OPM Disability Retirement under FERS: Sparring

One’s sparring partner is supposed to sharpen your skills and prepare you for the actual event.  Whether it was the sparring partner which enhanced your skills, or the event itself which prepares you for the next one, is a debatable issue.  Is it possible that the sparring itself teaches you bad habits — especially if your sparring partner possesses greater skills than you do?  Is a sparring partner a “partner” if he actually beats you in preparation for the event for which you are preparing?

Proper preparation in any endeavor is the key to success; yet, the anomaly is that, it is the event itself, in whatever form, which is the truest way of preparing for the next event; and that is where “experience” counts, no matter the sparring partner or any other methodology of preparation embraced.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the need to begin preparing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS becomes evident, the key to the whole thing is to get together with an expert “sparring partner” — an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law.

There is no substitute, in the end, for experience and preparation; and in order to prepare, formulate and file an effective Federal Disability Retirement application with OPM, you need to contact the best sparring partner available — an experienced Federal Disability Retirement Lawyer.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Medical Retirement under FERS: The Festering Problem

Is that why they came up with that name in the old Addams Family television series?  Of a problem that — over time — becomes a greater issue because it has been left and avoided, leaving the “sore” or other infection to “fester”?  The character in the Addams Family series always seemed to pop up and in out of nowhere — like the crazy uncle left locked in the basement whom no one wanted to speak about and everyone wanted to avoid.

That’s what we allow for in our lives — if not of overtly obvious wounds that we wish would simply go away; then of internal wounds, damaged psyches and anxieties left unresolved.  Things always seem to crop up much later; perhaps of slights in childhood or anxieties, fears and unhealed hurts left to fester; and then, years later, they develop into magnified “issues” which become euphemisms to mask the psychological trauma experienced.  Life is tough.  There is no getting around it.  How we deal with the stresses of daily living, of workplace conflicts, of medical conditions which develop and deteriorate; in the end, each person is left to his or her own devices, with the patience perhaps of family and friends.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the festering problem appears like old Uncle Fester from the Addams Family, it may be time to prepare an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management for consideration.  It is a long and arduous bureaucratic process that, if left to the novice, can itself become a festering problem.

Consult with an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, lest the problems which resulted in your current predicament becomes a greater one later on because of the festering problem of avoidance — like that Uncle Fester who will suddenly appear from nowhere to remind you of the problem that remains unavoidable.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Medical Retirement for FERS Federal Employees: To Feign Normalcy

What a strange concept; and stranger still, that so many people must actually engage in it.  It can occur and be implemented in variegated circumstances: Of having done something which impels a guilty conscience, but being forced to act “as if” everything is fine; of being with someone you would rather not be with, but pretending that all is well; or even of having a tragedy occur but, because public conventions require an unemotional facade, to paint that “brave face” and enter the public arena.

Do other species engage in it?  Does a lion who prowls about nonchalantly (but whose inner motivation is to find its prey and chase it for its dinner meal) “feign normalcy”?  Does a dog who desires a treat but knows that begging too vociferously will receive an admonition as opposed to the intended outcome, “feign normalcy”? (Yes, because I know that my own dog does that).

And what about the Federal employee or U.S. Postal worker who suffers from a medical condition, cannot perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s job and must come in to work because the Agency or Postal Service will not extend his or her LWOP beyond what the FMLA allows for — does he or she “feign normalcy” despite the pain or anxiety experienced?

For Federal employees or 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 job, it may be time to consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits.

For, to “feign normalcy” is simply another way of realizing that things are not normal, and the “feigning” engaged in is another layer of trying to fool one’s self, one’s body and/or one’s mind into “thinking” that everything is alright, when in fact it is the underlying condition which must be attended to — and that, in fact, is the really normal thing to do, instead of pretending that the abnormal is the normal.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Medical Retirement under FERS: Further than once thought

Whether the distance was miscalculated, or the area was last visited decades ago as a child, the feeling that the destination is further than once thought — or that one is enmeshed in something that is “above one’s head” — is a disturbing and often distressing feeling.  An underlying sense of panic begins to envelope; then, time becomes of the essence, perhaps because the appointment specified a time or it is simply getting late.

Have you ever had that sense where you believed that you could do it, or you thought you knew — perhaps the direction that you once knew “like the back of your hand” when you were a child, or the ability to build something or repair a broken object?

Whatever the issue at hand, the chasm which is evident between your “thought-of” knowledge of a subject and the actual know-how suddenly becomes a problem.  It is one thing to sit around and talk about a subject; we can all spew our expertise in this or that subject, so long as the actualization of the matter is never tested.

At a party, everyone can be anyone, sort of like people who develop friendships on the Internet in forums like Facebook: On a flat screen, anyone can claim to be such-and-such.  And so the braggart can claim to know how to fly a plane; but would you want that claimant to take you on a ride without first “actualizing” the claimed assertions (i.e., perhaps verifying his license to fly, how many hours of actual flight lessons he or she has taken, etc.)?

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, it is a wise “next-step” to consult with an experienced attorney before considering preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

If you — as a Federal or Postal employee considering a Federal Disability Retirement application — are hit with a similar sense as that of thinking that the distance between Point A and Destination B is further than once thought in grappling with the process of Federal Disability Retirement, then it is time to consult with an Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement: Knowing where your dog poops

It may seem like a minor thing, but such seemingly insignificant knowledge often represents a metaphor for greater and more relevant factors.  What happened the previous day can set the tone of how the next, succeeding day will turn out.  There is, in life, a repetition and rhythm that is fairly predictable; and when that monotony of comforting recurrence is suddenly gone, one’s world and the universe of dependability can suddenly appear shattered and unreliable.

Dogs tend to poop in the same area, and their “habit” is fairly predictable — much like human beings. Knowing where your dog poops in the back yard is important if you accompany them in the early morning hours of the following day.  As the old adage goes, you don’t want to “step in it” — whether in your back yard, in someone else’ yard, or in a public park where some inconsiderate individual didn’t “curb’ their pet.

Life itself is a metaphor for things common, and knowing where your dog poops — or where all of the dogs of the universe have relieved themselves — is a lesson about trying to keep yourself out of trouble, embarrassment, discomfort, or a combination of all three.  For the most part, we learn in life to do just that — to avoid certain areas; to keep away from certain trouble spots; to remain reserved and cautious.  But then, there are other issues that crop up that we have no control over — such as a medical condition or an injury that occurs over which we have had no say-so, no control over, and certain ones which we could not avoid.

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 constant striving to know where your dog poops — of trying to hide from the wrath of a supervisor, or of hoping that your agency will not notice how much SL or LWOP you have taken; of the work that hasn’t been done because of your medical condition; of trying to avoid being noticed too much for fear of retribution — in other words, of trying not to “step in it” — can become exhausting and daunting.

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management may not be the “perfect” solution, but it is a step towards regaining some semblance of balance in one’s life so that, when you are approved for Federal Disability Retirement, you will once again know where your dog poops, even if it is dark, in the middle of the night, and the dog itself is unsure.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Postal & Federal Employee Disability Retirement: The shape of reality

Does it really have a shape?  Yes, yes, of course it is a “dimensional” world where there is depth, height, width, volume, and all sorts of “stuff” in between — and “form” differentiates and distinguishes between various “beings” such that there is not a “oneness” of Being; but beyond that, does “reality’ have a shape, and is it different for each of us?

Of course, the natural follow-up question concerns whether we can ourselves “shape” reality — used as transitive verb and not as a noun — as opposed to encountering reality “as it is” and merely accepting its trueness of Being.  Is Kant correct in that the categories of the human psyche form the perceptual reality that surrounds us and, if so, is it different for each of us?  Do the mentally ill merely have a different “shape of reality” as opposed to “normal” individuals with healthy psyches?

How is reality shaped — does our eyesight make a difference?  Do the blind have a different shape of reality because they must depend more upon tactile experiences which determines their space within a darkness of extension and volume?  If we could smell colors and see scents, would the shape of reality be altered?  Does language modify the reality we perceive, and in modernity, has Facebook, Twitter and Instagram radically transformed the very essence of reality’s shape?  And does a medical condition modify one’s shape of reality, as well?

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 shape of reality must include various encounters with alternative universes that may previously have been unthought of — as such shapes of reality that may include the preparation, formulation and filing of an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

It is, indeed, a different shape of reality: One must think about a life and career apart from the Federal or Postal sector; and while such shapes may change, such realities must be adapted to, and the one constant in life is the essence of who you are, what you have become, and the idea that you can still shape reality into the realness based upon the shape that you are in today.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Disability Retirement: Living Life’s Lessons

It is a conundrum to speak in such terms; for, one must step outside of one’s being in order to reflect upon “living” as something separate and distinct from what one does within the insular consciousness of one’s life; and to learn the “lessons” of life, and to live such lessons, is to have the capacity for detachment from a third-person perspective and not to be lost in the first-person consciousness.

Most of us simply “live life” without having a conscious sense of having an outsider’s perspective on how it is that we are “doing it”.  We believe that we are good at what we do; that we are efficient and fairly competent; and though there may be some mistakes made along the way, we can passably waive such moments away with the dismissive truism that, “Well, to err is human; to forgive, divine” — a line from Alexander Pope’s “Essay on Criticism”.

The concept of living life’s lessons must necessarily entail a more objective view of ourselves than the purity and insularity of one’s life as lived from a personal-pronoun “I” perspective.  It requires the capacity to “step outside” of one’s self, to view the self as a third party, to then apply lessons learned both from life’s gifts as well as misgivings, then to adjust that “other person” accordingly, and only thereafter, to proceed to step back into the self and proceed with the modifications and adaptations proposed.  Otherwise, we just blunder through as most people do, and continue to make the same mistakes over and over again.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers seeking to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under FERS, “living life’s lessons” and the capacity to step outside of the first-person and into the third-person is an important element for preparing an effective OPM Disability Retirement application.  For, to have an “objective” viewpoint is essential in putting together a persuasive Federal Disability Retirement application — in writing one’s Statement of Disability; of recognizing the sequence of events, medical conditions and evidentiary legal citations to include; and, more importantly, in maneuvering through the complex administrative process of a bureaucratic morass.

In the end, living life’s lessons may come down to simple adages that one has already learned, but perhaps forgotten — not the least of which is that a person who represents himself has a fool for a client.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Disability Retirement: The world of others

Sometime between birth and self-awareness, there comes a point of consciousness where recognition that this is a world of others becomes unavoidable.  Perhaps it is that critical juncture where an adjustment is then made, or not, which determines whether or not children revert back to the insularity of inner worlds, or compromise and allow for greater interaction with the outer universe, despite the inherent dangers presented.

The sense of “I” as opposed to the outer universe likely comes first, but the two are so intertwined that they cannot develop without one another — the self is unable to distinguish the distinction unless there is the “other” to posit as a contrast to the self.

The World of Others is a frightening thought; for, the implications are that control of one’s own world is potentially endangered by active agents uncontrolled by one’s own will; when a foreign will is introduced into the equation, we lose control of our ability — and as importantly, our confidence — that events small and great can be shaped with predicability.

As adults, we take for granted the world of others; we are thus taught at an early age to worry only about things that we have control over, and let the rest go — lest the unfettered universe of the world of others, so expansive and without boundaries, would place so much stress upon our cognitive capacity to worry and be concerned, that a mental breakdown might occur as a result.

Look at people who are deemed “control freaks” — they are constantly anxious because they must always maintain the world around and manipulate each and every aspect of tangential lives.  In the end, the microcosm of control is of limited means; the will of others can only be boxed in when weaker personalities submit to stronger ones, but even then, the unpredictability of human nature reveals the ineffectiveness of unfettered dominance.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition and must necessarily “deal” with the World of Others — Agency actions; Postal harassment; adverse actions and retaliatory impositions — in a manner that distracts from the singular goal of trying to regain and maintain one’s health, filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits may be the best solution.

The World of Others cannot ultimately be controlled; what you have is the ability and capacity to control your own fate and destiny, and preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application through OPM is one such step that is within your control.  Now, as for what the U.S. Office of Personnel Management does and doesn’t do — that remains in the World of Others, and perhaps you should consider having an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law handle that aspect of the World of Others.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement: Explanation & Justification

At what point does an explanation begin to sound like a justification?  Is it when it becomes apparent that there is a personal stake involved?  Does the objectivity of an explanation lose its own justification when it becomes clear that the intended explanation crosses over into an attempt to justify the personal actions or beliefs of an individual?  Can an objective explanation justify a person’s actions without appearing as a justification; and do all justifications involve a personal stake, such that it goes beyond mere explanatory exposition?

Are all justifications “merely” an explanation with a personal stake, and are all explanations ultimately a justification for someone, somewhere, about something?  Why is it that an apparent explanation that turns into an obvious justification suddenly loses its credibility and sense of objectivity?  Is credibility itself gained if a third party provides the justification for someone else, such that there is no “personal stake” involved, and does such a third party’s explanation just as quickly lose his or her credibility if there is a “personal” relationship connected with the person for whom the explanation & justification is being made?

There is certainly a fine line between an explanation and a justification, and for Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who are suffering 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, filing for FERS Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management may be the best option to choose from — and, when completing the questions posed on SF 3112A, Applicant’s Statement of Disability, it is well to keep in mind the distinction between “explanation” and “justification”.

Always keep in mind the words of Queen Gertrude in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, when she said, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

Explanation on SF 3112A is good; explanation that begins to bleed of justification may raise some red flags.  To mitigate the distinction between the two, the Federal or Postal employee may want to consult with an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, to lend credence to an objective approach in preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Employee FERS Disability Retirement application, to be filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Medical Retirement under FERS & CSRS: Persistence versus giving up

The latter should never be an option, although it is too often contemplated; and the former requires either a dull sense of reality or an in-born stubbornness that refuses to acknowledge defeat.  Both are often the result of the countermanding characteristic of the opponent who relies upon the fact that a certain percentage of the population either lacks the characteristic of persistence or otherwise will ultimately give up with nary an effort or will to fight on.

How many battles in history’s billfold of forgotten memories resulted in defeat because of a ruse portrayed by the enemy?  It is the bold pretension that tests the resolve and allows for victory or defeat; the knowledge that there will always be a certain number of people who, upon facing any resistance or adversity, will simply “give up” and surrender.  Thus is it left up to those who will persist no matter the challenge, where adversity and contention will be endured no matter the cost.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who enter the arena of a Federal Disability Retirement process, one should always expect and prepare each stage “as if” the battle at the next stage will ensue.  If a denial is issued by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management for a Federal Disability Retirement application, of course it is going to be written and conveyed “as if” the case never had a chance, “as if” none of the medical evidence had any relevance or significance, and “as if” you don’t even come near to meeting the criteria for eligibility for Federal Disability Retirement.

By sounding “as if” you never had a chance and failed miserably to meet any and all legal criteria for eligibility, OPM is banking on your lack of persistence and the concomitant reaction of simply giving up.

However, persistence is the key to success, and giving up is merely a prelude to a victory near at hand if only one steps back, takes a deep breath, and realizes that, from the very beginning, Federal Disability Retirement was never going to be an easy road to bear — but a consultation with an experienced attorney may well lift the burden of the beast where persistence is the key and not giving up is the pathway to a successful outcome at the next stage of the administrative process called “Federal Disability Retirement”.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire