Early Retirement for Injured Federal Employees
The telephone-recorded options are the most irritating of all, of course — for, if you hit the wrong one, or fail to remember the correct numeral identified after being offered an endless litany of alternatives, none of which quite fit what you are looking for, then you have to wait until a further option is offered to go back to the general directory in order to once again choose the option offered. […]
Is sadness relative? Are there sad stories that are so sad that even the ones that were considered sad prior to the sadder story being told, somehow nullify the lesser sad stories and make them into not sad stories? Do we, after hearing the sadder tale, turn to the first story teller and say, “Yours was not so sad, after all, and in fact you have it pretty good”? If a person tells of having just buried his mother, and you ask, “How old was she?” […]
The linguistic implications are multiple and rich in historical nuances, derived not merely from the combination of words but because of images from the past and residual connotations not always agreed upon but nevertheless trailing like appendages holding on for dear life to a departing conveyor of thoughts, ideas and characters. It evokes caricatures of contrasting conditions of smiling in the face of adversity; of taking on opponents on the proverbial field of battle despite unwinnable odds, […]
Have you ever noticed that, if you attempt to compensate with one extremity over another, whether because of pain or temporary incapacitation in an attempt to alleviate and relieve the lesser limb, that the one in use becomes slowly debilitated as well? The body is a balanced mechanism; it is designed to work in coordinated fashion, as a unit of entirety. It may well be that if one component of that working aggregate requires temporary suspension, […]
One often remarks that we live for such days; when energy, motivation, clarity of mind and enthusiasm for life surges through our veins; one’s outlook is positive, the mystery of life is resolved, and no challenge is too onerous to overcome. But then the mundane monotony of repetitive thoughtlessness returns; and life is back to the normalcy of day-to-day living. […]
The concept of a person, of what constitutes the differentiating identity of person X as opposed to Y, or multiple others, derives from the Greek etiology of “persona” — of actors on a stage wearing costumes and masks, and able to portray a certain character in mostly tragic narratives entangling gods, men, love and jealousies. It is those differing masks which we put on — of the joyful father, the loving husband, the implacable worker, the tireless […]
Life is full of interruptions which push the pause button upon our grand designs for linear progression; how we view such events, whether as something bothersome, or as a respite and opportunity, a platform for the next stage of life, will determine the extent […]
Life is on a spectrum variable; instead, we tend to view it as a linear progression, as one from birth to youth, middle to old age; death as the ultimate outcome. The content of life is therefore arranged based upon this organic paradigm projecting towards an apex, then a steady […]
The name of the former evokes an immediacy of recognition coupled with awe; of the giant in physics and intellectual greatness beyond ordinary excellence. The latter is lesser known, but within esoteric circles of academia, particularly in mathematics, […]
It occurs in momentary lapses of time, as if fate, the spirits and the ephemeral heavenly bodies are mocking us silently in childish teases of playful provocations. They are brief segments of clarity, when all of the cylinders of life appear well-oiled, when the metaphorical […]