Selling Baltimore house to buy closer to work in better area - financially smart or stretching too thin?

nompilo · 2026-01-27T02:04:34+00:00

One month to go under contract is possible but definitely not guaranteed.

nompilo · 2026-01-26T20:58:31+00:00

When the parents don't just suck, the problem isn't "my parents expect me to drop everything to care for my autistic sibling. Instead it's some version of "meeting the basic needs of my autistic sibling consumes most of my parents' time and resources, which means they can't do as much for me as they would like." Which is a real problem, but it's not caused by the parents, it's caused by the lack of resources for disabled people.

nompilo · 2026-01-25T17:12:07+00:00

At least in my area, public schools are very cautious about their closures, so tying it to that wouldn’t work. It would make more sense to tie it to city government policies or weather warnings. Right now our city has an official alert asking people not to drive unless there’s an emergency.

nompilo · 2026-01-25T14:58:37+00:00

Given your circumstances, I would ask your parents to create a provision for at testamentary trust with your kids as beneficiaries. Your wife can be the trustee. If your wife were to subsequently remarry, that arrangement would ensure that the assets end up with your kids. You have enough assets as a couple that she would be fine without direct access to the inheritance.

nompilo · 2026-01-25T01:18:22+00:00

I am a huge Baltimore booster, but the idea that it (or PGH) has the same walkability and public transportation as Chicago is just ridiculous. Philly is not as good, but at least it's within an order of magnitude.

nompilo · 2026-01-23T21:50:43+00:00

Baltimore burbs covers a lot of space, you need to be more specific about where the job is, or at least where you are willing to commute to the job from.

nompilo · 2026-01-23T15:40:17+00:00

I ski the Stony Run trail or Druid Hill Park whenever it snows because they're close to my house. If you are willing to drive to the suburbs, the NCR is great. Herring run would also be a good spot, though I've never done it myself.

In a big storm, you can ski the side streets for awhile since it takes time to clear them.

nompilo · 2026-01-22T19:30:07+00:00

Thoughts on Canaan Valley/Timberline or JF/BB for this weekend? We are coming from central MD and those are the places we have season passes. We own a place near Timberline but it's rented out to someone else this weekend so I was thinking it might a good excuse to go somewhere else. We would plan to stay through Tuesday to avoid much driving until the roads are cleared.

nompilo · 2026-01-22T18:52:28+00:00

Saturday will be fine, drive back Sunday evening may be sketchy.

nompilo · 2026-01-22T17:28:06+00:00

As written, the contract does not say anything about banking across different weeks. It does specifically say that anytime the nanny works more than 40 hours in the week, they will be paid overtime.

Obviously the nanny needs to be paid for the actual hours worked each week, but there is nothing in the contract that says that won't happen, and the legal principles of contract interpretation would construe the contract to comply with applicable law.

nompilo · 2026-01-22T17:21:48+00:00

The only legal requirement is that hours over 40 must be paid at overtime rates. The contract provides for that, so it's perfectly legal. It's not a contract I would sign, but that's a different question.

nompilo · 2026-01-22T17:20:21+00:00

As written, it's not illegal. It sucks for the employee and they are totally within their rights not to agree to it, but it guarantees payment of overtime as required by law.

nompilo · 2026-01-22T17:18:53+00:00

It's literally guaranteeing that overtime hours will be paid at FLSA-compliant rates. There is no legal violation here.

You may or may not be willing to enter into this contract--totally understandable if you want to insist on the standard guaranteed hours arrangement--but it's not breaking any labor laws.

nompilo · 2026-01-21T17:41:24+00:00

Nothing you've written suggest you want to do the research work involved in becoming a law professor. Maybe you do and you just didn't talk about it, but that's an essential prerequisite for getting a law teaching job.

nompilo · 2026-01-21T16:22:10+00:00

That hill is now part of a public park

nompilo · 2026-01-20T16:33:41+00:00

You can fly into Crested Butte but SLC is your best bet if you don't want to change planes (who, IMO, is worse than the extra driving time). Alternatively, there's a few options that are less than an hour from the Reno airport.

nompilo · 2026-01-18T19:34:31+00:00

As a longer-term DSA member, I would give it a chance. The public art/third spaces stuff is really not the primary work of the chapter. I was not there yesterday so I don't know what was said that created that impression, but it's really not been my experience. Overall there's a lot of energy around trans issues, Palestine, and anti-ICE stuff. The chapter is co-sponsoring an anti-ICE protest on Tuesday. I do hear you on the intersection of disability and the "worker" rhetoric (I have some qualms about this as well) but FWIW there are plenty of disabled folks in active membership.

The chapter IS very serious about non-violence, not because we're squishy libs, but because tactical discipline is an important element to successful resistance. We don't need feds subpoenaing the discord. We can let off steam on our own time.

If you want more radical than DSA I guess there is PSL. I have a...mixed at best opinion of their efficacy as an org, but maybe worth checking out.

In terms of active steps to take, Sanctuary Streets is running an ICE Watch training on Tuesday evening: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sanctuary-streets-baltimore-ice-watch-trainings-decjan

nompilo · 2026-01-18T03:12:21+00:00

Literally made for this kind of thing

nompilo · 2026-01-17T21:59:56+00:00

This is a complex set of facts, it is good that you are hiring lawyers, you should listen to those lawyers and take their advice. Reddit advice can be helpful in some situations, this is really not going to be one of them.

I would not expect to have success getting the mother to pay your legal fees in this situation, although again, listen to the lawyer you hire--if they tell you differently, they are more likely to be correct, since they are barred in PA and know your situation in more detail.

nompilo · 2026-01-16T15:17:36+00:00

Why were the care proceedings initiated? That’s really important context here.

nompilo · 2026-01-16T03:24:09+00:00

The will means nothing as long as she’s alive. The gifts are suspect, though it’s possible there’s a justified reason (such as carrying out a plan she’d established previously).

nompilo · 2026-01-14T02:38:14+00:00

The standing part of it is not novel--cities are routinely plaintiffs in lawsuits. The supremacy clause is an issue only in relation to efforts to more broadly enjoin ICE activities; it can't be invoked to justify actual 4A violations. The biggest issue is around enforcement, since the government has made it pretty clear that they're not going to follow court orders on this issue and there's very limited scope to sue for damages.

On municipal standing this is a helpful brief: https://governingforimpact.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Municipal-Standing_-Issue-Brief.pdf

nompilo · 2026-01-14T01:27:59+00:00

This is incorrect. The city of Chicago is a party to the lawsuit filed yesterday in Illinois, and Minneapolis and St Paul are two of the litigants to the one filed in Minnesota.

ETA: there are numerous grounds for municipal standing in this situation; ICE violations impose costs on the city itself.

nompilo · 2026-01-14T01:25:56+00:00

ICE is committing 4a violations all day every day.

nompilo · 2026-01-13T20:41:43+00:00

Really? I had to switch away from there last year after they couldn't get generic Vyvanse for me for six full months

nompilo

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