This photograph, taken years ago, demonstrates a three-step technique that helps me capture interesting photographs. I saw the cardboard cutout in a window and I was aware of a window cleaner at a different window. I positioned myself to frame on the window and then waited, anticipating the man to clean this window. I timed my shutter to catch the hand in a position that appears to cause the musician to lean out of the way.
Man dies after 10-story fall: SARANAC LAKE - A resident of the Dechantel Apartments on Church Street died Monday after falling from a 10th-story window. The man appears to have been cleaning windows when he fell around 2:11 p.m., said village police Chief Bruce Nason. He landed on the ground between the building and Helen Street. "Preliminary, it appears to be an accident, but we're continuing the investigation," Nason said. Police aren't releasing the man's name yet, pending notification of family members who don't live in the area.
Chorley former truant cleans up his act: A Chorley charity’s ‘soft soap’ approach to schooling has helped a timid truant turn into an award-winning would-be welder and part-time window cleaner. Alex Benyon, 16, terrified his mother by missing six months of his education by bunking off. Unsure about speaking up in class, Alex, of Pall Mall, became so reserved he pretended to go to school, doubled back and spent days on end in his bedroom. But the threat of legal action against his mum, Yvonne, plus being referred to George Street charity Rathbone, has put Alex, who subsidises his education by completing a window cleaning round, on the ladder to a successful career.
Alex is one of 19 students, who swapped possible exc-lusion from high school for a place on the LEAP (Lanc-ashire Education Alternative Provision) programme, being honoured at a special ceremony today. He said: “I’ve always been a quiet person and the classes were really big and it put me off. “The school started send-ing letters home and it made my mum really upset and stressed. When I found out she could get punished for me being off, I got really worried.” Teachers at Parklands High School sent him to the LEAP scheme at Rathbone.
Although he didn’t know anybody else on the course, Alex soon became confident enough to speak up. “The groups are much smaller and the tutors really care,” he said. Alex now wants to stay with the charity and begin an apprenticeship in welding and body work, and also squeezes in cleaning windows in the Chorley area between his studies. He will be honoured today as one of Rathbone Chorley’s ‘achievers of the year’ at an end-of-term celebration.
Window washers see gold at Virtua: Natural light is "restorative, healing, healthy," says Virtua CEO Richard Miller, about walls of glass in the new Voorhees hospital that frame a scenic, 125-acre campus. To Marty Tuzman -- the region's most in-demand window washer -- glass walls are the gift that keeps on giving. Looking up at eight stories, or 3,000 panes of glass at the new hospital, Tuzman sees years of opportunity. Two of his employees are suspended from skyhooks built into the roof specifically to anchor window washers. Like Spider-Man, the men make graceful arcs around a crescent-shaped exterior, sudsing and scraping and swiping clean one pane at a time. When the outside of the Route 73 building is done, they will drag their buckets into the lobby, hop an elevator and begin the same routine inside.
Initially, newly installed windows are smeared with putty, construction grit and labels from the manufacturer. The first cleaning, which is still in progress, will take about 2,000 man hours stretched over five weeks. The cost? $50,000. "More and more hospitals are going with a lot of glass these days," said Tuzman, CEO of Jenkintown Building Services, Pennsylvania company with 100 employees that has washed windows for Cooper University Hospital in Camden, Children's Hospital and the Cira Center in Philadelphia, Atlantic Care Medical Center in Vineland and the Revel casino in Atlantic City.
Payment for the first, heavy-duty cleaning is a bonus compared with the steady income that will come from the annual maintenance contract with Virtua, which has yet to be awarded. How much that's worth depends on the scope and frequency of the work, which has not yet been determined at Virtua. "Architects and health care people are finding light-filled rooms to be very therapeutic," Tuzman explained. "Seeing the outside makes patients feel less insolated. Glass is also anti-microbial, therefore more sanitary than wood or sheetrock." Improvements in glass fabrication have eliminated some of the old objections to it as a building material.
Factory-ordered glass at Virtua is all double-paned and treated to reduce noise, glare, energy loss and harmful ultra-violet light. Berkowitz Glass Co. of Pedricktown manufactured, labeled, crated and delivered all 3,000 panes. Fabricators hire glazers to install. The general contractor -- in this case the global company Turner Construction -- hires the window washers. Safety is a major concern for Tuzman. So is finding responsible people willing to scale tall buildings with a bucket and brush. "We do a lot of consulting with architects," he said. "If a client wants a curtain of glass, the design must support safe cleaning that can be done at a reasonable cost. "Nothing worse than a whole lot of dirty glass and no plan."
Cintas growth tied to its success beyond uniforms: Years after Cintas ditched its tag line “The Uniform People,” it’s still best known as a supplier of rented uniforms. But more and more of its business is coming from other services. Its latest major push is carpet and tile cleaning services, which it launched nationally last year and is now in 76 markets. Also last year, the company acquired New York-based Cleanway, which provides disaster-response cleaning services, window washing, and other services for business facilities.
How white and Asian residents have moved on ten years after riots destroyed their community - People living on Roundthorn Road in Glodwick where the riot began a decade ago today explain how they feel about their neighbourhood. "It was hard not to get involved, which is why the groups got so large. "This was the big bang. It needed to happen to bring everything which was boiling underneath to the surface. "Now things are lot more harmonious. You will always have racism, but it doesn’t have the impact any more. We all have too many other things to worry about. "The minority spoilt it for the majority. It was down to immaturity and ignorance." Window cleaner Charlie Briggs, 31, said: "I get a real sense of community here. There’s no aggro or problems, but I accept that there are some underlying issues. "What you need to do is bring children together from an early age."
Six hour ordeal of Clitheroe woman locked in house: A 19 year old Clitheroe man kept his estranged partner locked in her house for nearly six hours as he repeatedly quizzed her about a new relationship. His victim’s ordeal came to an end when he threw a cold cup of coffee over her and her baby and then left the house – locking the door. And she had to call to a passing window cleaner for help because O’Neill had taken her mobile phone. Andrew Church-Taylor, defending, said as soon as he threw the coffee and the baby started to cry O’Neill realised what he was doing and that he was wrong. “Miss Townsend didn’t call the police when she borrowed the window cleaner’s phone, she called her grandmother It was my client who got the police involved.”
Scientists have released photographs of what they believe are volcanic glass particles from Iceland which fell on Scotland this week. The samples were taken from a car windscreen in Aberdeen and analysed at the city's James Hutton Institute. The images of the tiny particles were taken using a scanning electron microscope. Scientists said it was ‘highly likely’ the glass particles, which are part of the ash constituents, came from the Grimsvotn volcano which started erupting on Saturday. Commercial glass is created by heating silica, or sand, to an extremely high temperature. Sand scorched by lava could do the same. The largest of the particles found is 0.03mm across, with the smallest measuring just 0.002mm wide. The ash cloud left hundreds of passengers facing travel misery earlier this week when flights were cancelled as it drifted into Scottish airspace. Now however, the eruption has subsided and the volcano is producing mostly steam rather than ash and should calm down within a few days, experts say.
All-Bermudian Cleaning Co takes on bigger rivals: The recession has taken its toll on businesses across Bermuda in recent months, but for one new cleaning company it has provided the perfect opportunity to find a niche in the market. The Cleaning Company Ltd, which was started by chief operations officer Pandora Moore and is 100 percent Bermudian, has been going from strength to strength since its was launched three months ago. As the company expands it plans to bid for larger contracts and go head-to-head with the bigger and more established competitors. The company covers every job from residential, commercial/industrial and office cleaning and facilities management and pre-sale property presentation and staging and special event presentation and clean-up to tenant turnover cleaning, floor re-finishing, steam cleaning and property management/maintenance/concierge services. The ten-strong cleaning crew will also provide appliance, window, carpet and steam cleaning, tile and grout scrubbing and hard floor cleaning/waxing services.
When Antonio Ribeiro found himself with two restless children in a Portuguese beach town, he did what any desperate parent would do: He went for the leaflet rack in the hotel lobby. There he found a brochure advertising something called KidZania - a sprawling indoor theme park, attached to a Lisbon mall, where children could pretend to be nurses, dentists, runway models, photographers, radio announcers, window cleaners and countless other professions. And so Ribeiro ventured to KidZania with his 4-year-old twin girls. They burped fake babies in a pretend maternity ward. At a miniature dentist's office, they examined a dummy's teeth. They had a rollicking good time. "The whole concept - to play being an adult - seemed so attractive," Ribeiro says. This role-playing Xanadu is the brainchild of a childless 47-year-old former private equity guru. An unlikely pioneer of the "edutainment" business, Xavier López Ancona launched KidZania after managing bottling companies and airport suppliers for GE Capital. When a friend asked him to invest in a small chain of day care centers - where kids would play in make-believe supermarkets, banks, and hospitals - he had an epiphany. "That's where the spark started," López recalls. "Nobody owns role-playing." At least until now. In 1999, López opened the first KidZania in the Santa Fe neighborhood of his native Mexico City.
Cheryl Stulpin figured that if her grandfather, Julius Vitale, could spend more than 40 years as a Scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America, the least she could do was give 10 minutes to support Scouting by playing Spiderman on Friday. OK, it wasn't really some superhero gig. But rappelling some 300 feet down the side of the First Federal Plaza had that look. Not to mention a feeling of terror. "Going over the edge was very, very scary," she admitted. Stulpin, 49, and nearly four dozen other thrill-seekers took part in 21 Stories for Scouts, the second annual rappelling fundraiser in downtown Rochester. Except the adventure really wasn't all that dangerous. "As crazy as it sounds, it's tame," said Chris Hill, co-owner of the building and a two-time participant in the event. "It's kind of freaky, it's kind of crazy, but it's beyond safe. The eyehooks (that hold the rappelling apparatus) are weighted for 5,000 pounds. They're the same eyehooks we use for our window-washers."
Warning after two distraction burglaries in Cardiff: Police in Cardiff are investigating burglars, who tricked two elderly people in distraction thefts only minutes apart. It is thought the same offenders are responsible for the incidents in the Whitchurch and Birchgrove areas. The first was at Pantbach Road at about 1900 BST Saturday at the home of a 93-year-old woman, the second shortly after in Clas Illtyd. The men posed firstly as water workers, then as window cleaners.
In the first incident, a slim, clean-shaven man wearing a white shirt called at the home of the 93 year old woman claiming to be working at a nearby house and asked to check her water supply. She was asked to flush her toilet several times, but the man left with jewellery, cutlery and her purse. He is described as being in his mid 20s, about 5ft 6ins tall, and had an accent described as not Welsh. In the second incident, two men claimed to be collecting money for window cleaning and followed the 83-year-old male occupier into his house, stealing his wallet. They left in a dark car described as "expensive-looking and low". Both men were white, in their 20s and wearing dark clothing. One was around 6ft tall, the other about 5ft 6-8ins. Also here.
Window Cleaner Banned From Glasgow: A judge has proved that the law can be an ass after he was forced to ban a criminal from Glasgow knowing it was 'not a real punishment'. Sitting at Gloucester crown court - 500 miles away from the Scottish city - Judge Jamie Tabor QC (pictured) sentenced Ricky Priday insisting 'I have nothing against Glasgow. It is a fine town'. Even though Judge Tabor accepted that Priday genuinely forgot a drug treatment appointment, a bizarre quirk of the law means as he breached a court order the criminal had to be banned from somewhere in the UK. It is not the first British town or city that the defendant has been banned from, as at a previous sentencing he was barred from Blackburn, Lancashire, which was also picked at random. At the time Priday asked the judge to be tougher on him by banning him from somewhere he was more likely to go to, but the plea was refused. Priday told the judge he had forgotten about the supervision appointment and had been working as a window cleaner in Cardiff on the day of the IDAP session. Judge Tabor said he did not want to set Priday up to fail again as he was making good progress so he would prohibit him from going somewhere he did not intend to visit anyway - hence the Glasgow prohibition order. He ordered him to pay £50 in costs.
Roland Grimard, suspected of trying to murder his wife in their Candia home on March 1st, was denied bail by a Rockingham County Judge after it was revealed Grimard "coached" his wife on what to say during a phone call. After the phone call two weeks ago Sherry Grimard submitted a letter to Judge John Lewis implicating herself as the aggressor in the attack saying her husband never tried to drown her in their kitchen sink on March 1st, and instead claimed she sprayed Roland with window cleaner and he defended himself. The Judge chastised Grimard in his ruling last week and issued the no bail ruling as part of a preventative detention measure in Rockingham Superior Court. Judge Lewis went on to say he believes Grimard poses a serious threat to his wife Sherry, and may attack her again if freed on bail.
Now those in the Hendricks County, Indiana and surrounding area have another option to doing it themselves. Window Genie®, a national franchisor of window cleaning and other home services, has granted a new franchise territory to Karen and Mike Angle, who run their franchise from their Guilford, Indiana home. Karen and Mike’s franchise services Avon, Brownsburg, Danville, Plainfield, Mooresville, Camby, and all of Hendricks County, Indiana.
Mike Angle left the stress of his position as a facilities manager for an aviation repair company to start their Window Genie franchise in February. Karen and Mike felt a Window Genie franchise was something they could do together. “The best thing about Window Genie has been their professionalism, integrity, commitment to service and commitment to the community,” explained Karen Angle. For Mike, said Karen, “being his own boss and being able to really service the clients has been great. He’s his old self again.”
“The Angles are a great addition to the Window Genie franchise,” said Richard Nonelle, President of Window Genie®. “Their dedication to providing the best service possible and learning the Window Genie system, as well as their positive attitude, has given them a solid start in their business.” Residents should keep their eyes out for the big, purple GENIEMOBILE™ the Angles and their crew drive around the area. Wrapped in purple with lighting, featuring the giant “Window Genie,” they are definitely an attention-grabbing way to advertise their business.
CEO Tony Valle, who was a student painter himself and became College Pro franchise owner, understands how important it is to be safe while on the job. While trying to find ways to address the company's concern for its franchise managers, he came up with the idea of texting safety tips every Monday morning all through summer. The program is a continuation of the extensive College Pro Painters Safety training which the students are taught before they go on a job site.
In a release, Tony Valle said, "To me, it's a natural evolution in the company's constant push to communicate the importance of safety on the job. Given the demographics of the young people we work with, texting seems the most effective way to get our message across and stress the importance of adhering to job-site safety measures. Along with our student managers and painters doing a great job for our customers, safety is the company's number one concern."
Texting provides an instant form of communication which is popular among young people. Valle further stated, "And since we are a company centered around youth, we feel that promoting our message through texting is a good way to stay in touch and keep these young people safe."
College Pro is a North American student painting and window cleaning company which has been in business for 40 years.
The Water-Powered Window-Climbing robot: Scientists at Zhejiang University in China have developed a similar Bernoulli-effect system, this one using pressurized water to drive the more conventional sucker feet on a gecko-inspired climbing robot. Because of its design, it's slightly more suited to climbing up glass, but that's good enough for implementations like a spy bot, firefighter, or a window-washer bot. Plus this machine is entirely powered by water, with clever hydraulics diverting the high-pressure flow into hydraulic rams that help it "walk".
This robot does windows, and runs on water: There’s nothing I like more than reporting on robots on this blog, and this one has is certainly has something unusual on two fronts. First, it is can climb up walls, provided they are made of glass. It has suction cups, and they could take away all window washing jobs permanently. No more of those guys hanging off the sides of tall buildings. Unfortunately, the suction cups won’t keep the robot affixed to the side of a glass building, not by themselves anyway. Here’s where it gets interesting. This robot has a vacuum suction that is generated by water. Yes, this robot can run on water. Not only that, the excess water is squirted out, which will help wash the windows.
Talk about killing two birds with one stone! Another thing that makes this robot nifty is that it is modeled after a gecko. Too bad it does require a flexible pipe in order to work, but the water tank is only so large, really. Well, this water-powered robo gecko is under development from researchers at Zhejiang University in China, and there is no word if this will ever go past the experimental stage. So if you work on the top of a tall building, and you see a robotic gecko washing your window, do not be alarmed. Video here.
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