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.

 

FERS Medical Disability Retirement: Icelandic Horses

It is a delightful little book; weaving mythology, magic and majesty of a time now gone.  Just over 100 pages, set in a time when nature was never divorced from man’s place within it, the title says it all: All the Horses of Iceland.

How the horses came to that land; the unlikely hero who traveled afar to foreign lands and found himself amongst mysterious languages; the dangers encountered; of territories plundered and wars fought; and of the beauty of that unique animal — the horse.

Magicians still possessed the power to heal; the world had not yet been overrun or dominated by the technological leviathan of fated despair; and the universe yet contained the mysteries of unknown spiritual forces, where a man could cross over from the world of harsh realities to the dreamworld of the invisible — like the white horse who was visible only to Eyvind, and to no one else.

Every now and again, one comes across that special little book which grabs you and where you cannot put it down until you have devoured the last and final sentence; and then you realize that it is past midnight, tomorrow is another work day, but you feel no sense of tiredness; only delight, and satisfaction at having had the honor to visit a world of pure fantasy and ecstatic storytelling.

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, the question is: What does this little book about horses in Iceland have to do with Federal Disability Retirement?

Well — nothing.  But at least, if you were to contact a FERS Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, hired him, endured the retirement process, then obtained an approval from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, then at least you might have the time to read that delightful little book entitled, All the Horses of Iceland, by Sarah Tolmie.

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.

 

OPM Medical Retirement under FERS: The Dragon-Slayer

In mythology of universal applications, the similar theme of the monster lurking in the far valley or mountains, and the brave young man who slew the dragon and protected his village, often comes down to an internal motive which is not always clearly stated: Not for fame or community, but to win the heart of a secret love.  For, once the dragon is slain and the village recognizes the hero, how can the rich father refuse the hand of marriage requested by the hero?

It is the age-old story of love and the quest to win the heart of young love; and whatever the motivation, the pure heart of the dragon-slayer cannot be questioned.  Unless, of course, the story continues about the jealous fiend who tries and undermines the purity of the story.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition necessitates preparing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, many of the elements of the old mythology will rear its ugly head:  Yes, you must find a dragon slayer (the attorney who will defeat the U.S. Office of Personnel Management), but other parts of the story will also come up:  Of accusations of motives; of imparting half-truths to question the integrity of the filing; and other, similar jealousies rearing its dragon’s ugly head.

How will the Federal or Postal employee counter this?  By relying upon the Dragon Slayer — your lawyer — in using the sword of the law to cut off the head of the Dragon, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

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.

 

OPM Medical Retirement for Federal Employees: Imperfect Lives

Bringing up the very concept itself implies that the opposite exists: That of “perfect” lives.  We perhaps attribute the existence of such; perhaps it is the same line of thought processes which persuades us by the Ontological argument for the existence of God: God is that than which nothing greater can be thought of; To exist is greater than not to exist; therefore, God must by necessity exist.  The corollary argument which persuades us of the existence of a “perfect” life would then be: The perfect life is a life which erases all imperfections; perfection is better than its opposite; therefore there must by necessity exist perfect lives.

Yet, does reality indicate the existence of perfect lives?  Certainly, its opposite is true: imperfect lives being all around us, including our own, we then assume that there must be other, similarly imperfect lives.  Yet, while perfection is a non-relative term (it cannot be dependent upon a comparison to other terms, but is the paragon of all things not imperfect), its antonym — imperfection — can be.  Thus, X’s life may be less perfect than Y’s, and Z’s life may be less perfect than Y’s but better than X’s.  Can we ever say that X’s life is “more perfect” than X’s or Y’s?  Doesn’t “more perfect” necessarily imply imperfection and thus cannot approach a definitional plateau of “more”?

The plain fact is that all of our lives are imperfect, and perfection is an unreachable goal, and perhaps even undefinable.  For, who can define perfection of a life which fails to ever meet such a standard, and given the sins of human frailty, can it ever be achieved?

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 one’s Federal or Postal position, the time may be ripe to admit and acknowledge that “perfection” is a standard which can never be met, and to try and maintain that appearance of perfection is an unrealistic goal.  Medical conditions have a way of humbling us; and as we keep struggling to maintain an appearance of perfection, what we are doing is failing to acknowledge that such a standard is a harmful, detrimental one.

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits is an admission of our imperfection; consulting with an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law is a step towards acting upon that admission — that, try as we might, we live imperfect lives, and that’s okay; for, to err is human, and to file for FERS Disability Retirement benefits is to admit to being human.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement: Return to Who I Am

We all take on different roles — whether as a parent, a husband, a wife; of assuming the role each day of a supervisor, a worker, a doctor, lawyer, etc. The underlying “substratum” of the “I” is presumed to remain the same throughout, but there may be a difference in the character posed, the personality posited or the tone, tonality and tenor of a voice, inflection, the way you talk, etc.

Perhaps, on a “Take your child to work day” you bring along your son or daughter and he or she watches you work in a particular role. Afterwards, does the child think to himself — or express him or herself to you or some third person — and say: “Gee, Mom [or Dad] sure acts differently at the office.”

Actors and actresses take on a “double-role” of sorts, don’t they? They not only have to take on the role of a character, whether in a play or a part in a filmed venue, but moreover, to “become” someone other than the person Who I Am.

Is there a difference between “Assuming the role of an Accountant” and “Playing the role of an Accountant”? Certainly, the former must have some credentials — perhaps as a C.P.A. or some “financial consultant certificate”, or some degree in accounting — whereas the latter only has to “act like” he or she has merited such a status. And the clients who come to the former — they are presumably “real” people whose financial problems or quandaries are “real” as well, whereas in the “acting’ role, they are not real, per se, but are also assuming the role of a part for the sake of an audience.

In either and both cases — whether of being “real” or “acting” in a role — the person to whom one “returns to” is someone who is the substratum: For the child, it is “Mommy” or “Daddy”; for the spouse, it is the husband or wife who “went-to-work-and-is-now-home”; and for the life-long friend from childhood days, it may be “Oh, that’s Dan who works as such-and-such, but who is good ol’ Dan always and forever.” But whatever role one assumes in life, whenever he or she returns to that person “Who I am”, does he or she ever return as the same person, or is there always a slight difference?

For, whatever the experience encountered in the “role” one plays, doesn’t it always change the person such that the person to whom one returns to can never be quite the same as before?

That is what happens with the Federal or Postal employee who needs to file for FERS Disability Retirement benefits — Yes, the point of trying to overcome a medical condition is so that one can “return to who I am”; but in reality, that will never happen, precisely because the medical condition and the experience of enduring the medical condition has changed the person forever.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal & Postal Disability Retirement: The Successful Equation

Remember those days in school when — not only did you have to know how to figure out the answer to a question — you actually had to know what the right “equation” was?  Without the proper equation, you could never solve the “problem”.  Yes, yes, you could do some tinkering around the edges — of “figuring out” in some unique way, but ultimately the only way to solve the issue was by rote memorization (something not required, anymore, in this day and age of computers and smartphones) of that mathematical statement on the near side of the equal sign.

If only life were like that — of simply memorizing the equation, then proceeding forward and solving every problem.  But that’s the nub of it all, isn’t it?

Life brings forth encounters and circumstances, “problems” and difficulties that refuse to respond to an equation pre-planned for the vicissitudes of life’s misgivings.  Are mathematicians better at adapting and responding to life’s travails?  Or, do philosophy majors and those who embrace dictums to live by (e.g., that all of life is a “river” and we can never step into the same one twice, and other such Chopra-like platitudes that carry us through difficult times) better sail through the trials that everyone inevitably faces?

The fact is, equations are often best left for mere theoretical applications, and rarely conform to the changes of life’s encounters.

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, the search for an “equation” in preparing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application should begin with a consultation with an FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law.

While there may not be a pre-set equation to follow, there are certainly important steps to take in preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement under FERS: Forgotten Lives

Is it the memory that retains importance, or the fear that erasure leads to irrelevance that motivates us to prevent forgotten lives?  Does imprint upon history — whether in a footnote or an “honorable mention” in the epitaph of an unvisited tombstone — mean so much?  Does a reference in a Wikipedia listing count as a counter to a life lived in anonymity?

Most of us accept that we will not leave behind a greater imprint upon history’s rising trash heap of honorable mentions; and, except for dinner conversations amidst family gatherings, where someone might bring up a story that begins with, “Hey, remember when Uncle X was with us, the time when…” — we are left to memories forever fading and references served only by the ivy that grows over graveyards left unattended.

How important is it to maintain a semblance of relevance in a world where the 15-second timeframe of fame and one’s forever-statement of contribution to society keeps getting shortened because of the need to move on to the next and more titillating cause of excitement?

One wonders whether a person clings to doing something merely in order to avoid erasure from existence from the memories of those engaged.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition impacts the Federal or Postal employee’s ability and capacity to continue working in the chosen field in the Federal or Postal sector of employment, the issue of making a decision to prepare, formulate and file an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS is often inextricably tied to the emotional upheaval of forgotten lives.

When one’s purpose and motivation for daily living is so intertwined with one’s career, work and the daily relevance of a mission yet to be accomplished, it is a difficult step to take, to recognize that one’s contribution to society may be coming to an end, resulting in forgotten lives and erasure from relevance.

But always remember that priorities must always be assigned, and the priority of one’s health comes before any fear of an honorable mention in a Wikipedia footnote, and just as there is life after a career with the Federal government, so it is also true that history is replete with the unnamed and unmentioned contributions of forgotten lives forever extinguished.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire