Knife Sharpening as a Window Cleaning Add-On + Other News

David Lipkind had spent the last 15 years working as a self-employed window cleaner on the Mendocino Coast until he really started feeling the economy's downturn earlier last year. Lipkind decided he needed to add with something he could bring with him to his client's homes to his existing business especially if he was already going to be doing windows there anyway. After looking in the phonebook and asking around, Lipkind settled on a sharpening business, a need in the community no one was filling. Offering people an alternative to throwing out old knifes was a great way to help people in a sagging economy, he decided. When resharpened, old knives are as good as new, but at a fraction of the replacement cost.
During winter 2008, Lipkind traveled to San Luis Obispo to apprentice with a master sharpener. "He really took me under his wing," Lipkind reminisced. "I was able to learn the basics of sharpening, I learned about metals, abrasives, techniques, and much more. He filled me with confidence and sent me on my way." During the late winter and early spring months, Lipkind was able to practice and hone his skills sharpening knifes and scissors for family and friends. Once he felt confident in his abilities, Lipkind ran an ad in his hometown paper and received calls for jobs. Business started picking up nicely. After a few steady months of work, Lipkind stumbled onto the idea of setting up a booth for his mobile sharpening service at local farmer's markets. He contacted market managers, and most seemed eager, even excited, to have Diamond Edge Mobile Sharpening Service at their sites.
Lipkind also enrolled longtime friend Paul Schulman to apprentice with him and partner in the business. The two started regularly attending markets, sharpening everything from axes to knives to scissors. "We keep expanding the direction of our business depending on what people bring to us and ask us to sharpen," explained Lipkind. Currently Diamond Edge can sharpen kitchen knives including paring, boning, serrated and Santoku styles hunting knives, scissors, loppers, shears, axes, mauls, hatchets, shovels, pick axes, hand scythes, hand pruners, pocket knives and machetes. Lipkind and Schulman do not sharpen saws or chainsaws due to the extensive, immobile setup required. Diamond Edge also will sharpen animal clipper blades like the Oster A5 styles when they return to the August 13Willits Farmer's Market. Salon shears also may be added to the ever-extending list of sharpenables. Along with regular sharpenings, Lipkind and Schulman also can provide a range of corrective and resculpturing options to save client's blades, including fixing broken tips, bolster adjustments and smoothing out blade nicks and cracks. "We can get out almost anything," laughed Lipkind.
Persons interested in having blades sharpened may bring their items to the market; expect about a half hour wait if arriving mid-market. Cost is determined by blade length for knives and scissors; many standard-sized items have set pricing. Diamond Edge attends several Mendocino County farmer's markets and can be found in Willits the second Thursday of the month; in Ukiah the second Saturday of the month; in Laytonville the second Monday of the month; in Boonville the third Saturday of the month; in Mendocino the fourth Friday of the month; and in Gualala the fourth Saturday of the month. "We really want to express our appreciation to the community and the positive response we have received from members," Lipkind explained. "We look forward to seeing you at the next market."

Vietnam War buddies find each other after 39 years: Winfred "Bub" Cooksey moved to Hot Springs Village in 2001. He runs a window washing service and is kept pretty busy. Over the past 39 years, Cooksey has tried to find a buddy who closely served with him in Vietnam. Unbeknownst to him until recently, his friend, Larry Popour of Phoenix, Ariz., had been doing the same. On June 28, their efforts were rewarded, and the two men met here in the Village for a quick reunion as Popour was making his way from Arizona to a family reunion in Michigan. It was the first time they had seen each other since leaving Fort Benning, Ga. in 1969 - 40 years and one month ago.
The two friends spent their entire one-year tour of duty together and returned home. Arriving back in the U.S. was not a pleasant experience for Cooksey. At O'Hare airport in Chicago, other travelers called him a baby killer. "The college kids didn't like us," Cooksey said. Popour was spared the experience. He returned to Detroit late at night. Both men were exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange. It was used as a defoliant in Operation Ranch Hand from 1962 to 1970.
The defoliant contained a poisonous substance called tetrachloridibenzo-para-dioxin (TCDD) which has been linked to several health problems for Vietnam veterans. Its purpose was to kill vegetation and, thereby, expose enemy positions and movements. By war's end, according to Veterans Administration numbers from October 1981, 18.85 million gallons of the herbicide were used, mostly during the time period of 1967 to 1969. Popour is now feeling some of the early effects of Agent Orange and has the first stages of leukemia. Talking about being sprayed with the chemical, Cooksey said, "It was like walking through a fog," as a light mist fell from the C-123s overhead.

HARLOW - Bogus window cleaner steals pensioner's purse in Pittman's Field: ESSEX Police are appealing for witnesses following a burglary at a home in Pittman's Field, Harlow. The burglary occurred around 11am, when a man knocked on the door of a home belonging to a woman in her 80s, stating he was a window cleaner and was collecting payment from local residents. The man gained entrance to the woman's home and while she was in the kitchen he is believed to have removed her purse from her handbag. The suspect is described as a white man, aged 18-20 years, 5ft 6in tall, slim build, short mousy/blonde straight hair possibly with highlights, wearing a blue grey/green T-shirt possibly with a yellow stripe.
Officer investigating, PC Brian Eagling said: "There was a lot of roadworks going on at the time so I am hoping someone may have seen this chap in the area. I would like to remind residents to always check peoples ID thoroughly and close the door on them whilst you call the person's company to check. If you are in any doubt, don't open the door and contact police immediately." Anyone with any information should contact detectives at Harlow police station on 0300 333 4444 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Euphemisms add layer of nonsense: It's a living language. But sometimes it's dead on arrival when people toss around euphemisms and gobbledygook. If a hospital charges $58 for a "thermal therapy unit," what is the patient getting for the money? Answer: an ice pack. Suppose a patient spots an "optical illuminator enhancer" entering his room. Should he be alarmed? No. The visitor is a window washer.

Police hunt abusive 'window cleaner': Police are appealing for witnesses after a woman shop worker was subjected to a vicious verbal assault in a crowded Totnes business after two days of alleged harassment. When a member of the public tried to help her, he too was subjected to a tirade of abuse including alleged homophobic comments. The incidents happened in the China Blue complex in Station Road, Totnes, at around 3pm on Tuesday . Police claim the man, who was aged 30 to 40 years, was aggressive and demanding, made threats and at one point lunged at the shop worker and attempted to grab her.
The man, who was white, of slim build, with a goatee beard and spoke with a Liverpool accent, had first met the women when he turned up at China Blue last Friday looking for window cleaning work. The woman discussed possible guttering work at her home but later telephoned the man to tell him there was no job. He then turned up at China Blue on Monday on five different occasions to try to talk to her. He showed up twice the next day and on the second occasion became abusive and offensive. PC Sharon Unsworth pointed out that the shop had been packed with people on the Tuesday afternoon and said she wanted to hear from anyone who had witnessed the incident.

Let the pros come to you: Dwight Kennedy of Lake Oswego spent most of his career as a metal refinisher working with his hands, but when emerging from retirement he decided to lend a hand instead. “Retirement for a lot of people means quitting. I didn’t want to quit. I’ve worked hard all my life and I like it,” said Kennedy, 74. In January, Kennedy started Remodeling & Repair Referrals, a company that connects homeowners with home improvement contractors and professionals. Kennedy finds pre-screened, licensed and insured home service professionals for homeowners at no charge. The contractors pay Kennedy a commission for work secured.
Whether new to the area or just beginning to search for qualified professionals, Kennedy said his company does the research for you. He spent four months checking licenses, valid insurance policies, customer references, Better Business Bureau and the Consumer Affairs records of local companies – in various fields such as remodeling, decking, painting and plumbing – and that list grows each week.
“I’m really lucky; I never had to work for a big company,” Kennedy said. “I’ve always been my own boss.” Kennedy said he got the idea to start a referral business after his wife read an article about Debra Cohen in Good Housekeeping a year ago. Cohen started Home Remedies referral service in New York and made $125,000 in a year, working about 30 hours a week. “I’ve dealt with people all my life in a service-oriented way,” Kennedy said. “I can tell what a contractor thinks of a customer.” That’s why Kennedy interviews each contractor after they pass his background check. “I want to find out (about) the person, not the job. They’ve got to be conscientious and concerned for the customer,” he said. Lake Oswego resident Dwight Kennedy started his company to put homeowners in touch with qualified contractors. Remodeling & Repair Referrals has connected locals with professionals in fields such as appliance repair, carpentry, carpet installation, gardening, heating and ventilation, lock installation, painting, roofing, tile installation and window cleaning.

Robots: The good, the bad and the ugly: The robots are coming and we’re all going to die. That’s what some of the recent media stories would have you believe. Noel Sharkey, Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at the University of Sheffield, recently suggested that we are in danger of becoming a victim of our own success when it comes to robotics and AI. Quite literally. If we don’t carefully monitor what we’re doing in the field of military robotics, innocent people could be hurt. Of course, media momentum gathered and now there are probably people panic-buying bread and long-life milk and heading speedily to their nearest bunker to hide from these death hungry bots.
“Outside of the ethical issues, I see robotics technology being a great benefit to the human race in [many] ways. The standard robot used in the manufacturing and automotive industries is outnumbered nowadays by service robots about five to one. These are robots that do the three Ds – dull, dirty and dangerous work like cleaning sewers, domestic duties like vacuuming and window cleaning – even picking fruit and pumping gas,” he added. High Speed robotic hand video from the same article.

This summer, in Korean film industry, a new film has come out! Director Jo Min-ho has appeared at the press release for the film, "A Million." Out of 100,000 applicants for a survival game show organized by an Internet broadcasting company, just eight are selected to participate in the event. The group? which includes 26-year-old documentary producer Han Ki-tae (Park Hae-il), 24-year-old pizza delivery girl (Shin Min-a) and 28-year-old window washer Park Chul-hee (Lee Min-ki) ? is then taken to the location of the show: a deserted island near Perth, Australia. The game begins, and the eight participants must go through the sea, desert, forest and rivers to cross the finish line. But seven days later, Australian police find just one person alive. What happened in the past week during this mysterious survival game?

AIG Chief - Loud Voice and a Listener's Ear: When Robert Benmosche takes over American International Group Inc. on Monday, he will be its fourth chief executive in 14 tumultuous months. He will also be the most decisive, direct and tough leader to run the battered insurer since Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg's nearly four-decade reign ended amid an accounting scandal in 2005. Mr. Benmosche, former colleagues say, is willing to upend cozy corporate traditions and make unpopular decisions. His strong personality could be just what AIG and its majority owner, the U.S. government, need to manage the company. But he could also clash with his many overseers, including in Congress, which hasn't shied from offering opinions about how the company should be run. He has a soft side. In 2007, Ken Karlewicz, owner of Mr. K's Window Cleaning, was providing an estimate for Mr. Benmosche's home northwest of New York City, when they began chatting about the window cleaner's passion: running a photography program for kids. Out of that conversation came a nine-day stay by the teacher and five students this past October at Mr. Benmosche's villa in Dubrovnik, Croatia, with breathtaking views of the Adriatic Sea. More at a previous blog.

Grandview Village President Tracy Houser says he is stepping down as village leader to take care of his ailing father and the family business. Houser said the last village board meeting he attended was July 7, when police officers told him his father had suffered a stroke. “Unfortunately he suffered two strokes to the brain,” Houser said. His father, James Houser, owns Houser Window Cleaning. “That’s been in business for 54 years,” Tracy Houser said. “I’m the only person who can take care of it.” Houser said the past few months have been draining on him, because his father is still in the hospital and is paralyzed on his left side. “The trustees of the village have been super, super good about it, and they understand that if I did resign there wouldn’t be any hard feelings,” he said. “They realize that family comes first. I’ve got to take care of my dad.”