Window Cleaning Odds & Ends

Cristiano Ronaldo accused of stealing millionaire window cleaners businessman's wife: A millionaire businessman last night claimed his marriage had been wrecked by Cristiano Ronaldo. Devastated John Haynes, 50, branded the football ace a slimy toe-rag after discovering his wife Olena, 25, above, and the footballer had sent each other more than 300 text messages.
John claims Olena was using a secret mobile he found stashed in their home. He says Manchester United and Portugal star Ronaldo, 23, struck up a relationship with the Ukraine-born brunette in August. Dumped John, director of a window cleaning business, said: "When I found a telephone at home I saw it wasn't one of my contract phones that she normally uses. Then I saw it was bleeping and I picked it up and went through the messages. "There were a total of 300 messages from each of them over a two-week period. "I saw 49 messages coming in from him with his number saved as Ronaldo. "The text messages looked like they had been written by a seven-year-old it was dreadful English and they mentioned Portugal. They were very coyly written. They were things like, Do you miss me baby? I miss you. "I just assumed she was playing around with a waiter in a restaurant who had just arrived from Portugal. I had no idea it was him. "I put it to her on many occasions and she wouldn't tell me exactly what was happening. "When Ronaldo failed to take my calls I texted him warning him to back off because she was a married woman. "I asked her what was going on she said, 'Oh, it's something and nothing. "I flew her to Kiev to get her out of the country because I suspected something was going on and unbeknown to me she flew back to the UK 10 days later." John says the first text was sent on August 31 and Olena moved out of the marital home to live with a friend on September 13. John says his worst suspicions were confirmed when he was shown a photo of his wife and Ronaldo leaving a restaurant in Manchester late on November 28.

Artist's quids in: These three Gadgies have just ridden off with thousands. The trio are featured in a painting by North artist Alex Millar, which has just netted top price at an auction in Newcastle. Alex, who's based in Newcastle, is best known for his pictures of the gadgie, the cloth-capped northern character who has a mongrel dog and rides a bike! His paintings are in huge demand, selling for thousands of pounds. Anderson & Garland’s winter sale saw pieces from all eras go under the hammer but it was former window cleaner Alex’s work that attracted the most attention, eventually getting snapped up by a mystery bidder for £13,000. The Newcastle-based artist made his name by producing a series of paintings of “Gadgies,” inspired by old men he used to see while growing up. And he is delighted his work continues to sell well. Alex, 48, said: “It is very flattering. “I always find it amazing when they start going for large sums of money but I think these days, the way the banks are, people get drawn to art as a great investment, which it is.”

Another reason those spray on window cleaners should be banned....

Not new news, but a great video of those business cards that are available on your van/truck.

I liked this one....

Employer not aware of maid's dangerous stunt, SINGAPORE: Madam Ella was tending to her laundry at the corridor outside her flat on Wednesday afternoon when she was struck by a sight that left her shaken. At the block opposite her fourth-storey flat in Jalan Tenaga, near Bedok Reservoir, a young domestic worker was standing on the narrow ledge outside a third-storey window, cleaning the glass. The 39-year-old preschool teacher described the way that the maid was moving around with no safety equipment as 'doing stunts'. She rushed back into her flat from the corridor after she saw that scene. 'I didn't want to go out again because I was afraid,' she said. 'I didn't want to be there if anything happened.' She said she had heard of recent deaths from falls in the area, and had no wish to see anyone fall to her death. She told her 12-year-old daughter what she saw, and the girl then decided to photograph the maid while hiding behind a pillar. This was around 3.30pm, Madam Ella said. The girl snapped two photos at first. Madam Ella said her daughter took a third shot 10 minutes later, so that was at least how long the domestic worker was out there. She said she decided not to call the police as she was worried about causing trouble for the maid. In the end, she decided to send the pictures to The New Paper to highlight the dangerous situation.
TWO maids died in late 2006, and another maid had worked only for eight days when she plunged to her death in March last year. Such incidents prompted the Ministry Of Manpower (MOM) to impose measures to prevent such incidents. These include offering safety awareness courses and taking action against errant employers. The publicity seems to have had some effect. In 2007, the total number of foreign domestic worker deaths fell to 25 from anannual average of 35 over the last sixyears. In November 2007, one employer, Tang Cheong Kim, was convicted and fined $4,000 for failing to provide a safe working environment for her domestic worker. As part of the Work Permit conditions, employers are responsible for providing a safe working environment for their maids. Failure to do so is an offence under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. Offenders can be fined up to $5,000 and/ or jailed up to six months. Errant employers will also be disallowed from hiring another foreign domestic worker. Mr John Gee, president of Transient Workers Count Too, an advocacy group for migrant workers, said: 'Our members themselves have seen workers hanging outside windows.' Other than employers telling the maid to go outside, some cases of falls happened because the maid themselves tried to escape the flat after being barred from leaving. Mr Gee said that there were also cases of maids going out of the window without being told. 'It's a wise precaution for any employer to anticipate this,' he said. He says the law is clear that the employer is responsible for the maid's safety. To find oneself in trouble not through any choice of one's own can be 'especially galling'. What should you do if you spot a maid doing an unsafe act? You can can report unsafe working conditions to MOM by calling the MOM foreign domestic worker hotline at 1800-3395505 or by sending an e-mail.

A typical example in Brazil...