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 Disability Retirement: Short Memories

It is good that we have short memories — or choose to, by not studying history.

Why did Hobbes characterize Man’s life as being “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”, if there wasn’t some grain of truth to it?  Yes, it was a description of man in his natural and mythological “state of war” before the protective walls of government were formed; yet, even in modernity, a short look at the war in Ukraine reveals how fragile is the line between civilization and barbarism.

It is with the tool of short memories which allows for the armament industry to refer to patriotism and national pride; and it is by shuttling aside our wounded young men and women that we can continue to engage in lost causes and endless wars.  The lessons of history are never strong enough to counter the appeal to do it “better” or “right” the next time, and so the short memories we posses become the fodder for tomorrow’s persuasion.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal Service workers who suffer from a medical condition, and believe that human empathy and compassion by bureaucracies ever existed in the history of the universe, short memories will likely get you into trouble.

Federal Disability Retirement is a benefit which is available if your medical condition prevents you from performing one or more of the essential elements of your job, but if you think that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management — the agency which makes a decision on all FERS Disability Retirement applications — will simply grant you your request without a fight, then your short memory will likely result in a Denial at the First Stage of the process.

Contact a FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and let not your short memory be the downfall of an otherwise viable case for Federal or Postal Disability Retirement benefits.

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.

 

Columbus Day 2022

Whether as Columbus Day or as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, it is an official day off for Federal and Postal employees.  Does it matter what and how we ascribe it?  It has been many centuries since the voyage of Columbus; each child born today, and for many centuries past, can hardly be blamed for the ill-deeds of past generations.

That being said — if we are blameless — is it merely in the beliefs to which we identify, which marks the differences between us?  Certainly, for a Native American, it is irritating to hear someone claim that “such and such discovered America”; for, by definition, a land already inhabited cannot claim to have been discovered except by the inhabitants themselves.

But the argument is that the present society into which people are currently born, cannot possibly be blamed for the genocidal extermination of its indigenous peoples; and so, what can it mean as to whether or not one calls it “Columbus Day” or “Indigenous Peoples’ Day”?

The counter to that, of course, is that the reservations into which Native Americans were forced to accept, still reverberates with current loss of water rights, mineral rights, etc., and is a constant reminder of what was lost.  And it may be of some restoration of dignity to insist upon historical accuracy, where insistent inaccuracy is the basis for acrimonious inter-cultural relationships.

Yet, in this Post-Factual Universe where the Western approach of the Correspondence Theory of Truth once prevailed but no longer dominates, is there even a difference with a distinction?

For most, where the meaningful divide is between those who are overworked, barely able to make a living, and are stressed to their limits — which constitute the greater majority of individuals — and those who live a fairly carefree life of leisure (the greater minority of people), the fact of a day off, whatever you want to call it, is what seems to mean anything.

And for Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who can enjoy the day to spend with their families and loved ones, Happy Columbus Day and Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day, 2022.

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 Benefits: The Self

You are walking along a sidewalk, perhaps near your home or where you work; suddenly, a voice is heard and you look up, and someone of vague familiarity is pointing to you and declares in a loud, ecstatic voice: “Jason! It’s you! I can’t believe it — after all of these years!”

It turns out to be an old acquaintance; a person from your childhood, perhaps; someone you had not seen or heard from in many years.  Yet, the identification by the pointing of a finger, the declarative statement of a recognition of “you”, in their aggregate, establishes an acknowledgment which rarely occurs: there exists a “self” which is separate, unique and apart from “others”.

Maybe you don’t even like the guy; maybe you barely remember him or her as an integral link in your past; and yet, that very same individual, forgotten and unknown just a moment before, pointed to you and validated your existence of “the self”.  Maybe you converse for a while, invite him to your home, strike up a renewed relationship, go out to have some coffee, etc.  Or, maybe you deny any familiarity and keep walking, thinking that it is the introduction to a scam, even though you were correctly identified by name, but maybe it was by sheer coincidence and the next line out of the guy’s mouth was to be: “Hey, I found this wallet and there’s a lot of cash in it.  Here’s what we need to do…”.

It is a rare moment when we become confronted with “the self”, because for most of every person’s life, “the self” is merely an entity which moves through society like an automaton by habit and convenience.  In those rare moments, however, there is often a time of reflection — of one’s goals; one’s future; one’s need for change.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who have come to that point of self-reflection upon the self, and who have concluded that a medical condition is no longer compatible with continuation in one’s career, contact a Federal Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

It is often as a result of the hypothetical described above, or by an encounter with one’s deteriorating health, that “the self” is finally recognized, and with it, needed changes become apparent.

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.

 

Postal & Federal Employee Disability Benefits: Consider the Alternatives

It is a cognitive activity which we must all do — or, at the very least, which is forced upon us even when we don’t want to.  It is interesting how some people are simply unable to engage in the mental process of such consideration — whether because they were never “taught” how to sequentially weigh and prioritize, or because the “making” of the decision puts too great a finality upon one’s life.

In either case, it is often necessary to consider the alternatives, then to make a decision, then to act upon the decision.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who are considering filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, the foundational basis in coming to a decision to file for Federal Disability Retirement under FERS, through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, consist of a 3-fold question:  How is my health?  Can I make it to “regular retirement”?  If I continue in my present circumstances, will my health suffer such that if I make it to regular retirement, I will not be able to enjoy it?

In the end, considering the alternatives is a matter of prioritizing one’s life — of health versus work, of now versus the future, of values versus things, etc.  To become better informed in order to properly consider the alternatives, contact an OPM Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and take that information in making the proper decision for your life, your future, and the alternatives which you may not even know about.

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: Understanding, Comprehending, Applying

Is there a definitional distinction between the first two?  And, must one of the two first be satisfied before the third can be employed?  Should the sequence of the first two words be switched?  In other words, does “comprehending” come before “understanding”?  Can you comprehend something without understanding it?  Or, conversely, can you understand something without comprehending it?

The semantic debate can focus upon different aspects of the words.  For example, the term “comprehend” implies a more expansive concept than the word “understand” — and thus the related term, “comprehensive”, which encapsulates a greater bubble of knowledge.  On the other hand, the word “understand” implies a finality — the end result — as in, “Yes, now I understand”, whereas “comprehend” may infer the “process” of reaching that understanding, as in, “Yes, I comprehend it, now, and finally understand what you are saying.”

And the term “applying”?  That is the act of showing that you both comprehend and understand the concept, by actively engaging it with the objective world.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition and need to apply for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS, the need to comprehend and understand at least part of the process of Federal Disability Retirement is a “must”; to apply it, however, you should contact an OPM Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, lest you fail to understand or only partially comprehend the complexities of the application of the laws governing Federal Disability Retirement.

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 Employee Disability Retirement: The Stress of a Medical Condition

It may well be that the stress of modern life is the cause and origin of many medical conditions — although one may never be able to “prove” a direct causal link between the two.  Yet, we all know intuitively that the way in which we live is unhealthy and contributes, exacerbates and — if not “causes” — certainly impacts upon our health in negative ways.

Then, of course, when a person is beset with a medical condition, the stress of the medical condition itself further debilitates us: The stress of not being able to work; the stress that is placed on our finances; the stress that is placed by further worries and heightened anxieties.

It is the classic “vicious circle” and the catch-22: We need the time to allow the body and mind to heal, but cannot afford such time, and so we aggravate the medical condition and allow the stress of a medical condition to make things worse — into a never-ceasing struggle of stress and debilitating existence.

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 the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, contact an OPM Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and consider stepping outside of the vicious cycle of allowing for the stress of a medical condition to create a circular anomaly of self-destructive inevitability.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Lawyer

 

Federal Employee Disability Retirement: The Flower and the Bee

From an objective viewpoint, they represent a disparate set of entities.  On the face of it, they have nothing in common.  Yet, it is the symbiotic relationship that allows for pollination and propagation, and the nexus between the two is a necessary relationship between the two in order for new seeds to be generated, and for a thriving environment to continue to flourish.

How that “connection” between two dissimilar entities is developed, is a natural order originating from unseen forces; but how we have come to recognize the nexus is through observation, experience and logical analysis.  Much of what we do, see and pass by are similarly connected, but of which we fail to recognize the intersections.

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through OPM is often like that — of being denied simply because we fail to see the logical connections.  We believe, for example, that submitting old medical records that date far back would show how long we have suffered, but fail to see the connection that it might also reveal the converse: That, despite the medical condition, we were able to successfully perform our jobs.

Consult with an OPM Disability Attorney who specializes in FERS Medical Retirement Law and recognize the nexus that must be developed; and like the flower and the bee, begin to develop the connections necessary in order to pollinate a successful Federal Disability Retirement filing.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS Disability Retirement: The Difficult Road Ahead

It is not different for much of life; it is always a “difficult road ahead”.  Whether viewed in a poetic pentameter or in long, Faulkner-like narratives, the troubles, traumas, upheavals and disappointments felt, experienced and injured by most, is simply the cost of living an ordinary life.  There may well be lives out there which are untouched by troubles or tragedies; but as every family has a closet full of skeletons, so the “perfect family” as portrayed on social media is likely a mere facade concealing secrets of unstated hurts.

If given an opportunity, what 3 wishes would be asked for to blunt the difficult road ahead?  Wealth?  Yet, having unlimited financial resources will not necessarily make you “happy”.  Fame?  Will adulation and recognition bring about lasting contentment?  How about good health?  Yes, but if everyone around you is susceptible to the scars of illness, what good would it be if you are the only one left and all of your loved ones become debilitated?

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition begins to prevent you from performing one or more of the essential elements of your job, the difficult road ahead is not merely the deterioration of your health, but the long process of trying to become approved by OPM for a Federal Disability Retirement application.  Perhaps neither wealth nor fame were ever a goal for you; perhaps good health was always hoped for; but in the end, the loss of our health makes the other two rather insignificant, and the difficult road ahead magnifies even more the value of good health.

Consult with a FERS Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and consider that the difficult road ahead may require someone who not only knows what direction to take, but which road will lead you back to fulfilling the wishes of your dreams.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal & Postal Disability Retirement: Reenactment

Among the various species, are we the only ones who engage in reenactments?  Isn’t living life itself enough?  Do we really have to live it all over again, except in a “reality-based” methodology of reenacting what once was?

What does it say about a species which attempts to recreate scenes, scenarios and historically arcane contexts; or even of the lonely teenager who revisits the place of his or her first love, to go over a moment shared barely a fortnight ago?  Or even of the theatre — of a play reenacted night after night; and of battles from decades and centuries ago where we already know the outcome but desire to relive the moments leading up to the end.  Then, there is the “crime scene reenactment” — of extracting from scant evidence and trying to comprehend how it happened in an effort to discover the “who” of the crime.

Why do we humans want to recreate painful memories?

For most, there are moments and issues which we would rather forget, but forgetting means that it is already in the past and we have the capacity and ability to leave it behind us.  Medical conditions have a tendency to resist such forgetting; they remain as a constant reminder of our own mortality and vulnerability, and though we would wish for such a history of misery to be left behind, the daily reenactment of scenes of struggle remain as a constant reminder of the cruelty of the world around us.

Federal Disability Retirement through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management may not diminish the pain and constant reminders of our mortality, but it allows us to focus upon our health in order to move on with life.

Reenactment of scenes of encountering the daily adversarial and contentiousness of going to work; of the Federal Agency’s stubborn refusal to accommodate your medical condition; or of the medical condition itself which is a daily reenactment of life’s unfairness; these and many more reasons are why a Federal or Postal employee may take the important next step in preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal OPM Disability Retirement application.

If you don’t want to repetitively view the reenactment of an endless struggle, contact an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and consider filing a Federal Disability Retirement application in order to get beyond the repetitive reenactment of the drama daily encountered with your Federal Agency or Postal Service.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire