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You use them every single day and they are almost all around. In different shapes, sizes and colors with one name - table. Word `table` comes from Latin as it meant `a board, flat piece`. The shortest definition might say `furniture; piece of horizontal surface, standing on leg(s), used to hold objects`. Now designing and making tables became an art. It`s not only useful thing anymore but also an element of decoration.
Changes in social habits, industrial development brought many changes in the look of furniture and tables, obviously. Early tables, made by Egyptians and Chinese, were platforms of stone used only to put something on them (not to sit around) or to practise writing or painting (in the second case). Romans and Greeks used their tables for eating so as monk`s in Middle Ages. But in this period tables weren`t popular. Mostly made of wood, designed only for aristocracy, kings, queens and of course for monk`s. There were four leged, big, heavy and rectangular oak tables in monasteries which served gatherings and eating. This usage left during the centuries and tables become more popular. And in 17th century, as it was common to eat in the dining rooms, tables had to change their shapes. They started to be smaller and more comfortable, oval and round. In the same time appeared three leged tables. Next age brought a totally new usage of tables - they became a place of work for women who sewed.

After few decades tables started to vary. Altough the purpose of eating left, tables are used in other practical and unpractical ways, for example to put map, computer or puzzles on it; as a piece of art and sometimes even as a place of sexual intercourse. All types of tables have their own unique names, shapes and functions like: low, designed for a living room, coffee tables; big drawing tables, for a technical drawings; chess tables, with a special boards to play, or small, standing against the wall console tables .
As it was said in this article, the attitude towards making tables changed. And it refers to all types of furniture. Now making furniture is not only an industry but it`s equal to any other kind of art. Closer to this century also some materials used for modern furniture changed. We have leather, fabric, mesh, metal, microfibre, and wood. Very popular is making furniture from glass, steal and metal. People are giving much more attention to what it looks like than what it was made for. More important became a special design of the furniture. In a result we have even seperate occupation as designer furniture , whose job is to make our tables more beautiful and original.

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The Christmas holidays in Scotland were different many years ago as they are now.
Christmas itself was until recent times only a Religious festival (the New Year, now called Hogmanay, was and still is the main holiday for Scots). It was forbidden to celebrate Christmas until 1950. This ban lasted for about 400 hundred years because of John Knox, the religious reformer in Scotland, who had a big influence on Scottish Church, and probably because of him the ban was strictly enforced in law. Until the sixties last century Christmas wasn`t even a public holiday so people barely celebrate it. Adults were working although the children had their presents. It looked as if you could almost say: `Wanna have a real traditional Scottish Christmas? Go to work on Christmas day!` But most of people didn`t like that and nowadays Christmas looks pretty much the same as the US version.
And Scottish Christmas are a mixture of different customers from Europe and USA. In result everything goes around shopping, food, Christmas tree and decorations.
Shopping heat starts very early - just before Halloween when shops start filling up with a variety of gift ideas. Shopping centres are decorated with fairy lights putted not just into the trees but almost everywhere. And also as in America Santa appears in shopping centre and children can stand in the queue to tell him what they want for a Christmas gift, and are given a small toy.
One of the signs that the Christmas are coming is that the neighbours are decorating their houses. They are doing it usually with light up musical Santa`s climbing into windows and fake snow being rolled out across roofs. The smallest one can join in the countdown by using advent calendars, which have little doors that opens for every day in December with a little chocolate in it and picture behind. The calendar is ending on Christmas Eve. Of course on this day children are thrilled with excitement of waiting for gifts, usually left under the Christmas tree. Sometimes kids can find their gifts the next day - in stockings filled by Santa during their sleep. On Christmas day all family is getting around the table, eating turkey, pudding or chocolate cake (Swedish Yule log), drinking wine or champagne, and hopefully waiting for snow.
So as you can see it looks just as in any country in Europe or in USA. The things that are unique for Christmas in Scotland are beliefs associated with Scottish Christmas like `Bees leave hives Xmas Morning` or a Black Bum cake. There are also scottish gifts. Only in Scotland you might get for a present: original scotch whisky, wool kilts (in Tartans or in solid colors), and even picnic Blankets or a Scotland`s Unique Cat Breed - the Scottish Fold. And also specific is that the presents are opened very carefully to make sure that the wrapping paper can be used once again.

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Dotacje unijne przeznaczone na rozbudowę lotnisk wyniosą w przyszłych siedmiu latach aż 600 mln euro. Jednak, by z dofinansowania skorzystać niezbędny jest także odpowiednio duży kapitał własny, z uzyskaniem którego polskie linie lotnicze mogą mieć spory kłopot.

`Większość polskich portów lotniczych nie ma na to środków. Jeśli nie znajdą prawie 2,3 mld zł, drugie tyle może przejść im koło nosa`- podaje Rzeczpospolita. Właściciele lotnisk szukają więc rozwiązań, żeby móc wykorzystać nadarzajacą się okazję.
Najbardziej starać muszą się osoby zarządzające małymi portami regionalnymi, nie posiadającymi dostatecznej liczby klientów. Porty te mają także najmniejsze szanse, żeby okazać się wiarygodne dla banku i otrzymać kredyt. Na ten sposób pozyskania środków liczyć mogą tylko największe lotniska, obsługujące miliony pasażerów rocznie jak lotnisko Okęcie lub Gdańsk.
Jedną z alternatyw jest leasing zwrotny. Jako pierwszy sposób ten wypróbował szczeciński Goleniów: w celu uzyskania niezbędnej kwoty inwestycyjnej odsprzedał terminal jednemu z towarzystw leasingowych. `Zarządcy portu wciąż z terminalu korzystają, nie jest on jednak ich własnością. Stanie się nią z powrotem za dziesięć lat` - pisze dziennik.

Następną możliwością jest zaangażowanie w sprawę prywatnych inwestorów zainteresowanych wykupem udziałów spółki zarządzającej lotniskiem. Tak poradzić chcą sobie lotniska w Bydgoszczy, a także w Szymanach na Mazurach.
`Spółka zarządzająca portem lotniczym w Szymanach jest zadłużona, plan rozwoju lotniska szacowany jest na ok. 74 mln euro. Z tego ok. 40 mln euro może pochodzić z unijnych dotacji. Włodarzy województwa na wyłożenie kolejnych 40 mln euro nie stać. Stąd pomysł na znalezienie inwestora. Firma European Business Partners chce objąć 60 proc. udziałów w spółce. Na razie transakcji sprzeciwia się jednak Urząd Lotnictwa Cywilnego`

Pomóc lotniskom mogą także władze miasta, na co liczy łódzki Lublinek. W razie niepowodzenia wiceprezes łódzkiego portu, Wojciech Łaszkiewicz, zakłada skorzystanie z leasingu operacyjnego.

`Będziemy rozważać pozyskanie potencjalnych inwestorów, którzy wybudują nam np. terminal za własne pieniądze. Przez okres od dziesięciu do 20 lat będziemy spłacać zadłużenie, jednocześnie z niego korzystając, aż nieruchomości przejdzie na naszą własność` - stwierdza Łaszkiewicz.

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