| Hip and Cozy in San Diego's Gaslamp District
When I first visited the Hotel Solamar in San Diego, the hotel had just opened. From my suite, I could see them putting the finishing touches on the unopened pool deck, and their signature restaurant, Jsix, wasn't even open yet. I had the chance to return a few weeks ago, two years after their opening. A lot has happened. For one thing, Hotel Solamar was included on Travel + Leisure's Top 500 Hotels for 2007. I tried a different room type than last time, when I had a corner King suite. This time, I booked a standard King guest room. It was decorated in the same hip mix of California beach themes, animal print robes and a dark-chocolate-and-cream palette, and kept the ergonomic desk chair and flat-screen TV. The bathroom was smaller, but otherwise the rooms were quite similar (without the suite's living room, of course; I didn't even miss it).
New Interior and Forward LED Lighting Products Put Grote's ...
Grote Industries Inc., the long-standing leader in lighting and vehicle safety systems, unveiled multiple, industry-defining LED products from a blazing, genuinely white work lamp to dual mode military lighting to ergonomic interior lighting in a single, explosive announcement at the Mid-America Trucking Show. Louisville, KY (PRWeb) March 29, 2007 -- Grote Industries Inc., the long-standing leader in lighting and vehicle safety systems, unveiled multiple, industry-defining LED products from a blazing, genuinely white work lamp to dual mode military lighting to ergonomic interior lighting in a single, explosive announcement at the Mid-America Trucking Show. "When it comes to qualifications in this race, Grote is setting the pace," said Dominic Grote, company vice president of sales and marketing.
New fluorescents trump incandescents
Qlistened to Al Gore on television, and he mentioned new compact fluorescent light bulbs for homes. Can I use these in existing lamps, and how much electricity will they save? Is the light quality acceptable? Aompact fluorescent lights have been available for many years. Over the past several years, their prices have dropped considerably, and their light quality is much better. Today, they are much more commonly used in existing lamps and in new designer lamps. Switching from a standard incandescent bulb to a compact fluorescent light reduces electricity consumption by about 75 percent. Replacing a 100-watt light bulb with a 24-watt CFL can save more than $50 in electricity over the life of the light. The most efficient bulbs use light-emitting diode technology, which saves about 90 percent.
My Lhasa days
Tibetans revere their ruler-in-exile. "If I could meet the Dalai Lama face to face I would die happy," says Khenpo, a 30-something Tibetan taxi driver in Lhasa. Khenpo is not his real name. Not so Lin Feng. This photographer from Sichuan province reacts violently at news the Dalai Lama may be in talks with Beijing over returning to his homeland. "If the Dalai Lama comes back here to China, I will kill him, we will all kill him," he yells and makes stabbing gestures in the air. "You know he thinks he is the emperor of China," he spits. His wife scurries over and shushes him up. Lin, 42, moved to Lhasa five years ago and makes his living by taking photos of tourists in front of the Potala Palace, the magnificent, 1,000-roomed former home of the Dalai Lama. Lin takes his photos from People's Square, a Tiananmen-like expanse of concrete spread out in front of the palace.
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