OPM Disability Retirement Law: Of the Bad Today

One often pauses in today’s climate and asks, Is it worse, today?  Is the “badness” more prevalent today than in epochs past?

Then, the pause and the question itself must be contextually “filled in”, like the gravedigger who digs a rectangular hole but stops and asks the absurd question, “What if there is no body today?”  Then, of course, you are digging a hole just to dig a hole, and the entire context and purpose suddenly disappears.  So, what is the context?  Well, for starters, Worse in what way?  And worse, for whom?

Certainly, if you were in prison at Auschwitz in 1944, there is no comparison worth making.  Or, if you were a Native American forced from your ancestral home to march the Trail of Tears, or an American soldier on the Bataan Death March in 1942 — surely, the “badness” perpetrated upon those people (answering the 2 questions, For Whom? and, Worse in What Way?) cannot compare to today?

And, in retrospect, it may be that America reached its pinnacle as a world power sometime during the 2 decades after WWII; for, surely there was no greater world dominance than the American specter following the Allied Victory against both Japan and Germany?

But even then — of the 1950s and early 1960s, the question still looms, For Whom?  Many African Americans who fought bravely in WWII thought that, having faithfully served their country against the forces of fascism and Germany’s genocidal racism against the Jewish population, surely — this time — things were going to change “back home”?

But no, they found that the post-war economic boom was not all inclusive, and that they would have to fight not only Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, but within the borders of their own country, just to reach some status of equality.  And so we turn full circle and ask, Of the Bad Today, was it ever this bad?  Well, it depends….

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal Service workers who suffer from a medical condition where that medical condition no longer allows you to to continue in your Federal or Postal career, the Bad of Today has been your chronic and debilitating medical condition, and yes, it is worse than the Bad of Yesterday — if only because you are no longer the young and healthy whippersnapper you once were.

Contact a FERS attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and let not the Bad Today extend into the badder of tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

Federal Medical Retirement: The Track Meet Unasked For

Do you ever “feel” as if you were all of a sudden in a race which you never asked to be entered into?

That you find yourself running and gasping for breath, seeing others with such ferocious intensity, smooth rhythmic strides in beautiful garments of sweatsuits and runner’s outfits, all doing the same thing but with a slight difference:  Others trained and asked to be part of the track meet; you believe, on the other hand, that you are the only one unprepared.  How did I get here?  Who entered me in this race?  Why am I the only one out of shape and unable to keep up?

Yet, for years, you have been in the “middle of the pack”, unnoticed; perhaps, every now and again, with great struggle and pain, a little ahead of the others; but now, lagging somewhat behind.  It is as if you were milling about as a spectator, and someone got on top of a ladder with a bullhorn and announced, “Okay, everyone listen up!  Everyone line up and when I lower this red flag, the race begins!”  And suddenly, off everyone went, and you along with everyone else, otherwise you would have been trampled to death.  And so you have entered the track meet unasked for.

That is often how Federal and USPS employees “feel” when they suddenly are beset with a medical condition unasked for, unexpected — but with an impact upon their capacity and ability to continue in the Federal or Postal position they presently occupy.  You are struggling.  You cannot keep up.  You will either drop out of the race with nothing to show for the efforts previously expended, or you will simply deteriorate slowly, steadily, progressively.

Contact an OPM Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and see whether or not you can — this time — exit the track meet unasked for, by preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under FERS.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill,
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

Long-Term Disability Federal & Postal Employees: The Doors of Distractions

We have inadvertently invited the doors of distraction to not only open, but to continually remain open.  It is like the machine created by someone, and now we have forgotten how to switch the machine off, let alone recall where the switch is located.

Can any of us read a novel, or any book, anymore, without looking at our Smart Phone every few minutes?  Or, even if we remember to put our phone somewhere away from our immediate proximity with the view that such a foolish preventive measure will allow us to have enhanced focus and concentration, how often do we nevertheless pause and wonder, “Did I hear a notification of some sort”?

We appease the self-evident damage to the re-wiring of the brain by claiming that, “Oh, isn’t it wonderful how we can multi-task with such efficiency?” — when, in fact, it is merely a frenzy of distractions which continually limits and restricts our ability to remain focused upon any single endeavor, at the expense of being perpetually distracted without accomplishing a single thing.

The doors of distraction are now fully opened, and for Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition itself is also another door of distraction, you should contact a FERS attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law.

With the counsel and guidance of a Federal lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law exclusively, you may be able to retire medically and, at least, close that particular door of distraction.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Lawyer
Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

    

Early Retirement for Disabled Federal Workers: Becoming a Stereotype

Perhaps it is an unfair characterization, or an image which is arcane and archaic — and yet endures as a residue from the old days, like smoking cigarettes and leaving nicotine stains on one’s inner side of fingers.  We hate stereotypes.  They linger; they remain as images we try and counter and overcome; and when it becomes a truism, we fight to try and prove its opposite.

Medical conditions prevail upon a stereotype like a winter’s storm or the devastation of a hurricane upon a coastal town.  Our image of ourselves is quite different: vibrant; still much contribution to give; still full of life, hope and happiness.  Yet, others begin to see you as the doddering old man or woman who can no longer contribute to the mission of the Federal Agency or the Postal Service.  That is how Federal agencies and Postal facilities view you.  Let them.

Consult with an OPM Medical Retirement Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and begin the process of moving on to another career, another phase in life, another stage — and quit worrying about becoming a stereotype; for, in the end, it is the one who sees the world in images of stereotypes who are the stereotypical dunces who fail to ever grow beyond.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire
OPM Disability Retirement Attorney

 

Early Out for Federal Employees with Disabilities: Indicators

They are the flashing lights to warn others of actions about to be taken; or, they can be “clues” which allow for a preview of things yet to occur.  Retrospectively, we are all experts at identifying them; prospectively, many of us ignore or are otherwise oblivious to them, despite their obvious presence.

When we perform a forensic analysis in looking back, we will often realize that there were, indeed, many indicators which should have forewarned us of the impending troubles.  While no one likes to play Monday-night quarterbacking (actually, we all love doing it; we just like to pretend as to its involuntary necessity), such forensic analysis is a useful tool in apprising ourselves of the things which we missed.  But when an event in life occurs only once, or we only have one shot at something, no amount of retrospective analysis is going to be helpful.

Medical conditions have that characteristic — of indicators or signs which should have warned us of future problems, of which we dismissively ignored in hopes that the warnings — and the future substantive troubles — would simply go away.

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS is also like that — while you have 3 Stages in order to get approved (the 4th Stage being an irrelevant one because there is no quorum on the MSPB Board), you normally only have this “one-shot” at obtaining an approval.  Because of this, it is important to consult with a FERS Disability Retirement Lawyer and make sure that all of the “indicators” are taken into account before you make that proverbial “right turn” into the future.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Disability Retirement: Righting the Mistakes

Some have posited that we actually need 2 lifetimes: One for living, and another for righting the mistakes made in the first lifetime.  Then, a “Mark-Twain humorist” once quipped that, No, human beings need at least 3 lives — the first to live; the second to right the mistakes of the first; and another to do all of the things we always wanted to do but didn’t get a chance to because we were too busy worrying about it.

Life, indeed, is a series of regrets, and most of us still have consciences such that we worry and ruminate about the mistakes we made; how we go about “righting” those mistakes; and finally, on our deathbeds, to simply cry out for forgiveness because the weight of our past is too much to bear.  We can spend most, if not almost all, of our lives trying to correct the errors of our error-filled past; and, if not that, to worry about it.  Often, we don’t even know that we are making the mistakes until it is too late, or until that moment of revelation when we say to ourselves — How did I get myself into this mess?

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, it is important to try and file an effective and — as much as possible — an error-free Federal Disability Retirement application.  There is much to be worried about in filing a Federal Disability Retirement application: the complexity of the process itself; the legal hurdles which must be overcome; the bureaucratic morass that must be fought.

Consult with an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and try and avoid the mistakes at the outset. In Federal Disability Retirement, you surely do not want to spend your “second life” righting the mistakes of your first life.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS Medical Retirement: The Dystopian Perspective

Books from all ages depict such a view: The classic one, of course, is Orwell’s 1984; or of Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451; but more recently, of Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and even more recently of Ogawa’s, The Memory Police. They all possess a thread of commonality: Of a society both frightening and oppressive, based upon human fears and the insecurity wrought by where we are going, the trends of modernity which succumb to believability, and the suspicion that such dystopian consequences are actually possible.

Orwell was wrong, of course — Big Brother did not have to forcibly place tele-screens into people’s homes; instead, each of us volunteered to go out and purchase such spying screens, and with our own hard-earned money in the form of Smartphones, televisions and laptops.  And while no one comes and burns our books, we have effectively accomplished such a misdeed by slowly and incrementally converting them all into digital devices, thus ensuring that we won’t actually know whether the published content of a book is what was originally intended; for, he who controls the digital device has ultimate control over its content, whereas a book published in its original form cannot be altered except by forcible means.

As for Atwood’s theme and Ogawa’s portrayal of the world — they deal with the two aspects of a life in a frightening way: Of the subjugation of the body (The Handmaid’s Tale) and of controlling the mind (The Memory Police).  All are fictional works; yet, somehow we can “relate” to the stories being told. How is that? Is it because we have a dystopian perspective already prepared within us by society’s callous conduct?

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of his or her Federal or Postal job, the Dystopian Perspective is a very familiar one.  For, being ostracized; being condemned; being harassed and being subjected to unfair treatment — it all comes in a bundle once you can no longer “perform” at the level expected by the Federal Agency or the Postal Service.

When that Dystopian Perspective becomes unbearable, then it is time to consider preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  And, while the Dystopian Perspective may not turn into an Utopian Reality, it is far better than the subjugation of the human mind and body that gets increasingly worse under Big Brother’s eye.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement for Federal & Postal Workers: Meaninglessness

Without the second added suffix, it remains an adjective; with the addition of the second suffix, it becomes an abstract noun denoting quality and state of being.  The combination of the duality if suffixes, altering it from an adjective qualifying a noun (as in, “This meaningless activity”) into an abstract noun standing alone (as in, “The meaninglessness was evident in the manner he lived”) makes for an interesting conceptual construct.

It is, indeed, a word which describes a state of being — both the quality as well as the “kind” of.  It also denotes something else: that, at some time prior, both suffixes were absent, leaving the root of the word and the core of its origins intact — that of “meaning”.  It is thus a word which describes both a state “before” and a condition “after”, of once having had it, then losing it, then becoming a state of perpetual loss.

It is, in the end, the “state” of being which becomes of concern.  For, left as an adjective, one can argue that it is merely a temporary mode of being, as in: “The meaningless endeavor he engaged in was to merely get him through the day.”  However, when the second suffix is added and the root word alternates from becoming an adjective into an abstract noun, the denotation of becoming a permanent construct of eternal loss becomes ever more problematic.

So, as life mirrors language, and language expresses our inner state of thoughts, it is not only the meaning of words which becomes important but, moreover, the way in which we actually live.  Meaninglessness, as a way in which we live, becomes ever more pronounced when our health deteriorates.

For Federal and Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition begins to prevent the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of ones Federal or Postal job, the problem of “meaning” and “meaningless”, as well as “meaninglessness” becomes ever more pronounced.  As one’s health deteriorates, and as work becomes a greater struggle, so the once-meaningful career becomes a greater burden and begins to gnaw at the root of one’s existence.

While Federal Disability Retirement may not be the answer to all of life’s difficulties, it allows for a Federal or Postal worker to re-focus one’s priorities in life and turn one’s attention back to the basics — that of health and meaning. Consult with a FERS Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law to discuss the particulars of your case, and begin to discard the suffixes which drag you down.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

OPM Medical Disability for Federal and Postal Employees: Comparisons

Does it help to make them?  Do we take comfort in judging the relative plusses and minuses in making comparisons — as in, X has A, B and C, but I have, in addition, D and E, and therefore I am more fortunate that X is.  Or, is it a comparison of one’s conditions, as in: “Boy, at least I don’t have X like Lisa does”, or “At least I am not in Y’s situation”?

To the extent that comparisons remind us of that which we are blessed with, they allow for a certain level of utilitarian value.  But there is a negative side to it: Of jealousy engendered by comparison, or of discontent resulting from making one.  Rousseau, of course, makes that point throughout his “Social Contract” analysis, of the purity of man’s intentions in that fictional state of “nature” that we were once in, but where society’s accretions of materialism created the artificial emotional response of discontent and jealousy.  But compared to what?

It is important to make the fair and correlative comparisons which are relevant — as in “apples to apples” and not “apples to oranges”.  For, it is the uniqueness of each entity, object or situation to be compared with the singularity of another that makes for a proper comparison.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, it is inadvisable to compare one’s case to somebody else’s.  For, the proper comparison is not to evaluate one’s medical condition and the severity of one’s medical condition to that of another person’s medical condition; rather, the proper comparison in a Federal Disability Retirement case is to compare one’s medical condition to the essential elements of one’s position.

Thus, comparisons made must always take into account the relevant connections which relate not just in terms of similarities, but as is the case in Federal Disability Retirement Law — in what the law allows for and considers significant.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Medical Retirement for FERS Gov. Employees: A Trail of Regrets

Two images are evoked by such a phrase: One, of a traveler who leaves behind a trail of regrets; the other, a traveler who travels upon a trail that has already been traveled.  The former allows for new paths to be discovered; the latter, of a trail that has already been established, and one which regretfully cannot be altered.  It is the subtle distinction between the teacher who has only taught and the experimenter who has actually lived it; the contemplator, as opposed to the one who gets his hands dirty; the one who procrastinates forever and a day, in contradistinction to the individual of action.

Regrets are a funny animal; they haunt us like loyal dogs who never leave our side, and like collectors who cannot sell their accumulated pieces, the weight of the aggregate is what ultimately destroys.  The longer we live, the greater the chance of having gathered regrets that tether our souls; and in the end, it is the state of our souls which we need to be concerned about.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of his or her job, the choices are clear: remain and endure the suffering; quit and walk away; or file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits.  The First may leave a trail of regrets; the Second, a trail to be traveled upon; and it is the third — to file for FERS Disability Retirement benefits — that may allow for a new path for one’s future, where one may leave behind that trail of regrets.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire