Window Cleaners: Social Networking, Bananas & Vinnie Jones

Local businesses use social networking: Social-networking sites may seem like just a way to meet new people, but for Tony and Dawn Evans, social networking helped their business take off. Five years ago, when Tony Evans quit his job at a Wal-Mart deli, he knew very little about window cleaning. Today, he and his wife — also known as Mr. and Mrs. Squeegee — use social-networking sites to get in touch with other business owners and clientele. Online forums have been a huge help to the Evanses in their business, New View Window Cleaning. Window cleaners gather on the sites to discuss methods and new technology, post videos, and even arrange conferences, he said. “I’m pretty active in some window-cleaning forums where we get a lot of our information,” he said. “It helps us to cut down on our learning curve.” He also joined the social-networking site Twitter around a month ago and has amassed around 60 followers. For Mr. and Mrs. Squeegee, social networking has become essential to the operation of their business. “We were getting responses within the first couple of months from the website,” Evans said. “It’s been very, very beneficial for our business.”

Eric's 'banana' tumour ordeal: It was a mammoth operation to remove a mammoth brain tumour. In fact it took 18-and-a-half hours at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital to cut out a tumour the length of a banana and twice as wide. Now Eric Holden, aged 63, is recovering from his ordeal, grateful that specialised brain equipment funded by a Sheffield charity could be used to help save his life. He was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour in July 2008, after losing his reading sight. "When I was told I had a brain tumour it was a real shock, mainly because I didn't have any headaches or fits. I just lost my reading sight. I'd been to the opticians to tell them my glasses weren't strong enough but after new lenses failed to correct the problem, I was referred to the hospital for a field test.
"I failed this miserably, so I was referred for an MRI scan, which found I had a brain tumour entangled in my optic nerve. It was as long as a banana and twice as wide. I just couldn't believe something so big could fit in such a small space… "I was told the tumour needed to be removed so, soon after being diagnosed, I underwent a massive 18-and-a-half-hour operation. Surgeons removed the tumour using a microscope and endoscopic drill. "Although the operation went really well, I did have a long recovery time. For weeks after I slept constantly and my surgeon, Dr Tom Carroll, was really worried. But I was a lot better after a month or so. "After that I had Gamma Knife treatment to shrink the rest of the tumour. I won't know whether that has been successful for a few months yet. But my sight improved as soon as I had Gamma Knife treatment, which was a relief." Specialised equipment was funded by Neurocare, a charity which supports the neurosciences department at the Royal Hallamshire.
Doctors told him that without the operation he would have died. "But a factor which also played a part in my survival was my fitness level. Because I used to be a window cleaner, my fitness level was exceptional – in fact that of a 30-year-old. At my age that is pretty good going and it helped to save my life. "It's been a tough couple of years. Just before I was diagnosed one of my three children, Kristopher, who had cerebral palsy, passed away. Then this happened. My wife Patricia has been brilliant, a complete star. "We've been happily married for 46 years. She's the most wonderful person I could ever meet and she helped me enormously in my recovery.
"As for now, things have started to settle down a bit, although having to stop work has really impacted my life because I used to love it so much. I hope to get my fitness level back so one day maybe I can clean some windows again. But I feel brilliant again, so I'm grateful for that. I now need a new knee and then I'll be raring to go!" After hearing of the success of Eric's operation and the size of his tumour, The May Hearnshaw Trust made a donation of £35,000 to Neurocare, which helped to finance another piece of revolutionary equipment, the Skull Base Endoscope. It allows surgeons to operate more easily on life-threatening brain tumours in the skull base, which are particularly hard to reach.

Vehicle-mounted access platform - CTE lift: Specialist window-cleaning contractor RJ Norris has recently started using a CTE ZED21J vehicle-mounted access platform from CTE UK to be able to clean a wider range of buildings. The ZED21J is said to incorporate a sigma boom with a fly-jib to offer 21m maximum working height and access to windows and fascias even when there is an obstruction between the vehicle and working area.
The ZED21J has a maximum working load of 200kg in all possible configurations – enough, says CTE UK, for two average-sized people and up to 40kg of tools, with 10m outreach from 1 to 14m above ground level in a straight vertical line. Performance includes full and continuous 360o turret rotation for all-round access, with true zero tail-swing, which is important when working in narrow streets.
The company adds that simple controls inside the basket and at ground level allow users to operate the platform very easily. The boom and basket can be positioned using just one hand. The maximum working height of 21m is achieved by straightening the entire boom and fly-jib using the same controls. The vehicle can be driven by anyone with a normal ‘Category B’ car licence.

A Green Certification Adds Value To Any Company: The Green Business Leagues sister company Green Clean Institute has just certified Clean World USA. Clean World USA has received the Gold Certification from the Green Clean Institute, which is the highest level of Green Certification that a Janitorial firm can receive. They are located in the South Carolina area and are a large corporation that has made tremendous strides on developing a Green program in their company. Getting a Gold certification requires more than just token effort, it requires janitorial firms to educate, and implement green techniques and practices to their operations.

Police today renewed an appeal for help in finding a 33-year-old-man who has gone missing in Grove. Alexander Wileman was last seen leaving his home in Albermarle Drive on Wednesday, February 3, to go to work as a self-employed window cleaner. He was driving a white Citroen van at the time, with Red Star Window Cleaning written on the sides. Mr Wileman is described as white, 6ft tall, of medium build with cropped black hair. Police said they believed he was wearing a multi-coloured top like the one pictured. A police spokesman said: "Alexander’s partner received a letter saying that he was going to stay away. "He is a vulnerable person and Thames Valley Police appeals for his safe return. If you see him, please contact police immediately on 0845 8 505 505."

How to turn your children into nice little earners: Earning money not only lets parents off the hook (somewhat), it is good practice for later life, and might even help them acquire such useful skills as how to turn up on time, or sort out fractious infants. The problem is where to find these jobs. Shops won’t take under-16s, and often prefer responsible 18-year-olds. Waiting at parties isn’t an option for under-18s, who aren’t allowed to serve alcohol. And so few people now get their newspaper delivered in my area that the traditional boy on a bicycle has pedalled into history: our newsagent does drop-offs in his car. Sweeping up leaves and running errands for elderly neighbours are nice ideas, gleaned from the internet, though it takes a hard heart to charge the neighbour for fetching her milk from the corner shop. Window cleaning or grooming unfamiliar pets I would not encourage, because a trip to A & E after a fall from a ladder or a savage bite would be a bore.

Vinnie Jones: The Window Cleaner? What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? I bought a window cleaning round from a bloke when I was 17 – you buy a book with the addresses. People came out of their houses shouting: ‘What are you cleaning my windows for? Bugger off.’ He’d made the whole thing up. I was thinking it would make me a millionaire but it ended halfway down my street. I’d borrowed the £300 for the book; it may as well have been £3million. Not only did I not I have a business, I had a £300 debt.

DEPARTMENTAL INFO, WINDRUSH DR.: A resident who initially reported that he had arrived home to find footprints in the snow around his house called back on Saturday to notify police that the prints were those of a window-washer, as evidenced by an invoice he had later found.

Google unveils virtual glass elevator that lets you fly around the world (Melbourne): The Liquid Galaxy project is an interactive booth with wraparound LCD screens, reports News.com.au. Screens show synchronised views via Google Earth and you can use a six-axis mouse to move your way through air and water. The video was taken by Mashable staff at a live demo by creator Jason Holt at TED. "With the Liquid Galaxy, we could fly through the Grand Canyon, leap into low-Earth orbit, and come back down to perch on the Great Pyramid of Giza without even breaking a sweat." The effect is stunning. Take a look at the video.

About 1400 customers in Melbourne’s west are still without power, after lightning during yesterday’s storms struck transformers and strong winds blew tree branches and debris across power lines. The storms were also bad news for three men who fell while cleaning out roof gutters or carrying out repairs during the wild weather. A 67-year-old man tumbled more than three metres and dislocated his shoulder when his ladder buckled during his roof repairs at Springvale South. A second man, 48, fell from a ladder while cleaning his roof gutters at Red Hill, while a 63-year-old man injured his chest and ribs after falling while cleaning gutters in Boronia. Ambulance Victoria paramedic team manager Carmel Rogers should people should consider checking their homes before predicted weekend storms hit. "Carrying out repairs in the rain is quite hazardous with the potential for the ladder to slip," she said. Emergency crews are continuing to mop up after the devastating thunderstorm, which dumped more than 30 millimetres of rain over inner Melbourne in less than two hours.