Hi, Ardith...

AH>          My condolences to you & your wife.

  Thanks...she lived a long life. I got to meet some in the family that
I didn't get a chance to meet at the post-wedding reception her parents
gave us a month after we got married.

AH>          I've heard that some folks have difficulty taking CPAP machines et
AH>on a plane.  But I also heard of a person who had no difficulty at all becau
AH>he happened to be dealing with somebody who used one himself &
knew right aw
AH>what it was & what it was for!  You can never be sure nowadays
what you'll r
AH>into.  It's a good idea to have the documentation available, at any rate.  :

  We checked the Transportation Security Adminstration website
(www.tsa.gov), along with the airline website. It was a bit confusing to
weed through all the data, but while we could have taken some items, we
decided it was better that they stayed home.

AH>          A wise move, I think....  :-)

  Especially considering the anti-lock brakes are dying on the car. At
least I have an extended warranty, but I'm not sure how much deductible
I have to pay...or if the deal is covered by it. In any case, I have to
wait until some more money comes in.

AH>          Yes... total family income may or may not matter, depending on whe
AH>he lives & who's interpreting the rules.  I've heard of some
couples getting
AH>divorce so they could say they were living together just to share expenses. 
AH>doubt that's what the folks responsible for making the rules intended....  :

  Janice and I were committed on getting married, and it appears that
I'll get the disability, while they split the total SSI allowed per
household down the middle for each of us.

AH>          The rules may differ from place to place... but even in situations
AH>know of where the need seems quite obvious, I hear the same story.  Maybe it
AH>routine for certain agencies to deny the first claim *because* a lot of peop
AH>will give up & go away.  Maybe initial attempts are processed by
somebody ve
AH>junior who's afraid of making decisions which could get them into trouble.  
AH>maybe a bit of both.  If you're not easily discouraged & you have
a good cas
AH>you may indeed have more success by going to a higher level of authority... 
AH>you did.  There you're more likely to find people who can see the big pictur

  Unless your disability is SO OBVIOUS (i.e. missing limbs, etc.),
you're likely to get denied at least once.

AH>          An obvious physical disability does not necessarily mean a person 
AH>incapable of gainful employment.  I know or know of many people... one notab
AH>example being the current mayor of Vancouver... who hold down well-paying jo
AH>despite problems such as you mentioned above.  Some can, some can't.  And so
AH>may need assistance now to achieve their potential in future.  It's not alwa
AH>a simple matter.  I think you did the right thing by pointing out why it's n
AH>fair to expect you to earn a living, although you've done so in the past.  :

  In a way, I miss the work...but in another way, I don't. As noted, my
health won't let me work any more...and it gets hard at times to just
sit at the BBS computer for more than a few minutes.

AH>          Uh-huh.  Lawyers understand the law better than you & I
do... that
AH>what they get paid the big bucks for!  It's not easy for the average person 
AH>determine where the law may or may not be on their side without expert advic

  And, I heard from a fellow disabled ham radio operator that "you may
get less" if you don't have counsel...or may have less of a chance of
winning. So, I felt that it was worth it.

Daryl

---
 þ OLX 1.53 þ More Ham Radio/Square Dance Info: www.wx1der.com/ham.htm
--- SBBSecho 2.11-Win32