Well, if you are reading this post then you see the new format for Orders to Nowhere.  Many sincere thanks to everyone who helped me decide on a new look!  I received a lot of feedback from posts here on the blog as well as emails and Facebook messages.  Overall the most popular look was light grey text on a darker grey background (as you are reading now) but the format was “clunky” and unpopular.

So, as a compromise, I found this format.  I hope that you find it easier to read!!

Now, back to some transition stuff.

I got another letter from the Veterans Administration today.  I was excited, because I am expecting to hear from them in regards to any disability rating that I may have been assigned, but wary because they have teased me before.

Well, guess what.  Here is what the letter said:  “We are still processing your application…”

Sigh.

Teased again.

It has been nearly nine months since I submitted my package to the VA, and despite my efforts to be efficient and proactive my package sits forlornly on some desk somewhere as it wends its way through the bureaucracy.  At least I am not alone in my plight, though.  According to a recent article in the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/us/bay-area-veterans-disability-claims-are-buried-under-paperwork.html?pagewanted=all) returning veterans in the San Francisco Bay area are waiting an average of 313 days for a decision to be made on their case.

My simple math puts me around the 270 day mark, so I should receive at least one more monthly reminder that the VA is still processing my application.

I’m not complaining, though.  After all, nobody is shooting at me and the VA does have my address.  I’ll just keep an eye on the mailbox…