FERS Medical Retirement: Story Told Simply

Modern writers have been corrupted by the desire to be published in The New Yorker.  Similarly, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and similar venues have destroyed the short story.  Today, modern short story writers are technically infallible; they follow an impeccable template of “How a Short Story Should be Written” — but the gimmicks, the registered competence, the learned cadence and skillfully crafted creativity — fail to produce the brilliance of the art.  We are killing the short story by pure, unadulterated competence.

Read one short story by William Trevor.  Question: Did he learn how to write by attending the Iowa Writers’ Workshop?  Did Hemingway produce The Old Man and the Sea by taking a class on “How to Write?”  The technical competence, the educated writer, the factory production of good writing — it all fails to tell the story told simply.  Perhaps the fault lies not only owing to the plenitude of college courses, all somewhat entitled, “Creative Writing”, but to the fact that religion has lost its hold upon the culture.

Let me explain:  No, this is not to argue that “religion”, per se, directly contributed to good writing.  Rather, it is to argue: A close inspection of every good story always involves the struggle between good and evil; of a tension of hubris following upon self-destruction; of the pull between one’s conscience and the struggle to avoid sin.  Yet, how can there be any tension left, when nothing is shameful, everything is permitted (Dostoevsky’s shadow?), and there is nothing left but shame’s skeletal outlines?

All that would be left is merely a story told simply, but without a soul to its name?

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal Workers who struggle with a medical condition such that the medical condition impacts one’s ability and capacity to perform all of the essential elements of one’s positional requirements with the Federal Government, a story told simply is crucial to the successful filing of a Federal Disability Retirement application.  Too much information; overemphasis upon one’s history; failure to capture the soul of the “story” — these are all errors which can defeat a FERS Disability Retirement application with the Office of Personnel Management.

Contact a FERS Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and let the story be told simply, but effectively.

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.

 

Legal Representation for Federal Disability Claims: In a Mirrorless World

Would it be placed in a science fiction genre, or perhaps a horror story?  Or perhaps shot with a grainy-grey film in a pre-modern totalitarian regime?  Would it even be possible, today?

Perhaps in an isolated country like North Korea, such a mandate would be possible — of a mirrorless world where the “self” cannot be recognized.  Of course, there would still be the possibility of a reflection in a pool of water, or a glass door, a reflective surface, etc., which allows for one to view that “somebody” who is distinctively a different self from “others”.

When does a child — a toddler — begin to identify a distinctive entity unique and separate from others?  Does it occur only after a certain accumulation of experiences involving encounters with the objective world?  Does a person without a memory of past experiences ever identify one’s “self” from others?

In a mirrorless world, would we all be selfless automatons who work cooperatively as a singular unit?

For the Federal or Postal employee who sees him/herself in the mirror and finds a “self” different from the one who first entered the Federal workforce, is that image of the individual who now must change a career, consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, etc., any different now with a medical condition than that person who was once healthy?

That “self-image” and how we view ourselves is important: Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is not the end of that “self” who was once productive, vibrant, interesting and full of energy; rather, it is merely positive change for the future in a mirrorless world which fails to reflect a future still bright and promising.

Contact an OPM Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and forget about the mirrorless world which fails to take into consideration the reflective totality of who you are.

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 Representation: The Chosen Word

Words chosen bespeak of the artfulness of the one who chooses them, but the true artist remains anonymous and allows for the words themselves — the “artwork” of the word-meister — to make its quiet impact.  It is the vehicle of communication; it is the goal of the sentence, the “umph” of the connotation and the hyperbole of a paragraph’s ending.

In a universe inundated by words — some would argue that the essence of modernity is people merely spewing out words, because that is all we ever do, now, and can do, is to talk a lot without getting anything accomplished — and thus the importance of the chosen word, or more precisely, the carefully chosen word, becomes all the more significant.

In this post-modern era, the question is no longer about Truth or Falsity; rather, it is about sifting through the maze of overabundance, where the impact of words fail us precisely because we can no longer appreciate the subtlety of connotations, derivations, implications and innuendo.  As brashness blunts the art of derivative meaning, so overabundance of words dilutes the craftsmanship of a well-composed sentence.

It is like the orchestra with one too many violins; the extra becomes an overkill to the sensitive ear that cannot differentiate because the sounds of repetition dulls the distinctiveness of each.  Words await to be chosen, lost in the void and vacuum of unused dictionaries, and in this age of the Internet, forever relegated to the ethereal universe of the vanquished scenery of outcasts and extinguished, waiting to be rescued for an insertion into a sentence, a hyperbole within a parenthetical clause, or a hyphenated relevance amidst a sea of declarative thoughts.

For the Federal employee or Postal worker who must consider preparing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be ultimately submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, the thing to remember is that the final Federal Disability Retirement “package” that is filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is a “paper presentation” of a bunch of jumbled words — “jumbled”, unless each has been carefully chosen in order to communicate effectively, well, and persuasively.

It is the untying of the knot of complexity, the smooth and controlled sequence of words that become aggregated into a paragraph, then a full page, and in the end, it is the chosen word precisely crafted, picked like the ripened fruit of ideas that must persuade and win over the thousands of worthless and meaningless other words that will fail the test of an OPM Disability Retirement application — and like that perfectly chosen word, be careful to choose which word-meister you hire to represent you in this most important of endeavors!

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Disability Retirement: Not the storybook tale

It has been widely commented upon, by naysayers, essayists and various commentators upon life’s winding course of pessimism, cynicism and some rarefied sprinkling of optimism, wherever the “isms” will take us: we are crippled from an early stage of life by being fed Fairytales and Fanciful Fantasies, and then pushed out the door to deal with the reality of the real world, which are NOT like the storybook tale.

Why the disconnect?  Wherefore the disjunctive between what we grant to our children in contrast to the objective world?  Do we witness any of the other species in this Kingdom harm with such aplomb their youngsters – where birds “cruelly” push their young tots out of the nest to force flight even if not quite ready; where predators abandon their herds and hoards to survive on their own – by first saying: “Now, now, kids, I am going to tell you a lie, then have you live in the early phases of your life only to be disappointed by the reality of what you will be facing”?

No, the human species is one of a kind; but then, we have the capacity of linguistic elasticity – a tool that others are (fortunately) not weighted down by.   Isn’t that the story of politics – of saying things that will never come to fruition, promising acts that cannot be accomplished, and declaring facts that are merely alternatives to objective reality – just so that votes can be accumulated and enemies can be identified?

It is well that human beings can fantasize and live in an imaginary world, because otherwise we would all go insane if we had to encounter the reality of the objective universe around us.  What of Marx’s dictum that religion is the opiate for the masses – if true, where are we today, inasmuch as religion is no longer a cohesive foundation in most people’s lives; and, if false, what has replaced it as the dulling effect for survival’s continuation?  Is it the flag, the Constitution, the hope founded upon a Lottery Ticket, or perhaps the greater indication of that which is not an analogy or a metaphor, but the reality of heroin addiction that is a growing menace?

Perhaps, after having tried everything else, the opiate itself is not just some proverbial reality, but the real thing itself, and that is why the problem grows exponentially.  Perhaps, we have come to a point where we realize that the fairytales told and the reality faced cannot be reconciled.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who have had a long and productive career, but where medical conditions have more recently impeded, debilitated, and ultimately prevented the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal position, perhaps the realization has come to the fore that the storybook finish line doesn’t quite match up with the reality of one’s present situation.

That’s okay.  You’ve earned the right to view reality “as it is”, as opposed to the fond remembrances of fantasies and fairytales.  Yet, don’t become too entrenched in a negative perspective; for, the objective reality is more likely somewhat involving greater balance, and preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, is not the end of one’s professional career, but merely another beginning.

Many have gone on beyond a Federal Disability Retirement and started new careers, initiated fresh vocations and enjoyed a second or third phase of life. It is somewhat like a marriage, a divorce and then a remarriage. Perhaps it is not the storybook tale written by some, but it can be one that is written by you.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Medical Retirement: Time, Memories and Forgetting the Never-ending Cycle

It is well that human beings have short attention spans and memories, lest the magnification of residual retentive powers should lead one to act.  Despite daily repetition of pain, frustration and humiliation or turmoil, we are ready to repeat the process, and let our memories fade into oblivion.

Perhaps it is merely another one of the genetically-engineered traits for survivability within the evolutionary context of epochs of adaptation; or, a more proverbial mis-attribution to P.T. Barnum that there is a “sucker born every minute”.  Whether the former (which merely describes a state of “how” we act) or the latter (which explains the “why” of behavior), the determination for self-immolation gladly volunteered on a daily basis, also reveals the strength of the human essence.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who daily suffer through the physical pain of a medical disability, or the cognitive dissonance of psychiatric conditions (which is also a form of pain, interpreted through depression, anxiety, uncontrollable panic attacks and other symptoms of psychological ideations), the daily encounter with one’s Federal agency or the U.S. Postal Service can be a repetitive process of harassment, self-destructive engagements, and periodic spans of suffering.

Time is the void of space experienced throughout any given day; memories, the shutting aside of one’s experiential chaos; and the need to forget the cycle of turmoil reflects the necessary next step in order to separate one’s self from the repetition of progressive destruction.

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 means to break the tripartite cycle of daily turmoil, pain and suffering, by allowing for the Federal and Postal employee to reach a circumstance where rehabilitation of one’s deteriorating health becomes the pinnacle of concern, unlike the lack of empathy and impassive looks of unsympathetic coldness shown by the agency, the U.S.Postal Service, managers, supervisors, and H.R. Personnel.

Time is what precisely the Federal and Postal worker who suffers from a medical condition, such that the medical condition no longer allows for the full working of all of the essential elements of one’s positional duties, needs and requires; memories are those which one cherishes for the sake of longevity; and forgetting the never-ending cycle of progressive deterioration can only be stopped by taking affirmative steps to prepare, formulate and file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through OPM.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Federal Disability Retirement: Blemish upon Historical Pride

People often get sidetracked upon irrelevant or peripheral issues of little to no consequence.  In the greater order of things important, it is self pride which often inhibits, prevents or otherwise delays the advancement and progression of self-interest.  One often hears people boast about never having missed “a day of work” in twenty years, or of the longest streak in some sports about games played, or consecutive appearances; or, that one has never taken a vacation.

But what of the quality and content of one’s work?  And, more importantly, where is the proper balance within the tripartite interaction between self, community and work?  When there is such weighted disproportionality of emphasis upon one, the other two must by necessity suffer.  For, the engine which propels such boasting of historical intactness is not one of a drive for excellence, but to merely maintain an unblemished historical record.  But records of inconsequential issues are quickly forgotten, and rarely besought; and when the impact of such maintenance of irrelevancy is upon one’s health, the dire reverberations foretell of impending doom.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who strive on merely to avoid a blemish upon one’s historical pride, despite the manifestation and impact of an injury or illness upon one’s ability and capacity to perform all of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal positional duties, the issue to be confronted and overcome is the self-pride of one’s hubris, leading to a certainty of self-immolation and destructive behavior.  Wisdom is partly defined by one’s ability to perceive the changing of circumstances, and to adapt accordingly.  Fighting an irrelevant cause at the expense of one’s health and future security is the antonym of wisdom, and constitutes foolishness.

Consider preparing, formulating and filing for Federal or Postal Medical Retirement benefits through the Office of Personnel Management, whether you are under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset.  When health becomes the paramount perspective of questioning within the tripartite intersection of issues to consider, then wisdom must prevail; and avoidance and neglect of the evolutionary code of self-preservation is an indicator that smart living has been replaced by the irrational fear that a blemish upon one’s historical pride is a factor even being considered by the greater universe of implacable uncaring.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Disability Retirement: The Trinkets We Hold Dear

If value of item determines retention of possession, then few trinkets would survive the test of economic viability; but a quick perusal of one’s home will often discover large caches of sentimental liabilities strewn throughout.  What determines value, then?  Is it the monetization of an item?  Or perhaps the psychological attachment, combined with the economic forces in capitalism of supply and demand?

Real estate values soar and plummet daily, and when one considers the “high end” fluctuations where market reductions may comprise differences in the millions, one wonders about “true value” and “false valuations” of goods and services whether small or large.  If you go through your house and begin to account for the trinkets we have amassed, is it because of the monetary value attached that we continue to retain it, or the memories and golden threads of psychological ties which bind?  Is it not often the same with other issues in one’s life — of even friendships, pets and jobs?

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition, such that the medical condition begins to prevent one from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s positional duties, the question one needs to ask at the outset is:  Why are we holding onto this trinket for dear life?  Is it really worth it?  At what cost?  What are the ties that bind?

Filing for OPM Disability Retirement is always a traumatic event; for, it is a dramatic change, often within a context of caustic and hostile circumstances.  But to remain is rarely an option; to walk away with nothing is not a wise one; so, one is often left with the best alternative possible:  to prepare, formulate and file 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.

And like the trinket which holds one bound to memories of yore unblemished in their reflective delights of past warmth, they remain so, like the pitter-patter of a soft summer day’s cloudburst, stopping only to reveal the misty haze of a childhood dream.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire