Jessica Gray's Philosophies, Rants, Information, and Etcetera

The title says it all.  This is the quiz for the video I did, Hiragana Lessons 1-5 Additional Vocabulary and Review.   Remember you can pause the video if you need more time, and you can mute the sound if you don't want to hear me yakking.

I found an audio dictionary, and I looked up these words.  I'm not sure if the audio dictionary is accurate, though it seems reliable.  It is pronounced by a computer.  My own pronunciation may not be perfect, and it seems with Japanese words that they can sound differently when used in a sentence than they do individually. The writing, though, should be accurate.  I will upload the quiz another day.

This was the second part of my video on how to fill out checks.  Deposit slips are found at the back of the checkbook.  Usually they are white.  Checks themselves can be a variety of colors and have designs like Disney Princesses on them, but deposit slips are usually more formal in appearance. You need a deposit slip when you are depositing money into your account.  It isn't just for cash.  If people have written you checks, you will use a deposit slip to submit those too. The important thing to remember is that not all transactions are immediate, particularly when it comes to checks.  I used to get annoyed with my dentist because he used to wait a full week to withdraw money from my account when I wrote him a check.  Some banks put limits to how many times a person can submit checks, and so some places or people will wait.  In the case of my dentist, they went to the bank once a week.  Of course, I've noticed they no longer do this when they started getting poorer. Gene

It occurred to me that there are many people who grow up without learning essential life skills.  Many parents are not willing to share personal information (i.e. finances) with their children, but the problem is that they also miss the opportunity to teach them much needed skills like how to fill out a check.  Then there are some people who were orphaned or who come to this country who are not going to know this information either. It may seem simple enough, and yet it is surprising how simple things can confound a person.  Sometimes we are too embarrassed to ask for help, or sometimes it is difficult to ask for help with things that have sensitive information--like writing checks. I don't actually use checks very often, since most of my dealings are through paypal or debit card.  However, there are times when you do need them. One thing I neglected to mention (though I don't know if the rules still apply in these times, or the practice is standard at all banks) is

PRODUCT DETAILS Doll size:   18 inches (46 cm) Age recommendation:   6+ (not recommended for children under 3 due to choking hazard) Put out by:   Geoffrey, LLC (subsidiary of Toys R Us) Year:   2013 Made in China UPC:   803516289453 Price:   If you can find it at Toys R Us, $32.99.  However, these dolls can go high due to scarcity (particularly Meredith) Hair Color:   Blonde Eye Color:   Blue, long eyelashes, eyes don't close Movement:   Classic baby doll--head turns side to side,  arms move front and back (not up and down like  flapping wings), elbows don't bend, legs move back and forth,  don't bend at knees, don't bend at ankles. Type of doll:   Vinyl head, chest plate, arms, legs...but it  has a soft cloth lower torso. What box contains:   1 eighteen inch doll that is dressed  in a magenta jacket (made of bicycle pant material), a  short sleeved gray t-shirt that says "I heart Paris", blue  pants (looks like cotton but ribbed like den

Selena when I finished her six months ago My mom's mid-life crisis involved getting romantic with the 17 year old juvenile delinquent  down the street, spending $10,000 on said boyfriend, and getting her Nissan Sentra  repossessed.  We had to rent cars for a while, which caused the neighbors to be  envious of us.  They thought it was a sign of wealth that we could rent a different car  each month.  It is amazing the things people will be jealous of.  I'm under the opinion  if I had a maggoty tuna sandwich that came from a dumpster, my neighbors would  find a way to be covetous over that too. The one good thing about renting a bunch of cars is that you essentially get to test  drive a lot of models...though, of course, it is an expensive way to do it.  My mom had  always liked Hyundai's designs, but she didn't like how light the cars were.  She had  the same objections about Kia, which she felt even more unsafe in (and she thought  their designs were t

I remember once reading that the wizard Merlin aged backwards.  He started out as an old man and aged to a newborn.  In real life, though, there is some basis for this.  We start out as helpless children, and as we age we revert back to being helpless children.  Exercise and eating right might help in keeping your mind sharp and your body relatively mobile, but the fact is that aging affects us both mentally and physically. One symptom I notice that starts emerging around the mid-life crisis and continues to re-emerge from then on is "scrooging."  It doesn't surprise me that Ebenezer Scrooge, when he became elderly, was visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past.  This is actually a very common occurrence--which I believe happens to everyone--though less dramatically and not precisely on Christmas Eve.  There comes a point, usually starting around the late 30's to early 40's, where our past starts to haunt us.  It continues to haunt us every decade from then on.  

My Yoda statue is the piece I am the most proud of I have two reasons to be grateful for my brief experience as a volunteer of the Friends of the Library.  One, it revealed a talent I didn't know I had...and one I might have never discovered willingly:  I am a talented seller.  I was one of the top sellers at the gift shop.  What is funny is that when I volunteered, this was the last position I would have wanted.  When I volunteered at the library, I had hoped to work quietly with books.  The idea of being a cashier in the gift shop was not appealing, but when that was what was offered, I decided to give it a try.  I was fortunately trying to be open to new experiences, no matter how repellent they seemed in idea.  I'm glad for this.  I loved the work, and I was good at it! The second reason why I'm grateful is that it exposed me to paper mache.  Oddly enough, I managed to go through my entire childhood without ever doing one paper mache project.  Maybe teach