Road Trip

L LEDGERWOOD

LAW GROUP

September 2015 No. 24

Ledgerwood Law Group n 1385 Ridgewood Drive n Suite 106 n Chico, CA 95973 n Toll Free: 888-761-7383 n www.ThomasLedgerwood.com n 1

Continued on page 3

SR-299 runs from the coast at Arcata all the

way to the Nevada border. Motoring east out

of Redding, you will find a twisty, winding

road that will shoot you through some stun-

ning backcountry and a nice juicy slice of

small town America: Montgomery Creek,

Burney, Fall River Mills, Bieber, Adin, Alturas

and Vya. (For the folks that don’t know, Vya

is a crazy ghost town in the Nevada desert.) It

makes for a really memorable drive.

My CPA and long time pal, Sara, called

me in July and advised that The Big Valley En-

dowment Foundation was short a BBQ chef

for their Taste of The Valley fund raiser in

Adin (population 276). Big Valley is about 100

Safe Harbor

Puttanesca, despite its

racy name, is what summertime and

perfectly ripe tomatoes are all about.

The dish is rumored to have been created

by the streetwalkers of Naples in the

1950s, because (among other reasons we

will not go into) it is inexpensive and

easy to make. If you are a Lemony

Snicket fan, this is the dish that the

Baudelaire children prepared from

kitchen scraps at Count Olaf’s house in

his book A Series of UnfortunateEvents and in the movie of the same

name starring Jim Carrey. It also was

featured in the 2001 film “Made” star-

ring Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn.

Puttanesca is a lusty, deeply flavorful

pasta sauce loaded with olives, capers,

anchovies, garlic, red pepper flakes and

olive oil. It is one of those bucket list

recipes that you really have to try be-

fore it is all said and done.

Summer is over here in the Butte

Valley. It has been a tough year for

tomato production at Rancho Ledger-

wood. My heirlooms never recovered

from that horrible spring pestilence of

voracious, gnawing grasshoppers (a sad

annual event for me). Fortunately, I had

planted about ten early girls in the middle

row and they produced like gangbusters.

The natives were hungry and rest-

less here at LLG last month. So, I got

up early one morning, picked about ten

pounds of really ripe tomatoes and

blanched the skins off of them before

work. Later that day, Meghan chopped

up two jars of Kalamata olives and a tin

Continued on page 2

A monthly newsletter published by the Ledgerwood Law Group dedicated to the rights of

injured workers, Social Security Disability claimants, food, travel, gardening, fishing,

camping and life on the open road.

By:Thomas K. Ledgerwood and Christina Miller

We spend a great deal of time getting people qualified for Social Security

Disability benefits within our practice. Unfortunately, we have learned that many

people become disabled and stay disabled. However, that is not the case for every-

one. Many of our clients, after years of being on the program, recover sufficiently

to start thinking about getting back in the saddle again! This is an article about

testing the waters, learning your limits, and ultimately reentering the workforce

without jeopardizing your disability benefits.

If you feel your condition has stabilized to the point that you could work(at least part-time), you should consider the SSA’s “Ticket to Work” pro-gram.The program is designed to provide an array of services and supportto disabled persons who are able and interested in seeking work. The reality

via

SR-299

Hof theSauce arlots?SaddleGetting

back in the

social security disability’s ticket to workprogram

Continued on page 2

09-15 Safe Harbor_Safe Harbor 9/8/15 11:39 AM Page 1

2 n Ledgerwood Law Group n www.ThomasLedgerwood.com

is that the SSA would love it if youwere highly successful and able togive up your disability benefits, butthis program is designed not to pe-nalize you for your efforts. You candownload a free copy of the book theSSA puts out outlining all of the re-quirements, programs, etc. atwww.ssa.gov/redbook

Essentially, a qualified disabledperson signs up to participate in thisprogram via an approved Employ-ment Network (EN) or publicagency that supports theprogram.You then can work with arepresentative at one of these entitiesto do all kinds of things such as: vo-cational training, job readiness train-ing, resume writing assistance, jobsearches, etc. There are even optionsto work part-time or from home!These services are all free of chargeand there are no strings attached.

Getting back into the Saddle Continued from page 1

BBQ Road Trip Continued from page 1

miles northeast of Redding. The locals

are all about hay farming and cattle.

Cruising through this area will bring

you back to the 1800s. There are about

1,700 people in the valley. The Founda-

tion helps old and young alike. They are

a noble cause to give a helping hand

(and a BBQ fork) to.

Sara, and her clever board mem-

bers, time this event to the annual ar-

rival of the Golden State Star Party

(goldenstatestarparty.org). Each year,

these city folks come into the valley for

their four-night celestial extravaganza.

At 4,000 feet elevation, on a high desert

plateau, in a remote northeast corner of

our state, this is the perfect place for

such an event. The air here is crystal-clear

with little after dusk light pollution. At

night, gazing into the sky is like looking

into a sparkling fish bowl. It feels like

you can reach out and touch the Milky

Way. I mean it - it is that clear! So it is

a perfect place to get about 400 “Star

Gazers” to search the cosmos through

There is more good news. Youcan attempt a return to work on whatis called a “Trial Work Period”.Nomatter how much income you makeduring this period, you can continueto collect your SSD benefits for upto nine months!You continue to becovered by Medicare as well! Oncethis period ends, there is a three year“Extended Period of Eligibility” thatlets you work and get benefits forevery month that you make less than$1,090 (‘Substantial Gainful Activ-ity’ as defined by the SSA). For thenext five years, if your income dropsbelow the SGA level, you can getback on SSD without having to com-pletely reapply via what is called the“Expedited Reinstatement Program”.If you still have a medical disabilitythereafter, you will get at least 93 ad-ditional months (almost 8 years) offree Medicare Part A coverage.

Once you are involved in thisprogram and are in the course ofpursuing it, the SSA cannot performany continuing disability reviews(CDRs) concerning your continuedeligibility for disability benefits. If,however, you fail to participate inthe program on a timely basis, theCDR can take place. So, once in,stay in until you complete your goals(or until you determine you are un-able to reenter the workforce).

If you are interested, you canlearn more at http://www.choose-workttw.net/

As always, if you do get taggedwith a CDR, give us call.You knowthe number. Your Faithful Disability Advocates,

Tom and Christina

high-powered, civilian grade tel-

escopes. These folks are really

nice people; they made a huge

donation to the Foundation and

generally bring a lot of money

into the valley, which is where

my wife Jona and I come in as

back-up BBQers ….

Seasoned local ranchers and ranch

hands alike pitched in and grilled up

their favorite dishes for a hungry crowd.

They had quite an assortment of deli-

cious, local foods to sample: grass-fed

barbecue tri-tip, pulled pork sliders,

chili with cornbread, goat tacos, Chico

Locker grilled sausages, cocktail meat-

balls, barbecue chicken and a salsa bar

that was fresh out of a local garden. Fall

River Brewing Company donated cases

of fine craft beers. We had Kilty Pleasure

Scotch Ale, Pittville Porter and Widow-

maker Double IPA to wash all the eats

down with (fallriver-

brewing.com).

In two hours,

Jona and I busily

served up about 200

Baja Fish Tacos, one

of our signature

dishes here at LLG

(see June 2015 edi-

tion of Safe Harbor

for the recipe. It is to

09-15 Safe Harbor_Safe Harbor 9/8/15 11:39 AM Page 2

Ledgerwood Law Group n www.ThomasLedgerwood.com n 3

Puttanesca Continued from page 1

The absolute best book you will ever own on pasta sauces is Salse di Pomodoroby Julia della Croce, Chronicle Books, San Francisco. If you want to give a really cool

gift for Christmas (as my brother in law Mike did for me about 20 year ago), then this

is the book for you. The author of this book has spent a lot of time in Italy and has

really soaked up the culture and techniques of making world-class pasta sauces.

Over the years I have tried them all, and each one is simply superb. Here is my

spin on her recipe for puttanesca. It is a show stopper.

This is what you will need:

2 ½ cups of tomato (fresh from the garden with skins removed or canned)

3 tablespoons quality extra-virgin olive oil

3 large cloves garlic, chopped very finely

3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano, or ½ teaspoon crumbled dried oregano

3 anchovy fillets packed in olive oil, drained and cut up very fine

2 tablespoons small capers (drained)

½ cup sharply flavored black olives such as a Kalamata, pitted and sliced

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Salt to taste

die for.). Our

station had a

long line all

evening. We

were a n instant hit with freshly caught

Pacific snapper, spiced and grilled up

nicely on my new Weber, served up on

a warm tortilla with our “special sauce”

and seasoned slaw. Celebrants were ac-

tually asking if we owned a restaurant

and had a card! “No,” we said, “just a

of anchovies. Alicia and Tristaka did the

wet work with the tomatoes. I broke out

my 10,000 BTU Tahoe camp stove,

cranked it up to high, and melded it all

together. Delicious!

humble ICU nurse and her husband

serving it up hot, with flame-seared

jalapeños, if you dare.” It was way too

much fun!

It was also neat to hang out with the

local farmers/ranchers, hear the gossip

and watch the hay swathers roll through

downtown Adin at the end of a busy

day. I suppose what struck me most about

the experience was the small-town com-

munity spirit that just permeated the

event, as well as being with our good

friends Sara and Dave (“Dave Baby”).

There is never a dull moment around

these two. If they are short a chef again,

we will be back next year. If it all works

out, I will give you the scoop on the

Star Gazers who, for one glorious night,

open up to the public and let us look

deeply into the heavens above this

lonely, windswept place.

Regards,

Tom

09-15 Safe Harbor_Safe Harbor 9/8/15 11:39 AM Page 3

1385 Ridgewood Drive n Suite 106

Chico, CA 95973

Phone: 530-899-7178

Toll Free: 888-761-7383

www.ThomasLedgerwood.com

L LEDGERWOOD

LAW GROUPPRSRT STD

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

CHICO, CA

PERMIT NO. 119

Your friends do not have tofight their legal battles alone.

Complimentary Survival Kits—have one sent to someone today!

http://www.thomasledgerwood.com/reports/the-northern-california-workers-compensation-survival-manual.cfm)

This publication is intended to educate the general public about Worker’s Compensation, Social Security Disability and other issues. It is for information purposes only and is not intendedto be legal advice. Prior to acting on any information contained here, you should seek and retain competent counsel. ©LLG All Rights Reserved.

Get out a big skillet and pour the olive

oil into the pan and heat it up. Combine

the garlic, parsley and oregano and

sauté gently until the garlic softens.

This will take about 3 to 4 minutes.

Don’t burn your garlic! Add in the an-

chovies and stir. Add your tomatoes

next, with the juice, the olives, red pep-

per flakes and the capers. Simmer until

the sauce thickens. This will take about

20 minutes. Add salt if necessary (there

will already be a lot of salt from your

olives and capers, so easy does it). This

will make about 21/2 cups of sauce,

enough for one pound of pasta.

A nice loaf of crusty sourdough is a

must for this dish. It pairs well with a

n 4

really frosty glass of Birra Moretti or a

soulful glass of primitivo.

Bon Appeto,

Tom

09-15 Safe Harbor_Safe Harbor 9/8/15 11:39 AM Page 4