I am surprised the girlfriend thing isn’t making the news here. The pictures of her in Rome with the reporter are out there,and everyone is saying, “we are so confused by him doing this.”
He was admittedly suicidal after his first marriage ended.
I have worked for the aerospace industry and the government for almost 20 years combined. I am nowhere near able to retire and can just afford my own mortgage plus the occasional dinner out.
I have been shocked at what I have been hearing (otherwise qualified for civilian insurance) people getting care at the VA for- these are people with access to decent current benefits and very financially solvent, and they will take themselves to the VA when they stub their toe.
The commercial is ridiculous- they all look like they are on vacation. An in-law (baby boomer) had hep-c from iv drug use in the 60’s. She underwent a chemo treatment a few years ago. She does not look like the happy, healthy people in the commercials.
I was expecting to see a few hipster milennials in the bunch, but this is definitely not that crowd. They would be protesting a cheese sandwich for their fee.
Washington is in terrible shape, too. Bad roads, unsafe bridges, insufficient transportation or highways for the population, lead in the old pipes, aging IT infrastructure, a single overcrowded, terrible airport that can’t support the population of the western half of the state...
My German grandfather survived being shot on the Russian front (where he returned after recovering) and built his life back up from nothing afterwards (the rest of his family was stuck behind the Wall). He still hunts in his 90’s. My grandfather and other male relatives might have been fighting the wrong side of history, but they were strong men of integrity their whole lives. I know plenty of Americans of that generation who didn’t serve at all or didn’t step foot out of this country.
I just gave up and got a liberal arts type of degree after 20 years in the workplace. It opened up jobs I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to apply for- even with a my experience. People in my field side eye my degree when they hear what I have, but I have been doing the work for so long, it doesn’t matter.