OPM Medical Retirement: Intransigence of Thought

It is when you cannot move forward, or perhaps will not; and where paralysis becomes a habit of living.  Old people often fall into that trap, where laziness is misinterpreted for conviction or when we rely upon the rightness of something merely because “that is the way it has always been done,” or by waving one’s hand and saying, “That is the old way of doing things.”

Leo Strauss was a philosopher who never accepted the truth of a proposition merely because something was accepted from ancient times.  Intransigence of thought, of course, can be caused by mere arrogance; often, from stupidity coupled with ignorance; and more than a few times, from sheer laziness.  But paralysis of thought and the intransigence of thought (which amount to the same thing) can lead to stagnation and lack of progress.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a disabling medical condition and remain in a state of intransigence, it is often the case that the medical condition itself can result in the intransigence of thought.  Moving “beyond”, or even just moving forward, by small and incremental steps, can break you out of that state of intransigence.

Contact a FERS Medical Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and begin the process of getting beyond your paralysis by having a competent attorney represent you in preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under the Federal Employees Retirement System (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.

 

Federal Government Employee Disability Retirement Help: Life’s Libations

Originally applied in identifying a drink poured out in honor of a deity, it became a somewhat humorous way of referring to an alcoholic beverage via an alternative way.  The concept of “life’s libations” expands that perspective, to include anything which inebriates, excites, comforts or otherwise enlivens.

Life’s libations can be many.  It can range from the adventurous to the mundane.  But as with anything which inebriates, the spectrum itself is what matters.  On the lower end of the spectrum, a bit of libations will do no harm.  On the other extreme, the abuse of alcohol can have tragic consequences.

The point of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics is to find that “middle point” between sobriety and drunkenness, so that the gods to whom libations were poured do not laugh uproariously in response to the foolishness of man’s behavior.

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 Federal or Postal job, Life’s Libations reflects the condition of one of life’s dominating themes — of whether you can go on making a living in the career which now has been impacted by a medical condition.

Medical conditions tend to wake us up because of their impact upon our lives.  Contact a FERS Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and consider that life’s libations are often the elixir which prompts a change.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Lawyer

 

Long-Term Disability Federal & Postal Employees: The Doors of Distractions

We have inadvertently invited the doors of distraction to not only open, but to continually remain open.  It is like the machine created by someone, and now we have forgotten how to switch the machine off, let alone recall where the switch is located.

Can any of us read a novel, or any book, anymore, without looking at our Smart Phone every few minutes?  Or, even if we remember to put our phone somewhere away from our immediate proximity with the view that such a foolish preventive measure will allow us to have enhanced focus and concentration, how often do we nevertheless pause and wonder, “Did I hear a notification of some sort”?

We appease the self-evident damage to the re-wiring of the brain by claiming that, “Oh, isn’t it wonderful how we can multi-task with such efficiency?” — when, in fact, it is merely a frenzy of distractions which continually limits and restricts our ability to remain focused upon any single endeavor, at the expense of being perpetually distracted without accomplishing a single thing.

The doors of distraction are now fully opened, and for Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition itself is also another door of distraction, you should contact a FERS attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law.

With the counsel and guidance of a Federal lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law exclusively, you may be able to retire medically and, at least, close that particular door of distraction.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Lawyer
Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

    

FERS Disability Retirement: Overemphasizing the Wrong Thing

Different issues are important to various people.  We tend to think that if we believe Issue-X is important, then it is — or should be — important to everyone else.  With the shrinking globe resulting from technological connections fostered through social media and other means, people get caught up in shorter and shorter news cycles and attention spans heightened by the newness of the next issue, the most recent fad and the most up-to-date gadget.

In becoming enmeshed in the most recent issue of the day, however, there is always the danger of losing the ability and capacity for objective thinking.  To reach a level of “objectivity”, it becomes necessary to place one’s self outside of the self, and to gauge an issue not based upon one’s perspective, but upon a hypothetical third-person viewpoint.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition, it is often difficult to view one’s own Federal Disability Retirement application with any sense of objectivity.  Overemphasizing the wrong thing often becomes problematic.  What to include and — more importantly — what to exclude, cannot often be objectively assessed.  Overemphasizing the origin of one’s medical conditions; focusing upon a Supervisor, an incident at work, an alleged “hostile work environment”, etc., may in fact be harmful to your case.

Contact an OPM Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and make sure that you are not overemphasizing the wrong thing — lest the “wrong thing” come back to defeat the very goal you are intending: An approval from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement: Stress and the Harassment Factor

Stress is a reality which has become a normal aspect of everyday living.  The more stress we feel, the greater interpretation of outside actions as harassment; and thus does the vicious cycle begin.  Life is stressful enough.  When another ingredient is added — like a medical condition that weakens one’s body and mind — the tolerance for stress becomes reduced and the capacity to keep things in its proper perspective becomes impossible to manage.  Stress always seems to come in bunches, doesn’t it?

When you are dealing with a medical condition, everything and everyone you interact with becomes a stressful encounter.  For Federal employees and U.S. Postal Service workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents you from performing one or more of the essential elements of your job, the stress of dealing with the medical condition itself is more than enough.

Add to it, your agency or the postal facility will inevitably begin to pressure you to return to work, to file this or that request, to follow their “procedures”, etc.  Whether such actions are objectively considered “harassment” or not is beside the point; you, as the Federal or Postal employee, are dealing with enough factors without having to deal with the harassment factor.

Contact an OPM Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and begin the process of reducing your stress levels by initiating a Federal Disability Retirement application with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

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 Law: The Chasm between Reality and The Law

Non-lawyers will often read “The Law” and expect that reality will conform to the language as it is stated.  That is actually a good sign, in that the expectation of the layperson is that respect for the law will necessarily result in compliance with its dictates.  But language is malleable.  It is subject to interpretation, and that is the field of play which allows for elasticity and the chasm which develops between Reality and The Law.

There are, first and foremost, “The Facts” — and whether or not “The Law” applies to a particular set of facts.  Then, from that application of facts-to-law is the further problem of deciding its significance and relevance, and whether or not there are other contravening facts or opposing case-law or statutory citations which may also impact the direct argument of sound legal analysis.  Then, of course, there can be the further difficulty of people, companies, entities and agencies which completely ignore the law and, more recently, of creating one’s own set of “alternative facts”.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition has begun to prevent the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal job, it is important to apply “The Law” precisely, relevantly and comprehensively.

More recent cases of a precedent-setting nature may have altered the meaning of statutory interpretation in a subtle, more favorable manner, and thus is it important to consult with an an experienced attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law in order to obtain the greater benefit in evaluating your case, lest the chasm between Reality and The Law be so great as to defeat one’s own attempt within a greater pool of lacking the proper knowledge in applying the law to your particular set of facts.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS Medical Retirement: The Dystopian Perspective

Books from all ages depict such a view: The classic one, of course, is Orwell’s 1984; or of Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451; but more recently, of Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and even more recently of Ogawa’s, The Memory Police. They all possess a thread of commonality: Of a society both frightening and oppressive, based upon human fears and the insecurity wrought by where we are going, the trends of modernity which succumb to believability, and the suspicion that such dystopian consequences are actually possible.

Orwell was wrong, of course — Big Brother did not have to forcibly place tele-screens into people’s homes; instead, each of us volunteered to go out and purchase such spying screens, and with our own hard-earned money in the form of Smartphones, televisions and laptops.  And while no one comes and burns our books, we have effectively accomplished such a misdeed by slowly and incrementally converting them all into digital devices, thus ensuring that we won’t actually know whether the published content of a book is what was originally intended; for, he who controls the digital device has ultimate control over its content, whereas a book published in its original form cannot be altered except by forcible means.

As for Atwood’s theme and Ogawa’s portrayal of the world — they deal with the two aspects of a life in a frightening way: Of the subjugation of the body (The Handmaid’s Tale) and of controlling the mind (The Memory Police).  All are fictional works; yet, somehow we can “relate” to the stories being told. How is that? Is it because we have a dystopian perspective already prepared within us by society’s callous conduct?

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 his or her Federal or Postal job, the Dystopian Perspective is a very familiar one.  For, being ostracized; being condemned; being harassed and being subjected to unfair treatment — it all comes in a bundle once you can no longer “perform” at the level expected by the Federal Agency or the Postal Service.

When that Dystopian Perspective becomes unbearable, then it is time to consider preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  And, while the Dystopian Perspective may not turn into an Utopian Reality, it is far better than the subjugation of the human mind and body that gets increasingly worse under Big Brother’s eye.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Federal Disability Retirement under FERS: Not as Before

Before what?  That is the natural response.  We tend to bifurcate our lives into segments which are palatable and comprehensible; of a time before X happened, and then our present existence after X; before we had children, and after; before we became married, and after; before some traumatic incident, and sometime thereafter, etc.  The present “I” is never the same as “before”, and one could even say that truthfully about every minute, every hour and every millisecond of a distinction between the “I” in the current state and the “I” of a past state of being.

Whether on a physical, cellular level where genetic structures alter and decay even by the minute; or on a cognitive level where new information, additional data is being processed by our brains every moment of our lives.  We are not as before; we are constantly changing; and like the river which Heraclitus identified an analogy for human existence, so the vicissitudes of the world surrounding impacts us daily such that we are not as before.

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 Federal or Postal job, the likely bifurcating event is the medical condition itself.  No, you may not be the same as before, and it is that identifiable change which forms the basis for eligibility of a Federal Disability Retirement benefit under FERS.

Consult with an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and consider applying for Federal Disability Retirement benefits; for, not only are you not as before, but likewise, your Federal Agency or the Postal facility are viewing your work and future not as before, as well.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire