More Window Cleaning News

Plea for help: Chris Morris of "Reflection Window Cleaning" is calling out for donations no matter how small for his partner participating in a 10 mile midnight walk in aid of a local hospice that his step daughter Danielle goes too. The Chestnut Tree House serves when a child develops a life-limiting illness. Not just for the child but for their loved ones as well. The aim at Chestnut Tree House is to provide the care and support these families so desperately need, whether practical, physical or emotional. If you can help - any amount will do - please consider in helping a fellow window cleaner out. The target has been reached, but more would be greatly appreciated. As an incentive a free 14" & 18" Wagtail Whirlwind will be given away in a lottery for donators. Please go here to donate.
Read more from Chris here.

Protecting Those Who Are Cleaning Our Windows: How often do you look up and marvel at those people who go up the skyscrapers and clean the windows? I am fascinated to watch when I happen to be on the inside and suddenly the platform comes down and they go to work. Think about the wind and the cold up there. It makes sense that we should all also be concerned about their safety. The Minnesota legislature was looking at HF 3824. Basically, to create a task force looking at making things safer. As Workday Minnesota reported:
The taskforce will develop training, education, and licenser standards for both companies and workers while coordinating any initiatives with OSHA regulations. "Window cleaners need to have the equipment and training to do their jobs safely. In the past two years three workers have lost their lives. We must not allow one more death to occur," said Dino Crandall, a window cleaner and member of SEIU Local 26.
In the past three years, three workers have been killed in the Twin Cities. The SEIU rally about the issue is worth watching and learning from. Hopefully, by continuing to shine a light on the issue, we will see better protections for these workers. It is really quite a spectacular job to observe.

Part time business gets busy! Nice! My father, Jim Gamage Sr., has been cleaning windows for the last few years for a few ladies and gents at Highland Park in Camden. He has just recently expanded somewhat and has picked up numerous window cleaning jobs plus offering some inside houshold cleaning as well. His number is 594-2476 or 706-6114. Call him up. He'll clean your windows, skylights, vehicle or inside of your house. Ask him about his references. He has great references. All his customers are very happy. In fact they keep getting him to do other things. Dependable, reliable, honest and trustworthy. What more could you ask for? His tagline says it all. "You can SEE the difference" Give him a call anytime.

Story of the day: "Imagining LeBron James Through the Lens of an Edward Hopper Painting" by Bryan Harvey. LeBron James just spent the last six hours altering his destiny, crossing out every appointment and meeting on his calendar from now until July, making each box of the week into a transparent window, as if time were now transparent and of little consequence–only, how can the moments of our lives be of little consequence? Read more...

But running a supermarket with volunteers, however keen, is just not the same as having an army of paid workers, and Potts Dawson, who has opened two London restaurants, knows it. "Hmm," he says, as I rather ineffectually start to clean a window. "I always say that a volunteer takes about three times as long as a professional will to manage a job." I stand back from the window and survey a large area of smears.

Suicide jumper kills passer-by: A suicide resulted in another death when a woman who jumped from a tall building landed on a cleaning lady below. Josefina Venizela jumped from the window of the 12th floor of a building in northern Chile. She landed on 56-year-old Luisa Almendares, who happened to be taking out the rubbish in the patio of the building next door. The mother of four was just 40 minutes from finishing her shift. Police say both women died instantly.

A lovesick thug besotted with an older woman murdered a man who joked with her about having sex. Blair Campbell, 17, knifed window cleaner John Miller (pictured) 13 times after the dad held up a Viagra tablet and said he'd have all-night sex with Lisa Hunter, 24. The monster's face "turned bright red" after he heard the quip and he rushed home to grab a large kitchen knife, a court heard. After returning he sneaked up behind dad-of-two John, 37, and launched the frenzied attack in front of his pals. Campbell plunged the blade through John's skull. Another blow fatally severed the main blood vessel coming from John's heart. Campbell then calmly walked home and told his dad: "I've just stabbed somebody." He added: "You can expect the police coming." Yesterday killer Campbell was jailed for at least 12 years for the "wicked" crime.

Cleaning co. exec. buys in University City: Nathan J. Merrick and his wife, Catherine, bought a two-bedroom, 1.5-bath home at 7600 Delmar Blvd. in University City from Family Fleming Trust for $298,900 on May 4. The 1,671-square-foot home was built in 1926 in University City Central. It is located in the Delmar Heights subdivision. Mr. Merrick is vice president of franchise development at Fish Window Cleaning Services Inc., a St. Louis-based window cleaning company. He joined the company in May 2001 as a staff member in the operations department and has served as its Northeastern district manager. He earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Missouri Baptist University. Ms. Merrick is a legal assistant at Carey and Danis LLC in Clayton. She holds a B.A. in French from Truman State University. According to BlockShopper.com, there have been 647 home sales in University City during the past 12 months, with a median sales price of $140,000.

Don Marsh to run for City Commission seat: Don Marsh, the conservative whose bid to become Gainesville's mayor came up 42 votes short this spring, signed up this week to run for an at-large City Commission seat next year. Soon after losing the mayoral contest, Marsh said he would be going after an at-large or District 2 seat in April 2011. On Friday he said he decided to run for what he considers the more difficult contest, calling the District 2 race - in which Lauren Poe would be the incumbent - "easy pickins." "I just got done with an at-large race," he said. "I darn near won." While he's never held public office, Marsh, 51, a registered Republican who runs a window-cleaning business, will be running his third political campaign.
In 2002, he ran for an Alachua County Commission seat, getting 33.67 percent of the vote in a loss to Cynthia Chestnut, a Democrat. In March, he finished second in the mayoral race to city Commissioner Craig Lowe, and a month later, in the runoff election, he lost by a handful of votes. For now, Marsh is the only candidate signed up to contend for the at-large seat now held by Thomas Hawkins, a registered Democrat. On Friday, Hawkins said that he intends to run for re-election. But, Hawkins added, "I'm not ready to start campaigning yet." Hawkins said Marsh's decision to enter the race might force him to sign up early so he can start fundraising. Marsh said fundraising was a big reason he signed up so early, some nine months before the election.
When he ran for mayor, Marsh only had 90 days to put together his campaign, he said, so now he will have time to get organized. While he said running against Poe might be a less daunting task, he thinks he can take down Hawkins. This year he said there were plenty of people who told him he had no chance to win. "I didn't buy any of it," Marsh said. "I still don't buy it."