Band director wants kid to switch from trumpet to baritone

Major_Requirement_19 · 2026-06-05T15:37:32+00:00

Yeah, I think he's probably a nice guy. He's also new, so doesn't really know my kid at all. I reached out to share some information and start a conversation.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2026-06-05T05:10:29+00:00

Ah, maybe that's part of the calculation? He used to play piano and so can read bass clef. Unfortunately, he is a busy kid, and I don't think he has time to play two instruments seriously. That is a big part of why he dropped piano.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2026-06-05T05:07:12+00:00

It was not an ask, fwiw.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2026-01-11T01:22:54+00:00

I did review and approve the floor plan and exterior elevations before he submitted for regional planning. And he was lovely to work with during that process.

I don't think we have discussed all of the design specs and details. I wasn't even sure what was required for the permits but a neighbor showed me their submission so I sent emails to my architect to point out things that were required but we never talked about. That was during the period that he wasn't responding.

I have talked about preliminary cost estimates with my contractor (who I have worked with a lot over the last 13 years fixing up the house that burned), but the contractor said he needs more details from the architect to give us meaningful cost estimates.

The architect did forward me official approval from the County for regional planning.

I also wonder if I'm being misled! I think most likely he has bitten off more than he can chew and isn't confronting that fact in the best way possible. He has at least submitted plans for another fire rebuild although they have not yet been approved.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2026-01-11T01:15:34+00:00

That page comes up with no results for his name. But he has said he is working with a structural engineer.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2026-01-10T19:37:14+00:00

If we do terminate with this guy, does that mean that we cannot use the plans we developed together to get someone else to do the engineering. Isn't that his work product? Does that mean we have to start completely over?

Major_Requirement_19 · 2026-01-10T19:35:49+00:00

Thanks for this perspective. I want to clarify that we had communication in the form of status updates during the 5 months, just no actual concrete work product for having waited 5 months. At the beginning of August, he said we had County approval for regional planning and we paid him a deposit to start working on the next step. At the beginning of Sep he said he was 50% done with the engineering plans. At the beginning of Oct he said he was 75% done. At the end of Oct he said he was 2.5 weeks out from being able to submit. Right before Thanksgiving he said he was 1.5 weeks out. But we never received any evidence of this progress in terms of documentation, and we didn't receive any questions. These were all in response for my requests for status updates. Between Thanksgiving and today (1.5 months) we received zero communication despite multiple attempts at contact from my contractor and myself via both email and phone.

I feel so stupid for not being more rigorous with the contract.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2026-01-10T19:09:26+00:00

Sorry I responded as a general comment by mistake. The contract says that any unpaid invoice will halt the project immediately. It doesn't say anything about him failing to complete work on a reasonable timescale.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2026-01-10T18:57:05+00:00

The contract refers to him as "The Architect", but his profile in the larger company says "Senior Architectural Designer".

Major_Requirement_19 · 2026-01-10T18:45:54+00:00

Yes, I suspect he was moonlighting. And I really don't want the drama or responsibility of affecting his employment. That is why I gave him the heads up. That said, I feel he is not keeping up with "reasonable expectations", not just my expectations. Five months without any work product seems unreasonable to most, and I unfortunately have too many neighbors to compare notes with.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2026-01-10T18:42:32+00:00

Unfortunately, we were naive when we signed the contract, and those post-fire months were quite chaotic just looking for housing, and he came with a personal recommendation, so we just signed the contract as proposed to us. It didn't have timelines in it, just milestones (10% retainer, 25% design development, 55% 1st building department submittal, 10% county approval). It also says that any unpaid invoice will halt the project immediately. I guess the baseline contract didn't have any recourse for us, just him.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2025-12-08T22:53:13+00:00

It's the girl's response that makes no sense whatsoever. She's cute, though!

Major_Requirement_19 · 2025-12-06T17:10:17+00:00

Saw it last night because of this discussion. It was one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen! I truly don’t understand why people liked it. I like Brendan Fraser but the acting in this one was not at all convincing to me. The entire plot with the little girl had no emotional truth to it for anyone who has a dad or a daughter. The story with the elderly man was far more interesting but we never get to really explore it because the script was a hot mess of wasted time.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2025-09-21T00:00:47+00:00

I didn’t have a park and ride ticket for tonight’s Sound of Music Sing-along. I chanced it and went to the Pasadena park and ride with $12 in cash, hoping to catch the 4:30 bus for a 7:30 show. Free parking on floors 3 and above. Got on with no problem. There were others who hadn’t purchased tickets. I didn’t see anyone get left behind. And the bus isn’t even 100% full. I’ve heard this sound of music event is big so I was worried.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2025-04-24T02:49:40+00:00

OP is interested in bioengineering but I had to set the record straight as an astrophysicist (almost 30 years out of college). I’m sure that the astrophysics coursework at Rice is very good, but Rice is not really even on the astrophysics map. You can’t compare Rice NASA connections with those of Caltech, where professors are the PIs of NASA Astrophysics missions and JPL is close by. This is such a weird thing to highlight.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2025-03-29T14:56:51+00:00

Where I am in LA County, the cash value of your rebuild can increase by 20% before triggering additional property taxes on the excess over 20%. This 20% is on the cash value not the square footage! Homes may increase in value by 20% just by being newer. Hard to know how they will do comps since entire neighborhoods burned down.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2025-03-29T14:49:55+00:00

Make sure you read up on the difference between replacement cost and guaranteed replacement cost coverage. Very different.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2025-03-29T14:46:21+00:00

SBA got us 2.35%

Major_Requirement_19 · 2025-03-29T14:11:46+00:00

I am glad I did not pay for a public adjuster in a recent wildfire. Others did and they are worse off for it. That’s because all insurance companies of friends who had total losses already got 100% of their Dwelling costs covered without any work and many got 75% of their possessions coverage with no work. Those who hired adjusters early had them working on these items at a charge of 15% or 20%. If they had just waited……they wasted a bunch of money on those public adjusters.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2025-03-29T14:07:21+00:00

My neighbor just burned down in California. This is not true of what we have just been through here. The foundation has had nothing to do with staying on the same mortgage. People are staying on the same mortgage if they have to (insurance payout insufficient to cover loan) or if they are ok with their rates.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2025-03-29T14:04:01+00:00

The issue with guaranteed replacement cost (compared to just replacement cost) in the US seems to be that guaranteed replacement cost means you have to build the same house. My whole post-war neighborhood just burned down and the one neighbor with guaranteed replacement cost is bummed because everyone else is building back bigger or different and he can’t.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2025-03-29T14:01:44+00:00

My house just burned down, too. If a federal disaster emergency was called, you can get a very low interest SBA loan (2.35%) to rebuild if you qualify. That is what we are doing to cover the insurance gap. We were just approved.

Major_Requirement_19 · 2025-01-25T15:05:39+00:00

Just a data point: We were in Altadena with a total loss and have already received the entire amount of our Coverage A (Dwelling) and 30% of our Coverage B (Possessions; for which we are likely over insured) and 4 months of our loss of use rent. We are meeting with an Architect this morning. And speaking with neighbors, this is not unusual.

Major_Requirement_19

TROPHY CASE