OPM Disability Retirement Law: The Retrospective

There is a proportional increase as one experiences a greater linear accumulation; some would call it a heavier luggage to carry; others, of a more cynical nature, would term it as mere “baggage”.

The retrospective is engagement of looking back — of recounting memories or dealing with nightmares.  Human beings live in a state of constant turmoil based upon the past, the present and the future.  To be stuck in the past prevents the needed attendance to daily living; to disregard the past and merely live for “the moment”, is to repeat history’s mistakes and foibles; and to only live by greater angst for the future steals from experiencing the joy of today.

The retrospective is always a part of each of us; as we grow older, we tend to relate to things which have impacted us from the past; and so, to that extent, the retrospective is a necessary and natural, material part of our lives.  The key, however, is to resist the temptation of allowing the retrospective to dominate our lives as we grow older.

There is a natural inclination — a deliciousness, if you will — in letting the retrospective rule; for, whether of a trauma or of joyful memories, the retrospective as something which has already passed, is passive by definition and can no longer actively harm us.  Furthermore, it is important to have an objective, true view of the past, and not allow our imagination to warp or otherwise overstate the experiences of the past.

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 current job, it is important to provide a concise retrospective of one’s medical condition, but more importantly, to delineate the current impact.

As always, a balance must be achieved — of how the past is relevant; how the present is impacted; and in a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management — how the medical condition will last a minimum of 12 months.

Thus, as with most concerns of life, the retrospective must be put in its proper perspective and context — of how far back; of how much; of what relevance; and it is in this balance of life that the retrospective can be invaluable in its present significance.

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.

 

Disability Attorney Representation After an OPM Application Denial: The Missing Piece

That is the height of frustration — of assembling something, perhaps a mechanical device, a complex toy for a child (or for the adult, for that matter), or going through a computer downloading process, etc. — and realizing that there is a “missing piece”.  Even in reading a book on a technical subject matter; of realizing that the author is assuming that the reader already knows about a concept being discussed, a historical event being referred to.

What did we all do before the capacity to “google” a subject?  Is that why rote memorization is no longer required — because we can all whip out our Smartphones and instantly become an expert on any subject by regurgitating upon the subject-matter description as provided by the internet?

The “missing piece” is often in the body of a denial rendered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in a denied Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS.

There may be many reasons given for the denial, but it is often a single missing piece of the puzzle which would have persuaded and convinced OPM to approve the case.  It would have been better, of course, to have anticipated the “missing piece” and to have preemptively made the proper argumentation in the original submission of the Federal Disability Retirement application.

Whatever the case may be, it is important to have a disability attorney recognize and identify, then to “fill in” the missing piece in preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS, or in rebutting an OPM Denial, whether for the Reconsideration Stage or even for the MSPB appeal.

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 & Postal Disability Retirement: The Dam Thumber

We are all that; we just don’t know it, and sometimes when a moment of joy or tidbit of happiness comes along, we forget our duties as the Dam Thumber and actually enjoy our lives.  The Dam Thumber’s job is to do just that — to stop the leaks by putting one’s thumbs into the holes which appear — and, of course, not just the thumbs, but every other finger which may be stretched in order to barricade against the open fissures which occur during the course of a lifetime.

Isn’t that how most of us view life?  Either too busy preventing disasters from occurring, or trying to repair and cover up the cracks and holes which seem to open up just when we are trying to sit down and relax for a moment.  We are far too busy to “smell the roses”, and by the time we actually have a moment to reflectively consider the beauty around us, our bodies begin to fail us and the fear of our own mortality overwhelms.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition where the medical condition begins to impact and prevent the performance of one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, being a Dam Thumber becomes more of a full-time occupation.

If your quality of life is deteriorating because you don’t have enough thumbs to be an effective Dam Thumber, anymore, consult with an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and consider preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application in order to relieve yourself of the primary duties of being a Dam Thumber, and instead to focus upon your health and well-being.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS Disability Retirement: Patterns of existence

If you live long enough, you begin to see the patterns of existence; and, perhaps, that is why cynicism begins to creep into the lives of the older generation.  When you have “seen it all”, does the shadow which looms upon the radiance of a midday smile begin to fade with the vestiges of dark clouds approaching?

The repetition of vacuous words emitted from the caverns of a politician’s mouth; the crime waves that never seem to relent no matter the spectrum of punishment versus economic investment; the inflationary impact upon the valuation of monetary policy; and the general rule that, for the most part, tomorrow will be no different than today, and today is the measure to determine the memories of yesterday.

Is there really a “pattern” that comes about every 50, 70, or 100 years?  Many of us may live to witness such patterns if it is the first in the tripartite sequence of numbers — but does twice in witnessing constitute a “pattern”, per se?

Say you saw that X happened when first you became aware of your surroundings after birth; and 50 years later, you saw the same, or “similar” occurrence; does that constitute a “pattern”, or is it merely what Hume contended, that the mere fact of B following upon A does not constitute causality, but merely a coincidence of happenstance of one occurring after the other because there is no “necessary connection” between A and B.  Or, is it that we attribute patterns of existence because we ourselves reside in such repetitive monotony based upon expectations that the room we exited from will still exist in fairly the same way as we left it upon returning to it — vestiges of Berkeley’s idealism and definition of “existence” wedded to perceptual departure?

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 position with the Federal Government or U.S. Postal Service, FERS Disability Retirement should be an option to consider.

Just remember, however, the “rules” governing the patterns of existence: Don’t ever think that such a bureaucratic procedure can be easily maneuvered through; don’t presume that your case is an “easy” one; and don’t believe everything that your Human Resource Office, your Supervisor or even your “best friend at work” is going to tell you everything you need to know.  To do so would be to violate the first rule in the patterns of existence: Things are always more complicated than they seem.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filing for OPM Disability Retirement: The image we cling to

Whether of a “bad boy”, a “choir boy” and some other like, “He is such a quite, obedient and unassuming young lad,” or even, “She is a real go-getter” — whatever the image created, whether by our own manufacturing or by the reputation pasted upon by others, the image we cling to can remain with us such that it haunts and trails like the residue of those ghosts of Christmas past.

Are reputations and images one and the same?

They certainly cross over from border and fence to similar lines of demarcation, such that the jumble of what others say, think and believe about you are an admixture of one’s self-image, the reflection of how we think about ourselves and what we believe others believe about ourselves.  Changing the image we cling to is often difficult; believing in the change, nigh impossible and rarely achieved.

Whether from the incremental and sometimes insidious perpetuation from the subconscious destructiveness haunting one from a childhood past, or of reinforced negativity from bad parenting or abusive relatives, an image is a residue of a tapestry complicated by those unknown circuitry making up what is generically identified as one’s inner “conscious” life.

It is, as some philosophers would put it, the “ghost in the machine” — of that something “other” that eerily floats about above and beyond the collection of cells, genetic matter and neurotransmitters.  It is “who we are”, or more aptly, “who we think we are”.

For Federal and 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 image we cling to is often the one that prevents us from doing that which is best for ourselves.

We think of ourselves as hard-working, conscientious, never-a-slacker, and conflate that self-image with performance ratings, step-increases, promotions and awards, and it is that compendium of reputation-to-self-image that marks our downfall when a medical condition hits the brick wall of reality.

What are our priorities?  Do we cling to the images manufacture, at all costs — even to our own detriment?

Preparing a Federal Disability Retirement application, whether under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, is a silent admission that the image we cling to may not be the reality one hoped for; but to live in an alternative reality when one’s health is at stake, is to ignore the obvious, and to fall prey to the destructive tendencies of an uncaring world.

Filing a Federal Disability Retirement application with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is not to destroy the image of ourselves that we cling to; rather, it is merely a recognition that we, too, are human and imperfect, and it is the shedding of perfection that is often the greatest problem we face.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Disability Retirement Representation: Living Anguish

Two or more meanings can be gleaned, often depending upon the emphasis one places upon the sequence of words uttered.  One is the experience of the state itself; the other, the active phenomena in the presence of now.  In either form, the clear implication embraces the state of anguish, whether in a living state, or by living it.

Is the state of existence in modernity itself a constant and unavoidable situation involving anguish?  Is the craziness of the lives we live — of the inevitable rush of each day; the interference of work into personal lives, and the incessant drum of technology without a moment’s pause of temporary cessation — the cause of such anguish, or is the anguish felt merely a reflection of who we are?  Is it any different from the days just following the Last Great War when men and women bemoaned the state of absurdity while drinking coffee at sidewalk cafes in Paris?

Living anguish — again, whether in the form of “aliveness” or meaning merely that it is a state of being we find ourselves in — is a simple fact of modernity’s choice of existence.  For, except for those who can afford to live a life of luxury attended to by servants, cooks, butlers and chauffeurs, do the rest of us choose the living anguish, or do circumstances impose the state of being without any say-so in the life chosen?

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition, where 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 — of course the living anguish is exponentially quantified, and often the only remaining alternative is to prepare, formulate and file an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset.

Part of the living anguish of life itself is in the very limitations of our choices presented, and when a medical condition begins to impact one’s livelihood and the capacity to continue with one’s career, the fact that there is a choice — of filling for Federal Disability Retirement — somewhat alleviates the “livingness” of the anguish we experience, and allows for an alternative to the anguish felt in living with an increasingly debilitating medical condition.

But that choice of getting beyond living anguish must begin with the first steps in preparing a Federal Disability Retirement application, and that starts with a consultation with an attorney who can begin to guide the Federal or Postal employee away from the living anguish by preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal & Postal Disability Retirement Attorney: Negating the Sense of Panic

It comes upon all of us; the stealth of the sapping subtlety; the interruption of sleep, once removed in the quietude of dawn’s calm but for the far echoes of distant yearnings once deliberated, but as in the morning dew which forms soundlessly upon the bending blade of beatitude, the slow slide and dissipation tells us with an alarm that awakens:  What am I doing?

Panic is the alarm system which propels with an urgency, and often it results in the furious activity of unproductive futility.  Are we merely spinning our wheels?  A sense of one’s fate, the inevitability of timeless onslaught; these are all buttons pushed which call upon a person to act.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition, such that the medical condition begins to impact and prevent the Federal or Postal employee from performing the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal position, the sense that “something” needs to be done is always just around the next proverbial corner, and leaves one with the feeling of unease and panic.  And while King Lear may admonish his daughter of brevity by noting that nothing comes from nothing, the “something” which we do should not be merely engaging in acts of futility, but constructive advancements toward a teleological embracing of an identified goal.

Preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, for the Federal employee and the U.S. Postal worker, is a concrete goal with tangible benefits to be accrued.

As panic is an ephemeral but powerful sense of the unknown, the antidote to performing non-constructive modes of activities is to recognize, identify and initiate a concrete process with actual ends; and for the Federal or Postal worker who has realized that continuation in the Federal or Postal job is no longer a viable option, preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, will help to negate that nagging sense of panic, and compel one towards a constructive and productive future.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Benefits: The Salvageable Segment of the Soul

Even of the most craven of personhood, as they walk the disquieted corridors to the gallows of their fate, one continues to believe that redemption is possible; that there is some segment of the soul which allows for the relative unimportance of value, worth, forgiveness and continuing relevance in an otherwise impervious universe.

Most lives are lived without a grand master plan.  But that we could all devise and lay out the architect’s blueprint of proportioned drawings and apply it to one’s future, the very act of unrolling the scrolls of time would be accomplished with childlike anticipation for the sweetness of that which is hidden in the wrappers of one’s future.

Instead, the reality of life is that we bump into a career; we accidentally meet out life’s mate; we mistakenly decide upon a place to live; and we meander through our cusps of career choices and daily decisions forced upon us by life’s frenzy of busy-ness.   It is when a trauma befalls us, as the unshakeable foundation of security and repetitive monotony suddenly reveals a fissure of fragility, that we suddenly realize the need for a master plan.  Medical conditions tend to do that.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suddenly find that one’s career may be coming to an end because the medical condition prevents him or her from continuing in the same modality of life’s misgivings, consideration needs to be made for filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

This is where “planning” becomes necessary.

When a medical condition impacts one’s ability to perform all of the essential elements of one’s positional duties with the Federal agency or the U.S. Postal Service, there is often a sense that life is in a state of disarray, and the future clouded with bleakness.  But just as every craven soul must of necessity retain a segment of a salvageable hint, so the Federal or Postal employee whose career is cut prematurely short, should consider that there is still life to be lived beyond the compendium of life’s misgivings permeated by the coalescence of a career choice suddenly confounded by a medical condition.

Federal Disability Retirement through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management allows for the Federal or Postal employee to receive an annuity, then to go out and make a living in the private sector in another vocation.  Perhaps that second vocation will entertain a master plan, with the guiding light of that salvageable segment of the soul identified following a wrong turn down life’s maze of adventuresome avenues.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire