Sunday Window Cleaning News

Saving Grandad Bryan: When Olivia Lewis's granddad collapsed while she was alone with him, the seven year old did not panic. She calmly checked his vital signs, got him back to bed and then called for help. Luckily the schoolgirl had received emergency life support skills training at school and knew exactly what to do. "We learnt from our teacher how to check their breathing and their pulse, how to wake them and we practised on our friends," she said. "Before we went to bed granddad had been complaining of pains behind his neck. "Then at about 5am I heard this bang in the other room. Granddad was in the bathroom with the light on and was just lying on the floor. "I checked his breathing and pulse before trying to wake him." Her father Steve said granddad Bryan Morris, a 64-year-old window cleaner, had been looking after Olivia while her parents were away. Olivia said she was relieved to find her granddad breathing and with a pulse. "I tried to wake him up though, but he would not. I checked his breathing again and then tried to wake him up again and luckily he did," she said. "The first thing he said was 'where am I?'
"I said 'you are on the bathroom floor, what happened?' and he said 'I don't know. I went into the bathroom to go to the toilet, but it all went black and I felt really dizzy and the next thing I knew you were waking me up'. "He said 'please can you get me a wet cold cloth and help me back into bed' , which I did. "I got a cold flannel and got him up, but said he was scared of falling so he held onto my shoulders. I got him water and telephoned dad and unlocked the door and waited for him. He then called the doctor." Previous story here. Get with it BBC! This is a story from last year!

WHAT’S happened to men? I mean, really, what on Earth has happened to us? Used to be a time when a stand-up wash, a dab of talc in the pants’ gusset and hanging last night’s shirt out the bedroom window to air would be sufficient. These days it’s all straighteners, Touche Eclat spot concealer and pubic topiary. And those of us who aren’t dressing like a cast hopeful for the next series of Hollyoaks: Late Night, are down the gym jabbing syringes full of anabolic steroids in our backsides like Kieran the window cleaner from Leeds in Channel 4’s Extreme Male Beauty, possibly just so they can look intimidating at the bar in their local Wetherspoon’s on a Friday night. Not that Kieran thought it was doing him any harm, or at least that’s what I think he meant by stamping his hoof three times and whinnying.

Contest offers home makeover for moms with ill kids: Mother's Day celebrates one of the toughest professions on earth, and that task can be even tougher when you're caring for sick children. A local professional home stager wants to help by sponsoring a contest for moms of chronically ill kids. The winner gets a four-room makeover, carpet cleaning, window cleaning, gift certificate and hauling service. Lucy Butcher, owner of Presentation Is Everything, came up with the idea because three of her children were born with Hirschsprung's disease, a blockage of the large intestine, and required extensive medical care. "Our time was spent going back and forth to the hospital," she said. "I would have to reach out to whoever. It is very stressful and you think sometimes it will never end. You are just so overwhelmed."
She said she would have loved to have professionals come to her house and give it a much needed makeover. Local businesses are donating time and services for the makeover. Entrants must submit a 500-word essay why they need a home makeover by May 31, along with pictures of the rooms they would like redesigned and a family picture including the sick child. Entrants must be caring for a chronically ill child under 18. Butcher said a panel of five judges will select the winner to be announced June 10. The makeover must be completed by Aug. 31.

Expect more haggling: The texts started arriving in earnest after Christmas. At first they were just gentle notices of products and services available in spas, salons and hotels around the country. However, as the months went by, the hard sell began. Texts began arriving on a regular basis, to people who thought they'd never been to a salon and then remembered the leg wax before that winter sun holiday in 2006, or the boutique hotel they went to in the days when it was acceptable to ask people to shell out half a grand for a hen weekend. Through these texts came a reminder of where we once casually dropped our cash - many of them places that huffed and puffed as they endeavoured to fit us into their busy appointment books - where our names remained on file and useful for times like these, when they're begging us to come back. So, the texts grow ever more frequent and the flyers through the letterbox pile up. As businesses offer more and more incentives, we fine tune our skills at sorting the wheat from the chaff and sussing out the best deals. That handyman you couldn't get for love nor money is suddenly answering his phone, that window cleaner is coming to you to see if the windows need doing, instead of you chasing him, or, worse, using an expensive cleaning service. Small, local, independent tradesmen are suddenly appearing again, dropping flyers in doors and are free to work tomorrow. And prices are negotiable, or at least nudgeable. It's a habit our parents had -- which maybe mortified us in childhood but seems eminently sensible now - but there's neither shame nor insult in haggling.

Window Cleaning Resource will be hosting a water fed pole seminar by Reach Higher Ground on May 16th 2009. This is the basic tentative agenda:
9-9:30 open networking with pastries coffee and juice 9:30-10:00-Waterfed Technology 10-10:30-Increasing your Business with WFP 10:30-11:00 Choosing the right product 11-11:30 question and answer 11:30 -1 Lunch