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One of the great things about being a history teacher is that there is always something more for me to learn. After all, I don't know everything about every place. It is therefore quite likely that from time to time I will stumble across new information that might even serve to recast my view of the past or give me a new understanding of some event or region.

Take the Caribbean, for example, which Americans often ignore historically following Columbus' arrival in the New World and the European colonization of North and South America.

Over the last few months, I've been feeding my recently developed passion for literature about the British Navy. One of the novels I picked up dealt with the American Revolution and the strategic naval importance of the Caribbean in that war. Frankly, I was bowled over -- my mind has pictured battles along the American coast or taken into British waters by men like the intrepid John Paul Jones. It had never entered my imagination that the islands of the Caribbean had an incredible strategic importance for the British, the Americans, and the French, as well as the Spanish. Wow!

Now there are many reasons to visit the Caribbean -- sunny beaches and a vibrant culture among them. But friends, don't miss the history -- it is fascinating!

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As a teacher, I need to be able to work both at home and at school. That often means that I need to ensure compatibility between the software at school and the software I run on my own computers. But let's be honest -- Microsoft Office (the standard in my school district) can be rather expensive. There is an option, however, that makes the price go down significantly -- academic pricing. This allows me as a teacher, and also my students, to purchase the full version of the same software that we run at school with a steep discount.

CostCaptain.com offers Microsoft Office and many other programs at academic prices. All you have to do is provide proof that you are a student or teacher (and this includes homeschoolers) and you are eligible for the lower price. And CostCaptain.com doesn't only offer Microsoft software -- you can get many fine programs from Corel, Intuit, Adobe and other software companies. So do yourself a favor before school starts -- check them out.

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As a teacher, I get a lot of bags. Every conference gives away a tote bag full of stuff. So do the textbook merchants. One national office supply store provides one each year. And let's not forget my school and my district -- even my teacher association, since I am the building rep. I've got bags coming out of my. . . well, never mind.

But the one thing that all of these custom tote bags have in common is the promotional logo on the side. They show off brand loyalty, whether to the school, district, or association, not to mention the companies with which I do business. And while I have been deluged with bags over the years, I do have some that I frequently use and like, giving free advertising to those who gave me the gift.

And while I'm looking forward to getting my new school bag when we report for teacher in-service next week, I'm a little scared. We have a new Assistant Principal who picked the design this year. She is into the froo-froo stuff -- so I'm worried it might be this!

My masculine pride might not survive. Here's hoping she's made a more gender-inclusive choice!

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I normally enjoy online quizzes. They are a little bit of silliness that offers me a few laughs. However, I've found one that I really don't like -- it is clearly just about getting me to look at ads for stuff I don't want.

For example, take this Where Should I Live Quiz. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? But they want my personal information before I can get results -- and expect me to plod through 20 pages of ads to get the silly analysis that tells me the city where I should live is a place I despise.

And I won't even get into the silliness that is the Cooking Test.

Nope, I'm not interested in going back.

Even the badges are pretty annoying -- and I'd argue offensive.

As a straight man, that one offends me.

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In my life, I've watched two significant and vital men struggle with Alzheimer's Disease. One, President Ronald Reagan, shared his struggle with us until he faded into the twilight the disease creates -- and his death led to my creating the predecessor to this blog.

The other is a dear friend from church. A vital man in his eighties, until only a short time ago he was clear-headed and lucid -- and then the mists of Alzheimer's descended, as it slowly robs this WWII Purple Heart navy veteran of all the things his injuries could not. I'll never hear from him the rest of those stories of his time on a destroyer during the war, nor of the early days of NASA here in Houston. My heart aches for him and for his wife of over 60 years as they struggle to live with the devastation this disease has wrought.

Over the next couple of months, the Alzheimer's Association will be sponsoring its annual Memory Walk to raise awareness and research funds, that this disease will one day be a horror story from the past. There is likely a walk in your area, in which you can participate as a sponsor, a walker, or a Team Captain. I'd like to urge you to consider this possibility, according to your ability -- I know my wife and I will be talking to determine what we can do to help. There is a special need for Team Captain's, so I would like to especially urge you to consider that role.

Friends, the sad reality is that most of us know someone who has been stricken with Alzheimer's Disease. Let's work together for a future in which that statement cannot be made.

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Believe it or not, my high school has a Surf Club. Yeah, I know that Houston isn't what one thinks of as Surf City USA, but there are some decent sufing spots within an hour or two of the city. One of the things I've learned from my kids is that the board can mean as much as the wave for a surfer.

The Surfboard Warehouse is a great source for custom surfboards in the Orlando area -- and they now have an online presence as well. they provide a whole array surf equipment. Indeed, they are a great connection with a lot of great custom shapers to get a surfer just the right custom board.

They also have a great selection of surf fins. If you are looking for FCS fins or Future fins or any other fine surfing product, TheSurfeboardWarehouse.com is the place to stop and look. Check them out -- you won't be sorry.

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Some places are just nice places to live -- and Charleston, South Carolina is one of them. But if you are planning to relocate, of course, you need a real estate agent who is an expert in both the real estate field and the community itself -- and in Charleston, that would be Century 21 Properties!

What is the market like for Charleston SC real estate? Well, in recent years it has been booming, as has the entire South Carolina real estate market. Century 21 Properties can help you sort through the thousands of currently listed properties to find you a home that is just what you want at a price that you can afford. And as a growing company that has added four offices in the last three years, you can be certain that they are good at what they do, because such growth indicates happy customers.

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Modern Skate & Surf is a great action sports shop in Michigan -- they have locations in Lansing, Royal Oak, Grand Rapids, and Novi -- that provides a whole array of skate and surf equipment. Well, they have a wonderful website selling their products, including skateboards, rollerblades, ice skates, snowboards, wakeboards and all the accessories you could think of. They provide a great selection of items for active folks looking for a bit of skating fun.

Right now, Modern Skate & Surf has a great selection of skate decks just waiting for you -- Element skateboards, Zero skateboards and many other leading brands. So drop on by their website at ModernSkate.com and check them out!

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As you apply for a mortgage, you need to seriously consider where you will get your mortgage advice? Will you go to the bank you have always done business with, or will you work with a mortgage broker? I took the latter course, and was able to get myself a mortgage with a low down payment and low interest rate, tailored people in my profession. I might have missed that one because it was offered through a bank that I did not do business with. So if you are looking for Texas mortgage brokers, you might want to look here -- and for Houston mortgage brokers (including the one I worked with), check out PersonalHomeLoanMortgages.com. They also have great Massachusetts Mortgages, as well as good mortgages available in other states.

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As a teacher, I often see my students struggling to find money for college. After all, an education isn't cheap. Where do you look to find money to continue your education? How do you avoid overlooking resources or making mistakes that can cost time, money, and sometimes even a chance at a good education?

Frankly, I'm impressed with Scholarships.com, which is a free service that helps you find and apply for scholarships to continue your education. This site offers free scholarship searches and guarantees the confidentiality of any data you disclose to them as you conduct searches of their expansive database of sources of cash for college.

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Not every sort of medical test needs to be administered in the doctor's office or in a laboratory. There are many home drug tests -- the sort that some parents rely on to make sure their kids are not on drugs -- that can be done without medical training. Similarly, there are Online Lab Tests, such as cholesterol tests, colon cancer tests, liver tests and STD tests that can be performed at home to provide confidential results by secure email that can later be discussed with a doctor. Nobody knows that you have taken the tests or what the results are except for you until you and unless you share those results.

Why do buy online lab tests? Well, they allow you to participate in your own health care at a reasonable price -- especially if you are one of the 35% of Americans who do not have health insurance or whose insurance benefits provides sub-par benefits for such tests. Especially if there is a family history of illness, it is important to obtain the peace of mind that one gets from test results that are normal or establish a baseline to monitor one's future health.

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When we bought our house here in Texas six years ago, we were very fortunate. We went with a mortgage broker who was based in our real estate agent's office. Since I really didn't know anything about mortgage loans (which are really just personal loans secured by the home/real estate) when I started, it was probably a good thing for me. She found me a 30-year mortgage at a fixed rate comparable to other mortgages out there -- but with no money down because I'm a teacher. Best of all, it was underwritten by a major national bank, so I knew it was reputable. Indeed, she even managed to get my rate knocked down an additional 1/8 of a point in the hours before closing due to a market fluctuation.

That doesn't mean that everything was perfect. Everyone missed the fact that my school district taxes through the neighboring county, not the county where the house is located. The result -- they missed $1200 in property taxes annually, which resulted in a $200 increase in my payment the second year as I struggled to get my escrow account up to where it was supposed to be as well as paying the full tax bill! So while she got me a great loan, the oversight ended up putting a squeeze on the budget for the first couple of years in the house.

Now would I look at refinancing my house? No -- the rate is still good and my equity and income are not where they would need to be for me to shorten my loan term. And while I liked my broker, I wouldn't be using her again after the error.

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We are coming up on two years since I learned just how unprepared my wife and I are for a disaster. Hurricane Rita took a turn in the Gulf and was slated to make landfall right in our landfall, bringing a 25 foot storm surge to our neighborhood located less than 10 feet above sea level. We had to evacuate in a hurry -- and were lucky that the storm turned and went elsewhere.

I didn't know where the insurance papers were. Bank statements? Well, I think they are in the third drawer on the desk, but am I really sure? I was pretty sure the marriage license was in the wedding album. Refills and prescriptions for Paula's meds? Disaster supplies? I'd never given them much thought until just days before.

Frankly, I wish I had known about AxcessPoints months before the evacuation came. They are a disaster preparedness firm that can help you be ready, personally and professionally, for disaster to strike. They help you gather and electronically store records. They provide a safe source for you to store emergency contact information, so you just need to print out a list not create one from scratch. They enable you to store medical records -- including a list of medications and who prescribes them. They help you determine what you need in the way of disaster supplies, and remind you to rotate the stock -- who knew that bottled water expires? And the best part is that their services are less than $10 a month -- a very low price for peace of mind.

God forbid that you ever need to actually make use of the preparations that you make with AxcessPoints. May you never face fire or flood, earthquake, tornado or hurricane. But wouldn't you rather be ready -- just in case?

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Looking to fix up your house? Want to do it right, getting your materials from a reputable and respected supplier? Well, Anglian Home Improvements is the leading company for home improvements in the UK.

Conservatories, doors, windows, and a whole host of other quality home improvement materials are available at reasonable cost from Anglian. Make sure you consider them when preparing to begin your project.

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Not every sort of medical test needs to be administered in the doctor's office or in a laboratory. There are many home drug tests -- the sort that some parents rely on to make sure their kids are not on drugs -- that can be done without medical training. Similarly, there are medical tests, such as cholesterol tests, colon cancer tests, anemia tests and allergy tests that can be performed at home to provide confidential results that can later be discussed with a doctor. These tests can be an important tool in assisting people in monitoring their health.

One of the leaders in this field is Home Health Testing®, which has been in business for over 40 years providing FDA approved home medical testing. And having actually used one of their screening tests several years ago (obtained through a health fair sponsored by a community group), I can tell you that they are easy to use and can alert you to potentially serious medical issues earlier than you might otherwise know about them.

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What is Gatherspace? It is an agile software development website that helps users deal with software failures and development issues through their online Requirements Management Software. Statistics show that some 74% of software develops issues during its lifetime, and Gatherspace.com gives you access to fellow-users and support personnel online in real time. What more can you as for?

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Do you want to invest in the same sorts of prime stocks that the mutual funds and pension funds do? Do you know where to find out where those whales of the investing world are putting their money? You can do that at TheBuyList.com. They track the investments of those funds and make the information available so that the little fish can swim with the whales. Drop by and start to improve your financial future today.

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We all know about affiliate programs offered by businesses. In return for placing some sort of link or badge on your site, you get a fixed fee or percentage of sales for everyone referred from your site. It is a very common form of Web Marketing.

Well now there is another entrant in the affiliate program world -- Website Pros, a leader in the website design and development market that creates some 250 new websites every day. They want YOU to become one of their affiliates.

Now let's look at their web design affiliate program. When you refer even a single client, you can find yourself earning $250 or more over the course of the next 24 months as a Website Pros customer. Yeah, that is right -- your referral keeps on earning for you over time and doesn't just give you a pittance right now. You actually get up to 20% of what they spend with Website Pros. That surely isn't bad -- and imagine the revenue stream if you refer several individuals.

Now think about that -- good money coming to you over an extended period of time simply for referring folks to services that will increase their business. They win. Website Pros wins. And YOU win. Sounds like a great deal to me, no matter how you slice it.

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Many Americans saw what a beautiful place Austin is during the recent funeral for Lady Bird Johnson. Most Texans, however, have known that secret for years.

What this Texan didn't know is that the Austin Real Estate market is booming. Median value for single family homes is up 5% in the last year, and prices are sky-rocketing at an even faster rate, even as the market nationally slows down.

If you are looking for a home in Austin, drop by the website for Cantera Realty, where Jim Olenbush has a superb website that will allow you to quickly and easily search the available listings in the Austin market.

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I love flowers, and always have. Indeed, back during my high school and college dating days I used to regularly show up with flowers because I worked at the base PX and was friends with the women who ran the flower shop there -- they'd always fix me up with something nice.

I don't buy flowers as often anymore -- at least partly because of a request from my wife -- but I do from time to time. And I've been looking at some flowers for my wife, since her birthday and our anniversary are very close. I particularly like this arrangement of eighteen fresh-cut assorted roses in a beautiful oversize vase. They would certainly add a beautiful splash of color to any room, and they positively shout love for the one you adore.

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Like most folks, I have credit cards -- they are the avenue to so much information about us, and can be both a source of financial opportunity and financial danger. I mean, one need only consider the recent breaches at so many retailers and banks to recognize just how much of your personal information is out there in your credit card records. Such information in the wrong hands can ruin you. On the other hand, responsible credit card issuers will monitor your card's activities and make contact to stop fraud in its tracks. One of mine did that during our hurricane evacuation. So it does seem that the companies are out to protect our interests when they coincide with their interests.

However, there are benefits to credit cards, in terms of finding an offer that will save you money by allowing 0% balance transfers or 0% credit cards. Compare credit cards to find the best offers -- that is just a part of being a wise consumer.

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