CONTENTS FEATURE: Make sure directions to your office are accurate GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn up to $500 FEATURE: Make sure maps and directions to your business are accurate      Even though many consumers drive vehicles equipped with global positioning system (GPS) direction-finding equipment, people still rely heavily on printed maps and driving instructions. That's why you should make sure that directions to your place of business are clearly written and accurate.      Many organizations fail to pay proper attention to details in maps and directions that they have prepared, however. That's often glaringly evident in invitations to special events and in real estate advertisements. Even though maps are particularly important to guide customers to new housing subdivisions, maps in home builders' newspaper ads often are inaccurate and out of scale.      Typical errors include improper orientation, with north at the right, left or bottom rather than the customary top position. Streets that intersect diagonally may be incorrectly shown as perpendicular to each other, thereby disorienting drivers. Many maps fail to properly distinguish between Interstate and U.S. highways, as well as between state highways and county numbered roads.      America has two separate national road networks: the Interstate Highway System, marked by rounded red, white and blue shields that have a tri-pointed top; and the older U.S. Highway System, identified by distinct black-and-white six-pointed shields (such as that of U.S. 66). Make sure to avoid incorrectly labeling a state highway as an Interstate or U.S. highway. For example, even though "Highway 85" that runs through San Jose, Calif., is a high-speed freeway, it's not "I-85" but rather is part of the California State Highway System (identified by green rounded triangular shields). Interstate 85, about 2,000 miles away, spans Southern states from Alabama to Virginia, while U.S. 85 runs from Texas to North Dakota.      Write driving directions as clearly and concisely as possible. Here are 10 guidelines to help you. Eliminate superfluous words and use terms consistently so the directions can be memorized easily. Replace casual language such as "hook a right" and unnecessary verbosity such as "make a right turn" or "take the first available right" with plain, standard English: turn right. Reserve the verb "bear" for references to navigating forks in a road (as in "bear right as the exit splits into two lanes"). Use the words "left" and "right" only as directional adjectives. An instruction to "turn left right after you've left the bridge" is bound to confuse anyone. Because many vehicles are equipped with compass equipment, include compass references so drivers can confirm they're headed in the proper direction. Express distances in miles or city blocks—but not in driving time. Organize your directions in a bulleted or numbered list in which each directional change appears as a separate item. In e-mail, use double-spacing to separate direction steps. Offer directions for each potential point of origin—for example, "From Sacramento International Airport," "From downtown Sacramento" and "From the San Francisco Bay area." Make sure that your wording coincides precisely with road signs along the route. Does the sign for your freeway exit say "Springfield Civic Center," "Downtown Springfield" or "Broadway — Business District"? Drive the route yourself to make sure. Choose the most direct route with the fewest possible turns—even if travel on it takes longer than speedier but more complicated paths. Mention where visitors may find parking, and advise them about any restrictions.      To illustrate how to put those guidelines into practice, we tackled this excerpt from poorly written driving instructions (in which we altered city and street names but left misspellings and grammatical errors intact.) Original version: From Dawson take U.S. 88 N toward CA-54. Merge onto I-340 W toward HOOPER CITY 19miles, at the end you will cross a bridge, and its a 3$ toll (unless they increased it from last year, but i dont think they have) Take the exit toward CENTRAL HOOPER CITY. Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto JOSEPH ST. Turn LEFT onto BRIDGESTONE ST. (.8 miles) Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto 23RD ST. 23RD ST becomes RIVERSIDE AVE. (this is a big 4 intersection, stay in the left middle lane (i belive that the far left lane is a left hand turn only lane) and go across on to midway which is the middle of the 3 roads in front of you) go though 2 stops signs and you are on the right track, on midway blvd. MIDWAY BLVD becomes WILSON AVE. you will eventually pass a movie theater on your left. Turn LEFT onto VIRGINIA RD. (in about 3 or so min., once you pass the 7-11 on your right you might loose cell phone service) Once you pass the 7-11 you will hit a stop sign about 400m after, make sure that you stay to the left on virginia, and dont go straight though 2 brick pillars. Turn RIGHT onto SPRUCE RD. it will be your first right, and it is # 1853, its a blue building. Our improved version: From Fowler take U.S. 88 northbound for seven miles. Merge onto I-340 westbound toward HOOPER CITY. Continue for 19 miles and cross a toll bridge ($3 fee). Exit at CENTRAL HOOPER CITY. At the bottom of the off-ramp, bear right (north) onto JOSEPH STREET and drive eight-tenths of a mile. Turn LEFT (west) onto BRIDGESTONE STREET and drive six blocks. At the Y-shaped intersection, bear RIGHT (northwest) onto 23RD ST., which becomes RIVERSIDE AVENUE. Drive a half-mile on 23rd Street and Riverside Avenue, until the street forks in three directions at a traffic signal. At that intersection, follow the signs onto MIDWAY BOULEVARD (the middle fork). Remain on Midway Boulevard (which becomes WILSON AVENUE) westbound for 1.5 miles, passing a movie theater on your left. Turn LEFT (south) onto VIRGINIA ROAD and continue for three-quarters of a mile. At the stop sign bear left to remain on Virginia (do not drive between the brick pillars). Continue one more block. Turn RIGHT (west) onto SPRUCE ROAD. 1853 Spruce Road is a blue building to the left. Parking on the street is restricted to one hour, but three-hour parking is permitted in a lot a block ahead on Spruce.      People have been known to lose sight of their goals, or to lose their hearts on St. Valentine's Day. Even if you're unable to do anything about that, carefully worded directions to your place of business can help people from losing their way. GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions 1. Jeanne Doherty wrote:     "When addressing multiple gentlemen in a formal letter, do you address them as 'Mssrs'?" The grammar coach replies:     That is correct, Jeanne. The Columbia Guide to Standard American English says that in contemporary usage, "Messrs." (which in pronunciation rhymes with "dressers") is the plural of "Mr." It is derived from the French plural "messieurs," and in English use it usually is spelled as an abbreviation.      The use of "Messrs." would be appropriate for addressing, while the corresponding salutation would be "Dear Sirs" or "Gentlemen." 2. Ruth Greenslade wrote:     "What is the proper salutation to use in a business letter addressed to persons of unknown gender? Forty years ago, we used 'Gentlemen,' but I wonder if the preferred usage has changed since then. Can you help me?" The grammar coach replies:     Ruth, you're correct to be wary of using "gentlemen" for a salutation when corresponding with people whose gender you can't verify. Nor should you risk making an incorrect assumption about the gender of a person with an androgynous given name such as "Kim," "Chris," "Sandy," "Leslie" or "Pat."      If you know the name or initials of the addressee, exclude a courtesy title (Mr. or Ms.) and instead repeat the full name in the salutation, as in, "Dear Kim Wilson" or "Dear K.B. Wilson."      If you know neither the addressee's name nor gender, "Dear Sir or Madam" or "To Whom It May Concern" are acceptable, but you may find a variation such as "Dear Colleagues" more inviting. In less formal letters, you could substitute a casual greeting such as "Dear EditPros folks."      Are you perplexed by some aspect of grammar or word usage? Don't be shy! Ask the "grammar coach" at EditPros and we'll try to help—at no charge, just for the sport of it. FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn a finder's fee of up to $500 Do you know of a friend or colleague whose office can benefit from EditPros services? If you do, EditPros may reward you with a "finder's fee" of up to $500.     EditPros, established in 1993, performs writing, editing, proofreading and publication management services for newsletters, brochures, Web sites, annual reports, research studies, business proposals and other informational and marketing materials. Our office is in Davis, Calif., between Sacramento and San Francisco.     Our clients include educational institutions, private corporations, health-care organizations, trade associations, scientific research institutions, Web site developers and government agencies. We have worked with some of them for more than 10 years.     If you recommend our services to a friend or business colleague, and that introduction leads to an assignment for EditPros, we will award you a "finder's fee" equaling 10 percent of the amount we earn on the first assignment for the new client, up to a maximum finder's fee of $500. Naturally, the finder's fee is applicable only to clients for which we have not worked previously.     This offer will remain in effect until further notice. YOUR TURN: Ask the "grammar coach" or subscribe      We invite you to submit your questions to the "grammar coach," and we welcome you to subscribe to this monthly newsletter—which we'll send to your e-mail address at no charge. 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