday until 0200 Friday
1800 Friday until 2130 Friday.
11.5 hours for the day and the weekly total will be updated tomorrow…Apologies are issued.
The Diary of a Nobody is a novel. All elements are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Anything else is a coincidence.
It was inspired by the 19th-century British novel of the same name.
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