Window Cleanings News

How do you keep more than 6,300 people fed, housed and having the time of their life while floating in the middle of the ocean? The Oasis of the Seas—the world's largest cruise ship—aims to accomplish that feat nearly every week. Almost five times as large as the Titanic, it has a population during its seven-day Caribbean sailings that is larger than many American small towns—more than 8,600 when it is fully booked and including staff. The Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. ship, which first set sail last December, is almost as long as five Airbus A380 airplanes, or about four football fields. It has 24 restaurants and its own leafy "Central Park." During the weeklong sailings, about 700 tons of new supplies are needed, all loaded aboard each Saturday. Guests consume about 20 gallons of maraschino cherries and 80,000 bottles of beer.
Ensuring a floating city the size of the Oasis operates smoothly is challenging. Cleaning the ship, doing laundry, and fixing things are a 24-hour job for crew members. One of the popular acts, an outdoor Aqua Show with divers, gymnasts and synchronized swimmers, gets canceled about once a week because of rough seas. And the task of cleaning salt water off window exteriors is never done.
Dozens of people and 18 robots wash windows each day. "It's like painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Once you're finished, you start again," says Chris van Raalten, ship manager for marine operations, the group of employees that steer the ship and maintain the ship's exterior and mechanics like the engine. Robots take care of hard to reach places and metal baskets move crew along the upper decks where there are no balconies to support them. Scheduling the cleaning can be tough. The washing can't be done in every port because of environmental regulations, so it often happens while sailing, Mr. van Raalten says.

A 77-year-old woman died when she fell out of a third-floor window in Mór (Fejér County), Hungary. Police say she had been cleaning the window when the gas heater she was standing on collapsed, sending her sailing out the window and plunging to the frozen ground below.

PARIS LETTER: Just as you settle into the timeless ritual of the Parisian bar, you read that the institution is under threat. It reveals its charm in its own good time, this plain old cafe I know, but after my third or fourth visit it had wound me in without even trying. In fact, its effortlessness almost defines it, by which I mean, not that great effort has been skilfully concealed, but that its owner isn’t really all that bothered about the effort side of the business. The other morning, a window- cleaner who was at work inside the cafe stood up on the chair next to me and leaned over to reach an awkward spot on the pane, flicking water all around us. His expression said: what do you expect when windows must be cleaned? Even in a country where shop-owners seem to be guided by the credo that the customer is always, incontrovertibly wrong, this was still quite something.

OAP's 32-year misery in Sheffield neighbourhood: A Pensioner today made a desperate plea for action to tackle fly-tipping and prostitution which he says has been plaguing his neighbourhood for the last 32 years. William Wood, aged 67, said he and wife Freda, 72, both disabled with arthritis, feel "prisoners" in their own home by the problems affecting derelict land on Whitwell Street, Darnall, behind their Main Road home. Houses which used to stand on the site were cleared in the late 1970s and the area has been empty ever since. It has been used as a dumping ground by fly-tippers, who have abandoned items ranging from rubble to used nappies - and even a bag containing a goat's head. And the retired window cleaner has also found needles and used condoms which he believes are from prostitutes taking their clients onto Whitwell Street because it is dark and secluded. He said: "The problems have been going on for the last 32 years since the houses were pulled down.

Expat with that magic touch: On first meeting Todd Plaster, it's not unusual for sparks to fly - from his fingers, and even from his ears. In fact, the American magician has been making memorable first impressions performing in Shanghai for the past four years. Not content to just perform as Master Plaster, a wizard who entertains for children, corporate events and private functions, the canny entrepreneur also manufactures bag-of-tricks products for export to magicians around the world. The gimmicks include devices that can be attached to a performer's fingers or ears and shoot sparks or smoke. The Alaska state native has been even working with Shanghai Jiao Tong University to design a long magician's coat fitted with a sound system that plays sound effects.
During his time in Shanghai, Plaster has worked his magic at events ranging from weddings and children's parties to high-end corporate events for multinational companies such as car makers BMW and Audi and pharmaceutical giant Bayer. Plaster describes himself as a close-up magician who does a comedy-style magic act using a mixture of sleight-of-hand and custom-made gizmos. A close-up magician typically performs to a small group or an individual rather than on a stage. Unlike a stage magician who can rely on props and illusions, a close-up magician commonly uses sleight-of-hand and dexterity developed through years of practice.
Plaster's tricks can take anywhere from a few hours to two years to master. One of his most demanding tricks is the so-called "muscle pass" of a coin. The magician will make a coin "leap" up to a foot out of his hand with no discernible movement of the wrist or arm - claiming his magic coin can defy gravity. The muscle pass is considered by magicians to be one of the most demanding coin tricks. "Whether they be hobbyists or professional magicians, most people know this trick and each year the Japanese have a magicians Olympics where this is one of the events," says Plaster. "It is like the high jump: the person who can make the coin go the furthest wins." Plaster says he was taught by another magician and practiced until his hand was blistered and bled from the effort.
Pursuing the magic behind making a buck in Asia is nothing new for Plaster, who went to Japan as an 18-year-old. Inspired by the 1980s martial arts blockbuster "Karate Kid," the young Plaster launched a window-washing business that earned him enough money to head off to Japan in 1986 to learn karate. Comfortably performing in Chinese, Plaster has made guest appearances at popular Chinese shows since arriving in Shanghai in 2006. One his more notable guest spots was on the popular talk show "Lu Yu You Yue" (A Date With Lu Yu) that has an audience in the hundreds of millions. Plaster is also expanding from magic to frights, planning to open a haunted house in May near the entrance of the World Expo 2010 site on Luban Road in Huangpu District.

Janitors’ union reaches agreement: The day before a planned janitors’ strike by members of the Service Employees International Union Local 26, negotiations between the union and contracting companies ended after 26 hours of bargaining. The strike was planned to begin Monday, but the union and the Minneapolis-St. Paul Contract Cleaners Association reached a tentative agreement early Sunday morning. SEIU will vote to finalize the agreement March 6. Contracts between the companies and the union, which is made up of more than 5,000 janitors, security officers and window cleaners in the Twin Cities, expired at the end of December. Proposed contract changes didn’t meet the union’s requests regarding less expensive health care, green cleaning and retaining full-time employees.

Glass memorial to Sunderland miners: A memorial to mark the 25th anniversary of the end of the Miners' Strike will be unveiled in Sunderland on Friday. The three-metre long and three metre-tall glass panel is being installed above the Civic Suite entrance to the main council chamber at Sunderland Civic Centre. At nine sq metres and weighing more than 150kgs, it is one of the largest pieces of printed toughened glass in Europe and its images are symbols of the strike and the region's mining heritage.

U.S. picks secure glass box for new London embassy: The new U.S. Embassy in London will be a modernist glass cube protected from attack by an earth bank, a semi-circular lake and bomb-resistant glazing, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. The embassy must move from its current central London location because the 1950s building is too small, outdated and hard to defend from security threats, U.S. Ambassador to Britain Louis Susman said. The U.S. government chose Philadelphia-based architectural firm KieranTimberlake's design from 37 submissions. The remit was to build a modern, welcoming and secure base for the United States' biggest diplomatic headquarters in western Europe. Work is expected to begin on the new embassy in 2013 and it should open its doors in 2017.

A window cleaner walked free from court despite leading police on a high-speed chase through Bristol. Stevie Wassell sped off after police recognised him driving in Hartcliffe and tried to pull him over. The 32-year-old, of Craven Way, drove on the wrong side of the road and reached speeds of 70mph in a 30mph built-up zone. The defendant managed to outrun pursuing officers who gave up the chase. He phoned police the same day and claimed his car had been stolen but pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving later after accepting he had been recognised at the wheel. He appeared for sentencing at Bristol Crown Court on Friday. Wassell was handed a 52-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work and pay £300 costs. He was also disqualified from driving for two years and will have to take an extended retest before he drives again.

A clean sweep for Dragon's Den-backed entrepreneur: Tony Earnshaw has cleaned up again. The young entrepreneur first came to public attention when he was seen on TV's Dragon's Den making a successful pitch for £100,000. Thanks to his ambition and business acumen, he managed to secure a £100,000 investment from Duncan Bannatyne. Now, the man behind Washington-based UK Commercial Cleaning (UKCC) was named the first winner of the Institute of Director's (IoD) 30 under 30 Young Director of the Year award at a ceremony in Durham.
Twenty-five-year-old Tony, who launched his first business at 18, today runs a company which employs 20 staff and has ambitious plans for further growth. "I was over the moon," he said. "I never thought I was going to win, so it felt great. It is the first award I have ever won – I don't think I even got a 25m swimming badge at school." IoD North East chairman Richard Elphick said: "Those vying for the award prove the region has a depth and breadth of go-ahead young directors involved in a wide variety of roles, all making a crucial contribution to our economic well-being. "We felt Tony should be named as the winner as he has demonstrated outstanding vision, drive and business acumen."
As part of his prize, Tony will receive £1,000 worth of consultancy services from leading accountants and business advisers, RMT. Senior partner Anthony Josephs said: "The 30 Under 30 listing turned the spotlight on some stunning successes and exciting entrepreneurs, which made it difficult to choose just one for our Young Director of the Year Award. "In the end, Tony was selected because he is shining example of a dynamic young entrepreneur. "The judges were impressed with his exceptional ability to seize business opportunities and turn ambitions and plans into reality." Tony first demonstrated his entrepreneurial flair at 18 when he bought an old burger van for £50. In just over two months, he made £3,000 selling burgers and eventually sold the van for £2,000. He bought a window cleaning round for £300 and within six months, was turning over £6,000 a month. Tony eventually sold that, as he had ambitions to set up a firm with bigger potential. Washington-based UKCC was born, at first providing commercial cleaning services across the North East. Within two years, a second depot had been opened in Leeds.

College students 'use road as carpark', claim fed up residents: People living near Bridgwater College say they are fed up with students parking on their road. Bridgwater College has its own on-site car park with nearly 700 spaces, but people living in Fairfax Road say students regularly park there instead, and they fear things will get worse when the college's new Energy Skills Centre is built. Window cleaner Kevin Gamblin said: “It's a day-to-day problem. They use the back entrance to the college so park up outside our houses, which is a nightmare when I bring my ladders home. “They just drop litter from their cars, and the verbal abuse I get off some of them is awful.”

Early voting begins Monday in city: Gainesville residents will go to the polls March 16 to elect a new mayor and a new District 4 city commissioner. There are 72,627 registered voters in the city of Gainesville who are eligible to vote for mayor and 16,188 registered voters who can vote in the District 4 race. Marsh, who has owned a local window cleaning business for 29 years, told the 4As the top three critical needs to him in the black community are jobs, clean air and clean water. He said he would work to "soften up" mixed-use zones to create more opportunities for businesses to develop that could provide needed services within neighborhoods.
Don Marsh countered that for the past three decades he has built up his window-cleaning business. "I know something about having the will to do something," Marsh said. "I am used to serving the public. I am used to solving other people's problems." As most of the others did, Marsh accused commissioners past and present of dragging their feet on cleaning up the site at Main Street and 23rd Avenue that has been declared a Superfund area, meaning the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found hazardous waste in the soil or drinking water. "Bureaucrats have been watching this thing for years," Marsh said.

A bioethics expert is suggesting that women rethink possible plans to donate their eggs to fertility clinics for research or use in pregnancy. Jennifer Lahl of the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network says egg donation is potentially harmful for women. Lahl says egg donation is a "risky business" and unlike a high-risk job where employees receive appropriate compensation for the dangers (think skyscraper window washing) the egg donation process is inherently risky, from beginning to end.

Glass houses: light fantastic - You could say that Jessop and Kay Price live in a glass bubble. “We have glass walls all the way around. It is like living in the garden,” Kay says. Their sitting room has uninterrupted glass, floor to ceiling, and looks out over evergreens, a lawn, pond and a little piece of English woodland. Such are the views from their dining-room that it may as well be in a tree-house. It takes perseverance to create a house like this. Jessop and Kay spent nearly four years finding the magical spot near Peaslake in Surrey on which to build Fulvens Hanger. “We wanted no noise, no light spill,” Kay says. “Up came this dilapidated Twenties house that had been used at one time by the suffragettes. The garden was so overgrown, it would have made most people run away. But Jessop could see beyond it.” Developers have cottoned on to the allure of glass and are using it accordingly, especially now that it comes in many forms, double- or triple-glazed, strengthened, heat-resistant or even heated. “Glass is sexy and smart.”