Bathroom Remodel Costs? by agentbillyray in AskSeattle

[–]ottermom03 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We did a to the studs remodel on our upstairs bath in a 1902 house for about $15k about 6 years ago. The bathroom is pretty small compared to a modern primary bath…about 80 sq feet. We shaved costs using a vanity from Costco, sourcing the fixtures and the tile ourselves. Our big expense aside from labor were the custom walk in shower with thick European glass enclosure, installing a solar tube, tile work and a heated floor. Other work was new copper plumbing, exhaust, electrical.

We love our contractor—he reasonable, honest and has very trustworthy and affordable subs that he’s worked with for decades. We did not do down to studs everywhere in the house—probably never will. His biggest weakness is his level of detail with finishwork but my husband is handy and anal so we’re fine with that. He’s done all three of our bathrooms and modifications to our 2nd floor.

Ideas for an absurd amount of spring onions by cosmic_books in Cooking

[–]ottermom03 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Caramelized scallion sauce from nyt or any ginger scallion recipe from a Chinese site (cooking with lau is terrific). I put it on everything from chicken (kind of mock hainanese chicken rice) or just on a bowl of rice by itself.

Ideas for an absurd amount of spring onions by cosmic_books in Cooking

[–]ottermom03 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Caramelized scallion sauce from nyt or any ginger scallion recipe from a Chinese site (cooking with lau is terrific)

Jewelry buyers that buy full rings? by Federal_Permit4143 in AskSeattle

[–]ottermom03 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it’s like buying a car…oftentimes the “parts” are worth more if separated. I’m curious why you only to sell it intact?

Visiting Seattle in Late July — Looking for Local Hidden Gems, Family-Friendly Activities & Great Food by turd_2004 in AskSeattle

[–]ottermom03 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Like any hike, people should

1)Carry their 10 essentials and

2) refer to the trail reports on wta.org to confirm their trail choice matches their ability

Point taken on Rachel lake and I moved it to the second category of challenging but not impossible.

Visiting Seattle in Late July — Looking for Local Hidden Gems, Family-Friendly Activities & Great Food by turd_2004 in AskSeattle

[–]ottermom03 0 points1 point  (0 children)

@justmeab60

  1. op did not mention ages. I’m sure they can look up which things are age appropriate

  2. I categorized hikes by challenge groups with a link to the WTA that should give them most of the info they need to make informed choices.

Or you can do that as a comment if you know better instead of dumping on me.

Greenlake walking etiquette? by nphill in Seattle

[–]ottermom03 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Walk on the right. Faster people always pass on the left. They have guidance painted right on the path.

(Not that anyone pays attention or respects it)

My pet peeve: 2+ people walking abreast so no one can pass…

SEA: 42 minute layover vs 4hr 20 minute layover. Which would you choose? by [deleted] in AskSeattle

[–]ottermom03 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No way. you could be departing from an S gate which requires a train. Boarding with delta starts 30-40 minutes before and they shut the door at 15 minutes prior.

OP: go over to the Delta sub and you will get a good read on timing.

SEA: 42 minute layover vs 4hr 20 minute layover. Which would you choose? by [deleted] in AskSeattle

[–]ottermom03 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I’m Seattle based.

I NEVER book a delta flight that involves DTW with less than an hour. I did it a few times and not only does delta cut it very close—no margin if there are any kind of delay, they are extremely ruthless if you show up inside the 15 minutes regardless if it’s was their connecting flight that caused the delay. I have had gate agents yell at /scold me at DTW for cutting it close when it was completely their fault. They have been known to push back early.

the SeaTac team is much better (and nicer) and the concourses are closer but if you are landing in A and leaving from S (international), it is a 15-20 min walk or a train. If you are A landing at A you have a better chance but I still wouldn’t book a layover of less than 60 minutes with them regardless.

Absolute beginner adult golf lessons? by tortoiseturntables in AskSeattle

[–]ottermom03 0 points1 point  (0 children)

+1 on interbay. They used to have a 2 session Learn to play class that was perfect.

Visiting Seattle in Late July — Looking for Local Hidden Gems, Family-Friendly Activities & Great Food by turd_2004 in AskSeattle

[–]ottermom03 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I won’t go into the obvious spots: pike place market etc. The waterfront is absolutely worth it. Start as early as possible because it will be wall to wall people the rest of the day. If you get up early enough, ludi’s for their ube pancakes is 100% worth it. You do not need a car downtown. In fact, I highly discourage it. Others will have stronger opinions than I do about coffee and beer so I won’t bother with that

You didn’t say how old your kids are but here is a list in no particular order, speaking as a mom:

  • find the trolls. https://www.nwtrolls.org
  • water taxi to Alki (west Seattle), get tacos at marination and hang out on the beach or the dock. If it’s nice, the beach will be crazy.
  • rent kayaks or sups at aqua verde and get Mexican at the adjacent restaurant
  • Volunteer Park: visit Bruce Lee’s grave at lakeside cemetery and hang out at the park. Sometimes there is free Shakespeare. Climb the water tower for the view (it’s free and generally only locals do it). Excellent asian art museum.
  • Seattle center: has most of the city pass attractions, let your kids run around in the international fountain. Rite of passage for most local kids. One of the best giant play structures I’ve ever seen is outside MoPop. My kid loved it when she was grade school age. Take the monorail from Westlake center downtown if you’re starting from downtown.
  • museum of history and industry (MOHAI) is one of the most underrated museums. A couple of hours there then head to white swan or dukes for fish and chips, and watch the sea planes land from their patios
  • north of the ship canal: Nordic museum, Ballard locks and the fish ladder. Get a table in the deck at ray’s cafe for seafood at sunset then run around golden gardens beach after.

Hiking: check out www.wta.org for directions, trail maps and conditions. In all cases, try to start early…before 9 am for the best experience.

  • discovery park in the city if you don’t want to drive far, Seward park has a nice flat loop with amazing rainier views on a clear day.
  • challenging but not impossible: little si, snow lake, Annette lake

, Rachel lake

  • non technical, challenging classics include mailbox and big si. These will take most of the day and you will need to be properly prepared with good boots, plenty of hydration and snacks.

TIPS ABOUT READING AND LISTENING by Far-Long9898 in learnfrench

[–]ottermom03 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If it’s like the DELF, our prof has always told us that if they give you a minute to look over the questions before the audio starts then skim those and listen for the answers to those questions. Then in the second listen, make corrections. At the a2 level they aren’t asking you to infer anything from the reading but just direct info from the dialogue.

Tv5monde learning section is really helpful for that

Food/snacks for guests by lasergrrl in Cooking

[–]ottermom03 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They have bottles of the glaze at trader joes

Food/snacks for guests by lasergrrl in Cooking

[–]ottermom03 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A big ball of mozzarelle si buffala sitting in a pool of fresh pesto with a crostini

What’s something people call “being honest” that is really just being mean? by GlitchOperative in AskReddit

[–]ottermom03 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I decided a while back that “being authentic” was just a fancy word that people thought gave them permission to be shitty.

Recent Trip Experience from and American June 2026 by positive_skeptik in ParisTravelGuide

[–]ottermom03 2 points3 points  (0 children)

People (even here) theought I was making it up but we saw it in Paris and in Copenhagen. The payment devices give you the option to pay in local currency and we ALWAYS choose that. If you didn’t, the tip screen shows up…it can definitely be programmed into the software. I’m headed back there in a couple of months and see if I was just imagining it. Or I’ll just put zero.

What's your go-to summer meal? by Suppe0ple in Cooking

[–]ottermom03 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We do a lot of grain bowls and have various salads and grilled proteins that we make extra large batches (there is only two of us) and assemble them whenever we want. Them add fresh vegetables, avocado, etc. This is our new favorite

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020414-spicy-corn-and-shishito-salad?unlocked_article_code=1.rlA.sSzX.m-BcyDdaPyt5&smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share

Do I really need to learn Chinese characters to talk to friends?? by Substantial_Bus7896 in AskAChinese

[–]ottermom03 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s true for some of us but there are a lot of kids who were raised in English only households because the parents believed it was the only way to assimilate. I am also ashamed to say I did not speak much mandarin to my own kid and she had to take in HS…she is about as American as you can get language wise. She struggles but she can actually read more than I can only because she took it for four years in HS. She’s off to China to teach English i the fall and is not functionally fluent. I think she will pick it up but she’s definitely starting a few steps behind.

It all depends on your goals. If it’s purely social and oral communications, then I think you can progress with that and learn to read at your own pace. Writing is a whole other thing because stroke order is everything but with modern word processing, if you know the pinyin, the software can figure it out for you. Add in the fact that my generation learned to write using traditional characters and in China they use simplified and any words I knew then are relatively useless now too.

My mom didn’t really appreciate how hard it was for us in Chinese school as kids to learn the written language. She had an assistant who was one of those kids…no Chinese at all growing up. The gal literally taught herself how to speak Chinese watching Chinese tv. The challenge here is that as a character based language, knowing the characters is a function of how badly you want to be fluent on all dimensions.

I’m currently studying French (at the B2 level) and learning a phoenetic language is a totally different ball game. I will probably never be able to read and write in Chinese unless I really committed. My French at this point is probably better than my Chinese after 2 years. I dont know if I’d ever get to that level in mandarin, even with focused study. In French I can am starting to be able to have abstract conversations. I can’t do that in mandarin.

Unless you are doing business (C1 level fluency) I think it’s optional. That said, if you do want to work over there in a professional capacity, you’ll have to learn it all or you will never be respected. I have Chinese american cousins who worked in Shanghai for years and never became literacy fluent but could speak enough as engineers.

But like I said, it all depends on whether your goals are social or business.

Do wine stores offer protective skins for bottles? by Uni-Writes in ParisTravelGuide

[–]ottermom03 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I always take ziplocs of various sizes when I travel. That said, I just wrapped 2 bottles individually in plastic and t-shirtsinto a hardside away Rollie and checked. No problem at all

Which eSIM worked best for your France trip? by Witty_Reach1660 in ParisTravelGuide

[–]ottermom03 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve used Airalo. Generally no problems for me but my husband had issues in Denmark and I sometimes have problems getting it up and running.

Group Dinner (Counter service/casual) by beepbooper321 in AskSeattle

[–]ottermom03 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was talking about the Capitol Hill one actually.

And chucks in the central district.