To us adidas gazelle udsalg , an empty wall space wider than three feet cries for the right picture to make its home there. Since half our waking hours are spent in the home, pictures on the wall create warmth, memories and a decorator look. Our budget being what it was, finished prints in glassed, matted frames were out of the question. That left finding rolled up prints in rummage sales, sale bins in framing shops and a good dose of luck with the mats.


The proper size and color mat is what makes a beloved picture look right on the wall. It shouldn't be too wide or the print will look lost. Too narrow and the color will be lost. Through the years we had collected dozens of frames of all widths and sizes. Another collection of beautiful prints gathered dust in the drawers. All they needed was the right mat for a perfect marriage. Unfortunately www.adisneakersudsalg.com , a custom mat could cost from twenty to thirty dollars, thereby blowing our budget before the start. What we needed was a professional mat cutter.


Some quick research informed us that a good mat cutter would cost twelve hundred dollars to say nothing of the board, blades and supplies. Suddenly I had an idea that somewhere out there existed a used mat cutter waiting to be bought. But such an esoteric item was not to be seen. So I went to the next town and approached the owner of a good sized frame shop. I presented to him my dilemma and asked him if he had a cutter or knew of one for sale. He was intrigued with my industriousness and admitted that he still used his original mat cutter for cutting up cardboard and that he would be willing to sell it to me for two hundred dollars. I think he was surprised when I immediately agreed. He then offered to replace a long missing part with a new one, supply me with a hundred dollars worth of mat board and start me off with a box of needed blades and supplies - all for no extra charge!


The following week, when I arrived to pick up the mat cutter, he gave me a lesson in its use and helped me out to the car with the machine. At home I made a custom table for it to sit on with storage for the board underneath and hooks for the accessories around the outside. A friend had heard of my new venture and showed me twenty different pictures with their complementary but unmatched frames adidas sko udsalg danmark , I was to make the mats and frame the pictures under glass. I gave him a price half that of a professional and he gladly agreed. The following week I delivered them to their owner who was thrilled with the result and recommended another friend who needed a similar job done on a three by four foot antique map. In a few weeks I cleared nine hundred dollars profit and had decorated our new home with framed pictures in every room. Without the kind assistance and generosity of a complete stranger, none of this would have come about. During the next few years I was able to supplement my meagre yearly income with several thousand dollars and decorate our house at the same time.


Pittsburgh Apartments -- More to Discover in Pittsburgh Business Articles | April 6, 2009
There's more to Pittsburgh than you might expect. Great schools, universities, restaurants, and museums load the city with cultural diversity. If you are planning to move there adidas sko dame udsalg , the rent is affordable, the apartments are vast, and a whole city is waiting to be explored.

Pittsburgh-area apartment buildings continue to find favor with out-of-town buyers.

And for good reason, experts say.

Apartment vacancies in the region stood at only 2.5 percent at year-end 2008 ? the lowest vacancy rate in the nation, according to one report ? and that's proving attractive to investors from other states.

"With our occupancy level close to 98 percent, it's no wonder that 70 percent of apartment building sales here are to out-of-town buyers adidas sko udsalg ," said Cynthia Kamin, senior vice president, CB Richard EllisPittsburgh, a Downtown-based commercial real estate company.

A high occupancy rate attracts buyers because it means a higher cash flow, and a quicker return on an investments, said Kamin adidas zx 700 dame udsalg , who recently handled a sale of the 241-unit Penn Towers complex in Wilkins to Brookview Associates, an affiliate of St. Louis-based developer, Brookview Group Ltd., for $10.235 million.

Kamin represented the seller, Penn Towers Associates LP, a limited partnership with Soffer Management LLC of Pittsburgh as general partner.

Even if an apartment's occupancy level isn't in the 90s adidas zx 700 udsalg , there are other reasons those locally can prove attractive to investors.

An example is Penn Towers, which had a vacancy rate of 14 percent.

"We have been looking at Pittsburgh for the past four to five years because it is a stable community with considerable senior residents, the clientele we cater to," said Barry Pessin, a principal with Brookview Associates.

"Although it had vacancies, it met that criteria adidas zx 750 dame udsalg , and we have retained the staff, and have set aside funds for renovations," he said. "Pittsburgh is comfortable for us and if the opportunity arises for us to purchase a similar building, we would consider it."

"There is a lot of interest, particularly from New York companies in the Pittsburgh apartment market," said Kevin Keane adidas zx 750 udsalg , senior vice president of Lincoln Property Co.

Keane said the 3,000 or so apartments his company owns andor manages in this region have continued to maintain occupancy levels in the high 90s.

"We are working with investors interested in purchasing apartments here, and have made offers on apartments that are for sale, although not necessarily on those we own or manage," he said.

Out-of-town investors have adopted a "flight to safety concept" because apartments here do not have a lot of volatility in occupancy that other communities experience, he said.