u/Enjoy_Life4219

I hope this is the right place to post this. and I apologize for the length but it is important to put out all the info for it to make sense.

I have a 20% disability rating with the VA, which is just enough to allow me to go to the VA for health care for free. I still pay copay on meds that are not service connected, and it doesnt include dental but free healthcare otherwise is a pretty big deal! In the last 20 years, the VA has been pretty damn good to me. I haven't had long waits and they have been very responsive to care and doing what I request as long as it is relevant.

However, in the past year or so they have been terribly slow and resistant to helping me. I tore my right rotator cuff (full tear) in October of last year and it took several month of me banging on them to finally send me to Community Care to have an MRI done and after that more time of me banging n them to get an appt with ortho doc (which was another 2 months away and in another city). I finally have a surgery date to fix it in June which is a full 8 months since injury.

The problem now, is in February I was hanging on a bar when I pulled my self up a bit before letting go and in doing so, I felt my pectoral muscle pop & sharp pain. there was no immediate bruising but you could see an clear indentation on my left pec, going into my armpit, and if I were to try to use it (push/pull) it felt like cramp on that side. A day or 2 later, a huge bruise that covered my entire bicep formed.

I should have gone to the ER (civilian hospital) and had the VA cover it later, but instead I tried the new Urgent Care in my local VA clinic. Big mistake. The PA on duty kept focusing on my shoulder and bicep, ordered an Xray which was negative (duh) and an MRI which was never scheduled because they are too backed up. So I had to bang on them again for community care to get the MRI done. However the MRI was ordered on my shoulder, not on my pectoral area so by the time I got to see a ortho doc about it (2 months after injury), he could only guess as to what happened as he didn't have the proper imaging.

When I asked my primary at the VA about ordering an ultrasound or MRI of my pec and/or bicep, she was tired of dealing with it and referred me to the ortho doc.

So I emailed my ortho doc about it thru the VA system. Interestingly enough, that left shoulder (same side with the new pectoral injury) had rotator cuff repair done on it 6 years ago and the long head of the bicep was released (tenotomy) so I don't know how that plays into it, but when I presented that info and surgery note to the Ortho doctor in the email, he didn't address anything or order any new imagine, he just wanted me to make another appt with him (a month away, and an hour drive) instead of trying to address it.

No one seems to care or want to do anything about it. The bruising is gone now but it feels the same way it did after the injury and Im worried to work out on that side or lift anything at all as to not damage it more. A simple ultrasound would show the pec muscle damage and an MRI of my bicep will show any damage there, but they seem content to guess at the issue and pass me back and forth between providers.

What can I do? Is there any way I can go to a civilian Dr and have them do these things in a way that the VA will cover it on the back end?

I saw a video on YT about a year ago about scratch or even rock chip repair. The guy dabbed some paint in the scratch/chip, then wiped off excess with a credit card, let it dry, then hit it with sandpaper. Then he wiped it clean of the dust, and applied a coat of clear coat, wiping off excess with credit card, let it dry and hit it with sandpaper. After wiping off the dust, he then just used rubbing compound on it and once he was done, you couldnt tell the scratch/chip was ever there.

I have the touch up paint and clear coat, I just dont know what grade of sandpaper to use and I cant seem to find that video for the life of me! Can anyone tell me what grade of sandpaper? He was also using these little sandpaper sticks, with a 1" or 1 1/2" round sandpaper at the end, the stick just made it easier to hold.

Cany anyone advise?

Hey all, I love me some Jetblue and use them often. I usually book points and had to cancel a recent trip. I got all my points back + the taxes were sent to my travel bank. My problem is I am trying to book a new flight in September, I have enough points but because the tax amount increased slightly, Im about $3 short for my travel bank to cover the ticket and it doesnt seem to want to let me use my credit card to cover the $3. It looks like I either use travel bank OR credit card. Is there way I can use Points for the fare and then travel bank + CC for the taxes?

Trying to book a flight, I chose an American flight. Economy means I play seat roulette and take what they give me when I check in, so I chose main cabin which allows me to choose my seat. I choose a standard seat, it shows $0.00. Im booking for 2 people and there is a connecting flight, so techincally I am choosing 4 seats, and each seat shows $0.00 charge as they are standard seats. However, when I get to the end where I need to pay for it, there is a mysterious $48 "Seat Fee", even tho the seats are standard seats and free.

I double checked on American, booking the same flight, same seats and low and behold, no seat fee. This is simply Priceline ADDING EXTRA FEES and hoping you dont notice.

Dont use these scam artists.

Hi all! sorry for the the possibly confusing question, but the VA has gotten crazy slow in my area in the past year or so. Up until then it had been pretty darn great.

Here is my issue, I partially tore my rotator cuff in Feb 2025. By the time I was able to get in to see the ortho specialist it was 4 months later, and it wasn't as painful and I got a cortisone shot in it which made it feel very good. I had another appt set up for 4 months for another shot, but that ortho doc was out on leave and it took another month to get in to see the fill in doc. He gave me another shot - I don't know if it was where he injected or what, but 3 weeks later (early Oct) I was working out and my rotator cuff fully tore. I hear it, and felt it, dropped the weight and my shoulder was toast. I knew what had happened, as I had rotator cuff surgery on my left shoulder a few years before.

It took a month just to see my primary, she sent me for an Xray that day - but I knew that wouldn't show anything. An MRI appt was no where in sight, I had to beg, plead and badger them to finally get community care to refer me to a local MRI facility which I got in late January (3 months after injury). then there was a fiasco where the MRI facility could not transmit the report and images to the VA for some reason, the VA never told me this, I had to go to the VA and the facility to find out what was going on, then pay the facility $5 for a CD with the images and report on it and hand deliver it to the VA - which they promptly lost.

I then went on vacation, and on said vacation, I was going down a zipline into water and when I pulled myself up a bit before letting go of the bar, I felt my pec muscle pop on my left side. I fell in the water, felt the pain, got out and I could see the dent in my pec when I flexed it. I then developed a large bruise covering my left bicep that developed over the next few days.

Once I got back from vacation, I should have gone to a civilian ER, but my local VA just opened an urgent care so I went there. The dr on staff was in a hurry, looked at my arm, did an xray (it wasn't a bone issue) and said its nothing that needs to be addressed immediately and put in for an MRI and sent me on my way. Well that MRI was no where in sight either, so after begging and badgering them for community care again, they sent me to the same MRI facility. The did the MRI on my shoulder (not my pec or bicep) and after haing to go to the facility, pay $5 again and got BOTH MRIs (right shoulder from before and current left shoulder mri) I hand delivered them both. This time they didnt lose them, but the ortho appt was for April! I begged and pleaded for community care but they would not refer me and I had to wait it out until April to see the ortho specialist. This was 6 months after I tore my right rotator cuff and 2 months after my pect/bicep injury.

The ortho dr was also in a hurry, told me my shoulder def needed surgery and it was bad, he told me to baby it or he may not be able to repair it. Then he told me my left shoulder was more of a pect/bicep injury and he couldnt really tell from the MRI since it was on my shoulder, but regardless, since my injury was 8 weeks ago he couldn't do anything about it anyway! (thanks urgent care doc).

Surgery for my right rotator cuff tear was set for June 11, a full 8 months from injury. Who knows if I have damaged it more since my MRI in late January, but it would have been nice if things moved faster, I would be mostly thru recovery by now. However, I want to see if ther eisd a way I can get in to see someone else for my left bicep/pec injury and have the VA cover it - similar to going to the ER and having the VA cover it on the back end. If I have to go thru community care again, it will likely be next year before anything happens and by that time any possible help for my left bicep/pect will be too late.

TL:DR - the VA process took 8 months to get me in for surgery for a right rotator cuff repair, and are dragging their feet for an mis-diagnosed injury to my left bicep/pec injury. I am already 3 months from the time of injury with no outcome in sight. Curious if there is a way I can just go see a civilian ortho doctor and have the VA cover it?

Hey all! I know I can simply look up nerd wallet or something but alot of these banks have all sorts of stipulations and hoops to jump thru to get a decent rate, or the bank seems shady, or the interface is clunky, or transactions take a really long time. Can any of you suggest a bank that I can simply deposit $15k into that doesn't require DD, is safe, secure, and has fairly fast transactions (couple of days)?

Ok, so hear me out:

Item sold for $499. After tax, buyer pays $551. I create label on ebay, insure it thru ebay, and mail it. I then get $417 payout ($499 - ebay fees and label cost) but buyer doesnt receive it.

After back and forth with USPS, opening a case, missing item search etc, they deem it lost in transit.

After 30 days, ebay refunds the buyer $508 from my bank account. I also get paid the $499 insurance I took out on the package. Contrary to popular belief, eBay's 3rd party insurer paid me the insurance claim, not USPS.

2 weeks later, item arrives in buyers mailbox and ebay pays me back the $508 they took. So after the dust settles, I have the original $417 payout + $499 insurance payout from eBay's 3rd party insurer.

Am I the beneficiary of the USPS sloppy work and I get paid 2x or will the 3rd party insurer come back for their $499? Im also wondering if the buyer had his $ yanked back out of his account.

I got 2 of them today, I didnt even know I had it enabled. Both were crew members from cruise ships, and both said they prefered paying in cash because they always have cash from tips on the cruise, and they dont always have data to use credit card.

I didnt even notice it was a cash ride, does it say when the offer comes across my phone? Anyway, after I end the ride, it asks me how much the rider paid. This is where it gets infuriating.. It then says if the rider paid 29.95 or other. $29.95 being the amount the rider paid, when my offer was less than $11. Besides that, if I take the $30 from the rider, does that mean uber will take the other $20 from my account? I dont see how uber gets paid when the rider gives me all the cash.