Federal Medical Retirement: The Track Meet Unasked For

Do you ever “feel” as if you were all of a sudden in a race which you never asked to be entered into?

That you find yourself running and gasping for breath, seeing others with such ferocious intensity, smooth rhythmic strides in beautiful garments of sweatsuits and runner’s outfits, all doing the same thing but with a slight difference:  Others trained and asked to be part of the track meet; you believe, on the other hand, that you are the only one unprepared.  How did I get here?  Who entered me in this race?  Why am I the only one out of shape and unable to keep up?

Yet, for years, you have been in the “middle of the pack”, unnoticed; perhaps, every now and again, with great struggle and pain, a little ahead of the others; but now, lagging somewhat behind.  It is as if you were milling about as a spectator, and someone got on top of a ladder with a bullhorn and announced, “Okay, everyone listen up!  Everyone line up and when I lower this red flag, the race begins!”  And suddenly, off everyone went, and you along with everyone else, otherwise you would have been trampled to death.  And so you have entered the track meet unasked for.

That is often how Federal and USPS employees “feel” when they suddenly are beset with a medical condition unasked for, unexpected — but with an impact upon their capacity and ability to continue in the Federal or Postal position they presently occupy.  You are struggling.  You cannot keep up.  You will either drop out of the race with nothing to show for the efforts previously expended, or you will simply deteriorate slowly, steadily, progressively.

Contact an OPM Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and see whether or not you can — this time — exit the track meet unasked for, by preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under FERS.

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: “It’s Behind Us”

The phrase can, without context, mean a number of things.  In story-writing exercises, a phrase such as the one referenced may be thrown at a student, and the student must then formulate the context surrounding the phrase, in order to give it “meaning” and relevance.

For example:  Perhaps it is a story about a haunted house, and two children are looking about, cautiously walking from room to room, when suddenly they hear a creaking noise, and one whispers to the other “It’s behind us!”  Or, it could have a completely different context — of a family crisis and how the various individuals deal with the problem, and when it is finally resolved, the wife turns to the husband and declares, “It’s behind us.”

Context is important, and relevance comes about only when the context is sufficiently fleshed out.

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, it begins with a medical condition.  From there, however, the “context” must be fleshed out — the relationship to one’s job; whether or not there is a possibility for an accommodation; what “fleshing out” needs to be done within the context of the law, etc.

In a vacuum, a medical condition cannot “win” against the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in attempting to secure a post-employment Federal Disability Retirement annuity.  It is the experienced lawyer who can help in fleshing out the context in order to ground your case in relevance and “the law”.

Contact a lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and begin the process of formulating the relevant context in preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS, 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.

 

OPM Disability Retirement Benefits for Federal Employees: Building

We pass by them every day; as a noun, it remains a structure of immoveable proportions.  As with most things, it begins with a foundation, and the action of construction then ensues with a systematic plan which involves mathematical calculations, engineering acumen and architectural design.

It is more an art form than a perfected science.  The “form” is already in existence in the mind of the builder; the “substance” of it is a mixture of raw materials — of concrete, wood, brick and mortar; and the design is left up to the creativity of symbolisms and cultural historicity.

Building a FERS Disability Retirement case is not much different.  It must also involve a foundation; then, upon that foundation is built the arguments based upon legal precedent, logic, analytical posits and ultimate conclusions to be reached: an approval of one’s Federal Disability Retirement case from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Contact a FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in OPM Disability Retirement Law, and begin the building of one’s Federal Disability Retirement Case by hiring a lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law — the “Architect” of the building.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Federal Disability Attorney

 

Federal Government Disability Retirement: Predictive Choices

When a medical condition first begins to appear, Federal employees and Postal workers rarely predict or anticipate that Federal Disability Retirement will be the choice that must be chosen in the near-term — or even in the long term.  A medical condition arises; we go to the doctor to take care of it; we continue on with life.  We rarely “plan” in anticipation of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, on the other hand, looks at an application for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, reviews all of the submitted progress notes of the treating doctor, looks at a person’s Performance Reviews and denies a Federal Disability Retirement application because you — the Federal or Postal employee — were able to work through your chronic medical condition, still received stellar performance reviews, and acted “as if” there was little to nothing wrong with you.

In other words, you continued to power your way through life despite your medical conditions.  It is unfair, isn’t it?  For, you are essentially being penalized for choosing to live life as opposed to making the predictive choice of filing for FERS Disability Retirement benefits.

Contact a Federal Disability Retirement Lawyer who specializes in OPM Disability Retirement Law and begin making the predictive choices which will reinforce your case for a successful Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal & Postal Disability Retirement: Apparent Neutrality

Can a person, country, nation, community, individual, politician, etc., ever be “neutral”?  Or, as recent events have postured, do we all have inherent preferences, biases, “systemic” characteristics of natural or artificial preferences which guide our thoughts, words and actions?  Is it more dangerous to pretend to be “neutral” on a matter, as opposed to openly expressing one’s biases and preferences?

To express “apparent” neutrality, of course, is either to hide one’s preference on an issue, or at the very least to act “as if” — as if one has no interest, either personally or professionally; to act as if there are no “leanings” one way or another.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management in a Federal Disability Retirement case does this — expresses apparent neutrality, as if their decision on a Federal Disability Retirement application is purely based upon “the law” and therefore is tantamount to a computer software program or an automaton which expresses pure neutrality on the matter and is merely applying the objective criteria of legal standards.  Bosh!  For, wherever interpretive input is required, by necessity one’s biases will ultimately come to the fore.

Contact a Federal Disability Retirement Lawyer when considering applying for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, and make sure that any “apparent neutrality” on the issue is decided in your favor; for, in the end, neutrality is merely a pretext to hide behind, and in preparing, formulating and filing an effective disability retirement application under FERS, it is best to have a legal expert as an advocate on your side.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Medical Retirement under FERS: The Wishes We Wish

People wish all the time.  Whether implicitly through fantasy or daydreaming, or explicitly by prefacing the thought with, “I wish that…” — the wishes we wish are often more revealing than the act of wishing itself.

Are humans the only species which projects upon things not possessed?  Do other species wish for things, circumstances, events and relationships that are not?  Does it border upon insanity to wish for things that are clearly outside of the realm of probabilities, or is it a healthy engagement of one’s time to daydream, wish, imagine and hope for?

Is there a distinction with a difference between a wish and a hope, a fantasy and a wandering daydream, or between a concocted reality and the miserable circumstances within which one exists?  If the difference is between containing one’s wishes within the privacy of one’s mind — on the one hand — and “acting as if” the wish itself is reality, on the other, then the boundary between sanity and its opposite is thin indeed.

Here’s something that tells us much about ourselves: Do we wish for things for ourselves, or for others?  Do we wish for extravagances — like a yacht, a vacation or a revitalization of a lost relationship — or something more mundane, like good health?

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 job, the wishes we wish may be common, understandable and mundane — of getting one’s health back.  And while Federal Disability Retirement may not result in better health, it allows for a Federal or Postal employee to extricate one’s self from a workplace situation that only increases the stresses upon one’s health because of the constant worry about being unable to perform the work assigned, and to instead focus upon one’s health and well-being.

In the end, the wishes we wish need to conform to the reality we find ourselves in, and for Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who need to file for Federal Employee Disability Retirement, you should contact a Federal Disability Lawyer who specializes in FERS Disability Retirement Law and allow for some wishes to turn into a reality.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement under FERS: The Carefree Life

Is there such a thing, or is it a fiction, a mirage, a fantasy of those who create mythologies old and new — like the Utopia of some ancient history or of immortality in a netherworld of paradise’s dream?

To live is to care; to have a carefree life is therefore to die.  The incompatibility of the two concepts coexisting is intuitively clear; but the oxymorons we create are often as a result of dreams and goals expressed out of frustration from the overwhelming nature of those cares which confront us.

Life is a series of “cares”; to be free of them is to be free of life itself; and as living means that the human drama of interacting, helping, engaging in conflict and facing daily trials and all that constitutes the “stuff” that life is made up of, so it is the one who engages it successfully, who is able to maneuver through the complexities of such messes we make of it — that is the closest we can come to in becoming “care-free”.

There are those few who, perhaps, are able to escape a good part of the daily cares of life; but then the unexpected happens, such as a medical condition which one has no control over.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer 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 Federal or Postal job, it may be time to modify the types and numbers of the “cares” that you are confronted with.

No, there never was or is a carefree life; but obtaining a Federal Disability Retirement may at least allow for the Federal or Postal worker to at least focus your attention upon the cares which matter most — that of health.

Consult with an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law today and consider preparing an effective OPM Disability Retirement application through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in order to come closer to that mythological paradise of the non-existent, carefree life.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement under FERS: Poet’s Choice

What is it about poets that so many die young?  There are various studies “out there” (just Google it!) which reveal that the suicide rate amongst poets is significantly higher than in other professions.  The emotional tragedian — of the person who views the world through a lens of subjective creativity yearning for romanticism in a reality of harsh ugliness — is a person who cannot fathom the contrasting loss of beauty.

Is there, within the profession of a poet, those who engage the traditional iambic pentameter as opposed to some formless, free-flowing approach (i.e., E.E. Cummings?) where the statistical significance varies?  Or is it indiscriminately indifferent across the board?  Is it because constant rumination within a subjective universe of human thought leads to greater mental instability, or is it something more fundamental and elementary— like the frustration of trying to find the “perfect word” to rhyme?

Do poets search for rhyming words like the rest of us do?  You know — where, for example, take the word “fought” and then in our minds we go down the list of the alphabet — bought, caught, (skip D, overlook E because it is a vowel; “fought” we ignore because we just used it; got, hot, skip I, etc.) — or does the word naturally flow for the poet?  In the end, is it rumination which leads to a state of being distraught, or the realization that the art of poetry cannot be reconciled with the chaos of this universe?

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who have realized that a medical condition will not go away, and where the poet’s choice of words to describe the frustration in dealing with one’s job, career and inability in reconciling the medical condition with continuation in the Federal or Postal career cannot be grasped, it may be time to prepare, formulate and file an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Most of us realize that poetry exists not amongst people, but within the ethereal universe of hopes and dreams, and when a medical condition jolts us into the realization that beauty resides not in a job or a career, but in the human relationships we form over a lifetime, then we also come to understand that health is more important than a Federal job or Postal career.

Consult with an experienced attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and focus upon the beauty of health, and not the poet’s choice of despair.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Injured Federal & Postal Employees: “What should I be doing?”

It is a query that applies to so many aspects of a successful life; of an endeavor or a pursuit; of preparing the steps in order to attain a level of perfection.  Curiosity and the desire to improve are the ingredients of success; the lack of either or both will often leave one behind as others progress.

The runner who wants to shave off a fraction of a second; the “expert” in a given field who desires to comprehend the next level of complexity; the business owner who strives to avoid the fickle nature of a purchasing public in order to expand; they all begin with the question, “What should I be doing?”

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 concerning preparing an effective Federal Employee OPM Disability Retirement application may have already entered into the fray.

The question following when that arrival point comes near is: “What should I be doing?”  The answer: Consult with an Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law.  For, in the end, that very question will lead to building the proper foundation for a successful outcome in preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, and it is those preparatory steps which will often make all the difference between success or failure.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement: The Task of Forgetting

Leisure activities are the tasks of forgetting; it is to engage in them precisely in order to become distracted from our work-a-day universe and replenish our “batteries” in order to go back into the fray of battle.  Battle-worn soldiers need the time away from the constant stresses of perilous missions in order to regain a sense of balance and perspective; and the lioness with her cubs sees the value of play in preparing them for the more serious ordeal of hunting for survival.

The task of forgetting is how we entertain ourselves — of reading a novel by forgetting about the reality of our lives; of watching a television show or movie and forgetting about the troubles central to our lives; of playing a video game or participating in crowd gatherings in order to watch a sport being played, or even in the direct engagement of a sport; these, and many others, require the task of forgetting in order to become a participant.

A medical condition, however, denies the task of forgetting.  That is why medical conditions are so inherently exhausting; they remain as a constant reminder of our mortality and frailty, and deny the access to needed rest and restorative peace.  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, filing for Federal Disability Retirement should be an option to be considered, if only to attain the capacity to again engage in the task of forgetting.

The chronic nature of a medical condition is what often fatigues; and as the inability to perform all of the essential elements of one’s job begins to fester and overwhelm, it may be time to consult with an attorney who is experienced in Federal Disability Retirement Law in an effort to reacquire the capacity to engage in the task of forgetting.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire