The New Star of WCR - hot off the press: 11 year old Jaret of "Jarets Window Cleaning" from Akron, Ohio maybe the youngest window cleaner going! This Video can be watched in high resolution from tomorrow at the
Window Cleaning Resources website. Previous episodes are
listed here.
Satire: Outcry as Gransha launches new community window cleaning scheme. The window cleaners of Derry are up in arms as a new scheme launched by Gransha hospital threatens to put their livlihood in jeopardy. The scheme, which will begin next week, will see teams of patients take to the Derry streets to assist homeowners with the upkeep of their windows. The idea was inspired by hospital cleaning staff, who whilst shampooing the upholstery of padded cells, noticed how sparkling the inside of the windows were. The move has been
slammed by dozens of Derry window cleaners though, who fear their jobs will be put in danger as they struggle to compete with the service. Local window cleaner Martin Curran was upset by the plans, saying "My family has been pretending to clean windows and peeking in girls bedrooms for 3 generations, this scheme is an insult to my fathers memory". Mr Curran senior, an alzheimers patient in Gransha, was not allowed to speak to us.
Paranormal Dorset, a book crammed with seven chapters of ghostly goings-on in this neck of the woods. Of course he notes traditional haunts for phantoms, such as inns, hotels and manor houses, but there is much more. Roger, a former chief reporter and deputy news editor at the Echo, said: “I have broadened the scope to embrace examples of other phenomena besides ghosts and poltergeists, such as UFOs, visions, remote viewing, out-of-body experiences and even fairies or nature spirits.” Then there’s the poltergeist activity in a Bournemouth family home. The first sign that not all was well in that house at Abbott Road, Winton, was the eerie howling of the family’s pet Labrador. Living at the house was a window cleaner, his wife, 17-year-old adopted daughter and foster son, eight. After ornaments and furniture began moving of their own accord, police were called in – only to witness a kitchen cabinet falling to the ground. They advised that a priest be sent for, but when he sprinkled holy water in the house, it was thrown back in his face. Eventually, the family was forced to move house.
Simon Cowell: Idol rich - Simon Cowell has always had his eye on the stars, from the time when, as a boy, he would peek over the garden fence in Hertfordshire at the movie industry parties that took place next door, attended by the likes of Liz Taylor, Richard Burton and Bette Davis. After stints as a window cleaner, lawn mower, and waiter, his first real job was in the mail room of EMI Music Publishing, where his father worked.
Fuzzy logic: Employers' Top 10 brainteasers - Seattle-based interview coach Lewis Lin recently posted a list of questions typically fired at job applicants to Google. Here's a selection:
1. You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and your mass is proportionally reduced so as to maintain your original density. You are then thrown into an empty blender. The blades will start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?
The solution -- some options:
1. Use the measurement marks to climb out
2. Try to unscrew the glass
3. Risk riding out the air current
2. How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?
Solution: About 500,000, assuming the bus is 50 balls high, 50 balls wide, and 200 balls long
3. How much should you charge to wash all the windows in Seattle?
Solution: Assuming 10,000 city blocks, 600 windows per block, five minutes per window, and a rate of $20 per hour, about $10m.
Also see here.
Community finds ways to help feed the hungry: A chiropractor offered free exams in exchange for a donation of food. A manager at a window cleaning company organized an event called "Will Bowl for Food." And a farmer used a pumpkin patch and corn maze to collect cash and food for people in need. These are just a few of the examples of how this community is coming up with new and creative ways to fight the growing hunger problem. Samantha Demchak of ABC Window Cleaners & Building Maintenance decided to turn a company networking activity into a fundraiser for Marion-Polk Food Share. She organized "Will Bowl for Food" this month at Firebird Lanes.
"My husband was laid off last December, and we became one of the needy families," the Turner resident said. "By luck of the draw, he was hired by Marion-Polk Food Share, and I learned through him about the desperate need in this community." Robert Demchak is the distribution manager for the food bank, which collects, sorts, stores and distributes the emergency food supply for Marion and Polk counties. An average of 6,500 families a month need emergency food box assistance, an increase of about 11 percent from last year. Samantha Demchak said 107 people participated in "Will Bowl for Food," which raised more than $1,700 and collected 586 pounds of food in one afternoon.
The Real Story of the Superheroes: Opening Reception - Friday, November 6, 6:00-8:00PM. Join us as we kick off FotoWeek DC and present the socially charged, comic-book photography of Mexican photographer, Dulce Pinzón. Exhibition Dates: November 4- 28, 2009. This exhibition introduces the Mexican immigrant in New York City in a satirical documentary style featuring ordinary men and women in their work environments donning superhero garb. In doing so, Pinzón raises questions of both our definition of American heroism and the ignorance of and indifference to the workforce that fuels our ever-consuming economy. This exhibition is a part of FOTOWEEK DC and sponsored in part by the Mexican Cultural Institute. See here for
previous blog for pictures & details. More
dress-up here.
Now there’s Sparkly Windows in Berry Brow: Remember Kirsty of ‘Dirty Windows’, Berry Brow? She’s the one who gave a fiver to a guy walking past with a squeezy liquid bottle thinking he was a window cleaner. She told him to go to her neighbour as well, where he collected another fiver and never came back. Well, she looked out the other day and saw a different chap cleaning her windows. She went out to ask him what he was doing. “I’m cleaning your windows.” “I never asked you to.” “No, your neighbour said you wanted them cleaned.” Obviously returning the favour of the phantom washer. “Oh thanks.” “That’s OK, you owe me for three weeks.”
The devastated parents of a baby boy who died of sudden infant death syndrome today spoke of their loss. Heart-broken Jason Woodfield and Marie Barreto discovered their only child, Joshua, had stopped breathing after they put him in his cot for the night. He was rushed to hospital by paramedics but doctors were unable to save him and he died four days before his first birthday. Around 300 babies die a year in the UK from cot death and experts are unable to say what causes it. Marie said: "We put him to bed at 8.40pm, we made sure he was on his back, that he was not wearing too many clothes. "We checked on him and he seemed fine but at about midnight we found him on his front and he wasn't breathing. It was terrible. Window cleaner Jason, 38, said he and Marie, who are engaged, had struggled to come to terms with the loss.
