Window Cleaning News

Missouri — Tuesday was so hot & sticky it wrapped around you and held you in a big, sweaty hug. The heat intensified the relief of walking into an air-conditioned building. Naymon Holliman had to add a coat to his ensemble of long pants and work boots before cleaning the windows around the ice rink at the Washington Park Ice Arena in Jefferson City, the ones right along the ice that keep pucks from flying into someone's face.

The UK's Strongest Man competition: That is what happened when window-cleaner Paul Wood lifted the title for the second time in a row at Whitstable Rugby Club, Chestfield, on Sunday. More than 500 fans watched weight-lifter Paul, 39, battle through eight rounds to beat 10 other strongmen and clinch the title in front of a home crowd. Paul, who lives in Cornwallis Circle, managed the feat while sporting a natty pleated skirt. Afterwards he insisted. "It's not a skirt, it's a kilt. "For years, men have worn kilts as warriors. I look on these contests as going into battle. "Besides, it makes me feel good, gives me an edge and the crowd seems to like it."
Paul, a competition veteran, trains at The Cell gym in Faversham, and praised the other competitors. He said: "The contestants were better this year. They all put me under pressure. "I was very nervous before the first challenge, but once I won it I enjoyed the rest of the day."
However, there was drama when Mark Clegg from Manchester – Paul's closest rival – burst his biceps trying to flip a lorry tyre and had to be rushed to hospital. Paul said: "I was sorry to hear about Mark but it's part and parcel of the contest. We are all humans pushing our bodies to the limit. Sometimes things break – it's an occupational hazard." Paul is now fighting against the clock to be fit enough to enter the World Strongman finals in South Africa in six weeks time. Pictured - Paul Woods winner above & Paul flipping a car.

Terrified residents watched in horror as a van exploded in flames in a quiet city cul-de-sac. A woman and her daughter were forced to scramble over their garden wall to escape the blaze outside their property in Edgebaston Mead, near Woodwater Lane in St Loyes. And a series of loud explosions shook residents as the vehicle was engulfed in fire. Witnesses described seeing plumes of black smoke filling the street as people rushed to contact the emergency services. Firefighters feared the blaze would spread to nearby houses and residents in the cul-de-sac told the Echo the heat from the fire was so intense that the paint on cars parked nearby started to melt. Workers were fitting cavity wall insulation when their two-and-a-half-tonne van, which was parked on the driveway outside the house, exploded.
The owner of the property, Geraldine McDonagh, a midwife, described the incident as "absolutely terrifying". "We were in the house when I saw the fire from the window," she said. "We couldn't go out the front as the van was parked outside and all I could see was flames. I was absolutely terrified. We went out to the back garden and climbed up on to the rabbit hutch and on to the shed. "I shouted for my neighbour and luckily the window cleaner was there so he helped us down on his ladder. My legs are all grazed from climbing up to the wall. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue control centre received around 17 calls about the incident, which happened at around 10.30am yesterday.

A North East industrial cleaning business, which secured the backing of TV Dragon, Duncan Bannatyne, has won a major contract with private healthcare firm BUPA. UK Commercial Cleaning Services (UKCC) has been awarded the three-year contract to provide services to 304 Bupa care homes across England, Wales and Scotland, beating a large number of other firms from the commercial cleaning sector. It is the latest success for the Washington-based firm, which won £100,000 backing on BBC TV’s Dragons’ Den. Tony Earnshaw, 26, started the business by buying a window cleaning round for £300 when he was 19, turning it into a company with a turnover of more than £1.5m. He said: “We are really looking forward to working alongside BUPA over the next few years. Cleanliness is important in any public setting, but it is a paramount necessity for a respected company such as Bupa. “We pride ourselves on giving the best customer service and working to the highest standards. “I believe this is why we won the contract.” Gary Reed, head of property finance at BUPA Care Services, said “We are committed to ensuring our homes are as clean and well presented as our residents and relatives expect. UK Commercial Cleaning Services demonstrated a professional approach and the ability to cope with our extensive, nationwide portfolio of homes.”

A house, job, healthy body and loving family — these are all things Martin Martinez has. But Martinez spends a great deal of time planning how he can help those without these things. During the community's Independence Day celebration at Palm Springs Stadium, Martinez fed more than 300 people tacos and water which he provided with his own money. “The economy is real hard, and I remember coming to an event one time and I didn't have sufficient money to buy my kids what they needed,” Martinez said. “So I wanted to make sure that no one else had to experience that.” Martinez lends a hand to anyone in need, from the homeless to elderly residents who need rides to their doctor appointments, to kids in need of clothing and school supplies. “I would love to have a van so that I can get the elderly to their appointments and to the store,” he said.
Martinez, who owns a window cleaning company and clothing line, has gotten approval from some of his clients to place boxes in their establishments for donations of shoes, clothing and book bags for kids in school. Boxes will be placed at K-9 Country Club, Palm Liquor, Palm Canyon Tobacco Shop and Calzones Restaurant. Homelessness is another issue that concerns Martinez, who said he has a brother who's homeless because of substance abuse. “It is the drugs that keep him (homeless) and it is his choice to be like this,” Martinez said. “I can't force him to change. He has to want to do it.” Each day Martinez makes the trip out to Sunrise Park to talk to his brother and other homeless people who hang out there. “I come out here and I talk to them. I write everything down about them,” Martinez said. “I keep a profile on each person.”

Brief mention opens a new window on cycling pair: A fleeting mention of Ryde’s distinctive window-cleaning brothers from the Fifties – who got about on bikes with a ladder carried between them - got Tony Lambert writing from Princes Risborough. He said: "I believe their name was either Langdon or Langridge, because I remember they had a sign on their bikes. "They were one of the most familiar sights in Ryde during the Fifties, and when I used to walk to work early in the morning they were always about. "They must have cleaned most of the shop windows in the High Street and Union Street in their time." Well, I can inform Tony their name was indeed Langridge, because the son of one of them – Peter – wrote to tell me. He said: "They were my dad (Tom) and my uncle (Fred). Fred was the older one with a parting through the middle and my father was the one with a parting on the side!"

Oh God! She’s on a crane! In a very literal example of life imitating art, Kelly Brook spent an overcast afternoon dressed in a snazzy pair of Reeboks, standing directly in front of a massive poster of Kelly Brook in a snazzy pair of Reeboks. Anyway, Kelly spent probably around an hour or so voguing for a shaky cameraman - managing to squeeze in a couple of classic “over the shoulder, look at my bum” shots, and at one point she even dared to climb a window cleaner’s crane!

Ding Dong. Times two: Two reasons why officials want to get an application available online soon for residents to sign up for the borough's "Do Not Knock" registry were standing at the mayor's doorstep this weekend — a pair of salespeople who rang his doorbell. "On Saturday afternoon, I was trying to cook and there were two people at the door within an hour and a half," said Mayor Pasquale "Pat" Menna. "One was selling window cleaner and the other selling computer rags." As soon as today or Thursday, Menna expects to have online applications up on the borough website for residents to sign up for the newly created registry that works the same as the national "Do Not Call" telemarketer list. Residents also can fill out an application at police headquarters, in the municipal building at 90 Monmouth St. Borough officials plan to follow the example of Woodbridge, which offers a sticker to warn door-to-door salespeople that the home is on the local "Do Not Knock" registry, Menna said.
Woodbridge, which offers a sticker to warn door-to-door salespeople that the home is on the local "Do Not Knock" registry, Menna said. "We'll duplicate that and have a sticker," Menna said. "We're getting quotes and hope to have them within a week." Last week, Menna warned the council about numerous applications the borough has received for door-to-door sales permits and asked officials to step up an effort to allow residents to apply for the registry online. The two salespeople who rang his bell did not have permits, he said. The law, which was approved in May, does not affect nonprofits or political candidates, so as not to prompt a constitutional challenge on free speech issues.
The list would contain only street addresses and wouldn't identify residents by name, age or gender, Menna said. Salespeople and other door-to-door solicitors, who already are required to register with police, would be given a list of addresses where they're not allowed to ring the doorbell. A similar law in South Plainfield was introduced in April as a response to a home invasion robbery this winter in which robbers posed as snow shovelers. "We want to provide a reasonable safety net for individuals living by themselves, who are concerned about safety," Menna said. "They're entitled to a reasonable degree of privacy."

Drug man an 'idiot' - A dad who tried and failed to grow cannabis in his wardrobe at the family home has been branded an "idiot" by a judge at Doncaster Crown Court. Paul Anthony Meakin was handed a community sentence but was warned it was his last chance and if he offended again he would go to the prison "with the blessing of the community". Mr Outhwaite said Meakin had convictions for possession of cannabis at the same address in 2006 and 2007. There had been other searches of the property when cannabis was found. The window cleaner was also in breach of a suspended prison sentence for a separate matter of affray last year. Defence counsel Richard Sheldon said Meakin had put his liberty and home in jeopardy because of the suspended sentence.

A heroin user who was funding his habit by selling the drug has been jailed for 18 months. Derek Gething turned to dealing after he lost his job as a roofer because of his addiction to the class-A drug. But Gething, 30, was caught with dozens of wraps of the drug stored in a film canister when police raided his house last year. Although he denied he was dealing in heroin, a judge at Swindon Crown Court did not believe him and said the wraps were for commercial supply. Since the arrest he said Gething had stopped using drugs and was at home living with his father, sister and step mother and worked cleaning windows.

Theft from 99p store ends with £100 fine: A recovering drug addict discovered that shoplifting from a 99p store was rather more expensive than actually buying from there after he was fined £50 for stealing a tin of dog food. Jonathan Peacock, 36, was seen putting items into his bag at the 99p Store in Union Street, Aldershot, on July 19, magistrates heard last Thursday (July 29).
Police were called using the town centre traders’ radio system as Peacock headed off to the Iceland supermarket in Victoria Road, prosecutor Ghislaine Watson-Hopkinson said. Two police community support officers stopped Peacock outside Iceland, but as they have no powers of arrest they had to call for back-up from a police officer. Searching his bag, the officers found items from Iceland and dog food from the 99p store, none of which he had paid for, the court was told. While currently out of work and on incapacity benefits, Peacock had previously worked as a window cleaner and was looking to find employment in the near future, the solicitor said. He had been a heroin addict but was now on a doctor’s prescription for methadone, a heroin substitute. Mr Pigott added that the latest thefts had not been drug-related.


The "Glass Delusion Exhibition" on show at the National Glass Centre in Sunderland, looks at glass, balance & obsession & runs till the 3rd October 2010. The exhibition title is inspired by a psychiatric disorder, documented in the middle ages, where sufferers imagined parts of their bodies to have turned into glass.