I received another email while on vacation last week from BJ Dernbach, Division Administrator for the Wisconsin Workers’ Compensation Department of Workforce Development. It was just a courtesy email informing me that he and his staff had acted on one of the suggestions made in last Monday’s article regarding the voluntary status of social security…
From the CD Files: In Real Deal Appeal PA Supremes Render Tender Crime Rhyme
Bob is on vacation this week, so we are taking this opportunity to dust off some of the more unusual entries from the Cluttered Desk archives. He will be back next week. Originally Published: 12/27/2011 T’was four days before Christmas, and in western PA,A Supreme Court Justice toiled, he rendered away,A decision they had made,…
From the CD Files: It's a Bad Day at Work When a Meth Lab Explodes in Your Pants
Bob is on vacation this week, so we are taking this opportunity to dust off some of the more unusual entries from the Cluttered Desk archives. He will be back next week. Originally Published: 4/30/2012 This is a tale of a work related incident gone awry. It may be illegal work, but an on the…
From the CD Files: Workers' Compensation Should Be Called Workers' Recovery
Bob is on vacation this week, so we are taking this opportunity to dust off some of the more unusual entries from the Cluttered Desk archives. He will be back next week. Originally Published: 6/17/2013 Words mean things. They are a fundamental tool in our communication arsenal. From words we derive substance. From words we…
From the CD Files: Bob’s Fat and Wheezy Yoga Program for Workers' Compensation
Bob is on vacation this week, so we are taking this opportunity to dust off some of the more unusual entries from the Cluttered Desk archives. He will be back next week. Originally Published: 1/25/2016 I have long thought that the workers’ compensation industry would be wise to seriously investigate the efficacy and potential benefits…
Social Security Numbers: Wisconsin Comes Off the Bad List
I received an email Thursday night from BJ Dernbach, Division Administrator for the Wisconsin Workers Compensation Department of Workforce Development. Mr. Dernbach politely informed me that our recent survey of jurisdictional workers’ compensation forms missed an important fact in his state. He also rightly requested that I correct the record for our readers. With my…
When America's Got Talent Shows America's Got Perseverance
It is part of our mindless summer television fair, but my wife and I have watched the show America’s Got Talent now for many seasons. We always record the show – it seems everything we watch is now recorded – and that allows us to cut through the commercials and much of the useless host…
On Social Security Numbers, I Slighted Illinois
With my penchant for (relative) accuracy and insistence on (somewhat) verifiable facts, I cannot believe this happened. But it apparently did, and a public apology is due. In my campaign to get states to stop their dependence on social security numbers for everything from claim management to hall passes and beverage cart discounts, I omitted…
My Durango Lesson on Workers' Comp
Judge David Langham wrote an excellent article two weeks ago, entitled “My Workers’ Comp Accident”. It was a description of his one and only personal experience with workers’ comp – at least as an injured worker. He drove a truck through a house (it is a must read). His greater message, however, was that the…
There is a Functional Reason That Ability is in the Name
My visit to Chicago’s Shirley Ryan AbilityLab a couple weeks ago was certainly worth the effort. Worth the effort, that is, if you have any interest in glimpsing the future of acute rehabilitative care. The AbilityLab is the new brand identity for the formerly named Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago; and that new identity fits perfectly…