Window Cleaning News

New water fed pole from Aquatec - Peter Fogwill releases his new 20 foot pole for domestic window cleaners. A clampless pole although the picture may lead people to believe there are clamps. Details from Peter on his website, the pole is hot off the press, so the first few are in short supply. Order now for a 10% discount on the normal retail price.

Clamped: Window cleaner Allan Dixon

Skipton window cleaner's dismay as clampers strike in Devonshire Place: Window cleaner Allan Dixon has been left dismayed and disappointed at his treatment by wheel clampers who struck as he finished work. Mr Dixon, 64, of Sharphaw Avenue, Skipton, had just parked his car in the town’s Devonshire Place car park to pick up his ladders when he turned round to find the device being fitted. Despite his explanation that he had been away only seconds to retrieve his ladders, he was told he must pay £100 to free the clamp. Mr Dixon, a window cleaner in Skipton for the past 30 years, said:”I tried to explain that I was a local trader going about my business and not somebody trying to avoid a parking fee for hours, but they said they couldn’t take the clamp off because it was now in the system. “I wasn’t angry, just so disappointed to be treated like that without any understanding of what I was doing. And I thought they were very aggressive in their approach, but not threatening.”
Mr Dixon said he was well aware that Carstoppers operated in Devonshire Place because of the signs. “What I did that day was park my car in Brookside and carry my ladders. On completion of the work I walked back for my car, drove it round to Devonshire Place and left the ignition running and hazard lights on. “I walked for my ladders and as I returned I saw them putting on the clamp. I couldn’t believe it – I had been away hardly any time.” He had to pay out £100 in cash and was told if he was unable to find the money within the hour, the release charge would go up by £150. Mr Dixon has written a formal letter to Carstoppers outlining his side of the incident and hoping for a refund. A spokesman for Carstoppers said the car was parked when the men arrived and Mr Dixon appeared several minutes later. The spokesman said the engine was not ticking over. The company said it had received calls from Superdrug about people parking in the area and leaving vehicles for some time.

Stage Two Water Conservation Implemented In Houston: Houston's mayor has followed through on last week's notice that she would be ordering mandatory water conservation measures. Mayor Annise Parker says because of persistent drought conditions and continuously decreasing water levels in Lake Houston, Stage Two water conservation measures are being implemented. That means water customers are to limit lawn watering to after 8 in the evening and before 10 in the morning — and no more than two days per week. Watering for even-numbered addresses is limited to Sundays and Thursdays, and odd-numbered addresses can water only on Saturdays and Wednesdays. Mayor Parker says the city is beginning with warnings and an informational campaign, but citations will follow for those who fail to comply. Parker says the city will suspend window-washing or power-washing, and the cleaning of city vehicles will be discontinued, except for health, safety or critical maintenance. The city is also recommending people limit showers to five minutes or less, wash only full loads of dishes or clothes and refrain from filling, refilling or adding more water to any indoor or outdoor swimming pool, spa or whirlpool.

Window cleaners steal jewellery box: Detectives are hunting two window cleaners who plundered a jewellery box from a country home. The men - believed to be in their late 20s - tricked their way into a house in Songbird Close, Shinfield, between 11-11.30am on Tuesday [9] when one of the men claimed he wanted to use the toilet after cleaning windows there. Both are white and of average height and build and one of the men spoke with an eastern European accent. Witnesses should contact Detective Constable Emma Wright on 0845 850 5505 or call Crimstoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Window Cleaning Hero receives award (Blast from the past): At a ceremony in Police Headquarters, Dingwall, Mrs Elizabeth Fairrie, wife of Lt Col Angus Fairrie, Queen's Own Highlanders (retired), Craighill, North Kessock, was presented with the Royal, Humane Society's Testimonial on Parchment for the Saving of Life, and Mr Alexander Hendry, a self-employed window cleaner, High Street, Fortrose, received the Society's Commendation on Vellum. The citation reads: On 5th September, 1988, Alexander Hendry hearing cries for help summoned assistance from Elizabeth Fairrie, who was nearby. Together they searched the shore of the Beauly Firth and spotted a person in the water 50 yards from the shore. They called the emergency services and then entered the water wading out until Mrs Fairie, who was up to her neck in water managed to grasp the victim and tow him towards the shore, where Mr Hendry, a non-swimmer, was up to his waist in water. Both brought the man to the shore and he was taken to Raigmore Hospital. As there was a strong flowing current at this point, and the victim was injured and unable to reach safety on his own, it is without doubt the action taken by Elizabeth Fairrie and Alexander Hendry which saved his life." In congratulating the recipients, Superintendent Neil Drummond, Northern Constabulary, explained that the awards were not made lightly. This was a case where life was undoubtedly saved by two people who acted in the correct manner and without thought of their personal safety.

H.A.W.C. (Hawaiian Association of Window Cleaners) - Non-profit organisation · Honolulu, Hawaii - HAWC Hawaiian Association of Window Cleaners is a non profit organization were local window cleaners come together and either share, demostrate, learn or teach the latest innovations, techniques and safety issues in window cleaning abroad. Membership is free.Local window cleaners are welcome to join. Meetings are once a month.

John Surtees may well shine in the rain - The heavens forbid, but should it pour down with rain on James Surtees’ debut in The Journal Champion of Champions it can only be a good thing for the 2011 Tyneside club champion. The 19-year-old son of a top-flight amateur golfer, John Surtees, James has won the Tyneside title twice in his teens, the first time when he was a 16-year-old. “Each time it poured down with rain,” said James, “In fact the first time it was so bad, they only kept on playing because they couldn’t find the klaxon! “It was not a lot better this year, but the greenkeeping staff kept working wonders with their squeegies on the greens and somehow they kept play going.” James, who works for the family business of Ryton Window Cleaning, has pedigree in the sport. Dad John, seven times club champion, was a beaten finalist in the Portuguese Amateur in the late 1980s, landing a semi-final triumph over Holland’s Rolf Muntz, who went on to turn pro and become a European Tour winner.

Union bill would help working families - With California's unemployment rate hovering near 12 percent, The Bee's defense of cutthroat contractors – whose business practices put hard-working janitors, security guards and window washers in a constant state of job insecurity – is unfathomable. Everyone who works hard deserves to live in dignity. But property service contractors imagine the only way to make profits is to create poverty. Racing to undercut competitors means contracts can change hands almost overnight. Workers are often the last to find out they've lost their jobs. Contractors didn't cause the recession, but their employment practices have aggravated it. These contractors have created a new model of temporary work that puts working families on the knife's edge of imminent catastrophe. If our leaders do not act, contractors will continue to hurt working families, undermine the embattled middle class and be an obstacle for renewed prosperity for all. California's Legislature has a chance to bring a modicum of economic security to property service workers like Nadira Mambuki by passing Assembly Bill 350.

AB 350 does not give the union or anyone else the right to decide whom the businesses employ; the final say remains with employers, as it should. In fact, the California Supreme Court has ruled that bills like this do not interfere with businesses and workers' legal rights. Rather, AB 350 provides a stable transition period that protects these hard-working people and their families. The same transition protections have been in place for a decade for janitors, and employers cannot produce a single example of a real problem. Instead, AB 350 provides notice to property service workers and gives them 60 days to prove themselves to the new boss or to seek a new job. This is a modest but important step toward an economy that works for working families, and legislators should embrace it.

Mischa Kuball, public preposition No. 3/swing stage, showing in Toronto, Canada.

Conceptual Light Installation, Performance Art: Known for his light installations that take on a social hue, Kuball transforms the Eberhard Zeidler skyscraper into a light-activated performance work utilizing a swing stage operated by professional trades-people. The façade, which by day dons an outer skin of endless window squares on its rectangular frame, is reconfigured at night into gleaming and blinking vertical stripes of light in keeping with the rhythm of the simple act of cleaning a window. The activation strengthens the connection between the outside of the building, the body of space located inside, the people who keep our cities running in the dark of the night and resembles cinematographic shutter movements in the urban environment. Public preposition No. 3/swing stage is part of an ongoing series of projects. Mischa Kuball is the Chair of Media Art at the Academy of Design in Cologne.  His explorations of architectural and spatial structures began in 1980 and have expanded into public art projects. Kuball works conceptually with light and in unique ways links it to social and political statements.  Artificial light is a preferred technological medium and he works with its physical properties within the context of the urban night in city streets and the darkness of interiors to make connections visible by means of illumination.

Windoodles: Plenty of creative minds around the world began taking up their markers and creating their own doodles once Miller created a Tumblr page dedicated to these cool scenes. The drawings are not simple vandalism, but work that really takes into consideration perspective, scenery, and creative use of the environment. Window plants become jungles, skyscrapers become stomping grounds for giant beasts, and rainy days can become melancholy scenes for fictional doodle characters. The project is a great excuse for adults to exercise creativity and find the fantastic in everyday life--while of course, washing off the evidence. This project, rather than collecting doodles from adult imaginations and environments, brings the doodles of children to life.