FERS Medical Retirement from OPM: Random Occurrences

Kant’s view is that the structures of order are imposed upon the objective world by human thought processes; thus, ultimately, the argument is that there are no such things as random occurrences, for everything is random, and therefore nothing is such.  For, if everything is X, then it is the same as saying that nothing is X, just as, If everything which is X is also Y, how can you distinguish between the two?

It is similar to David Hume’s contention concerning causality.  There is nothing in the world that tells us that the next time you hit a cueball and aim it at the 8-ball in a game of pool, that it won’t hit the target but fail to move it.  The fact that you have seen it done a hundred times before is no guarantee that it will happen the next time; for, what you saw the hundredth time gave you no new information than the first time you saw it.

Volume of incidents in identical form is no basis to argue that causality exists, if only because no “necessary nexus” is discovered whether you have witnessed something once, or a thousand times.  Yet, we crave stability and consistency; it is these random occurrences which trouble us, like a bad hair day which ruins and depletes our sense of confidence in the world we occupy.

Medical conditions have that effect upon people — that they are random occurrences which hit some, but not others.  It is when that happens when we believe the world to be unfair, and that the gods of fate somehow look with disfavor upon us.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition which prevents you from performing one or more of the essential elements of your Federal or Postal job, the search for greater consistency and stability in your life may be to prepare, formulate and file an effective FERS Disability Retirement claim, through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

For, while the objective world around you may appear to be merely a series of random occurrences, it is the affirmative act of a human being which can impost some semblance of Kantian order upon an otherwise chaotic world.  Such an affirmative act begins, for the Federal or Postal employee, but contacting a FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Medical Retirement Law under FERS, to be filed with 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.

 

FERS Medical Retirement: Mind/Body Distinction

Perhaps in other cultures, different civilizations, foreign philosophical foundations, the distinction was never made.

In the West, the “Cartesian model” — of Descartes’ alleged search for truth and the bifurcation between the “physical” universe and the “cognitive”, subjective phenomena; and, of course, the Freudian focus upon that inner consciousness and subconsciousness which further divides the objective from the subjective.

In the East (generally speaking, and of no geographical or geopolitical ascriptions of borders or boundaries), there never was a separation of the mind from the body, as the two were intimately and inseparably connected.  Tai Chi is based upon this concept, as are the martial arts (Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, Karate, etc.).   The mind is considered as an extension of the body, and in reverse conceptual order, the body is merely part of the mind.

Whether the Mind/Body distinction itself is the culprit for so many ills in Western societies (of treating psychiatric conditions, as an example, as something separate from a physical manifestation of a condition), is a question left for science.

For Federal Government and Postal Service employees, however, who are contemplating the need to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under the FERS system, the important thing to note is that applicable Federal law does not make a distinction between “mental” conditions as opposed to “physical” conditions.

Both are valid reasons to file for a Federal Disability Pension under FERS code, and this attorney always reminds OPM that under the case-law, there is no discrimination of validity between one or the other.

Contact a FERS Disability Retirement Lawyer who specializes in OPM Disability Law, and let not the Mind/Body distinction so prevalent in the West defeat a valid basis for an OPM Disability Retirement application under the FERS retirement system.

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 Retirement: The Adversarial System

Commentators often note the proportional imbalance reflected by the number of lawyers in this country.  Is it s good thing?

One can argue (yes, the irony cannot be avoided, that we begin with an “argument” when discussing the “adversarial” system), of course, that the number of lawyers merely reflects the origin of Western Society — for, isn’t the foundation of Western Civilization based upon Greek Philosophy?  Specifically, isn’t the foundation of intellectual endeavors founded upon the “Socratic Method”, which is the precursor of legal argumentation?

The Adversarial System, at its core, is a dialectical methodology of attempting to arrive at “Truth” — or so it is supposedly intended.  In a vacuum, that is the context of the system; in truth (yes, that age-old irony, again), because there is involved human emotions, underlying subterfuges of intent, the pure “competitive” desire to sin, and the sheer motivation of simply wanting to defeat the other side — in the end, what the adversarial system lacks, in most instances, is the exact counterpoint and self-contradiction of the necessary context in order to make it work: Civility.

The Adversarial System, without the outer clothing of civility, merely becomes reduced to linguistic battle.  But that is the system which we are left with when — over decades and even centuries — the natural course of every and any legal system becomes barren with the coarseness of its skeletal foundations.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal Service workers who need to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, under FERS, don’t get fooled by the admonition that this is merely an “administrative process”, and that OPM is merely an “umpire” to make sure that you have met the statutory criteria for eligibility for Federal Disability Retirement.

To be sure — even umpires don’t just call “balls and strikes”, but get into heated arguments with the players and, similarly, OPM is just as much a part of the adversarial system as in any other legal process.

Contact a FERS Medical Retirement Lawyer, that is, a legal expert who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and make sure that you have acquired the necessary arsenal to win the battle in this adversarial system of preparing, formulating and filing an effective application for FERS Disability Retirement benefits through 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.

 

FERS Disability Retirement Law: The Call Not Made

The call not made is the one regretted; for, it was the proverbial fork in the road, the turning point, the next corner, the event which could have unfolded unexpectedly to change one’s life.  Perhaps it was the follow-up not followed after a chance meeting with someone who might have become your life partner; a potential employer; a message left by a friend-of-a-friend; a distant relation whom you barely knew, but reached out for a reason left unclear.

The call not made is the one which you thought you could avoid, brush off, ignore, leave aside; but it is often the one which could have made a difference — if not in your own life, but in some other’s.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who have been delaying the call not made — to a lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, under FERS — it is often because the potential caller knows, in one’s “heart-of-hearts”, that it is an inevitable call, and the one which is being delayed for fear of the change itself.  But change should never be feared, and ultimately the decision of change itself is an option that only you can determine.

The call itself will merely open up the possibility for future change, whereas the call not made forecloses it, sometimes forever.

Contact an OPM Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and make that call not made — yet.

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 Disability Retirement Claims: Between Commas, Clauses and Quotations

Between the grammatical constructs appear the sentence which contains the meaning intended.  Many see such normative standards as necessary for the orderly creation of cogent writing; others, as constraining devices which are unnecessary and debilitating to the creative process of unfettered communication.

Do we even teach “grammar” anymore, especially given the technological tools and software devices of corrective enhancements, beginning with ‘spell check’?

Commas prevent run-on sentences; clauses constrain the wandering tangent; quotations indicate the dialogue, a title or magnification of a singular word, etc.  Our thought processes are better organized within the confines of social constructs, and when we have a commonality of grammatical rules, it constrains the anarchy which language is susceptible to befalling.

Society in large requires that similar constraint — by laws and regulations which constrain arbitrary authoritarianism.

Think about it — for Federal and Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that a Federal or Postal employee needs to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits: Would you want the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to be able to act unfettered and unconstrained?

Or, are we relieved that there exists Federal Disability Retirement laws and case-law precedents which constrain the arbitrariness of the bureaucratic process?  For, between commas, clauses and quotations exist the constraints of thought, just as laws direct and constrain a governmental entity like OPM.

Contact a FERS Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and make sure that the commas, clauses and quotations are applied in their proper context, as well as the laws which govern Federal Disability Retirement benefits from OPM.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Lawyer

 

FERS Disability Retirement: Trains that have already left

What do we say about a person who is told that his train has already left the station, and that another will not take him to his destination until the day after, yet insists upon remaining on the platform hoping that, somehow, another will arrive, perhaps in the next hour or so?  Is it stubbornness?  Or, perhaps a denying of reality?  Or a refusal to admit to one’s mistake in arriving too late?

The metaphor of the train having already left the station, of course, is a universally well-known one, and it is especially poignant when emphasizing the need to rearrange, reorganize and rethink one’s future plans.

So the conversation goes: “Well, I am thinking about doing …”  And the response is: “That train has already left the station.”  Meaning: You may have had the opportunity to do what you are thinking of doing, perhaps 5 years ago, or maybe even yesterday; but such an opportunity has already come and gone, and you cannot change the fact that the proverbial “train” has already left without you.  The response might be: “Yes, but I can catch the next train.”  To which, the counter to the response is often: “That may be, but understand that it will be a different train, and not the same one that you missed.”

How far can one go in utilizing a metaphor or an analogy?  At some point, the metaphor can become lost within layers of double and triple “meanings”, and the conversation has to get back to the reality of the present and actual situation.  And so the return back to basics: A 40-year old man says, “I think I will try out for the Orioles as a short-stop.”  The friend may give a wry smile and say, “Yes, but you know that that train has already left the station”.

We all know what that means: While the Orioles sorely may need a good short-stop, a person who is 40 years old will not be able to keep up with the rigor of being a professional baseball player.  It is simply not realistic.

Likewise, for Federal and Postal employees 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 often difficult to discern the “reality” of one’s situation in making a proper determination for one’s future.  Is it realistic to think that one will be able to return to work?  How long will the Federal Agency or the Postal Service show patience in taking so much time off? Is it possible that the Federal Agency or the Postal Service will be able to accommodate my medical condition?

Trains that leave the station on time are often ones that are forever gone; and the one that is ultimately entered to travel to the destination one has chosen, may well get you to where you want to go, but it will nevertheless be a different train, a distinctly separate destination, and even the rider will be another person.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Filing for OPM Disability Retirement: Time wasted

It all depends upon one’s perspective, doesn’t it?  For some, watching television is time wasted; for others, reading a novel, and even within that subset of opinions and viewpoints, it often depends upon “what” you are reading before the hammer of judgement is struck: If a beach-time novel, then it is a waste of time; if a classic, then you are utilizing your time wisely.

But what if you are, in fact, sitting on the beach enjoying the lazy lapping of waves, and merely want to get lost in the fantasy of a junk novel — isn’t relaxation a good use of one’s time?  When does “constructive” relaxation turn into time wasted — i.e., laziness?  Is it when the bare necessities of life are no longer attended to?

Of that proverbial brother in-law or other distant relation who is whispered about, who barely holds on to a job, is found spending more time at the corner pub than attending to one’s kids, or the one who constantly oversleeps, overstays his welcome or overstates his woes — is it just a guy who likes to relax, or is he a lazy bum?

Is there a mathematical formula in determining when time is well spent doing nothing, or is wasted?   Sort of like: Time multiplied by the extent of bare necessities required divided by the extent of need, minus particular circumstances that must be taken into account factored by 3.

Can a lifetime be wasted, and if so, what would be the criteria to be applied or imposed?  A wealthy person might contend: We have about 60 years or so to make our fortunes, and if a person has not done so within that timeframe, it is a lifetime wasted.  Some others might counter with: Amassing wealth is not the sole criteria of a worthwhile life; the fostering of human relationships, of making someone else more comfortable, or of even granting a dog some happiness, is what makes this life a worthy one.

Does a medical condition bring about a differing perspective?  For the wealthy person who makes enemies throughout and angers almost everyone with his or her single-minded focus while disregarding the feelings of all else, but who suddenly is hit with deteriorating health — does time take on a different meaning?

For Federal employees and Postal Service workers who suffer from a health condition, where the health condition begins to prevent the Federal or Postal worker from carrying out one or more of the basic elements of one’s job — is time being wasted by the struggle itself?  Does it appear that everything is an uphill struggle: of juggling doctor’s appointments, work, family obligations, etc.?

Preparing 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, may not be the best solution of all, but it may be the most prudent one, as time is not a friend to be wasted when it comes to one’s health and future security.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement from the Office of Personnel Management: SF 3112C

As a “government form” it purports to provide guidance in general terms, and it is doubtful that the lack of clarity as to its purpose or utility will assist the medical professional into writing an effective report.

The plain fact is that SF 3112C is a confusing form — confusing both to the doctor or Nurse Practitioner who is presented with it, as well as to the FERS Applicant who is attempting to prepare an effective OPM Disability Retirement application.  It refers to a “position description” being attached, but fails to provide the necessary explanatory nexus between the PD and the medical opinion sought.

What part of the position description should be focused upon?  Is it the entirety of the PD, portions of it, or just the “essential elements”?  Is it relevant whether a person can work part-time, full time, or an erratic combination of both depending upon the severity of symptoms that may arise periodically?  Is SF 3112C meant to confuse, or like so many “government forms”, is the language inevitably misleading because it is (A) meant to be that way, (B) unintentionally written in an unclear manner or (C) is meant to be wholly unhelpful because OPM doesn’t want to go out of its way to help the Federal Disability Retirement applicant?  Must the SF 3112C, the “Physician’s Statement”, be used at all?

If you are still working with the Federal Agency or on the rolls of the Postal Service, or at least not separated for more than thirty one (31) days, must the prepared physician’s statement be sent directly to your H.R. Office without first being reviewed and validated by the applicant?  The form itself certainly makes it appear so, but is that really the case?

In the end, the applicant who is preparing, formulating and filing a 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, must make some initial and important determinations concerning the substance and content of the application itself.

Forms are tricky; the laws that oversee them, often vague; but if you are relying upon instructions written and formulated by the very government agency that will be making a determination on your application, you may want to first consult with an attorney who specializes in the very law that governs Federal Disability Retirement, before you begin “filling” out forms or having your doctor fill one out.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Employee Disability Retirement: Lack of time

It takes time in order to be “nice” and “considerate”.  We don’t have such a luxury, anymore.  We have been sold a bill of goods; that technology, Smart phones, computers, laptops, tablets; of the actual engagement in texting, emailing, and all of the multitudes of communicating by delight of button-pushing, will allow for man to pursue the creativity within, and to forego the toil of an otherwise working world. Then, we would reach the pinnacle of human ecstasy, of “time” enough to do that which we  were destined for.

And, yet…  Somehow, the promises made became empty vessels of contractual vacuity, and the social contracts so construed with ponderous delights, never reach a moment of fruition, and instead left us all with an emptiness of soul.

When a society begins to trumpet blares of social “rights”, and to utilize the political process and the courtrooms to assert the ability and capacity to force changes, then it is the step beyond moment of neighborly cohesiveness.  There have always been disputes within organizations, townships, blocks, etc., which have required mediation and third-party intervention; but, for the most part, the working order of a society depends upon common courtesy, decorum, and accepted conduits of conventional behavior governing personal conduct and public displays of geniality resulting in the glue which cements societal functionality.

But, that takes time.

It takes time to say “hello” and “good-day”; it takes time to know that The Stinsons down the way, or the Zachariahs or Abdullahs two houses away and four blocks to the left of the Smiths, respectively, have a child with pneumonia (as opposed to being fearful that such revelation of illness will be interpreted somehow as weakness of character), and the discourse of living should immediately invoke a response of care, concern and a grant of extended help.

But we don’t have time for all of that nonsense.

That mushy-gushy-goo of human relationships, where actual contact has to be engaged, and when picnics were once the commonality of congregation when children dressed in Sunday bests with butterfly nets in hand, flushed cheeks from the midday sun of dancing waves in the delight of a summer’s breeze, and neighbors actually stood face-to-face and reflected upon the concerns of others, and not faceless stoicism and the staid numbness within the cocoon of selfish wants and virtual realities of Pokemon and timeless pursuits of distractions unleashed but for the loss of connection with human contact, and thus of humanity itself.

But, that is because we lack the time.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who feel the loss of time and the lack of time, and where time seems to be “running out” like a spigot left unintentionally open and connected to a finite source of reserve – it may be “time” to prepare, formulate and file for OPM Disability Retirement benefits.

When the agency has no time for one’s medical condition; when the U.S. Postal Service cares not for one’s health; then, the only “time” which matters is that moment when health deteriorates and progressively debilitates, and then it is surely time to consider “moving on” and leaving those with such ties to the currency of time behind, in order to reach that pinnacle of timeless timing when an effective Federal Disability Retirement application may be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, where lack of time is more akin to the timing of lack which certainly takes time to prepare, formulate and file in a timely timelessness.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement: Frustrated Purposes

The linear attempt is the methodology of direct purpose; it is the measurement of length — of a straight line from point A to point B, of a one-dimensional character.  Any obstacle placed in its path represents a frustration of that purpose, and merely delays and obfuscates the attempt to accomplish a stated goal.

How to ad lib in circumstances where obstacles appear; the consideration of options and alternatives in the face of detours and unexpected deterrences; what malleability of core values must be shown when necessity arises; these are all challenges within a universe of expectations otherwise untested.

The hardest of these, of course, relates to deliberate attempts by outside forces to frustrate one’s purposes — whether by other people, coworkers, Supervisors, Managers, or perhaps even the microcosmic body politic of an organization or entity as a whole; or by circumstances otherwise unexpected, like a medical condition.  It is bad enough for one or the other to be the sole cause of turmoil; when both conspire jointly, they become a source of angst and agony.

For the Federal employee and U.S. Postal worker who suffers 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 one’s positional duties in the Federal job or Postal position, it is that fight against both fronts simultaneously which becomes unbearable.

Not only must the Federal employee or the U.S. Postal worker contend against the challenges of the deteriorating medical condition, but concurrently, at every turn, the Federal agency or the U.S. Postal Service works day and night to seemingly frustrate the sincere attempts of the Federal employee or the U.S. Postal worker to return to a level of functionality such that the positional duties may be fulfilled and satisfactorily completed.

Thus does preparing, formulating and 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, become an important consideration in the delayed destination of frustrated purposes.

That linear sight of myopic perspective — of a career of accomplishments set over a lifetime, with retirement as a byproduct in a future destination and contribution to society as the groundwork of contentment — must be allowed to swerve, overcome and become a series of schizophrenic lines of zig-zagging spectrums, lest the frustration of purposes defeat the need to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from OPM.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire