SSDI benefit answers from an agency that does just that

A few years ago locally the buzz word regarding getting a person on SSDI quicker was "SOAR". But while it was being touted as having a 93% rate of success, nobody in Northeast Florida using this spin term was admitting those findings were based on results in Southern Florida after working closely with the court systems THERE.

I got word on another option for people to pursue their social security benefits on their own, without local agencies. Seems this agency is claiming an even higher percentage. The difference is that unlike agencies that aren't getting reimbursed for results, they are.

In the end when a person gets denied and takes matters to an attorney, the majority of times what I've seen occur related by peers is that the tasks are an administrative paper pushing cottage industry long overdue. An attorney's office 'divesting' in this area from it's original practice doesn't constitute proficiency to me.

An agency that markets itself specifically for it...that's another story. Check 'em out.

Homelessness: the smell of it

Most people living on the streets and sleeping hard are more prone to come up with ideas to develop green cleaning supplies compared to their housed peers. Back in 2006, when I myself was living out of a van for a month, developed and honed skill sets I'd only prior thought of. Between the dishes and cleaning a grill, breaking down 'camp' became easier over a matter of days.

When you're 'on the asphalt' you tend to simplify things as much as possible.

When I look at people on the streets I usually don't get 'grossed out'. Many unsheltered residents while looking disheveled and needing a bath often 'do' maintain hygiene 'where it counts'. Without it, they'd be in hospitals for various infections. You'd see it in their gates more when they walk if there were sores on their feet, armpits, or crotch.

The main thing people associate with the homeless is the odor of repeated sweat from the same clothes worn for days. While agencies continuously increase other services, they often also increase staff which takes away from improving delivery of more basic and vital needs.

What every community needs amounts to safe sleeping areas, meals, showers, and laundry facilities. In the end there will always be homelessness, but how much of a stink people have to put up with can amount to what they actually invest to begin with...why...and where.

It's not easy losing weight when your homeless

Someone asked me once what options I knew of regarding good fat burners. Honestly I can't say other than what I've heard through rumor control.

There's drinking water with some lemon juice added for flavor. There's not eating, which isn't good. There's also eating nothing but vegetables with some nuts for protein, as long as a person makes sure their getting other nutrients naturally.

The thing is no matter how hard someone tries while homeless, they are faced with the issue of having to ingest what's at hand...when it's on hand. There are many times a person has to make the choice of overindulging one meal; or many in a row; out of pure survival knowledge they may not have the same option the next day.

I'm just sayin'.

Choices based on information

About five years ago when my children were seeing specialists for their ADD/ADHD we had a situation where we were caught in the cracks regarding their medication management. Originally they were prescribed a hypertension medication to help them get to sleep at night.

It was only until I started questioning the 'need' for such that I found out my son was originally prescribed it due to it being able to be charged off to Medicaid as an Rx as opposed to an over the counter medication, such as melatonin.

What nobody had considered was the fact that one of the 'Healthy Benefits' Florida residents on Medicaid get is accumulating and accruing dollar amounts monthly towards over the counter purchases, from medications to bandaids.

Had we known about this earlier we wouldn't have accepted the option of a prescribed unnecessary medication. While the best of intentions this in my opinion this was an example of unnecessary over-medication by professionals who knew better.

Or should have.

Covering up or treating a problem

One of the things I often mention here is the issue teens have regarding their 'coming of age years'. The simple jar of Noxzema often gets passed around before lights out, and the kids have a tendency of listening closer to adults when offered advice on acne treatments. I've even seen the regular use of toothpaste rubbed on cheeks in an attempt to control blemishes.

The sad thing is while there are hundreds of kids in shelters any given time in most cities, there are thousands more living outdoors, cars, and even abandoned buildings. That's a blemish most cities are looking at covering up than being able to successfully deal with.

Wishful thinking

Each year people get hit up by a service provider printing postcards, often done by kids that are living in shelters. It's not a bad thing, but the fact 'is' cards done by kids living in a shelter have higher resale value than something pawned by a vagrant on a streetcorner.

The funny thing is I've never 'known' a homeless person to be pawning things on sidewalks. The majority of times I've seen people locally trying to hawk items...it was the same people, in the same location, selling the same thing. Often times they'd be hanging out and around the actual homeless until their work was done, only to head off to their own homes.

Most often I've seen people 'buy' their way into homeless circles on the street. Buy a few cans of beer and chips for two people on the streets, and you've got loyal bodyguards for at least the day, if not retaining them for future 'possible' days. Sometimes it's not hard to spot them.

Generally the social engineers can be found in any group outdoors, they're usually the most animated, charismatic, and loud...and they're the ones that really don't care if one of their peers ends up in jail if scuffles start up with others regarding their behavior.

Jump starting my weight loss resolution

Guest post written by Keith Wylde

I'm probably going to really regret it and all the torture that I'm about to put myself into, but I've decided to set a weight loss goal for myself. I've made resolutions like this before, but I've done some more planning this time around to guarantee the success of my 2011 New Year's resolution.

I went online with my Clear internet bundle to try and find some ideas about ways to really kick off my weight loss adventure. I found lots of classes, but I decided that I should try out a boot camp class. Sometimes it just takes someone else yelling at you to do something to get it done. It worked to get me to clean my room when my mom would yell.

I also involved my girlfriend in my weight loss resolution and she said that she would go with me to the boot camp. She's in really great shape though so I'm sure she's going to put me to shame in it like she does every time we go running together.

What we had and didn't

Years ago we didn't have an iPod, htc desire android, or other nifty toys we do now when we were on the streets. Back then we did it the old fashioned way at best with a Pentium2 type laptop. WiFi was ridiculous to find free.

But over time things improved online for many people experiencing homelessness, much like how the businesses delivering service to them directly did. The problem isn't people getting 'out' of homelessness, it's stopping the cycle of the chronic and cyclic homeless.

Regardless how portable or interconnected any of the new gadgets are to bridge the digital divide to the masses, the stuff will fail every time when it's caught in the rain on a dark night no matter how much awareness is brought to it.

The Count Is Starting Soon

While the lights may or not be on for many people after the holidays, tomorrow's meeting of the Emergency Services & Homeless Coalition in Jacksonville is trying to get a glimmer for the upcoming year.

Immediately after their General Membership meeting they'll be holding training for the annual Count In Time to help determine how many people are experiencing homelessness in Jacksonville for future requests of assistance from Federal funding.

A few years ago I brought up the issue that our Government has two very different definitions when it comes to homelessness, something that started getting addressed just this last year. School children under one description and subsidized housing a separate set of rules.

In America...there are rules if you 'can' be homeless or not it seems.

Site Review: Repairpal.com

Last week I was asked to take a look and give my opinion regarding Repairpal.com. Links provided to specifically check out were Houston auto repair, ford expedition, timing belt, and water pump.

This wasn't actually the first time I'd seen the site, I'd actually used it a few years ago when my own minivan began having coolant problems and I didn't want to get ripped off by shady mechanics. This time around I found the site improved compared to years ago. Navigation by Year, Make, Model, and issue was pretty easy...I actually used a scenario my son's having with his BMW in Germany at the moment, to get a price range and see what the system would provide.

I was expecting less of a response and amount of information and was surprised when it provided me with input of both what was needed for proper initial diagnoses as well as confirming implied repairs actually cured the issue implied.

Pageload time for the site was moderate, it didn't 'lag' but it also didn't come up as fast as expected. A check on their URL registration points to "Domains by Proxy" and connected to Godaddy.com...people usually get involved with Godaddy/DbP not realizing the inability to later migrate to better/faster servers due to DbP's issues many site owners have regarding site transfer.

Overall for consumers the site's a great free asset instead of relying on the guy next door. It's straight to the point, doesn't require disclosure of personal information issues, and in my case didn't cost anything to get a second opinion.

My only concern is that if this business begins to have further growth needs; which in my opinion they will; the site owners face issue with "Domains by Proxy" when transferring/migrating. While at their present level this isn't an issue, it could be when future capital investors look to it due to portability.

Juggling it All

Guest post written by Ted Darling

Being a father isnÕt always the easiest thing in the world. I remember when I was 22 and didnÕt have a care in the world. Now that I have two boys and my life revolves around them 24/7, things are pleasantly different. I have to balance work, house work, and family duties on any given day of the week. I often find that I get around to doing most of the things I have to do around the house during the weekends. I also get a chance to spend more quality time with my boys over the weekends.

Several weekends ago while playing basketball out in the cold weather, my wife told me that the windows were drafty. so after playing wi th the boys I had to call someone from Homeproimprovement to help us. Afterwards, I had to help the wife clean the house, and I had to make dinner for the kids while my wife did something things for her work. Being a dad, a worker, and a homeowner make daily life challenging, but it is always worth it and I wouldnÕt change a thing.