And it is so hard to get back on the Disabilities list once you are removed. My dad is in his 80s. He has an "90% Disability" in the form of hearing loss due t

And it is so hard to get back on the Disabilities list once you are removed. My dad is in his 80s. He has an "90% Disability" in the form of hearing loss due to being in the army and manning missile tubes for his 20s. He kept us safe from the Russians, and he has a lot of great stories about German Women, and German Spies, and Russian Spies... to hear him tell the stories of being part of the first American military force in Germany since WW2... I know he really enjoyed it. But, training German soldiers, and running missile tests with loud sirens, left him pretty much deaf as a rock. Age didn't improve the condition. Long story short, Dad was almost 80, and I had bought probably 4 sets of hearing aids before I realized, "Hey can't we get the VA to pay for these?" And yes, turns out we could -- but it took over a year of pestering the right people to get him qualified. The funny point here... Dad has a really hard time with automated phone systems. High-pitched voices, especially. And all these systems use female voices... When left on his own, he couldn't move the needle. "Press 7 to schedule an appointment..." yeah -- he can't hear to press the right button. So it took a lot of my time. Lots of patience with the VA... and we got it. The first thing we had to sign was a form saying, "No back pay, not responsible for anything in the past. Not gonna cover any past bills." OK, fine. Then Dad offered to help a neighbor and help out at the cash register at a local gas station / bait shop over some holiday weekend. And he sold the guy at the store a horse trailer and an old pickup. And, not thinking, he just got one check for the "wages" and equipment. Anyway all hell broke loose. Like the same people that take a year or more to get you in the door, will come down on you in a matter of weeks if you mess up. And because Dad couldn't deal with the phone calls, "Press 8 to speak to a real person to explain your claim..." he just ignored them. Dumb on his part. So then 2 years later, we got Dad's disability payments back. They didn't offer to back-pay for the time they mistakenly kicked him off. Total shit show how hard they make it. And the use of all this automated shit, when they know he's "90% disabled for hearing" -- no way around any of it. It's all pretty garbage. Best thing to do is just not need help. =P