When you are planning the look of your establishment, paying consideration to all aspects of the design will help you to create a cohesive environment that will look good for your customers, and make it a pleasant place to visit. One area that you need to consider when planning the décor is the restroom sign designs.

These require special consideration, as they must achieve a number of different functions if they are to be used effectively.

The most important thing about the restroom signs is that they must be completely clear about what the room is for, and who is to use it. Unless you have chosen to have unisex restrooms, the signs on the door must make it immediately obvious which is for men and which for women. The most popular form of sign is a symbol of a stylized woman or man, which makes it completely clear which restroom is for whom.

You can tailor the design of the people to match the overall theme of your establishment, whether this is modern or traditional, and there are a wide enough variety of different standard images available that you can truly make the signs fit in with the personality of the design. An advantage of pictures over words is that they are universal, and if you have different nationalities using the facilities, images will remove any confusion.

If pictures on the restroom door do not fit in with your preferences, or you want to make some kind of statement that goes along with the theme, then you can always use words, although they should be clearly written in order to avoid any restroom confusion.

Many establishments that are themed will use a pun in the name on the door of the restrooms. For example a seafood restaurant may use “Buoys” and “Gulls” in order to fit in with an overall nautical theme, and this is a charming idea that can be great fun for guests, however you should not push the idea too far to make it confusing, as simplicity is essential with any sign to make it easily understood by as many people as possible.

Throughout American history our military has been an integral part in our well being and the well being of the entire world. Many people tend to think that we have put our nose where it does not belong, or that we have started wars with countries for no apparent reason. However many of the wars that we have been involved in has either protected someone that could not protect themselves, or protect the future well being of our country.

No matter how you feel about a particular war, or the reason that we are fighting in that war, you should always show respect to our military that is fighting there. I can remember quite a few times in our history where respect was not shown to our military. The men and women of the military that go to fight in the war do not have a choice about whether they want to fight or not. They are fighting so you and I do not have to. They signed up to risk their life so that our country can remain free and prosperous.

After the Vietnam War was over our soldiers came back to disdain and disgust from the American people. I know that the way the war was handled by our government was not done very well. I also know that many people protested the war, which was their right, but they should not disrespect the men and women who fought because they were just following orders. When the soldiers came back from the war we should have had parades and showed gratitude to them. However the soldiers from the Vietnam War received none of this.

The reason I am bringing this up is that we are in a very unpopular war now in Iraq, and I do not want us to allow our dislike of a war to cause us to forget about the people who are actually fighting in it. Remember when this war is over and our soldiers come back from the fight to tell them thank you and show the military the respect that they deserve.

Whether its true or not, most everyone agrees that wedding DJs are expensive. A popular tip circulating the net is to replace your wedding DJ with an iPod and DJ your reception yourself. While this may sound like a great idea, there are some things to consider. Just as with any do-it-yourself project, you must be aware of all facets before you start.

The first most important job for a good DJ is to play music that the crowd enjoys. A simple shuffle has no way of knowing who is dancing to what. A person does need to run things, but not just any person will do. Putting your 12 year old nephew won't do you any good. The person in charge of the music needs a large amount of music knowledge. A good DJ should have this knowledge. A good DJ should be able to identify a song based on a few bars hummed out of tune or a snippet of lyrics that are slightly incorrect. Your DJ must not have a fear of speaking in front of a crowd, and this is not as easy as it sounds. One simply has to think of all the Best men who have hemmed and hawed their way through a wedding toast with the microphone held at waist level. Also, does he/she know how to auction off a garter or any of the other traditional reception activities? If not, will the bride and groom want to do these things while they should be enjoying their guests? Oh, and just like you would give your wedding singer or officiant a tip for performing your ceremony, don't forget a gratuity for your impromptu DJ.

Unless you're a music collector, chances are you don't have a music library with waltzes, polkas, old country, new country, oldies, classic rock, new rock, soft rock, hard rock, hip hop, dance, etc. And, unless you want to subject your guests to your musical tastes, you should probably buy a selection of these songs. If you're not up on popular waltzes and polkas, or don't know which songs are currently topping the country Top 40, search the web. $25 dollars should buy you enough music on iTunes to cover enough various musical tastes that most guests will enjoy themselves.

Another task for a good wedding DJ is one who is covered by insurance. Sure, your homeowners policy *might* cover it, but I'd hate to see your premiums next year if an accident does occur. Don't think accidents will happen to you? Are you serving alcohol at your reception? If you're telling yourself, "All the drunk people I know never act like fools!", stop and think about that again. Besides, many venues require proof of insurance because they don't want to see their premiums raised because your grandma tripped on a speaker cable and broke her hip. Searching the web for "wedding event insurance" will yield a whole crop of insurers who will give you a $1 million dollar policy for around $200.

Equipment is of course another important factor a good DJ brings to your reception. Do you know where to get speakers? Or mics? Or Mixer?? Larger cities will have rental companies that can provide these things. You can even find many such companies by searching the web for "dj equipment rental". Most wedding sized systems rent for anywhere from $250 to $500 dollars per day. In most cases, you must provide a truck or van to transport the equipment. Now, do you know how to set these things up? If not, will the rental company give you a tutorial? Some rental companies will give you a tutorial when you pick the equipment up, but make sure to take notes, because if you have to call them later they will likely charge you for a service call. Some equipment rental companies will deliver, setup, and test their equipment as well as pick up later, but this is extra.

That being said, if you KNOW your group will interact without being prompted (or just don't care if they interact or not), and if you've got a person with an encyclopedic knowledge of music that will run your iPod (instead of enjoying your reception), and you have adequate insurance to cover any accidents that occur due to your iPod setup, and you have a large enough music library to make sure everyone gets to hear the music they want, and you're able to get your hands on adequate dance lights and speakers, and will be saving money by spending $550 to $700 then by all means use an iPod. You honestly have no need for a DJ.

If planning and organizing all this sounds like just one more hassle, you'd probably do better to hire a professional so that you can enjoy your reception and spend your first day as husband and wife doing something besides returning rental equipment. For a few dollars more you'll get professional equipment, professional knowledge from someone who has planned and performed at hundreds of weddings, peace of mind that any glitches will be resolved quickly, no hassles about tearing down equipment when the reception is over, and no worries about getting it back before you owe another day's worth of rental fees.

When in 2005 the federal Production Tax Credits (PTC) for companies producing renewable power was renewed, it sent a message far and wide that the renewable energy industry was worth getting into, with the promise of profitability, energy efficiency, and social/environmental “good karma” all in one tidy package. The following are some of the latest ways we’ve seen this collective foray into renewable energies take shape.

The Workforce: Businesses are given tax credits for changing over their sources of electricity to certain renewable energies, steadily increasing the demand for workers in every area of the industry – from research and development to manufacturing to distribution to installation, service and support.

More and more states are taking the federal government’s lead and implementing their own public incentive programs and benefit funds to encourage greater renewable energy usage, with the same result. According to a report released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in the five years between 2001 and 2006 the voluntary demand for renewable energies increased a thousand-fold. The bottom line is as clear as sunlight - the renewable energy industry creates jobs.

The Corporations: General Electric, Whole Foods Market, Safeway, Starbucks, General Motors, Kinko’s, FedEx – these are but some of the world-leading companies that have made and continue to make an active and aggressive switch to renewable energies.

In the case of many companies, this comes in the form of purchasing renewable energy credits to supplant their local utility usage. In other cases, the forays into renewable power run deeper, producing their own biofuels, setting up their own wind farms, and investing in research and development into improved renewable energy technologies.

The Military: The Pentagon has ordered all branches of the U.S. military to curb energy use by 2% at all bases and facilities through pursuit of alternative power sources, including wind and solar energies.

The President: President Bush’s ranch, the Crawford Ranch, is equipped with all the latest and greatest in renewable energy resources and operates entirely off the grid.

The World: The Australian government has a stated objective of increasing the proportion of its total electricity production that comes from renewable energy sources by 78% by the year 2010. The United Kingdom’s goals are a bit more modest but praiseworthy nonetheless, shooting for 10% from only 3.6%, also by the year 2010.

The Future: An inventor by the name of Todd Livingstone has a patent currently pending on a technology to harness the power packed into lightning bolt, estimated at 11 gigawatts each. A Canadian engineer believes that his Atmospheric Vortex Engine is the way to tame a funnel cloud (also known as a tornado). The “Manchester Bobber” is a patented new device for harnessing the power of the up and down motion of waves.

Floating wind systems. Harnessing the power of differences in atmospheric pressure between geographically distant cities. Semi-transparent photovoltaic glass used as windows in office buildings. MIT’s self-described “Manhattan Project” for new, renewable sources of power. Installing devices in highway off-ramps that harness the power of vehicles braking. Generate biomass energy from trees downed in hurricanes.

And if we look further down the horizon, what else can we see? Maybe the next big thing will be Focus Fusion, a technology for producing new zero-emission power plants the size of gas stations. Maybe it’ll be Blackligh Power, a technology that harnesses power from particles called “hydrinos” which are even smaller than atoms of hydrogen. Or maybe it’ll be electromagnetic energy. Whatever renewable energy trends we have in store for us next, there is one thing we can all count on: as the demand for these types of renewable power sources continues its steady rise, funding for research and development into new and better ways of harnessing renewable energy will also increase, leading to more efficient and affordable energy alternatives for us all.

Monday shootings at the Virginia Tech spread shock waves across the country as 32 lives were lost. Vanished in a blink of an eye. Young, too young to be gone already. Students of all races, ages and gender, shapes and sizes, professors who gave their lives trying to protect them. Making sense out of death is difficult, but this? How do you make sense out of senseless?

After the shock, came the grief…The nation is united in grief and it is almost palpable. People are reaching out across states, from one end of the country to the next, united in their loss and sadness. Loved ones, family members, colleagues, classmates, friends have been lost in tragedy that has brought this country to stand still, gasping for air, unable to breathe. The souls lost in this tragedy are remembered in such ways, that a term eulogy has gotten a whole new meaning and in this case the eulogy is endless. Candle vigils are being held across the nation, commemorative services are being organized, all in an attempt to commemorate the lives that were ended too soon. Fellow students are leaving their messages on a memorial site created at the campus of Virginia Tech, while still trying to process the vast magnitude of this tragedy.

Internet has given a whole new outlet for people affected by this tragedy to give tribute to the lives lost and to celebrate them as well. There are countless messages and prayers on Internet forums, blogs, victim's Myspace profiles, families, friends and loved ones, sometimes even strangers, commemorating the human beings gone forever with texts as simple as "I love you" to "I will remember your smile". I love you, such simple three words, but also the most beautiful and profound eulogy. All wanting to express the sheer grief, sadness and loss, for the whole world to see, remembering the lives and the spirits that were taken so abruptly.

They are gone, but they will live on in the hearts and minds of the people they have touched, their spirits shining into the eternity.