Over the weekend, I met my friend whom I have lost touch with for the longest time. He told me that right after high school, he attended one of the colleges in St. Louis, where his sister lives. He told me that he did his research online first before registering with a college. According to him, one of the best resource website on colleges in St. Louis is at www.schoolsinstlouis.com

Too bad I am way past college age and should I continue with my education, I prefer to study online. However, I will surely share this piece of good information with friends who may be interested to gain tertiary education in St. Louis, Missouri.

It was so funny, when I first saw him, I jokingly told him, “Oi, it has been such a long time, I almost made a missing person report with the police!” Apparently, he is back to attend his brother’s wedding. There is a lot of catching up to do naturally. When I see him again this weekend, he will have to tell me about his life AFTER college!

Some of you may know that my sister bought a house in Tennessee. She told me that as she starts to decorate her home, her colleagues and in-laws are contributing items to help her out.

Last weekend, she told me that coincidentally, she received two residential mailboxes. She said that both were both from Mailboxixchange (pronounced Mailbox Exchange), who is a distributor of quality mailboxes for residential and commercial use. She told me that Mailboxixchange has more than 1500 residential and commercial mailboxes and curbside decor products and it is not difficult to find something that catches the eye.

My sister said that in her neighborhood and she believes all across America, it is a novelty to have personalized decorative mailboxes ether mounted on the wall or posted on the curbside.

Besides mailboxes, Mailboxixchange also has a wide range of curbside decorations and address and number plaques. She told me to take a look because these are the things that make a home stand out from its neighbors.

My sister had the chance to visit a beautiful city called Asheville in North Carolina recently on a work trip. She said that her boss gave them a day off where they could do their own sight-seeing. A local tour guide told her and her colleagues about a historic town called Hendersonville about thirty minutes from Asheville. My sister was determined to pack as much sight-seeing into the day as possible, of course, so the group of girls went to Hendersonville.

She told me that Hendersonville real estate is really breathtaking, unlike the property that she has been used to in Nashville, Tennessee. She told me that if she has the money, she would definitely move to Hendersonville to retire!

According to the local tour guide, not many people know that Asheville also has many things to offer, like fine dining, arts and crafts and a beautiful culture. Besides, people here, unlike people in a bustling city, are warm and welcoming!

Some of you may know that my dad was in the army. Since my sister migrated to the US, she has been telling me that people get a whole lot more benefits as a citizen on the whole. She said that if our dad was in the army in the US, he and his family would receive a lot of benefits too.

My sister said that for example, military personnel will be eligible for GI Bill Benefits, which even veterans qualify for but of course, active duty servicemen can utilize this to study for a Bachelor’s Degree.

Being in the military is a lot of fun, only when there is no war, though! Our whole family misses those days. We, and other children of servicemen, were like siblings, doing everything together.

Reading the Military Forums of VAJoe.com brought back many fond memories. I wonder if there is a local military community website. I guess not. This forum is free to join and you will receive a FREE VAJoe t-shirt called the J-shirt after only twelve forum posts! But I digress ….

I checked out VaJoe.com on my sister’s recommendation. This website is the most comprehensive resource site that I ever come across on GI Bill information and education assistance, listing a whole range of programs that are available to members of all military and service bodies.

It is hoped that with such information easily available on the internet, the other half of eligible servicemen will utilize their GI Bill benefits. The JoeNotes is a great column as facts on educational programs are presented in an easy to read and understand, short yet precise manner.

If you think that VAJoe is all seriousness, think again. They also have military jokes and comedy contests where members can submit their military jokes and all things funny to stand a chance to win the exclusive J-shirt.

VaJoe.com is the site to check out even if you are remotely interested in anything military.

After my two blog posts on backgammon yesterday, a reader told me that this is the company that is planning to make a personalized Paris Hilton backgammon board for Paris Hilton in the event that she is unfortunately made to serve jail time.

I am sure by now the world knows that Paris Hilton has been sentenced to 45 days in jail for violating her probation. We all sympathize with her and I think BackgammonMasters is very clever to come up with this idea so that Paris Hilton can spend her time more pleasantly in jail, if possible, by playing backgammon on her own board!

Perhaps after she gets to play backgammon, she would be interested to participate in the Annual Monte Carlo Backgammon world championship tournament. Who knows?

According to my reader, this is just a back up plan, though. Hopefully, Paris Hilton will not need to serve jail term. After all, it is a very harsh sentence for her minor violation.

Should Paris be let off the hook, BackgammonMasters, the leading provider of backgammon online which has the most players in its games network, will auction off this personalized Paris Hilton in the name of charity. I think this is an excellent idea! But I still hope that Paris need not serve jail time!

If you have read my other blog, you will know that I had to deal with a sick monkey recently who was very sick with tick parasite. I thought my little monkey was going to die. Luckily he survived that episode.

However, since then, I have been rather paranoid and try my best to keep all ticks and fleas away but at the same time my dad does not allow the use of chemicals. He thinks that the chemical will go into the blood stream of my monkey. I am sure it will but that won’t be enough to kill him but my dad is not convinced. He said that although I may kill fleas but I may end up killing my pet as well.

So I went online to do some research and came across Flea Control Guide. I must say it is very useful and packed with comprehensive information on fleas, flea control, medication and accessories like flea collars and combs.

I am grateful to have found this site to learn how to control fleas on my monkeys without the use of chemicals.

My friend, Paul, came to me all excited about his visit to Asheville where the managed to pack in a whole weekend of visiting some of the best Asheville Real Estate. Paul was looking for high quality living closer to nature since he has gotten used to seeing wild animals roam his back yard in his home in New York.

Paul told me that Asheville is an ideal place for him as it is located in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Moreover, downtown Asheville is really happening and culturally rich in the arts.

During his weekend stay in Asheville, Paul was most impressed with the city and the warm and friendly people, unlike those in New York where nobody has the time to even spare a greeting.