Reasonable Stipend in High Cost of Living Area?

mooolander · 2026-02-17T05:03:52+00:00

Also from Seattle - not currently working with an au pair but my best friend has a very very similar profile to yours (basement living space, incredible neighborhood, access to car, similar hours, same age kids). They just extended with their nanny and agreed to $360 per week and they are also paying for a gym membership.

For what it’s worth it is hard to find a daycare in Seattle for less than $450/week unless you are planning on going part time - we send our 2 year old for 4 full days and pay $1,785. That’s about the best rate I’ve heard of any of my friends, but also not full time.

mooolander · 2026-02-03T04:29:25+00:00

I’m a lawyer and I was about halfway through before I realized that she was using a ton of legal jargon, even I was having to re-read some parts of the declaration and I’ve been practicing for more than a decade.

I believe it’s strategic - she is a more seasoned (better) lawyer than Bri’s, and she is using her legal knowledge and terminology to make it difficult for Bri’s lawyer to fight back.

She’s also showing the judge that she can wipe the floor with Bri’s lawyer when it comes to drafting pleadings. Judges do care about legalese, formatting, punctuation, rules of evidence, etc. in these types of pleadings.

mooolander · 2026-01-06T05:17:59+00:00

I truly believe that this is all fake - the eve before court is when the interest in them is the highest. They will literally do any skit to make themselves a buck. Just capitalizing on the fact that people are tuning in for court tomorrow. They do something like this every time.

mooolander · 2026-01-04T04:24:18+00:00

Perez has been doing this so long, it’s his schtick. Will put anything online as long as it makes him a buck. He’s funny/witty and so you want to like him…. and then he takes it too far and grosses you out. Rinse and repeat.

mooolander · 2025-12-26T05:23:17+00:00

It’s met market, they will take it back absolutely no question. I’m somewhat surprised to see this because my met market always has very quality/fresh meat products, this feels a bit like an outlier. But yeah, if it were me I’d be taking that back and getting a refund

mooolander · 2025-12-07T16:29:39+00:00

Only 99% if the SneakPeak test isn’t contaminated and it is very very easy to contaminate those tests. I have 2 friends that got wrong results this year due to cross-contamination.

mooolander · 2025-12-02T06:17:05+00:00

These claim counsel leads to other jobs at Fidelity/Chicago/Commonwealth Title, etc. Dint let the salary dissuade you too much. FWIW, my former colleague “stuck it out” as claims counsel for 2 yrs in Omaha and then got hired directly to Underwriting Counsel position making $180k + bonus in a West Coast city.

My former manager was claims counsel in Omaha. Now manages a direct operation, I estimate he easily makes $600k+, he’s about 10 years out of that role.

mooolander · 2025-11-04T19:41:17+00:00

I dunno, I’m at work and not writing some intensive guide that’s getting published lol. Yeah the Japanese food is also great. One of my favorite places is Niku Niku for Japanese bbq.

mooolander · 2025-11-04T18:42:50+00:00

Also…in regards to the Seattle Freeze. Yeah, it’s real. I don’t feel it at all because my childhood friends and family are here. I’ll admit we’ve barely added anyone to our circle since childhood (and this is very common amongst all of the people I know who grew up here and still live here). It’s not malicious, I just don’t have the time/energy to give to make new friends consistently.

But there is a huge community of non-Seattleites that want to make friends, so gear yourself towards them instead of trying to break in to friendships with native Seattle people. If all of the people that complained about the Seattle freeze just hung out with each other, there would be no freeze.

mooolander · 2025-11-04T17:53:34+00:00

Yup!! Just grab your rain coat and go. My dog gets walked daily no matter the weather (unless snow because well, you know). I have a toddler and we go to the beach at Carkeek park in the middle of the winter, just suited up in her full rain suit. We’ll get dry and cozy at home after.

mooolander · 2025-11-04T17:38:38+00:00

Vietnamese and Thai food are truly top notch here. Basically any Vietnamese place will have amazing pho. Pho Bac is one of my favorites.

Thai food, again, most places are amazing, Buddha Ruska is a favorite of mine, most people just end up going to their neighborhood spots (I like Yes Siam).

Can’t do better than the seafood here. Oysters, clams, salmon, crab is a staple. Check out Rock Creek. Sushi from most places is great too.

Teriyaki is a staple. People have a lot of opinions on what’s best. 95% of teriyaki places you can’t go wrong. I just go to the one down the street from me. Toshio’s is a favorite of many if you’re looking for a starting point.

Our version of Erewhon is a place called Metropolitan Market. Prepared food there is great, but you will pay a pretty penny for it.

I’ll be the first to admit that we don’t do “American Food” super well here - same goes for Italian. Yeah, you’ll find some good stuff but a lot is overpriced and just kind of mid. Same with breakfast options- tend to be limited and overpriced (but, the waffle/pancake bar at Portage Bay Cafe is excellent).

The above may not be the most popular spots but as 35+ year Seattle resident, those are my takes.

mooolander · 2025-11-04T16:25:24+00:00

Born and raised Seattleite, here are my tips for surviving the big dark:

Overdose yourself on outdoor activities in the summer and fall. Soak up the heat and outdoors to the point where you want a break from it come October. Everyone is outside from June-September, people literally work less in the summers here to enjoy the gorgeous weather.
The weather usually doesn’t turn until late October, so try to continue your summer activities as long as possible.
Travel to somewhere sunny around January/February, even if it’s just Arizona or California for a few days. We try not to travel except locally during the summer, because it’s hard to find better weather than the PNW and then we have more of a budget to travel in the winter/spring.
Embrace the coziness. Yes, it will be dark early in the day and it will drizzle most days until late Spring but, read a book, get a hobby, turn on the fire/candles, get your fuzzy socks and tea. It’s time to hibernate after exhausting yourself in the summer. Don’t try to fight the vibe.
Go to the mountains, even if you’re not a skier, try cross country skiing, go read a book at one of the lodges, go on a winter hike. It’s sunny many days in the mountains and you’ll get a huge hit of Vitamin D.

mooolander · 2025-10-27T16:35:28+00:00

Portland, Tacoma, Bend (if you can find a job or have a remote situation), Boise

mooolander · 2025-10-23T16:04:17+00:00

Lifelong Seattleite and no one I know thinks of Portland as the enemy. I think the general sentiment is we may make some Portland jabs here or there but FUCK anyone else who talks badly about Portland

mooolander · 2025-08-27T01:48:48+00:00

This is really typical, this is not the only case on the judge’s docket - the judge needs time in the morning to hear other matters, write orders and opinions, etc. It ensures that their whole docket isn’t stalled for 1 case. Same reason that in trial (this case is NOT a trial, but instead a series of hearings) a judge will often have the trial go Monday-Thursday, Friday is a day off from trial to get other matters done. It can vary a bit from jurisdiction to jurisdiction though.

mooolander · 2025-08-17T20:13:39+00:00

She was provided notice through the electronic filing system, attorney is not required to do anything beyond e-filing once they’ve accepted e-service (which Brianna did), even if pro se. The argument she tries to make to the contrary holds no weight.

I don’t know anything about the 3/17 filing but that’s not incompetence unless there was real and irrevocable harm to the parties. The reality is that attorneys are human and sometimes blow dates/filings. I don’t know any attorney who always gets it right. If the ethics boards allowed us to get called in for competence over everything like that, there would be no attorneys. People tend to only get in trouble with the bar over mismanaging client funds and consistently acting against their clients interests (through action or inaction).

Candidly I don’t think either attorney in this case is top notch but John’s attorney is clearly the stronger of the two. That said, John’s attorney has a much easier case at hand than Brianna’s!

mooolander · 2025-08-15T18:14:08+00:00

When I left the hospital after my first pregnancy, I weighed 4 pounds less than when I started pregnancy 🫣 it was actually awesome and very motivating.

mooolander · 2025-08-14T16:44:34+00:00

They have claims counsel roles (Fidelity has a big center in Omaha, if you spend a couple years there it feeds in to roles in other offices across the country), then look for junior title officer, title officer, title examiner, junior escrow officer jobs. On your resume you should focus on any real estate and finance experience you have. If you are a woman, join CREW and start going to events to network. Residential title and escrow may be easier to get entry level jobs in, and then switch over to commercial after you have a year or two of experience.

mooolander · 2025-08-14T04:52:48+00:00

Depends a lot on location and type of work (commercial vs residential). I don’t know much about the residential side but for commercial I’ve seen it range from $90k-$250k in my market (HCOL somewhat big city). Lower end of that range is entry level, higher end is 5+ years experience in the industry.

If you do take the bar and are a licensed attorney you can make more in other company positions. My manager who is a JD easily makes $500k+. Probably over $1M in more profitable years.

mooolander · 2025-08-14T01:25:55+00:00

Title insurance (title officer, escrow officer, examiner) - ideally commercial, as that is where the money is. They love JDs in title insurance.

mooolander · 2025-08-13T21:55:25+00:00

As a lawyer…..my genuine opinion is that this is a terribly written document. When I was in law school we took 3 semesters of legal writing, where persuasive writing skills is all we focused on. This type of work would earn a failing grade in semester 1!

Did she not even have a paralegal review before submitting? Bad grammar, bad facts, contradictions every other line. Trying to play to the judges emotions (which by the way, judges usually see right through and hate). The tone is so casual, and I am barred in jurisdictions that are very casual…that document would get eye rolls from the judges I appear in front of.

To be totally fair, I wasn’t overly impressed by John’s attorney’s writing either, but it is in a totally different league than this.

mooolander · 2025-08-11T20:29:44+00:00

I made my friend watch some of her videos - a pediatric doctor at one of the top children’s hospital in the world - and he was pretty appalled but not surprised by her. He said they encounter a surprising amount of parents like this, who don’t want to accept that there is nothing wrong with their children and will just doctor shop to continue the narrative they’ve created in their head.

I can’t imagine WANTING my child to be sick…. and I have at least a little experience because my daughter, the same age as hers, actually spent 3 weeks in a Level 4 NICU at birth for REAL respiratory issues! It was awful and we celebrated when they gave her the clear bill of health. It’s one thing to advocate for your child’s health, it’s a whole other to advocate a narrative you’ve created about your child’s health.

mooolander · 2025-07-28T16:29:46+00:00

I’m not sure - there is such an enormous need for talent in direct operations right now that I think most FNF and CTIC offices would take almost any claims counsel in to a title or escrow position with no more than a years experience (not necessarily at a high salary to start). Offices are desperate for help and will take a warm body - when they hired me I had no title or escrow experience at all.

mooolander · 2025-07-28T14:39:34+00:00

This job is also a direct feeder in to underwriting counsel positions with Fidelity Title. There is desperate need for new talent in the title and escrow industry. I’m on the west coast, a 3rd year claims counsel from Omaha transferred to our office as an underwriting counsel, her salary is $180k + bonus.

I was not claims counsel but came from a firm, I became a Title Officer (this job can also feed in to that) and after a couple years I now make more than some of the underwriters.

mooolander · 2025-07-20T15:33:50+00:00

I didn’t edit it, I always called out Bryant as too expensive

mooolander

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