OPM Disability Retirement: The Grist of Life

It is that substance which is most useful; the essential part of the grain grounded in order to make flour; the rest and remainder — of the stem, the outer coating and armor which protects it — they, too, have some role to play in the larger scheme of things, but in the end, it is the grist of life which produces the essence by which we live.

Meaning, for everyone, may posses some external differences; but in the end, values which sustain and are sustainable, cross over and overlap; and yet, rare is the instance where such matters are discussed, even in the closest of families.

What is the grist of life?  Is it to drink, party and have the greatest extent of pleasure achievable?  Is it to “make a difference” in the short time we have upon this world?  Is it to accumulate the greater amount of “toys” and, in the end, to be declared the “winner” because of the amount and extent of wealth amassed?

Or, is it about “relationships” — of Father & Son; Mother & Daughter; Father & Daughter; Mother & Son; extended families; of grandparents; of the coherence or crisis; of a community which no longer exists.  When did we lose that sense of community?  When did the grist of life become a matter of money?

Whatever “it” is, you know that you have lost it when your health begins to deteriorate; for, when your health is a concern, no longer is there a question as to what is the grist of life — it begins and ends with one’s health.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that filing for Federal Disability Retirement is contemplated, the grist of life becomes quickly clarified:  Health, in order to to be able to have a quality of life.

Contact a FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and return to the essence of what it is all about:  Health, Life — a brighter future.

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 Disability Retirement Law: That Insular World

We can walk around without anyone knowing about the thoughts being thought; perhaps a grin may betray an inkling, or a sly smile triggering a suspicion; but isn’t that the beauty of the insular world?  We can escape into it; lock the doors; think our thoughts in the privacy of that insular world.  And of pain?

Wittgenstein asserted that there can be no private language game of One — i.e., of one person creating a language where only that person can speak, think, talk in that private language game, etc.  This is because language, by definition, is a vehicle and conveyance of communication, and if it only exists in that insular world of One, then it is not a language, but mere gibberish.

Again, what of pain?  Is pain similar to a private language game of One?  Certainly, others experience it — or so we are told.  But if someone says, “I am in pain” to a person who has never experienced pain, how can the second person understand what the first person is attempting to convey?  Say that the second person has in fact experienced pain — how do we know that what the second person has experienced is the same as what the first person is experiencing?

Pain, by definition, is subjective, but often with objective evidence correlating to the experience of pain.  But like the private language game of One, it is an experience which is possessed by only the person undergoing that phenomenon of feeling it.

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, be aware — beware — that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management will often argue that your pain is merely subjective, and has no objective basis to prevent you from performing your job.

It is doubtful that the OPM Medical Specialist is making the same argument as Wittgenstein was, but nevertheless, to counter the absurdity of OPM’s arguments, you may want to contact a Federal Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and hire someone who is familiar with the laws, regulations and legal case-laws which can counter that insular world of OPM’s vacuous arguments.

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.

 

Medical Retirement from Civil Service: The Unendurable Turmoil

Perhaps (and thankfully) for most, there does not exist one.  Turmoils are a part of everyday life.  Most are endured; some small numbers of them are actual “emergencies” which require urgent attention, but for the most part, life is a series of upheavals which has to be endured.

There comes, however, every now and again, an unendurable turmoil — a circumstance of such immense importance and of great impact such that it seems to be unendurable.  It is the moment during or just after a crisis; a recognition that things simply cannot go on like they have; a “breaking point” where something must give.  That point prior to the explosion or where the dam suddenly breaks and the massive flood of life’s fears begins, is the pressure point where help must be sought, attention must be obtained, advice must be acquired.

Medical conditions can bring a person to such a crisis point — especially where the intersection of work, family, pain and fear all aggregate and come to a “head”.  For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition and need to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, don’t allow for your particular situation to culminate to a point where it becomes an unendurable turmoil.

Instead, consult with an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer and get some advice.  Such advice from a Federal Disability Retirement Lawyer may be that proverbial last straw before it is placed on the camel’s back which prevents the situation from becoming the unendurable turmoil.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Employee Disability Retirement: Human Failure

It is the stuff of tragedies and pablum for tearful stories.  Human failure, as distinct from errors committed by other species, is unique for its moral implications and impact upon lives left behind.  Other species may have their failures — a squirrel that misjudges a branch and falls to the ground; a predatory search that ends without a meal; an incursion into human territory where traps await or a hunter sights. The consequences of such failure may result in the death or injury to the animal involved.

Human failure, however, often results in lives being destroyed for years beyond, where not only physical injury becomes evident, but the lasting damage to a psyche yet untold.  We try and restrict it; some manage to get through life without much scathing or scarring; but most of us have a trail of failures like a dust storm that leaves an eternal residue of soot and sorrow.  It is, also, often in how one views failures or successes.

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 all of the essential elements of one’s job, human failure is often misinterpreted.

It is not our “fault” that you have become injured or beset with a medical condition, and Federal Disability Retirement recognizes that your humanity still holds some future potential — which is the reason why, even after being approved for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, you are allowed to work in another job and make up to 80% of what your former Federal position currently pays, and still continue to receive your Federal Disability Retirement annuity.

Consult with an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and begin to focus back upon your human potential, and leave behind the trail of human failure.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS Medical Retirement: The Cloud That Never Dissipates

It often feels that way.  Whether from a singular source of worry or of an accumulation of multiple concerns, the cloud that hangs over a person is a reality seen only from the perspective of the individual impacted.  Perhaps it is a metaphor of some sort; and yet, the reality for the particular individual effected cannot be ignored.

One can attribute it to “moods” or even to a personality, but there are many among us who cannot disperse the hanging cloud that never dissipates.  We can momentarily reach above and swing wildly to separate the hanging smog of darkness, trying in vain to let some sunshine in; and we can engage in our distracting projects, as Heidegger would posit, in order to forget — for a time, at least — the impending doom just around the corner; and yet, the cloud still never dissipates.

Those momentary distractions are meant to provide a semblance of relief — a laughter here, an entertaining show over there, and a gathering that unburdens for a slice of time; but then the cloud redoubles its hanging effort and stays with us, reminding us of our mortality in a world impervious to our concerns.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a chronic medical condition that simply will not dissipate, that feeling is intimate and known.  Consult with a FERS Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, lest the cloud that never dissipates might result in a termination because of the medical condition that prevents you from performing the essential elements of your job.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire 
OPM Disability Retirement Attorney

 

Lawyer Representation for OPM Disability Claims: Hypotheticals

Why do lawyers, above most other professions, utilize the tool of hypotheticals?  What is their evidentiary value, and in what way does it help to advance the cause of one’s case?

Say, for instance, you need an architect or an engineer (yes, yes, the humor here is that in speaking about hypotheticals, we are preparing to present one), would you be at all impressed if, after describing with precision the type of product you desire to have built, or in requesting a blueprint of a model house you are interested in, the architect or the engineer presents you with a hypothetical?

What, first of all, is a ‘hypothetical’?  It is, first and foremost, a proposition of non-existence, but with components of reality that may or may not have occurred or existed except in partial or disparate forms, delineated in an attempt to make or prove a point.  It is the tool of the attorney, just as the pencil and the blueprint are the resources of the architect, and the mathematical calculations the reliance of the engineer.  Often, it is used by means of analogical content to prove a point and to enhance the evidence gathered.

Take, for example, the lawyer who defended a bank robber.  He meets his client for the first time, and the criminal defense lawyer puts up a hand in order to stop his client from speaking, and says the following: “Now, take the following hypothetical, Mr. Dillinger: A man walks into a bank and hands a note to the teller that says, ‘Give me everything in your drawers.’  Now, that man was subsequently arrested.  No cash was ever exchanged; no weapon was ever found.  The question, then, is: What was meant by the words?  Only you know.  If, by way of a hypothetical, the man meant to obtain the contents of the teller’s drawer, it might mean 10 years in prison.  If, on the other hand, the note meant to be a lewd proposal about the teller’s anatomy beneath her undergarments, it would likely be a misdemeanor offense.  Now, Mr. Dillinger, which is it?”

Now, aside from some who would view such a presentation as somewhat unethical for “suggesting”, on the part of the lawyer, which intended “meaning” the defendant possessed at the time the note was passed, such a hypothetical is intended to denote the importance of hypotheticals within the purview of “the law”.  Hypotheticals allow for individuals to see the differences in paradigms or examples; it allows for options by way of analogy.

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, hypotheticals have quite likely become like unicorns and gnomes: no longer a figment of one’s imagination, but a reality that must be faced within a surreal universe of a Federal Agency or the Postal Service that fails to possess the humanity necessary in dealing with a person with failing health.

Words of platitudes are often spoken; and, perhaps, here and there, you come across someone at your agency that actually cares.  But for the most part, such “caring” amounts to no more of a reality than mere hypotheticals; and when that realization comes about that the clash between hypotheticals and reality must be confronted, it is time to get down to the “nuts and bolts” and prepare, formulate and file a Federal Disability Retirement application with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset.

And, as an aside, you may be asking, What was Mr. Dillinger’s response to the lawyer’s hypothetical? He punched the lawyer in the mouth, stood up and said, “Jeez, I ain’t no pervert!  Of course I wanted the money!”

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

 

Medical Retirement for Federal Workers: The image we hold

It often takes years, and sometimes never; the child that has grown up, lived independently for some time, and has asserted his or her separation and personality still remains a child in the mind of the parent.  The image we hold often far extends beyond the reality that has changed and circumstances have dictated; it is that which remains as the final vestige of what we yearn for, steadfastly refuse to surrender, and allow in our imagination to fester with the desires of fantasies left unrealized.

That is why loss of a parent from the perspective of the child is just as difficult as the loss of a child from the vantage point of a parent; each holds on to the image remaining, like Platonic Forms that transcend the ugly reality of the starkness in broad daylight.  From the child’s perspective, the image we hold is of the omnipotent parent — vibrant, bringing joy and security, always there to reassure.  From the parent’s viewpoint: of the innocence never tarnished, the first gurgle and smile, and that word that bonds the relationship forever and a day.  Yet, each grows; the parent, frail and into senility; the child, into adulthood and loss of innocence.

It is, however, the image we hold that remains, and is the last to exit despite the coffins of despair and the alterations of nature’s cruelty upon the wrinkles of time.

For the Federal employee and U.S. Postal worker who suffers from a medical condition such that the medical condition no longer allows the Federal or Postal worker to remain in the same job, career and agency of one’s chosen career, there comes a time when Federal Disability Retirement should be a consideration, and the image we hold of a long-lasting tenure as a Federal employee in a particular line of work must, by medical necessity, change.

The image we hold is a figment of one’s stubbornness to remain steadfastly upon a course of immortality; we all have to submit to the winds of change, and preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, is that very change that must go beyond the image we hold — of one’s self.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Medical Retirement for Federal Employees: The imperfect image

There is, to begin with, the “perfect image” — that which we hope to project; those which appear on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook postings; and further, the public domain of our selectively chosen, carefully manufactured and manicured condescensions of carved lives.

The imperfect image is that which haunts us; it is the opposite of what we wants others to know about us; the very antithesis of what society allows for and deepens within the fears of our psyche where nightmares begin to boil over, anxiety begins to percolate, and stress-induced heartbeats rise to the level where dangerous palpitations lead to sudden onset of a terminal feeling.

The latter feeds upon the former.  It is precisely because the former exists that the latter becomes the illegitimate child of a figment of an unreality, and yet gnaws and destroys despite everyone’s recognition of its impossibility.  It begins perhaps with the age-old theological arguments — of the query, How can man have a concept of perfection unless there is such an entity that exists?

The classical counter-argument has often been: Well, we are able to imagine 3-eyed monsters with green-colored tentacles, are we not, even though they do not exist?  And the counter to the counter-argument was: Yes, but that is merely a matter of the imagination amalgamating all of the separate components — of 3 different eyes; of the color green; of tentacles like an octopus’ appendages; then, by creativity of the mind, to put them together.

Thus does one imagine perfection because there is such a Being as a perfect Being; and from that, Man views himself, sees the inadequacies and determines his or her own sin— unless, of course, you are on Facebook or Instagram, in which case you are the Being of Perfection itself…at least to all others who view you on such mediums of communication.

It is from that held-concept of perfection that when the early rash of imperfections begin to spread, we think in error that life is no longer worthwhile, and the despair of a false belief begins to pervade the inner psyche of our private lives.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition, where the medical condition begins to prevent the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, the sense of despair and hopelessness often begins with the manner in which you are suddenly treated by others — by coworkers, supervisors and managers — where your imperfections are suddenly highlighted.

You are no longer as “productive”; your attendance becomes “unacceptable”; you begin to make too many “mistakes”; you are deemed less than “perfect”.  The reality is that there is no such thing as perfection — only a concept forever unrealized but put forth falsely into the arena of public consumption.

The imperfect image that we hold onto — of a deteriorating body or stress-filled mind that begins to show wear and tear over the years — that is merely the reality of who we are: Imperfect beings, frail and fraught with error and (used in the old-fashioned way) filled with sin.

For the Federal employee and Postal worker who comes to the realization that imperfection is a reality not to be ashamed of, preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, is not merely an admission of such imperfection, but rather, a facing of a reality that we all must embrace — of the imperfect image surrounded by false notions of a perfection never to be realized.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement Claims: Hanging on a contingency

The metaphorical image representing such a phrase allows one to pause and reflect: the dichotomy between the physical world and the conceptual one — of a person “hanging”, as from a cliff, with his fingers turning white from gripping the tenuous life-line of a flimsy branch, a loose boulder or an outstretched hand of another; and of the technical term that possesses meaningful discourse only in a purely theoretical universe of conceptual constructs — denoting the idea of a future event or circumstance that cannot be relied upon with certainty, but may trigger a series of consequential future contingencies or further occurrences, etc.

Thus does the physical and the conceptual come together in an aggregation of a compound conceptual construct that may connote thus: You are in a tenuous situation where your physical well-being is dependent upon a future uncertainty that may result in events that may or may not yet happen.

Such a conditional circumstance is often how the Federal or Postal employee feels, who suffers from a medical condition, such that the medical condition may result in the necessity of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset.  For, it is indeed the “physical” part of the entire event — the medical condition itself — which makes one feel “as if” one is dangling from the edge of a cliff.

And it is the “contingency” — the uncertain triggering mechanism, such as the anticipated adverse reaction of the Federal Agency or the U.S. Postal Service; the tenuous reliance upon a doctor’s diagnosis and treatment; the growing inability to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s positional duties — that makes the medical condition all the more magnified in its exponentially-exacerbated conditions of anticipated calamities.

Life is often an unfortunate series of having to hang on to a contingency, but when a medical condition enters into the fray, it makes it doubly more tenuous, and preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, is at least a concrete step that allows one to grip the reality of one’s situation, and perhaps leave all future contingencies, tenuously anticipated, aside.

Sincerely,

Robert R.McGill, Esquire

 

Early Medical Retirement for Federal and Postal Employees: At any given moment…

Despite evidence to the contrary, we tend to live life expecting disaster just around the next corner; and when it does happen, of course, it only confirms the greatest fears which we had anticipated all along.  Whether any singular calamity is merely a magnification of our expectation of life’s fragile coordinates of unfairness, or simply a reflection of truth in an objectively impassive and uncaring world, it is our sense of destiny left to the fates of gods who care not and submission to the evolutionary Darwinism of predatory-to-prey beliefs which obviates any residual joy of life.  Then, when a wrong turn is made, we shake our heads knowingly and whisper in a soliloquy of wisdom unconstrained, “I knew it,” or something akin thereto, like, “Of course”.

Does confirmation of that which is expected, a basis for cynicism?  We certainly give lip-service to children, dogs and people of lesser means and circumstances by providing unsolicited, positive coaching advice on life and living:  “There is hope, yet”; “Tomorrow is a brighter day”; “Today is the best day of the rest of your life”; and other quips of mindless wisdom meant to appease, while we knowingly whisper in the privacy of our caverns of suspicion with an addendum of:  “You just don’t know how bad it can get.”  And so it goes (as the great positive thinker, Kurt Vonnegut, used to say — but then, anyone who survived the bombing of Dresden has a right to hold such dilapidated opinions of shabbiness).

Thus, in a similar vein, for the Federal employee and U.S. Postal worker who finds that treatment at the hands of one’s own Federal agency or the U.S. Postal Service when the time of need for support and acceptance is at its pinnacle — just doesn’t quite meet the standard of excellence expected in such moments, should be forgiven for having that shuddering tumult of suspicious concavity, when the Federal or Postal employee whispers, “At any given moment…” (i.e., the other shoe will drop; the Federal agency or U.S. Postal Service will further confirm their uncaring attitude; or some similar continuation of the initiating thought).

Preparing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, is often the solution to extricating oneself from the calamity of having a medical condition, such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from continuing in the positional duties of the Federal or Postal employment.  For, in the end, you do not want to stick around too long to verify and validate that thoughtful knowledge of wisdom you possessed as a Federal or Postal employee, when you first learned that life is not a bed of roses, rarely a shining star, and certainly not the lottery ticket each and every day, when — at any given moment — that proverbial “other shoe” may drop if you are a Federal or Postal employee needing to filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire