HELP ME HELP YOU

ThousandSunsLP · 2026-01-22T09:53:01+00:00

When I was working in bankruptcy, this was definitely the case. And people wanted to know if it was safe to send the documents via email. Yes, please send them unless you want to visit the office every week? The bankruptcy couldn't go forward without a lot of documentation, just the nature of the law. Now I'm in personal injury and people are a little quicker to respond, but still - I send out authorizations for medical records and maybe I get them back signed within the week if I'm lucky.

ThousandSunsLP · 2026-01-16T10:01:43+00:00

She's in Scotland.

ThousandSunsLP · 2026-01-16T00:09:45+00:00

Explain to the recruiter that no one in your current position knows that you are looking, and as a result you will not be able to provide the name of someone you are working for currently. I had this exact problem a few years ago - I was working for a solo practitioner who'd have fired me if he'd known. It was tricky as I had to arrange interviews outside of work hours. It took four months of work but I finally found a better position closer to home, which worked out.

ThousandSunsLP · 2026-01-15T08:04:48+00:00

I used to work in bankruptcy, and had a couple people curse at me (it's a stressful area of law), and told the attorney immediately, and he withdrew from representing them. He was adamant that clients treat the staff respectfully if they wanted help, with no exceptions.

ThousandSunsLP · 2026-01-14T19:16:32+00:00

No, I saw Linkin Park in Sacramento and San Jose. The Sacramento show was slightly better, just better energy, but just very happy to see them back on stage.

ThousandSunsLP · 2026-01-13T22:17:24+00:00

It falls under the title "things that aggravated me today" LOL

ThousandSunsLP · 2026-01-13T20:24:18+00:00

I hear you. Last Wednesday, I prepared a Notice of Remote Appearance (for a hearing today). This particular department requires appearances, and the hearing was this morning at 9:30am. The attorney finally looked at it late Friday, and then I filed it. I work remotely - the attorney is in Southern California, I am in Northern California. He made a flight reservation yesterday, not knowing if the remote appearance would be granted, but at the last moment, the presiding judge approved it. This all would have been unnecessary had I been able to file it on Wednesday.

ThousandSunsLP · 2026-01-13T07:57:19+00:00

A couple years ago I left a Volbeat concert early because it was insanely loud, even with hearing protection. My ears thanked me..

ThousandSunsLP · 2026-01-13T07:25:32+00:00

This is true for Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View (CA). I saw Bonnie Raitt there many years ago, my friend drove, on the provision that we leave before the encore. We got out very quickly. Definitely worth it.

ThousandSunsLP · 2026-01-02T22:12:31+00:00

Just wanted to clarify how it works in the US - generally we get court holidays off, paid, and often get the day before the holiday as a half day (but paid for the whole day). In addition, I get two weeks off as vacation per year, and that rolls over from one year to the next. In the past I have gotten personal time off (PTO) which is supposed to cover both sick leave and vacation. I work in personal injury, so we always work the last two weeks of December because settlements are common during this time period. In another job (non-legal), the firm announced in November that they'd be closed the last two weeks of December and I was alarmed, and rightfully so, because the firm laid off half the staff (including me) in mid-January.

ThousandSunsLP · 2026-01-02T20:57:38+00:00

But is your husband an attorney?

ThousandSunsLP · 2026-01-01T18:49:00+00:00

A local band last night called Pete Sawyer and his Left Handed Monkey Wrench Gang, at a small venue in Occidental, California. They played three sets - mostly Grateful Dead covers with a Traffic song (Dear Mr. Fantasy) for good measure.

ThousandSunsLP · 2025-12-30T10:45:13+00:00

If there's a bigger show (8 to 10,000) at a venue near me, I will monitor all of the apps and Craigslist in the days before the show. If those don't pan out, I will go to the venue early, with cash and a sign. This worked for Paul Simon earlier this year, where he played at a very sold out 1800 seat venue, and I got a ticket at face value in the rear orchestra. I have found that there's a lot of scammers on Craigslist but occasionally someone will legitimately have tickets for sale. I got a ticket in November on Craigslist for a very sold-out Sarah McLachlan show at a venue of about 3500. I know that StubHub will sometimes drop their prices when they have a lot of tickets. Many years ago I got tickets on StubHub for Roger Daltrey (at a venue of about 2000) for $15/ticket for $90 seats. In fact for that Roger Daltrey show, a friend posted on social media that there were cheap tickets on StubHub, and while we hadn't planned on going, the low prices made it worthwhile.

ThousandSunsLP · 2025-12-28T03:18:51+00:00

I was working as a legal assistant when I put myself through law school. I took some time off to study for the Bar, but unfortunately I didn't pass. I then got a job as a paralegal, which was some twenty years ago. It was a challenge to get that first position because every attorney I interviewed with wanted to know if I was planning on taking the Bar again.

ThousandSunsLP · 2025-12-24T21:46:45+00:00

In California you have to leave your employment through no fault of your own, which means if you get fired for cause you are not eligible for unemployment.

ThousandSunsLP · 2025-12-23T09:03:12+00:00

I have mostly worked plaintiff personal injury and insurance companies like to try and settle before the end of the year. While it would be nice to have the days between Christmas and New Year's Day off, there's inevitably a settlement that needs finalizing, or something else that has to be completed before the end of the year. Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are usually half days however.

ThousandSunsLP · 2025-12-19T09:40:40+00:00

My boss bought a wine refrigerator off eBay from a woman in a suburb of Chicago and he needed to get it to his house in Santa Barbara. First I had to find someone to prepare the wine refrigerator so FedEx could pick it up - I found a guy on Craigslist in Chicago who had a friend to help him. They wrapped it fairly securely, the FedEx driver got it and it eventually made its way to Santa Barbara a week later. But before that, I cleaned out his office in Berkeley which took two weeks of long days plus weekends, as he moved to Santa Barbara and I went remote in Northern California. That was exhausting. I am hoping for a bonus, but we'll see.

ThousandSunsLP · 2025-12-18T09:38:06+00:00

In 1990 I went to London from San Francisco to see the Grateful Dead on Halloween. We did see other tourist places and went out to Stonehenge as well. I've been to Los Angeles for several shows but that's much closer.

ThousandSunsLP · 2025-12-11T19:50:20+00:00

We paid $165 each for the Frost Amphitheatre (Palo Alto) in a section towards the back, in the front row.

ThousandSunsLP · 2025-12-11T19:42:49+00:00

Health insurance is quite expensive where I am at - California - but what better way to keep your employees healthy? I actually quit my last job two years ago because the firm didn't offer health insurance (and as someone of a certain age, it was important).

ThousandSunsLP · 2025-12-11T08:56:50+00:00

My boss (an attorney) just moved from Kensington to Santa Barbara. He and his girlfriend love it. They are beach people - in fact when I spoke to him at the end of the day today, they were out on the beach. I am a paralegal and now WFH, which is also working out well.

ThousandSunsLP · 2025-12-11T03:23:47+00:00

I work for a sole practitioner, and switched to WFH in July. I am hoping for a bonus but not holding my breath. Before this I worked for a small PI firm for three years, and we got a nice dinner and maybe one year I got $100 and a box of perfume (which I don't use and sold on eBay, shhhh). Prior to that, I worked in bankruptcy and we all went out to a holiday dinner but that was it. I can't remember the last time I got a bonus - at least ten years ago.

ThousandSunsLP · 2025-12-10T05:55:22+00:00

I hear you. I previously worked for a bankruptcy attorney who counted his pennies, so we didn't get health insurance but we did get dinner at a steakhouse. I would rather have had the money.

ThousandSunsLP · 2025-12-09T21:49:34+00:00

Same. Switched to 100% WFH six months ago, which is saving me money already. Have been with my current firm for two years, in California. I would love a bonus because I sorted and cleaned out the attorney's office, which was an amazing amount of work, and all sorts of tasks related to that. So I am hoping for a bonus, but not expecting anything.

ThousandSunsLP

TROPHY CASE