free_spirit_etc

They have lots of resources online for filing taxes. Some of them are free. Or you might have a friend that has some tax software. You can use the software or program and switch around, figuring out your taxes in different ways (like joint vs. separate) and see how the numbers come out. Some of the programs will even make those comparisons for you in one shot. There is also a lot of information online for how they figure the amount of your social security is taxable - to get the actual scoop of what goes on with the numbers. You can read that if you want a complete understanding - but the easiest way to get an idea of what to do is to figure your taxes different ways and decide what to do. I do seem to recall that I read somewhere that one of the ways of filing is not reversible (i.e. you can't file an amended return and change it) - but I can't remember which way that was. I will see if I can find it. Hope this helps! Free

So where would you get records showing the drinking water, storage, and disposal from the early 70's?

Larry, Thanks! It sounds like I have to look into getting some of those little insulation foam do-dads for the outlets and switch plates. It was around zero here a couple of days, and those days sure let you know where the cold comes into the house. So I need to do something with my doors (besides hang a blanket over them). Michelle, I am not sure what kind of electric heaters you are using, but I would be concerned about the plugs getting hot. I like the little oil filled radiators. I have a few of those and they keep my house pretty nice without even having to turn them on high, except on the zero kind of days. I would rather run several on lower heat than to have one or two cranked up to high all the time. This year I also have a portable furnace to go along with them, but it hardly kicks on at all until it gets pretty cold outside. It did run quite a bit when it got down to zero. Free

Welcome to Hadit! :)

Now there's a thought! B)

Ah... This is good news. B) I may go ahead and see about getting an IMO without getting the rest of the C-file. Ironically, what I have not been able to get from the VA is a copy of my husband's discharge physical (They say it doesn't exist) and a complete copy of the VA medical opinion that was used to deny my claim. Neither one is probably actually necessary for an IMO. But I have been worried that the VA would not want to give an IMO any weight unless the doctor could state he reviewed the entire C-file. Free

OMG Pete! That is so sad. And I am so sorry that your brother reached that stage of desperation. If I may make a suggestion, you may want to wait a little while before pursuing anything legal. I am not saying wait forever, but just give yourself some time to heal a little bit - and get a little stronger - before inviting the legal people into your brother's death. I say this because I, too, contacted a couple of attorneys after my husband died. I did not seek a wrongful death case, but did ask about medical malpractice. (NON VA hospital) My husband was given a pain patch. Then they were SUPPOSED to keep track of how much pain medicine he needed IN ADDITION to the patch, to get the proper dose. One problem was that the nurses kept encouraging to NOT wait until he was in pain to take more pain meds. So they kept giving him more medicine (though he wasn't actually in pain), documenting that he "needed" more pain meds (when, in fact, he didn't) - and as a result they TRIPLED his pain patch the following day. They were SUPPOSED to discontinue the other pain meds when they tripled the pain patch. But they "forgot" to. He was really getting loopy, yet the nurse still encouraged him to go ahead and take a pain shot (when he said he didn't want one) under the premise that it was better to not wait until he was in pain. After that his breathing got real slow and he started gurgling. I ran and got the nurses. They ended up having to give him Narcan - which basically makes you go through withdrawal super fast. After that, it was like something inside of him broke. He was already weak - and they kicked his butt with an overdose and a Narcan trip. That is when he started saying he still had the Will to survive, but he didn't think he had the strength anymore. Quite a few people in the medical field told me that the overdose was completely uncalled for. Though the nurses said it was the doctor who FORGOT to discontinue the pain shots when he tripled the patch, others told me that actually, when the doctor messed up - the pharmacy should have caught it, and when the pharmacy messed up, the nurses should have caught it. There were too many people who should have caught it. So I talked to a couple attorneys about medical malpractice. I did not ask for wrongful death - or allege that it had anything to do with his death. I merely asked about medical malpractice - as it should be easy to prove that they really messed up. I was told that though the medical malpractice was easy to prove, that the case wasn't really "worth" anything. I didn't really even care about the money. I just wanted some acknowledgment that that was really some pretty poor care. But the attorneys want / need a significant amount of money to pursue a claim. Though that is understandable, it was really hard to hear that the case wasn't worth very much, because in essence, my husband's life wasn't worth very much. It was explained to me (in a not totally compassionate way) that if malpractice causes you to suffer for years, then your case might be worth something (i.e. all those years of pain and suffering). However, as my husband had a terminal illness - he wasn't expected to live very long anyway - so even if it caused him to suffer, the case would only be "worth" the amount of a few weeks of suffering. Well - to me - the rest of your life is a LONG time. If you don't have much time left, that time becomes more valuable. You don't really want anyone screwing up even one day. But that wasn't the way the attorneys saw it. To them, my husband's life wasn't really "worth very much" by that point. So if you can - give yourself a little time to get strong enough to deal with people looking at your brother's death through legal eyes. Sometimes the legal point of view can be downright harsh. Free

Interesting case.

I think the deadline for Special Claims Handling Procedures For Missing Documents only applied to a specific period involving the shredding incidents. In that, they have kind of relaxed the standards a bit for proving what you sent during that time period. Since what you sent was before that period, the Special Claims Handling Procedures For Missing Documents wouldn't necessarily apply. BUT you can always ask for an earlier effective date with evidence that your claim was submitted at an earlier time. I don't think there is an actual deadline for that. I do, in some ways, like how the VA handles effective dates of claims. I would say that is one way the VA works better than SSA. With SSA, if the ALJ makes a partially favorable decision - and grants the claim at a later date than you applied / requested - you can appeal that decision - but sometimes that can tie up the entire claim (i.e. you might not get paid anything until the appeal is processed) AND the Appeals Council can set the whole decision aside (meaning the whole claim is decided again) so if you appeal the date, you run the risk of another decision being made that you are not disabled. With the VA, from what I understand, once you are found disabled they don't take that away from you (or make you wait forever to get paid) if you appeal the date. From what I understand, if you appeal the effective date, the date is the only issue on the table. Your disability had already been decided.

Broncovet, This is an interesting article. Ohio vets get the second lowest average disability payments in the nation. The last I knew, Illinois (my state) actually placed bottom. I am not following the connection that you made though, that the average disabled vet in Ohio is trying to survive on $674 a month. I would think many of these vets have a job and partial disability. But yes, there is a problem with certain areas having lower ratings overall for there vets. So a vet in Ohio is more likely to have a lower rating on their disabilities than a vet in other states (except Illinois :P ). I remember when my husband was alive they had to have a special outreach program for vets in this region because of the disparity in benefits between this region and the rest of the country - and the fact that there was no way to logically explain why vets in this region had lower ratings. As part of the outreach they were SUPPOSED to send all vets a letter and inform them that if they thought they should have a higher rating, they could request to have their case reviewed through this special outreach. My husband did NOT get the letter, but we found the info online and sent them an IRIS. They just sent back a copy and pasted thing that said that ratings were based on the level of disability, yadayadayadayada. I should see if I can locate that program and my husband's IRIS. I would think that should be considered a request for increase. Free

Am adding my thanks too! You explain things so clearly. I appreciate all the time you take to help us. Free

Jbasser is correct - this is a component of every decision. The AC has the right to review your case on its own motion (as well as if you request a review). I don't have all the stats now, but these are pretty rare, especially since they are so backlogged now. They do have to notify you within 60 days if they are going to review your case. If they do not notify you within 60 days, the ALJ decision is binding. They were doing random reviews - just taking a certain percentage of the cases and reviewing them. I am not sure how many of those they do now. A small percentage. And again, even if they would review your case, they still bound by the conditions of review. They cannot just overturn a decision because they would have decided it differently. They would have to show the judge made an error of law, abused his discretion, there wasn't substantive evidence to support the judge's decision, etc. I think the most chance you would have to have a review on the AC's motion would be if some other component in Social Security thought the judge made a horrid error. I don't have the regulation right now, but there is a means for another component to question the judge's decision. Say the Program Service Center was looking at your claim in effectuating your award, and they noticed some glaring errors in the decision. They do not have the authority to overturn the ALJ decision. Only the Appeals Council has that authority. So the Program Service Center can put in a request that the AC review the decision. Again, I think that is very rare. But it is one of the checks and balances in the system. Most generally, once you have the ALJ Fully Favorable decision - you are good to go! Congrats! Free

Though I have not had to live on a so called “fixed” income, I have spent most of my life living on a what would be called a “limited” income – so I have learned to be resourceful. I do not want to take away from those who are truly in a bind – and are having trouble meeting their living costs with no resources to help them out. I truly have compassion for them, and think we should pitch in and help them all we can. But still, there are those of us who can be resourceful, and make changes in our spending – and I think the sharing of ideas is an excellent idea! Again, I am not a disabled vet on a fixed income. But I am a widow who has spent most of my life living on limited means. Ironically, as a general rule, I have found that for those of us on limited incomes, our money actually goes farther in “down” economies. When things are good for businesses, they don’t really need my money. When businesses start to struggle, all of a sudden they run all kinds of specials trying to get us to spend our money with them. So I am actually able to afford more things in down economies than I am in up ones. Even eating out. I eat out more when the economy becomes such that more people start eating at home. I still watch my money like a hawk. But when TGI Fridays had a special for about a week at the end of October where you could get a free appetizer with the purchase of a drink (even non-alcoholic) at the bar – guess who was there several nights buying a $2.50 cent soda and dining on appetizers that are generally too expensive for me to order. One of our treats is Pizza Hut Pizza. I joined the Complete Savings program that is offered when you order online. I pay $12 a month for the program, but each month they reimburse me $10 on a Pizza Hut purchase (even if I spend less than $10) which almost covers the price of the program. But by being a member, I can buy 4 gift cards a month at 20% off. I generally buy four gas cards. Four $25 gas cards cost me $80. So for $92 a month (Membership and four gift cards) I am getting $100 worth of gas and a $10 Pizza. That is an $18 profit – because we would have bought one pizza a month and gas anyway. (I can also get gift cards for stores, restaurants, etc.) I get other benefits from the program too. (Like they towed my car for free when it broke down.) I have also been taking advantage of bank bonuses this year. One bank ran a special where you could open a bank account for $100 – and they reimbursed you for the first $100 worth of gas you purchased with their debit card. I opened an account for both my son and myself. We got $200 worth of free gas. Actually, I have opened several bank accounts on their bonus offers – and made about $800 in bonuses in one year. I stock up. When something I use is dirt cheap – I stock up. My son likes granola bars. When I was at the commissary and they had boxes for 89 cents – and each box had $1 off coupon – I bought 25 boxes. lol – But 25 boxes cost $22.50 - $25 in coupons – so I made $2.50 and had enough granola bars to last us for quite awhile. (Watch the expiration dates when you stock up). I also scout the Internet for bargains constantly. Starz ran a promotion this spring where if you ordered Starz for 3 months, they would send you a $50 Visa Gift card. I called the cable company and found out they were offering Starz for $5 a month. I called Starz and found out there was no requirement for what you spent on Starz; you just had to order it. So I paid $15 total to have Starz for 3 months and received a $50 gift card for having it. Of course, I cancelled it after 3 months – but I made a $35 profit. I have been needing a new earphone for my cell phone. I waited until I found a rebate. Last month I found a rebate where I could buy a Samsung blue tooth for $20 and get $20 back. Bingo! Got one! Is it the “best” blue tooth in the world? Probably not. Does it work? Yes. Really nice actually. And it was free. I know I am needing a new printer. And I was checking out buying one. But this December Staples ran a promotion where you could buy up to two 20 packs of Duracell batteries a week (for $12.88 each) and get back the FULL purchase price in Staples Rewards (to spend on anything in the store). So I got 2 packs each week for the four weeks of the promotion – and now have enough batteries to last for quite awhile (seven year shelf life). Yes. It cost me a little over $100 to buy all the batteries. But now I have $100 in rewards bucks to buy anything else I need at Staples (including a printer). As a general rule when the price of one thing goes up, I look for a place to have the price of something else go down – to balance it out. I had my car insurance with Geico. When my homeowners insurance went up, I called around and found if I switched my car insurance to USAA, the price of my car insurance would drop more than the cost of my homeowner’s went up. So I balanced it out. I find it is easier to save money in “chunks” like that, than to try to save it all in one big sweep. Just some ideas…. Free

So under the new regs the survivor can continue to develop the record for accrued benefits, and not be limited to what was in the record at the time of the veteran's death? (applicable for death after October 2008)

Nice case. And yes, they are supposed to look at the overall big picture; not just snatch out a certain portion of time. The idea is are the able to sustain employment, more than are they able to work on any given day...or even for a period of time. And especially with certain types of mental disabilities. There are some types of mental disabilities where the person might be able to work effectively for periods of time, but yet not be able to sustain that employment - especially in the rough times. Now, just getting the agencies to play by the rules.... Free

Pete, Speaking as a widow, Mike's wife is blessed to have you and your family surrounding her with your love and protection right now. Even with your own grief, you have done so much to comfort her. It adds a touch of sweet to that overwhelming bitter sweetness that death brings. And I am sure the holidays make it harder. I found myself missing my sister so much this Christmas. My avatar right now is my sister and I saying goodbye when I went to see her in Oklahoma Christmas 2004. (I am the one in the pink hat ). Though I didn't know it at the time; that was our last goodbye. My sister died the following February, about a week before I was going to be able to visit her again. I am so glad my husband snapped that picture. Because when I look at it I think, if I knew at the time that would be the last minute I spent with her, I would be spending it exactly the same way. My thoughts and prayers stay with you. And I admire how you honor your brother. Free

Cherie, You might want to check this thread out on SSA Connect. (Scroll to the bottom of the page for the posts on the topic. The top of the page just lists the current posts). On this thread the attorney's are discussing tracking down the payments. It also indicates that there is a number the attorneys can call to track the status. Their basic stance is that it is still the attorney's responsibility to make sure you are paid in a timely manner. http://ssaconnect.com/component/option,com...ewtopic/t,7257/ Free

A Hero Going Home "So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home." Tecumtha (1768? - 5 October 1813)

Grrrr. I am sure your husband would be SO PROUD of how hard you have fought for his honor. Free

http://stanford.wellsphere.com/healthcare-...ary-2010/873153 Social Security To Start Sharing Electronic Records with VA and DOD in February 2010 Posted Nov 09 2009 10:01pm Records have been exchanged between Social Security and the VA, but it has been digital paper formats and not actual data. The article also states that Social Security is about ready to show some demonstrations of mapping healthcare information to HeatlhVault. The Health Internet – Government Looking to Expand The National Health Information Network For Public UseSocial Security is also working with the Connect Software from the Government and was the first to use the the NHIN to connect. BD The Social Security Administration plans to start sharing health information electronically with the Veterans Affairs and Defense departments to speed the processing of claims by veterans who apply for SSA disability benefits, the agency’s top health IT executive said Nov. 6.In February, SSA, VA and DOD will begin exchanging structured, machine-readable health data across a network that conforms to nationwide health information network (NHIN) standards, said Jim Borland, SSA’s special advisor for health IT. Full article at website But then here is one from 1996 http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/news/vetssa.html 10/21/96: VA and Social Security Administration Create New On-line Link to Streamline Claims Processing New York, Oct. 21/PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office in New York and the Social Security Administration (SSA) recently signed an agreement to share information on-line that will significantly improve claims processing for disability applicants. Citing benefits like cheaper, faster and more accurate claims processing, officials from both agencies say this landmark agreement will make filing disability claims easier and reduce government administrative costs at the same time. "Our goal is to provide the best customer service possible and make the whole process easier," said Joseph Thompson, director of the New York VA Regional Office (VARO). "Veterans who have already applied for benefits from Social Security won’t have to provide the same information to VA, and in some cases, can have their claims processed the same day." Under the agreement, veterans applying for disability pension benefits may file their claims at the VA Regional Office. A case manager will then go on-line to access information on their Social Security benefit payments, proof of marriage, children’s birth records etc., without veterans having to provide the same information a second time, and eliminating any delay caused by requesting proof through the mail. In addition, the two government agencies, with written permission from the applicants, will also share certain disability information from Social Security’s records, thereby eliminating the need for some VA physical examinations. When fully implemented, the new on-line initiative is expected to reduce the average time to process a veteran’s claim for non-service connected pension benefits from as long as a few months to just a few days. Officials from the New York VARO and SSA have been working together since October 1995 to make sure the proposal meets all the statutory and regulatory requirements for both agencies. "Our primary concern, " Thompson said, "is to protect the privacy of all beneficiaries who apply for benefits at VA or SSA. The process we have in place ensures that goal will not be compromised." Another benefit is that in phase II of the of the pilot, VA will be able to quickly and accurately access the amount of Social Security benefits a veteran is receiving. This will avoid possible overpayments that require recouping the benefits -- a burden to veterans and a costly administrative process for VA. SSA has worked closely with the VA Regional Office and VA Medical Centers on numerous projects. Currently the agencies are cooperating on an outreach effort to homeless veterans. SSA Regional Commissioner Beatrice Disman said, "These initiatives are reflective of two premier government agencies devoted to providing world-class service to their customer." The New York VARO was established as a Reinvention Lab under Vice President Gore’s National Performance Review (NPR) . The Object of NPR is to reinvent government to make it work better and cost less. Vice President Gore established the Hammer Award to recognize outstanding achievements in this government-wide initiative. The New York VARO won the very first Hammer Award for innovative changes in veterans claims processing. To date, it has been awarded three Hammer Awards. -0- 10/21/96 /CONTACT: Benjamin Weisbroth of Veterans Affairs, 212-807-3420, or John Clark of the Social Security Administration, 212-264-2500/

OMG Bonzai! You are so lucky you had witnesses! I worked in health care for years (geriatrics) and it was amazing how many times nurses would get a patient all agitated and then document in the patients record how it was the patient's fault. Or it was always amazing how no one seemed to notice with all the "incident reports" (i.e. patient became combative with staff) that it was the SAME staff in most of those reports. It seems like they would have made the connection. Hmmm, I wonder why everyone wants to hit so and so... I did some sitter work for awhile - which was basically sitting in the hospital with patients that needed someone with them all the time. I had a NOT easy job of sitting with a guy that was pretty drunk in ICU one night. It wasn't easy because he just talked and talked and wanted to argue all night. I absolutely hated when the nurses came in. They would bring in this whole team and get him all worked up - which made my next half hour less pleasant. Oh.. and he would grab his catheter like he was going to pull it out. That was his big power play. When he did that when the nurses were in the room, they all went running over, one tried to hold the catheter while the other ones tried to pry his hands off - just a downright battle. When I was in the room alone with him and he got upset and grabbed his catheter and looked over to challenge me - I wasn't going to wrestle him over it. I just said "I wouldn't pull that out if I were you, it will probably hurt real bad." SO he quit pulling that stunt with me. Anyway - I took a short break - came back in 10 minutes and there were several nurses in the room and all kind of commotion AND a security guard with his TAZER GUN out - saying "You want me to tazer him?" ?????? The guard didn't tazer him, but the nurses wanted to press charges against him for assault. BUT they were told they could not press charges as long as he was a patient in ICU. So they were calling his doctor trying to get him released from ICU in the middle of the night so they could have him arrested. Geez. You would think someone who had to be in ICU really shouldn't be spending the night in jail instead.

Maset, So how did it go? (If you want to talk about it, of course). I think any kind of mental treatment can be hard sometimes because the treatERs think they know more than the treatEEs - which is often not the case. The know a lot more about treatment modalities - but YOU are the best expert of what is working for YOU (as well as HOW that is working.) There is a difference between the "ugh, I gotta go through this, but once I am through this - the "this" will be different. And the "UGH! I can NOT go there!" (at least in this way at this time). You are the best person to know which ugh it is. I never went through this specific kind of therapy. I tried doing some rotor rooter stuff - but it didn't work well. Not that I wouldn't do it - just the "stuff" that needed to come up would not cooperate. Sometimes I would even get a tiny bit of a memory - but that thing blocked itself right off before I could touch it. It wasn't ready. Or probably more appropriately, it knew that *I* wasn't ready - so it just zipped off somewhere else to hide. There are all kinds of escape routes in there. They actually are miraculous things that create themselves to keep the mind from snapping and going into melt down. ("Hmmm... we will just stick this over here, out of the way). But those escape routes make it hard to actually "dig" something out. I also never dealt with any military issues (as I was not in the military). And I never saw a paid professional. Oh...I went to counseling a few times, but didn't want to spend the rest of my life talking about why I felt so bad every week. I wanted to actually heal. And I didn't want to talk about it. In fact, I didn't want to even know about it if I didn't have to. Fortunately, I didn't have to. I was eventually able to release a lot of stuff "content free" (i.e. without really getting into the details of what "it" was - even with myself.) I did have a friend that practiced NLP that worked with me a lot. I will always be grateful to him. I liked NLP - because I could zip through lots of stuff and release it - without having to take it out and polish it up and look at it under a microscope and talk about it again and again and again. I couldn't handle everything that way - just some of it. But I counted anything I could handle that way a blessing. But it still took a long time - and there were still plenty of ughs along the way - BOTH kinds. So it is kind of like the Serenity Prayer - The serenity to accept the things I cannot change and the courage to change the things I can are the easy parts. It is that dang "wisdom to know the difference" that is so damn hard. Free

Social Security can tag you too. That is one thing that caused me lots of trouble in my claim. When I reported my husband's death to SSA, they filled out an application for lump sum death payment. I was told I should go to the local office to file an application for survivor benefits. But when I went, they told me I wasn't eligible to apply for mother's benefits (They said that was only for caring for a physically disabled child; not a mentally disabled one). Since the notice I received for the lump sum death payment said I wasn't entitled to any OTHER benefits (except the lump sum payment) - and said I had 60 days to appeal, I submitted an appeal - and said I wanted to be given the opportunity to apply for mother's benefits before a decision was made that I was not entitled to them. They called me and let me apply - but the worker told me I was only being allowed to apply because I insisted on it - and denied my claim the SAME day, without even asking one question about my son being in my care. I appealed that decision too. The following month he sent a letter telling me that no appeals had been filed in my claim because there was nothing to appeal before they took my claim for mother's benefits. I went to the local office and talked to him. He insisted I could not appeal the initial decision, even though the letter said I could. He also didn't file my second appeal. AND it was entered into the Master Query Screen: SP MSG1 trans dt- 07/07 - “xxxxxx Complains about any action taken by SSA Plays Offices and 800 # off each other and tries to refute policy.” I did not know that this was on my file, until I saw it in the file at the Hearing Office, but I began to suspect I was "tagged" long before I discovered the record. I could think of no other reason why everyone started being mean to me. I had dealt with SSA since my son went on SSI in 1993 and never had any problems. But suddenly the 800 number wouldn't answer any of my questions, and the people at the local office were generally rude and acted like they were mad at me. Once when I took my son to the office to get copies of some medical records - the woman was real nice - and THEN she pulled up the screen, ran to the back, came back out front and started being downright hateful. She was pointing to my son and saying "We will send them to HIM! NOT to YOU!" I showed her the form my son had signed appointing me as his representative, and she said it didn't matter - that they would send them to HIM! Not that it mattered that much where they sent them - we live together - But to outright refuse to let my mentally disabled child to be represented on his claim - is kind of discriminatory. And to make me take him with me (since they wouldn't honor me as his representative) and then treat me so badly in front of him - that was just "WRONG." She started shooing me away with the back of her hand and the security guards started coming up behind me. Geez. I didn't do a thing. SHE was the one getting all irate - and I was about to get escorted out of there like it was me who was the problem. The my appeals were dismissed as untimely, because Mr. "I will enter nasty notes on the query screen about you instead of filing your appeal" did not ever indicate on my record that my appeals HAD been timely filed - and dismissals of appeals as untimely are not subject to appeal with SSA. (There were a lot of games with how they dismissed them too). Luckily, though I couldn't appeal the decision, I was able to appeal to the Appeals Council that there was an "error on the face of the evidence." The Appeals Council made them give me a Reconsideration and so I could have a Hearing. But I had already started wondering if I had been tagged, because of how people were acting toward me. In the 14 years I had been dealing with them, I had found them to be pretty nice and helpful. But boy - had they changed! When we asked for our Hearings, I took them to another Field Office to get them date stamped because I was afraid our worker wouldn't file them either, and then dismiss our appeals. It is SO good that I did this, because when they sent my son a letter dismissing his appeal and telling him that he had not asked for a Hearing - I had the date stamped copies. So I sent those directly to the Hearing Office. For some reason they really seemed to be trying to block us from having Administrative Review of our claims. But anyway, when I took them to the other Field Office, the worker there was downright hateful, and was snapping at me and telling me it was all my fault my claim was messed up because I shouldn't have appealed in the first place! I had to BEG him to take our appeals and left there sobbing. When I found out it was noted on the screen that I played the offices against each other - I imagine that is why he was so hateful. But the ironic thing is - that was the ONLY time I went to another office - and that was several months AFTER the worker had ALREADY wrote that in my file. When we finally got our Hearings - it was a whole DIFFERENT matter. EVERYONE at ODAR was NICE to us! It was SO nice!!!!!! They treated us just like we were humans. I have asked that the notation be removed from my record. I THINK it may have been, but I am not sure yet. The Supervisor asked where I got the copy of it - and I told her it was in my file. She said claimants weren't supposed to see those - they were private. I am appalled that a worker can put such notations in a claimant's file (regardless of how accurate the notation is) and cause all the other employees to treat the claimant poorly - and there are no checks and balances in place to protect the claimant from prejudice and discrimination - and the claimant is not even supposed to know that they have labeled them as a trouble maker. Free

Pete, I don't know what to say - except I am thinking of you and praying for you. Free