FERS Disability Retirement from OPM: Second Chances

In the wild, there are few such second chances.  Every now and again, one sees a documentary where a prey somehow escapes the grasp of the predator, but it is a rare sight.  When survival depends upon a meal, nature does not relent in favor of the weak.

In the human sphere, second chances are more common because a greater sophistication of higher human characteristics are involved (at least, sometimes), not the least of which include kindness, empathy, and selfless generosity.  We are capable of rising above the beast and acting at a level just below the angels.

Shakespeare and Milton recognized this greater capacity, as have many other authors (is it a contradiction that the English, known for their ” stiff upper lip” approach to life, would embrace such a worldview?).  And when a government passes legislation empowering its citizens with second chances, it is reflective of a higher and more civil spirit.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a disabling injury or illness which requires a second chance, FERS Disability Retirement under the FERS system provides just such an opportunity.

To have greater assurance that the bureaucratic machinery of OPM will comply with the letter of the law, however, you may want to contact an OPM Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, for — even in the human sphere — there are still predators in the wild who fail to regard the spirit of the higher laws.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Federal Lawyer exclusively representing Federal & Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

OPM Disability Retirement Help: The Periscope

It is an interesting object; and allows for a capability beyond the normal and direct human eyesight.  As an instrument used to observe, it allows for getting around obstacles which prevent direct line-of-sight observation, and in its more advanced invented forms, utilizing prisms and advanced fiber optics, can view the world and its intended object from a vantage point unobserved by the viewed.

These days, of course, with miniature cameras and microchip technology, perhaps the periscope is an anachronism.  The purpose, however, always remains the same: To gain information through observation, without being detected.

Federal employees who suffer from a medical condition often have to use the “periscope” approach — of gutting through each day at the expense of one’s own health; of smiling when the upturned lips should reveal a downturned frown or a grimace of pain; and all the while, the Federal Agency is saying you are doing a great job, your health deteriorates behind the periscope of unobserved medical conditions.

At some point, perhaps someone points to the “periscope” and says, “Are you okay?”  This is a rare instance.  Instead, more often than not, there comes a critical juncture in one’s life where the debilitating medical condition no longer allows for lack of observation, and that is the point when the periscope is seen, and everyone scratches their collective heads and declares: Yes, yes, it was obvious all along.

And that is the point when the Federal or Postal worker needs to consider filing for FERS Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Contact a FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in OPM Disability Retirement Law, and begin the process of seeing the world not through the vision of a periscope, but with your own wide and opened eyes.

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

 

Legal Representation on Federal Disability Retirement Claims: The Privy

As a verb, it allows for sharing in information secretive within confidences kept closely held; as a noun, an antonym of sorts — of a most public facility where privacy is needed, but which everyone uses for the most common of needs — of a place where we relieve ourselves and perform bodily functions that redden our cheeks with shame when spoken about.

Are we privy to the intimate thoughts of friends and loved ones?  Do we ask where the privy is when in London, Tokyo or Idaho?  Of the last of the tripartite places so identified, the response might be: “What’s that, hon?”  Of the middle, it could likely be: “Nan desu-ka?”  Of the first, with a neat British accent or the melody of a cockney dialect: “My good chap, just around the corner over there!”

Confidential information or the toilet; how many words in the English language allows for such duality of meanings depending upon where the word is inserted into a sentence?

That is how Federal and Postal employees who suffer from a medical condition often feel about their situation when a 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: For years, like the noun because he or she was a “valuable asset” to the Federal Agency or the Postal Service, where all confidential details were passes by you and you were always “in the loop” of everything important going on within the agency; then, when the medical condition hit and you began to take some Sick Leave and perhaps even a spate of LWOP, you were relegated to being a “noun” — no longer privy to the inner workings of the Agency or the Postal Service, but merely a privy on the outskirts of town.

When that happens — when you are no longer a verb, but an outcast noun — then you know that it is time to prepare, formulate and file an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, whether you are under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, so that your place in the sentence of life will once again become an active verb, and not merely an outcast noun to be abandoned and forgotten in the grammar of vital living.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Disability Retirement under FERS & CSRS: DDD

It is what Moynihan said so many years ago, of constantly reinterpreting normative constructs such that the subtle, insidious reduction of acceptance allows for normalization of that which was rejected and repugnant just a few years before, a generation ago, or never at all.  Or, it may refer to a medical condition of the spine – of the condition identified as “degenerative disc disease”; but in either case, the acronym used as a convenient route for linguistic economy has some similarities involved.

For, in both cases, DDD allows for the slow and steady deterioration of a process – the former, of a cultural rot and standards once ensconced firmly in the very fabric of society; the latter, of a slow process of debilitating “eating away” that reveals a condition progressive over time, decaying by crumbling of bone, cartilage and repetitive overuse traversing time’s despondency due to labor’s unnatural pose.  Or, one can just make it up and ascribe it to a tripartite conceptual compound; for instance, “dual deficit denominations” or “dark, dim and dumb”, or other such consternations of linguistic accolades.

In any event, it is the original of the two that seems to share a common ground of meaning; for, in both, it is the essence of a slow process of change; one, cultural in nature, of an acceptance of lesser standards whether by willful determination or accidental submission; the other, the debilitating disease that – over time and resulting from old age – progressively worsens.  One could simplify the concepts by dismissing the first as “cognitive” and the other as “physical”.

In either case, for Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical conditions, such that the medical condition impacts the Federal or Postal worker’s ability and capacity to continue in the same position and compels one to consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement, both concepts can apply.

For, an expansive and liberal interpretation of Moynihan’s argument is similar to the Federal or Postal employee’s acceptance of the lower standard both in terms of his or her quality of life, as well as in seeing the adversarial nature of the Federal agency or the Postal facility as “normal” in the treatment of its employees.  And, as to the “other” definition of DDD – of the chronic neck or back pain – whether in a sedentary job or a very physical one, the high distractibility of pain that impacts upon one’s capacity and ability to safely focus, concentrate and attend to the job itself is often a qualification for Federal Disability Retirement benefits.

Thus, the acronym itself – whether for “defining deviancy down” or as “degenerative disc disease” – can fit the proverbial bill in considering the option of Federal Disability Retirement benefits, submitted through another acronym of sorts – OPM – otherwise known as the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal & Postal Employee Disability Retirement: The carousel of life

It is the easiest of analogies to ponder:  of a vision in the humdrum of circularity; different sizes, shapes, and images of artistry; of the choices we make and the alternatives offered; where we sit in life, of the approaches we take and the variable speed of the up and down motion; do we possess the fearless temerity to change midway from a lumbering, elephantine facade to the sleek and pathological ride of a cheetah?  Does the music have the concordant synchronicity such that it is neither an annoyance nor a distracting disturbance?  Or do we even take note of the loud cacophony of the blaring entourage, or merely as a backdrop to the excitement in the very ride we undertake?

Some recent intellectuals have argued that human beings comprehend their interaction, environment, place and significance in this world, only through the thought-process of analogical thinking; that the intersection of words, linguistic culpability and attachment of language games to encounters with the objective, impervious world of reality, becomes elevated to that Rorschach moment when the obfuscating inkblots of an objective universe otherwise indistinguishable from the insular parallelism of one’s own conceptual constructs suddenly explodes with insight and vigorous apprehension.

That was the problem with the nascent approach of existentialists; somehow, we all recognized that something was missing.  But instead of taking a right turn, that missing “something” took the wrong path down the corridors of Foucault and Derrida, and allowed for deconstruction to embrace the self-destructive charisma of nothingness.  How we understand the world; what we impart to it; the self-image of whence we came; and the walking pictures we carry about in the chasms of our psyche; they all matter, and the narrative of our lives become written the longer we survive in this anachronism called “life”.  We have become misfits in a virtual world of our own making.

The metaphors we establish within ourselves; the analogies we create to comprehend; the novel within each of us and the narrative of carefully chosen ideologies; all cumulatively define the essence of our being.  And thus as we ride the carousel of life, or watch ourselves ride from a distance, matters little to those who have decided to sit this round out; and yet, they, too — whether from afar or in a slumber of repose, must by necessity hear the music which plays regardless of whether one rides the circularity of the metaphor.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition, of course, such an analogy can be a poignant reminder of the current state of turmoil.  Perhaps the analogy takes on greater significance if we posit a mechanical failure — of stoppage of the rhythmic ride, and where the music also blares a discordant trumpet of shattered symphonies screeching with discomfort down the sensitive eardrums of the bystanders.

Federal employees and U.S. Postal Service 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 the Federal or Postal positional duties, have a clear choice to make:  Stay on the broken carousel; get off and walk away with nothing; or, of greater benefit and reward, to prepare an effective Federal Disability Retirement application and submit it to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

If the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, and has the minimum years of service in order to become eligible, then it is time to consider that it is not the carousel of life that has broken, but merely failure of the operator to take into account the suitability of the particular vision with the individual embracing that concept.  It is not always the rider’s fault; sometimes, the faulty ride itself has miscalculated the algorithm of synchronizing the music to the roundabout.  Think of it in terms of the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz — but then, that is for another blog altogether.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement: The key to happiness

There are countless titles of books which predicate upon the presumptuous endeavor; palm readers who, for a prepaid fee, make their living from it; and wanderers who trek the Himalayas in search of it.  Others merely change the definition or meaning of what constitutes the achieved goal, or drink themselves silly when self-deception fails to fulfill.

The problem with happiness is that it was once a byproduct of our lives; when it became the end-goal, the very nature and essence of it became unachievable.  It is when a singular focus upon an effect becomes the sighted destination to reach, that the frustration of unrealistic expectations come to the fore, and dismay and doubt of self becomes the mainstay.  Happiness was never meant to be a constancy of one’s trophied achievement; rather, it is a secondary effect as the residual of an accomplished life.  Frustration thus dawns upon us because the fleeting aspect of its very nature is never within one’s control.

For the Federal or Postal employee who suffers from an ongoing medical condition, such frustration of purpose is self-evident on a daily basis, especially when one plays the never-ending game of, “If only X…”  For, the contingent precedent is never within the grasp or control of the injured Federal or Postal Worker, or one who is beset with progressively debilitating medical conditions.  Federal Agencies and the U.S. Postal Service make it their job to obfuscate, place obstacles, and ensure the daily denial of accommodations, and flout their open disregard of the laws and protections allegedly designed for Federal and Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition.

Often, in life, there are limited choices; but the options we choose are the known pathways to happiness.  Loss of it, or the denial of the effect, comes about when we rely upon those things which are beyond our control, and expect others to “do the right thing“.

For the Federal employee or the U.S. Postal worker who suffers 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 positional duties, the key to happiness is to take affirmative steps in taking charge of one’s own life.  Beginning the process of 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, is a pragmatic step which one can actually quantify with respect to the progress made towards a goal defined.

Purchasing another book with the word “happiness” in it will be to waste another dollar; identifying those issues within the purview and control of one’s destiny is a greater investment in achieving a realistic goal defined, so that one day, when the whispers of past days of dark and dismal hauntings are remembered from a place afar, the vestiges of unhappiness will merely be a faint echo in the peaceful slumber of one’s joyous summers yet to be dreamed.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Medical Retirement for Federal Employees: The Future of Now

Human beings have the unlimited capacity of projecting into the future, such that a present picture of what may occur some time hence can be visualized; but whether and how many bring the future to the fore, such that the present becomes encompassed into the reflective reality of current circumstances, is of an imaginative rendering few take the time to engage in.

By focusing upon the future as some ethereal fog somewhere in the distant netherworlds, we can justify the tendency to procrastinate and kick the proverbial can down the road; and, similarly, we can get lost and embroiled in the problems of the now and today, and groan with delicious consternation about the inhumanity and uncaring nature of the world.  But to meld and cross the lines of future and now by projecting forward, then bringing back, such that the future becomes the now in our enlivened universe of deadened souls, is to plan for a time hence in real time of current clockwork.  It is an exercise of the imagination which is necessary in order to better prepare both for today and for tomorrow.

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 worker from performing all of the essential elements of one’s positional duties, it is important to consider those matters not just in linear form, but as a reality of clashing values and systematic interludes of conflicting confidences.  Yes, you want to continue on, but does the current state of pain and debilitating medical conditions allow for such expectations?  Yes, what you decide today will impact your future in ways financial, medical and career-wise, but does delaying consideration now change such a projection of future events?

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, is never an easy dictate of imaginative musings; but when the warning signs are emitted, both from one’s own body as well as from the harassing actions of one’s own agency and the U.S. Postal Service, the reality is that the future of now, and the now of one’s future, have coalesced into a moment of necessity where time stands still and the world is about to shift in directions beyond your control, unless you take those affirmative steps necessary to secure the benefits for a future uncertain at a date unknown.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement: Static Divides

Most of our lives are struggles to maintain the status quo; for, as change results in turmoil, so rectitude of unchanged repetition requires the least amount of effort, but mere monotony of action to forego any greater expenditure of further efforts.  It is when the static longevity of identical mirroring of life begins to harm, that it then divides us.

Doing the same thing daily, over and over again, with slight variations to accommodate life’s vicissitudes, allows for the peaceful quietude of daily living; but when such repetition of activity may potentially lead to self-immolation through inactivity of thought, then that is what some term as “insanity”.  When the static calm of daily living results in a division of spoils, it must spur one to a different way of thinking.

Medical conditions tend to do that to us.  For, it is those “outside forces” which we cannot control, which mandates activity previously unforeseen.

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, is a time of disquietude, precisely because change is now imminent in the projected future of our own imagination.  It means that one must take affirmative steps and actively engage in the process of that very division which we delayed, procrastinated, and persistently disregarded, and perhaps even lied to ourselves about tomorrow, next week, or next month.

The future is always upon us; and when we ignore the perils of tomorrow, we pay for it at the price of today.

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through OPM is never an easy matter; it is disruptive, a bureaucratic nightmare, and an agony of engagement with a distasteful palate.  But as the time of static division pervades even unto our very soul, it is time to take that step for change and begin to prepare, formulate and file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through OPM, bringing change into our lives in a world often unchanging but resistant to the enemy of ourselves.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire