Monday, 27 December 2010

Weather Outlook For Window Cleaners Looks Grim


Heavy snow is set to return to parts of the UK over the next two days, the Met Office has warned. The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for today, with showers likely to add to snow already lying in northern England, Scotland and Wales. Meteorologists expect the situation to deteriorate during the early hours of Tuesday morning, as a band of snow moves across the country. London, the West Midlands, Yorkshire, the south-east, north-west, north-east, east and south-west of England are facing the prospect of 10cm of snow, with 15cm expected on higher ground.
The snow and plummeting temperatures mean further disruption across the travel network is likely, with icy roads set to be a major problem all over the country. This month is on course to become the coldest December in the UK since records began, following on from the lowest ever Christmas Day temperature of -18.2C at Altnaharra in Scotland.

Storm brings blizzard conditions: A blizzard warning, which is issued when snow is accompanied by sustained winds or gusts over 35 mph for three hours, was in effect early Monday from Delaware to the far northern tip of Maine. The storm was expected to bring its heaviest snowfall in the pre-dawn hours Monday, sometimes dumping 2 to 4 inches an hour. A total of 12 to 16 inches was expected across nearly all of Rhode Island, Connecticut and eastern Massachusetts, though forecasters said winds of 50 mph could create much deeper snow drifts.
States of emergency were declared in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Maine and Massachusetts, where Gov. Deval Patrick urged people who did not have to be on the roads to stay home, to ensure their safety and that of work crews. Nonessential state workers were told to stay home Monday. In Boston, Mayor Thomas Menino declared a snow emergency that bans parking on all major streets, and the New England Aquarium bubble-wrapped its four 5-foot-tall penguin ice sculptures to protect them from the wind and snow.
More than 2,400 sanitation workers were working in 12-hour shifts to clear New York City's 6,000 miles of streets. Not that Mayor Michael Bloomberg wanted people to use them. New York City's John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports remain closed Monday. Boston's Logan International Airport was open _ but it was nearly abandoned, without flights coming in or out. Wind gusts of up to 80 mph knocked out power to thousands. Utilities reported about 30,000 customers were out in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, mostly on Cape Cod and south of Boston.

While for another window cleaner on the other side of the world - she is worrying about something completely different...

Cheap living and a lack of social outlets, it's no wonder Reedy Creek has the highest rate of singles on the Gold Coast. The suburb was announced as having the most "unattached" residents in a yearly report released by online dating site e-Harmony. The report was compiled using information from 120,000 singles who registered on the site in the past six months. Reedy Creek locals are limited when it comes to meeting a significant other, with only a neighbourhood shopping centre, a McDonalds, a church and some schools forming the town, the report says.
Single mum Eli Ferreira has called Reedy Creek home since her husband passed away seven years ago and said she wouldn't live anywhere else. "We moved from the northern Gold Coast to Reedy Creek when my husband was first diagnosed with cancer to be near the Robina Hospital," the 49-year-old window washer of "Arteli Window Washing" said. "Sadly he passed away as we moved in, but I never left. "I have a lot of single friends; it seems Reedy Creek is a popular place for older singles. "It is cheaper living than most other areas. There are schools nearby and good public transport. It's perfect for a single parent." Ms Ferreira said it was hard to meet people in the suburb. "I like living at Reedy Creek, it makes me feel safe. "It is a close-knit community here. We all look out for one another."

1 comment:

Riverside window cleaning said...

And I complain when it rains for a few days out here in California. I can't imagine cleaning windows in freezing weather :)

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