Early Retirement for Injured Federal Employees
What do we do when first we realize the defects revealed? If by mail order, we ship it back; if by direct purchase, we confront the storekeeper and point out the lessened nature of perfection and demand either a reduction to the original price or a full return upon the item purchased. Damaged goods come in various forms: of complete uselessness; of partial defects that matter not; […]
The segmentation of time may be artificial; the rhythms of life, are not. The 7-day week, 30-day month (give or take a couple here and there) and the 12-month cycle constitute human constructs that impose a rigid system of divisions based upon productivity, leisure, an admixture of both (isn’t it universal that Saturdays are spent in doing chores otherwise unattended to during the week, and Sunday is that respite and escape in total destitution of depleted dreariness?) […]
We all seek those moments, don’t we? A period of respite, that time of suspended ecstasy where all of life’s problems are suspended, if only for a temporary span in order to regain our equilibrium, retake the focus lost and remake the moments wasted. Isn’t that why people become obsessed with silly arguments on the Internet, in Facebook confrontations and twitter feeds, because it provides for a temporary assertion of power, […]
A wise person once quipped that, If you don’t like the weather in this area, wait a day and it’ll come around. The greater meaning of such a kernel of wisdom, of course, is that it is a microcosm of a wider reflection concerning life itself; wait long enough – sometimes a week, a month, a year, or a few years – and circumstance have a tendency to alter the course of one’s life and therefore one’s perspective. […]
Is it wrong to ascribe wrong motives? And, unless there emerges practical consequences, does it matter? If a non-family member forms a relationship of friendship with an older person, do we fairly ascribe an underlying intent of malicious deliberation? We may think thus: He is hoping to gain something – gifts in return; an inheritance, perhaps; or, maybe even a more blatant act of stealing or forcibly engaging in a criminal enterprise. On the other hand, there could be a purity of motives – of responding to loneliness and a desire for company; but who in this world ever believes that, anymore? […]
Garbage in, garbage out; leave the door wide open, and the flies come in; “we don’t live in a barn”; and other similar quips, quotes and quotidian truths abound to guide us throughout the day. In Medieval times, the Gatekeeper held a prominent position of authority and safekeeping; trust was of paramount importance, and the potential for bribery to undermine loyalty and fealty to the inhabitants of the Court or Castle meant that treatment of the assigned individual demanded respect as well as adequate renumeration. […]
Preparation in pursuit of an endeavor should always embrace an uncompromising resolve to see it through to the end. Such an attitude is quite different, and distinguishable, from mere stubbornness when the facts faced or the odds stacked clearly and convincingly manifest an inevitable defeat. The former attitude prepares one to refuse succumbing to the innate fear and weakness inherently existent in us all; the latter, a failure of recognition beyond rational discourse and comprised of an obsessive impulse contrary to good form. […]
Rarely do things “just happen“; that is why most of us believe in a purposive, teleological universe, and seek reasons and rational foundations in origins, contexts and logical consistency. Whether that is how the human mind is structured, and for evolutionary advantage gained for survivability, conferring dominance and favorability weighted towards those who seek explanation and intelligibility, thereby preventing the making of mistakes multiple times; […]
One hears much these days about the importance of forming a coalition of forces before engaging an offensive action; and, indeed, there is the old adage of having strength in numerical superiority, and the sense that a consensus of opinions and cooperation of numbers results in an increased chance of success. Quantitative composites can mask a disarray of qualitative forces, […]