Medical Retirement for Federal Employees: The mouse in the night

They are heard and often unseen; a scratch somewhere from the far corner of the room; a blur along the space between the couch and the wall; and the mouse in the night scurries along, making some amount of noise more greatly enhanced when the quietude of a late evening descends upon us.  Should we put out a mouse trap?  […] Read More …

OPM Medical Retirement: The noisy neighborhood

It is the collective organism reflecting the individual, somewhat like the tripartite division of Plato’s theory of the soul; the neighborhood, filled with noises differentiated by weekdays, Fridays and weekends, reflects the character of the separate families who congregate to make up the entirety.  And, like Plato’s argument against appearances versus the reality of the essence of a thing, the façade of a neighborhood – the architectural structures, the number of bedrooms in each, the style of the roofs and the slope, […] Read More …

Federal & Postal Disability Retirement: Indicia by quantitative output

Should worth be determined by quota of quantitative output, or is the slow and steady progress of quality and craftsmanship still valued in this world of imported trinkets and trash bins of brevity? There are reports of a major bankruptcy filing resulting in the inevitable liquidation of a foreign shipping company, and the rumors preceding have already forced stockpiling of goods for the upcoming holiday shopping expectations. The interconnecting tentacles of international trade foregoes any differentiation these days, between “domestic” or “foreign” companies, […] Read More …

FERS & CSRS Medical Retirement: Dickens, Salinger & Capote

It is always dangerous to offer an overview of complexity; simplicity of explanation often teeters upon the precipice of superficiality, and when it comes to the psychology of people, we normally get it wrong. Yet, we can try. For Dickens, the childhood experiences of destitution and humble beginnings allowed for a magnification of love for humanity borne of cruelty in childhood. In Salinger, we see the pent-up destruction of a young man whose anguish was molded through sights, sounds and experiences devastated by war. […] Read More …