Window Cleaning News

A spot of window cleaning: Maritime Museum, Lingang New City, China.

A window cleaner passes a lighter to his colleague while rappelling from a new building in Tianjin.

Smoking Really Is Nearly Inescapable in China: On the sidewalk, in a hospital, directly in front of a "No Smoking" sign. Smokers are a nearly inescapable part of life in China, though the government is trying to change that. Earlier this week, China's Ministry of Education banned smoking in public schools. To enforce the rule, schools must now install smoke alarms or surveillance cameras to spot violators. They'll also have to stop selling tobacco products at their canteens, and can't accept sponsorships or ads from cigarette companies. Universities can no longer allow smoking inside academic buildings, though they can maintain designated smoking areas on campus. It's only the latest in a string of efforts to curb the nation's smoking habit. Though citywide bans are rarely observed or enforced, China also announced plans to ban smoking on all public property nationwide at some point this year.

Window washers deal with bitter cold temperatures - Despite the dangerously cold temperatures, some still have to work outside and the particularly unlucky ones also have to deal with water. Any job that requires you to work with water is going to be particularly hazardous in this extreme cold, but not even window washers got a break on Monday. Nathan Elston, of Sapphire Window Cleaning and Power Washing, said there are two components to getting through a day like today. The first is layers. "I have a pair of thermals on, and then I have my Sapphire polo shirt on and then a hoody on after that," said Elston.

The second is protecting your hands from the water. "If you get it on your hands, especially when it's this cold, it's gonna freeze and it's gonna be miserable. You know, once your hands get wet you're miserable. So, you just try to keep your gloves as dry as possible," he said. But waking up to see a temperature of minus 2 degrees, "I didn't want to get out of bed this morning. It was pretty chilly. But once you get started, you just crank the heat up in the truck and you just try not to think about it," he said.

Elston says this weather isn't enough to make him hate his job. "Actually, no. It sounds weird: I love window washing. But, yeah, you kind of second guess yourself," he said. But it's the paycheck that helps him to wipe away the doubt. Fortunately for Elston, none of his jobs today involved going up high-rises so he didn't have too much trouble with the wind. 

People cleaning up after massive winter storm in Northeast: PHILADELPHIA - People in the Midwest and Northeast are now cleaning up after this week's massive winter storm that canceled thousands of flights across the country. At the iconic Apple store on 5th Avenue, one of the giant window panes cracked. A snow plow accidentally rammed into it. It's going to cost almost half a million dollars to fix. The large glass panel was part of Apple's distinctive '"cube" store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The estimated cost to repair it is $450,000, according to 9to5Mac.

NOLA: The greatest event to take place every year in the window cleaning and pressure washing world. It is hosted by the Provincial Hotel in amazing New Orleans LA. Awesome Speakers, and amazing atmosphere. The event is held to only 75 people, so those who go are a lucky few! Put on by Thad from the PWRA. If you want to learn how to be a fast window cleaner, join the window cleaning speed contest. If you want to improve your business, this event is for you!

Firefighters in the North Coast region are on alert with high temperatures and low humidity forecast for the next few days. The mercury is expected to rise to 38 degrees in Gympie today and 39 tomorrow. The director of operations for the Rural Fire Service, Peter Varley, says firefighters have contained all current blazes but will continue to monitor them. "There's none of them that are out of control at this stage," he said. "We've had water-bombing aircraft working on a couple of those fires over the last few days. "So at the moment we are pretty happy with where they are but we'll certainly be keeping an eye on them."

He says the extreme weather conditions are perfect for fires to ignite and spread quickly. "The three things that make things worse for us, and high temperatures that's one of them, the other is low humidity and then of course the winds behind it as well," he said. "Fortunately those winds are looking pretty good but those temperatures are certainly going to be high today and Wednesday."

Outdoor tradesmen are doing what they can to schedule their workloads outside the extreme heat of the day. Sunshine Coast window washer Cullen Ball says starting early is essential. "I usually start at around five o'clock, try to get the jobs done, earlier if we have to, sometimes we have to travel to Brisbane, so sometimes I'll leave at four if I have to," he said. "Just whatever really to get the job done, before the heat kicks in, can't get the work done then."

Jakarta Stays Alert Despite Floods Receding on Thursday: An officer cleans the window panes of a bank in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, on Jan. 23, 2014, after floods inundated the area and forced the bank to close for days. Jakarta began to dry out on Thursday after days of heavy rain and floods soaked large swaths of the Indonesian capital.

The floodwaters had receded in most areas and displaced residents began to filter back home to begin the long cleanup. But just as life looked like it would return to normal, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) warned of heavy rains and floods Thursday evening.

“They’ve begun cleaning their houses, although many of them immediately returned to shelters when they heard reports of incoming floods,” said Bambang Musyawardana, the head of the Jakarta office of the BNPB.

The UK government said it will save £1.5 billion by managing contracts more effectively, for example “through reducing wasteful energy consumption and through the public sector sharing in savings on insurance”. It will also make efficient use of space from subletting or mothballing surplus building space. The third step the government will be taking is to “review soft service requirements so that the public sector does not buy more than it needs when specifying facilities management such as window cleaning and frequency of decoration”.

Green activists pose as cleaners to scale corporate highrise, unfurl protest banner (MUMBAI): Twelve Greenpeace activists in tiger costumes scaled the headquarters of a corporate giant at Mahalaxmi and spent five hours dangling off the skyscraper to put up a huge banner to protest against allocation of a coal block that allegedly threatens forest land and endangers the livelihood of villagers dependent on it. The protesters gained access to the top of Essar's corporate office highrise posing as window cleaners, and unfurled a giant banner around 2pm, which read 'We Kill Forests: Essar'.

Essar stated on its website: "In a blatant and anarchic act of trespassing, some people, at the behest of Greenpeace, masqueraded as building cleaning agents and gained access to the Essar office in Mumbai. In this illegal act, the trespassers misused the office premises to spread anti-corporate, misleading and false propaganda."

Payoff for Highly Insulating Windows Takes Decades - While comfort and other benefits are more immediate, it takes two decades or more for the triple-pane highly insulating windows to pay off financially based on utility-bill savings, according to a report by energy efficiency experts at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). For this study, the PNNL team studied the effect of replacing aluminum-frame double-pane windows, which are common in homes across the country, with newer, triple-pane windows, also known as highly insulating windows. The team found that the newer highly insulating windows saved, on average, 5,821 watt-hours per day (W·h/day) or 279.5 kilowatt hours (kW·h) over the 70 days of the experiment.

The overall whole-house energy savings were 11.6% ± 1.53% over the 70 day period. But because of the cost of the highly insulating windows, it would take anywhere from 23 to 55 years for the reduced energy cost to make up for the increased expense. “A savings of 12 percent on whole-house energy consumption is substantial, especially when you’re talking about changing a relatively small percentage of a home’s envelope,” said Parker, a founder of the Lab Homes project. “But the windows are expensive.” The team notes that there are many other factors to consider in addition to money when deciding whether to install highly insulating windows.

The MIT system uses nanoparticles embedded into a transparent material that can be fitted to any window or glass. These particles are tuned to scatter certain wavelengths, colours or lights in order to display the moving image, pictured, while letting other wavelengths pass through.

The sticker that turns any window into a PROJECTOR SCREEN: Scientists create transparent adhesive film that shows moving images - Transparent displays may seem like the kind of features found exclusively on high-end devices such as Google Glass, but researchers from Massachusetts plan to change all that. A team of graduates from MIT have developed see-through displays that can be applied as a thin plastic coating on any window or piece of glass, including lenses. Moving images can be then be projected onto these displays and the designers claim they are easier to make, and could cost significantly less, than current technology on the market.

Many current ‘heads-up’ display systems use a mirror or beam-splitter to project an image directly into the user’s eyes. This makes the display appear to be hovering in space. However, because the image is beamed at a set angle, the range of view is limited and viewers must be stood in the right spot to see the image clearly. With MIT’s new system, the image appears on the glass itself, and can be seen from a wide range of angles.

Similarly, other transparent displays are limited because they use electronics, including LEDs and transparent circuits, that are built directly into the display. This limits the level of transparency, for example. The secret of MIT’s system is that nanoparticles are embedded into the transparent material that are tuned to only scatter certain wavelengths, colours or lights, while letting other wavelengths pass through. This means the glass remains transparent enough to see the colours and shapes clearly.

The particles could be incorporated in a thin, inexpensive plastic coating applied to the glass, in a similar way to how tinting is applied to car windows. To demonstrate the system, the team projected a blue image in front of a scene containing cups of several colours, all of which can clearly be seen through the projected image. While the team's demonstration used silver nanoparticles, approximately 60 nanometres wide, to produce the blue image, researchers claim it should be possible to create a full-colour display using the same principle.

‘The glass will look almost perfectly transparent,’ said MIT Professor Marin Soljačić, ‘because most light is not of that precise wavelength.' He added that scattering allows the projected image to be seen in much the same way that smoke in the air can reveal the presence of a laser beam passing through it. Such displays might be used, for example, to project images onto store windows without obstructing the window displays, or to more accurately display directions via a heads-up display onto the windshields of cars and planes.

Soljačić added that his group’s demonstration is just a proof-of-concept, and that much work remains to optimize the performance of the system.  The system is described in a paper published this week in the journal Nature Communications, co-authored by Professor Soljačić, colleague Professor John Joannopoulos, graduate student Chia Wei Hsu, and four others.

New SOM building sparks controversy: Some residents have expressed concern over the modern design of the building in light of the more traditional architecture in the area previously. Although Foster had stated publicly that the extensive use of glass was intended to facilitate connection and encourage transparency, some locals remain unconvinced. “[Evans Hall] got the ‘Eye Sore architecture Award’ from Trump Enterprises, and the ‘Classy Glass Building Award from Pyrex,’” Hamilton said. “Window Washers of the World salute you.”

Since the construction was not in a historic district, Yale was not subject to local preservation laws in the building’s construction, New Haven Preservation Services Officer of the New Haven Preservation Trust John Herzan said. Yale was determined to proceed and shared a different vision than the New Haven Preservation Trust, he continued. Some residents wanted to see Yale incorporate the old building into the final design to protect what some residents argued were parts of New Haven’s history. “The lesson Yale could have taught is to think of preservation as a part of what management should be about,” Ahern said. “The greatest building is the one that is already built.”

How to get fit whilst you clean - Cleaning whether you enjoy it or not is a chore, pure and simple, but it's also a great weight loss tool. Perfect if you really loathe exercise. A survey by Betta Living revealed that the average UK adult spends 8 hours per week Cleaning and tidying and has the potential to wipe away 1lb in weight per week without forking out extortionate gym costs. We clock up 30.5 ‘mop miles’ a year when mopping and vacuuming, and scale the equivalent of a small mountain climbing the stairs and ladders during a 12-month period of being house-proud. But according to the research, which questioned 2,000 UK adults, the majority of us aren’t stretching ourselves to our full fat burning potential and are missing out on crucial calorie cutting as we dust, sweep and polish our homes because we’re doing it in short bursts and also not really ‘going for it’.

Window and laundry squats - perform squats while cleaning windows, lifting the washing basket or when cleaning inside your kitchen cupboards. Squat low to the ground (feet shoulder width apart, back straight, sitting down into your bottom) to get water on your cloth, and then stretch up high moving arms in a circular motion to sculpt your shoulders!  This will give your arms and legs the perfect dual Workout.

Lenoir man builds earth berm home: Ehlers built his basement house on land he already owned, and he did much of the work himself. He hired a licensed electrician and a plumber, but he did all the framing himself. Together, he and his wife did the roofing. The house is set 8 feet into the ground — the walls, pre-made, were essentially lowered into a house-sized hole in the ground. During the day, tubular skylights fill the home with natural light; it doesn’t feel dark or underground until a normal house would: At night. People have questions about the house when they visit, but it wasn’t designed to be an oddity. Ehlers, who works as a commercial window cleaner for a living and sometimes rides his unicycle through downtown Lenoir between jobs, describes it as “a low-tech way to have an energy-efficient house.”

Solicitor: 100 block of Prospect Avenue. A window cleaner reportedly dropped off literature after cleaning windows in the area at 11:26 a.m. Police talked to the window cleaner’s supervisor who promised to pick up the worker a few minutes later.

The surge in digital hitchhiking has been slammed as highly dangerous by Queensland police. Thomas Jones, 25, a window cleaner from Brisbane CBD this week posted an ad in classifieds offering a lift to the Gold Coast. "That is what people are doing these days to help with the cost of going on a holiday. Petrol costs are really high and I have found that you can meet interesting fun people. I don't worry about the dangers, I like to believe there are a lot more good people than bad in the world,'' he said. Jo Hall manager of Chill Backpackers in Brisbane told the Courier Mail that they do not recommend lift sharing. "It is our policy for security reasons not to post any ads on notice boards for people looking to share cars,'' she said.

Boy, 2, was 'roughhousing' before crashing through window, falling 17 stories to death (EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio) — The 2-year-old boy who fell to his death from a 17-story window on Monday was roughhousing with his 3-year-old brother shortly before his mother heard glass shattering, reports stated on Tuesday. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner ruled the death an accident Tuesday, concluding that Alijah R. Glenn crashed through a floor-to-ceiling window Monday at the Crystal Tower apartments on Terrace Road. The child's death left those who knew the family saddened and Crystal Tower residents wondering if more safety features could have prevented the tragedy.

Two residents said on Tuesday they were concerned about the safety of the windows in the building. Experts on Ohio's building code say the code requires floor-to-ceiling windows on high-rises to be more fortified than other windows, but that it doesn't require the glass to be unbreakable. Experts said windows must have "safety glass" that is strong enough to withstand wind and debris. Ron Gerome, an independent housing inspector in Cleveland and Medina, said the safety glass required is similar to a windshield. "Safety glass is something that when it breaks it shatters," said Gerome, the owner of Signature Home Inspection. "There's plastic in between to protect you. If you break it, it falls into thousands of pieces so it doesn't cause any extra injury." Crystal Tower property manager K&D's corporate attorney Mark Schildhouse said the company inspects all their properties at least once a year. He said he was unsure if the company was planning to make any changes to the windows or alert residents of a potential danger.

NUEVO ITALIA, Mexico – The thousands of federal police and military troops who have descended on the troubled Mexican state of Michoacan have been busy arresting suspected drug cartel members, disarming untrustworthy local police officers and standing guard on street corners of its tiny towns, assault rifles at the ready.

The troop buildup has so far deterred the region’s vigilante “self-defense” groups from broadening their fight against the powerful Knights Templar drug cartel and helped President Enrique Peña Nieto avert a domestic disaster. Pictured: Members of a peasant group battling a drug cartel take their positions after arriving in the town of Nueva Italia

But the risk of violence remained high Thursday in the agricultural region known as Tierra Caliente, or Hot Land. Late Wednesday, shots were fired at the office of the federal prosecutor in the city of Apatzingan, according to the news service Quadratin. A 25-year-old window washer was injured.

The filing deadline for the Urban County Council district races and three at-large seats is Jan. 28. Several incumbent members and first-time candidates filed to run during the past week. They include: Michael Stuart, a small-business owner and longtime community volunteer, in the 2nd District, which extends from the west end of downtown to Masterson Station and surrounding neighborhoods. Stuart, who serves on the LexArts board of directors, was president and board member of the Living Arts & Science Center for seven years. He volunteers for the West End Alliance. Stuart, 34, has owned a window-cleaning business for 13 years.

Marion Stuart, a prominent African-American entrepreneur in Indianapolis and one of the few surviving community leaders from the World War II era, has died. Stuart, founder of Stuart’s Household Moving & Storage Co., passed away Jan. 23 at the age of 97. Stuart formed his company in 1936, during the Great Depression, the worst economic crisis in United States history. In what became an inspiring story of success, he overcame economic and racial diversity to build one of the state’s most stable enterprises.

Born in Indianapolis, Marion Henry Byrd Stuart was the second child of nine born to Dr. William Weir Stuart and Mae Lewellyn Stokes Stuart. Stuart came from an enterprising family. His father was a dentist, and his brothers, Charles and Joseph, were co-founders of Stuart Mortuary. At an early age, however, Stuart realized he could not take his family’s stability for granted, and sought ways to generate an income of his own. He embarked on entrepreneurial efforts at a time when individuals could not rely on much government assistance and pervasive racism was found even in Northern cities such as Indianapolis.

In a 2011 interview with the Recorder, the Crispus Attucks High School graduate recalled how he once worked several jobs, including cleaning up a haberdashery (shop with clothing materials) on Monument Circle for $3.80 a week. He and a friend then formed a window washing enterprise for stores on Pennsylvania Street. “We washed windows in the morning, and I would go back and trim windows at night,” Stuart said. “Back then you could go in places and request work. You didn’t have people standing around waiting for someone to give them a loan. You did whatever work you could find and worked hard.”

Chris Eichler, 29, of Yakima died Thursday at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital. Mr. Eichler was born in Yakima. He worked as a high-rise window washer for Intermountain Cleaning Service. Survivors include his fiancee, Jennifer Bales of Yakima; two daughters, Mackenzie Eichler and Maycee Eichler, both of Yakima; his mother, Janice Moss of Yakima; his father, David Eichler of Wenatchee; three sisters, Dana Stokes of Issaquah, Dyanna Harrington of Yakima and Coreen Moss of Des Moines; a brother, Evan Eichler of Wenatchee; and his grandparents, Floyd and Janita Overacker of Wapato.

John J. Long Jr. of Warrington died Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014. He was 86. He was the husband of 59 years to Annabelle J. (Brown) Long. Born in Parsons, Pa., he was the son of the late John J. and Agnes (Davitt) Long Sr.

Mr. Long was a U.S. Army Veteran. He was employed with the U.S. Postal Service in Hatboro, and retired as postmaster of Horsham. John also founded LWC Services and was affectionately known in Hatboro as John the Window Cleaner.

Relatives and friends may call from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday and from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Friday at Louis Swift Plunkett Funeral Home, 529 N. York Rd., Hatboro. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Joseph's Church, Columbia Ave. and Easton Rd., Warrington, PA 18976. Interment will be in Whitemarsh Memorial Park, Horsham.

Second Defendant Pleads Not Guilty In Eastport Home Invasion Murder - Matthew D. Rooney, 22, of East Moriches pleaded not guilty to a single count of second-degree murder and first-degree assault before Judge Ambro on Thursday afternoon and was remanded to the Suffolk County Jail without bail. He appeared in court with his brother and parents, who all refused to comment to The Press, on the advice of Mr. Rooney’s attorney, Pietrina Reda of Merrick. Ms. Reda said during the arraignment that her client disputed the allegations against him. She declined to comment further outside the courtroom.

Ms. Newcombe, the lead prosecutor, said that while Mr. Batterson was the one who pulled the trigger, Mr. Rooney was also armed and took part in the robbery, and present at the time of the murder. She said the two were friends, but would not comment further on their relationship. Both Mr. Batterson and Mr. Rooney admitted to others that they were involved in the incident, Ms. Newcombe said during both of Thursday’s arraignments. Both defendants face 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the crimes. Mr. Burke noted that Mr. Batterson (pictured) lived with his parents and worked as a carpenter and window washer prior to his arrest earlier this month.

Four men have admitted being involved in a major drug dealing operation in West Lothian. Ryan Mayberry, Patrick McKervey, Hugh McAnna and Gordon Stewart were all arrested in 2012 following a police surveillance operation. The High Court in Edinburgh heard almost £2m of cannabis and amphetamine was seized in the operation. All four men admitted being concerned in the supply of drugs. Sentence was deferred. Mayberry was later stopped by traffic officers and found to be carrying more than £7,000 in cash. He claimed the money was from the sale of a window cleaning business and he was travelling south to buy a vehicle.

Spotlight On Window Cleaners In The Far East

Daredevils: Workers clean the windows of a skyscraper on Jl. M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta. The salaries paid to window cleaners do not match their courage: Some claim they are paid as little as Rp 1 million (US$113) a month and are covered only by the state’s Jamsostek insurance program.

Salary not as big as their guts: Being trapped in a gondola cleaning high-rise windows is scary for those working as window cleaners. Projecting fear onto other activities is the only way they are able to face the moment. “[When being trapped] I just chatted with my colleague so that we did not panic,” said window cleaner, Kosim, recalling an incident in 2009 when he was trapped in a gondola at about the 10th floor while cleaning a skyscraper in Kuningan business district, South Jakarta. The gondola was stuck up there for about an hour because a technical problem halted the lift system, triggering an automatic shutdown of the entire system. “I was very nervous, even after I contacted the building technical engineer through my walkie-talkie. Anything could happen in that situation,” he said.

The man, who had been working as a window cleaner for four years, said he was aware of the risks when he took the job. “As a teenager, I loved to climb, so I was excited to take the job. Of course the risks are there, but I still wanted to do it,” he said, adding that the scariest moments were when the wind was strong. With excessive pollution, many tall buildings in Jakarta count on brave people such as Kosim to maintain its luster. A window cleaner’s salary, however, is apparently not as great as his courage. Ahmad Yani, another window cleaner, said that he was paid Rp 1 million (US$113) a month and was protected by state workers’ insurance Jamsostek. “It is small compared to the risks. Many of my relatives pushed me to find a safer job with a better salary. Sometimes I think about finding another job just to find a new environment, but not because I worry about my safety,” he said.

“I enjoy the scenery from up above, plus the breeze sometimes makes me sleepy,” Ahmad added. Darwoto, a supervisor at a building maintenance company, PT Virya Surya Jana, said that a gondola worker should obtain an operational license, called an SIO (Surat Ijin Operasi). “It is like a drivers license. [Window cleaners] have to join a three-day training program before they receive their license,” he said. The license, issued by the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry and valid for five years, is given after the three-day training program, which includes instruction on knowledge of safety procedures and operating the gondola.

Safety procedures include wearing a helmet, full body harness and belt. This, however, does not guarantee one’s safety. A gondola with three workers inside broke away last Wednesday and fell upon the 29th floor of the Batavia Tower building in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, killing one worker. Maman Hermansyah, chairman of the association of experts on safety working at high-rise buildings (Asosiasi Ahli Keselamatan Kerja di Bangunan Tinggi ), said that Indonesia was the second after China with the highest rate of work accidents at tall buildings. “In 2006, five people fell and died while working at heights every day in Indonesia. In 2007, the figure rose to seven people every day,” he told the The Jakarta Post recently.

Maman, who is also the president of the Southeast Asia Climbing Federation, stressed the importance of regulating safety standards for working at height. “Currently, the safety law only mentions one method in working at height, using rope that is, while there are many other methods, including using gondola,” he said. Maman said that all workers working at heights, which include electricity engineers and window cleaners, should be trained and obtain a license. According to Maman the association had issued certificates for about 600 workers working after they had been trained by institutions affiliated with the association, mostly those who work in the telecommunications industry. 

Professionals out to clean your spaces: Armed with the right equipment and expertise, housekeeping professionals are in demand this Diwali. From providing specific services such as floor cleaning, window cleaning, glass cleaning, carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, rug cleaning, appliances cleaning, chandelier cleaning and so on, the experts also offer deep cleaning that includes overall cleaning of the house.
Gambhir Mundinkeri, who has been running Clean Fix Housekeeping for the past nine years, said in the past two-three years, people have opened up to the concept of hiring professionals for housekeeping. “Earlier, we used to serve only corporate and individual offices during festivals but now 70 per cent of our clientele are households,” said Mundinkeri, who serves over 150 clients during the festive season. He added that more than bungalows, they get maximum number of orders from flat owners.
Mundinkeri has got a team of around 15 persons. They are further divided into three groups. Each team that works on one site includes four workers and one supervisor. To work on a house of 1,500 sq ft, it takes the team around 10 hours. The firm starts getting orders a month prior to Diwali. Executive vice president and company secretary of HDFC Bank, Sanjay Dongre finds the concept of hiring professional cleaners convenient and economical. “They are well-equipped and we don't have to worry about supplying cleaning material to them,” said Dongre.
For Samarth Services, the period of Dussehra and Diwali is the busiest of the year. On an average, the firm’s team finishes working on four-five houses in one day, which sometimes differs depending on the availability of manpower. “In the past three years, I have observed a lot of changes in this field. The outlook of people has changed tremendously and they are looking for professional services for each and every requirement. Thus I see a lot of growth potential for this market in the coming years,” said Santosh Vishwakarma, Samarth Services.
Spic N Span Services is a two-and-a-half year-old firm that specialises in residential cleaning. “On an average, we finish cleaning three apartments in a day. We work in three teams; each team comprises four persons, including a team leader. The concept of Diwali cleaning has undergone a change and people prefer getting it done through professionals than their maids,” said Mayur Shah, proprietor, Spic N Span.
Agreeing with Shah is Vishwakarma, who says that earlier the whole idea about cleaning was limited to using phenyl and acid. “Now they know there is a different chemical for different purposes and one cannot replace the other. We train our team members thoroughly on the mechanism, equipment and products to be used while cleaning glasses, carpets, toilets, sofas, floors and so on,” he added. The charges for professional Diwali cleaning depend on various factors such as area, type of cleaning, condition of the flat and so on. On an average, for deep cleaning of a 2BHK furnished flat spread over an area of around 1,000 sq ft, the cost will be between Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 (around $50).

After yesterdays blog: Shanghai Window Washers Killed In Accidental Fall, here are a couple of news stories that have appeared arising from the fatal falls..

'For work they risk their lives' - Oblivious to the heavy rain, a man in a leather jacket stood just beyond the police cordon, gazing intently. Before him lay the bodies of two window cleaners who fell to their deaths yesterday in Changning District. Occasionally, he spoke quietly to onlookers who were speculating about what had happened. "For their work they risked their lives," sighed the man, surnamed Zhao, who should know as he has worked in the same dangerous trade. Zhao, a passer-by, said he had been a high-rise window cleaner for six years but quit. "There are two things you need for that job; one is a license and the other is guts."

More than 1,000 window cleaners - a trade known as a SpiderMan - work on high-rises across the city, risking their lives on a daily basis, separated from death only by their securing ropes. And increasingly, they are threatened by a lack of supervision on equipment checks and poor safety awareness, warned a local exterior wall cleaning industry committee. An official, surnamed Wu, said many cleaning service companies don't check equipment regularly, meaning a SpiderMan may have to rely on aged or damaged ropes and tools.

For though the industry committee requires companies to check equipment, the absence of a supervising facility means regulations are often ignored, said Wu. "The life of a cleaner depends on the rope that holds him," said Wu, "But there are no laws forcing companies to ensure equipment is safe." Moreover, some workers do not even hold operation licenses, which need to be renewed annually after exams. Zhao said the job is usually taken by migrant workers who shift jobs frequently, some working for several companies at one time. "To save money, some companies only get one or two licenses but hire many workers," he explained.

To make matters worse, fierce competition among small cleaning companies is driving them to cut costs as much as possible, impacting on equipment checks and training, said Wu. And when accidents happen, some cleaners are not covered by insurance, as their employers haven't bought any, he added. Zhao, from Jiangsu Province, said in his time as a window cleaner he saw several injuries among colleagues who fell but were saved by safety locks.

And despite the dangers they face, high-rise window cleaners are poorly rewarded.  "Often, I didn't know where my next meal was coming from," said Zhao, who said workers receive about 150 yuan to 200 yuan for a day's work. "However, sometimes we waited for one month between jobs." Zhao said many men from his hometown come to Shanghai to work in the trade. Taking a final look at the bodies, covered by white sheets, Zhao walked away from the crowd as the rain got heavier. "Too bad for them," he said as he left.

Two window cleaners in fatal fall linked to each other by safety harness? The two window cleaners who plunged to their deaths from the 22nd storey of the the Pacific Business Center on Yan'an Road yesterday could have been linked to each other by a safety harness.  Zha Minjie of Shanghai Daily reports:

According to witnesses, one worker began to fall after his support rope snapped, taking with him a colleague he was linked to by a safety rope. "If it's true, then it was against all the rules, as workers should not be linked together," said a former window cleaner, surnamed Zhao, who worked in the business for six years.

Zhao said each two-man team should be equipped with three ropes, with both workers hooking onto the middle one by a device called a latching lock, in addition to having their own safety ropes. "The lock will hold the workers even if one rope breaks," said Zhao. "They would just hang in the air instead of crashing to the ground."

Swing Stage Incident In Indonesia With Fatality

Gondola Victim Evacuated Wednesday (10/26): Fachrudin (33), a dead casualty of a crashed gondola at Batavia Tower in Tanah Abang has been evacuated to Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM) for autopsy treatment.

Johanson Ronald Simamora as Head of Tanah Abang Sector Police explained that before the incident, Fahrudin was at the balcony of 29th floor. He crashed into a gondola which was shared by two other workers while cleaning the windows on 33th floor. “It is alleged that the victim was about to move one gondola security rope to another one." "Then, he fell down to the 29th floor." When falling down, his head hit the building divider and spotlight." "Finally, he was dead at the scene in a face down position."

Kardiman as a witness and the victim’s co-worker expressed that when moving the rope, he did not use sling cable which was used as a safety function to stop a fall. “If you want to park the gondola, you must use sling rope - but, he didn’t use it,” he added. One of the victims was wearing a helmet. As a result, his right hand fractured and the left side of his head was bleeding.

A gondola/window cleaning staging at Batavia Tower in Tanahabang, Central Jakarta, Indonesia failed. At the present time the reason of the cause of the collapse is unknown. However, due to the incident, one of the workers was killed. Ronald Simamora of the Malaysian police, said the incident occurred around 10:00 a.m. "The cause of the accident is not known but will certainly be investigated," he said on Wednesday (26/10).

The information collected by the newspaper, is that two workers fell from the gondola on the 33rd floor of the building and were stuck on the 29th floor. At that time, the workers were in the gondola to clean the glass roof. The victim who died was known by the surname Fachrudin, of Ciputat, South Tangerang. Meanwhile, other workers suffered cuts and the identities of the workers are unknown.

Rica, one of the staff at the Batavia Tower, said people are slow at coming forward on the incident & do not want to give evidence. He said "the party's management is still collecting information and will give evidence after lunch." "Just after the hour lunch break we will pass it all on to the authorities." "At the moment the authorities are still on site going through the evidence."

Q & A With An Indonesian Window Cleaner

My Jakarta - Joko, High-Rise Window Cleaner: It is amazing what people can overcome when they put their minds to it. Take Joko, for example. This window cleaner at Menara BCA in Thamrin, the tallest office building in Indonesia, has learned to put aside fear as he sways in the breeze high above Jakarta. The 25-year-old has been cleaning the same office windows for three years now and shares with us what it feels like to hang 56 floors above the earth.

Don’t your knees get weak when you’re outside looking down from the 56th floor of Menara BCA?
I was committed to doing it from the very first time, so I’m not scared. And now that I’ve been cleaning office windows for three years, I’m used to it.

Don’t you ever worry that the rope might break and the gondola fall to the ground?
Luckily that has not happened to me. And it’s very unlikely to happen because we were all trained and tested at the start. We also use all the necessary safety equipment: harness, helmet, goggles, safety shoes, gloves, carabiner and so on. Just like rock climbing.

We? How many people go on the gondola with you?
There are three of us; an operator, myself and another cleaner. There’s also a supervisor watching us from the top floor.

Can you take visitors on the gondola with you? You could charge money, like skydiving or bungee jumping.
We only take guests who have obtained permission from the office management. But we haven’t taken any guests since I’ve worked here.

That’s too bad. It could be the next big thing. So how often and how long are you out there?
We clean six days a week, unless it rains. We clean about 20 floors a day, starting at 6 a.m. through till 2 p.m.

Wow, you hardly touch the ground for eight hours straight. Don’t you ever want to take a break and go for a walk?
Well, after 2 p.m. I go back to my parents’ house in Jatinegara and rest.

So no coffee break or time to relax while you are on the gondola?
[Laughs] No, but I find it enjoyable to view Jakarta from above, places like Ancol. But I especially like Mount Putri, which is visible in the morning.

That’s so cool. I didn’t know you could see a mountain from Thamrin. What about animals?
I saw a bird once. It was a short-faced tumbler. It came flying into the glass. I think it got dizzy because it paused for a little while before flying away.

What do you do when you go home to Jatinegara?
I own a home-based business renting out three PlayStations. We could have anywhere between three and 15 people playing at our house until 9 p.m. Sometimes I play too. Other times, when I’m tired, I just go to sleep.

Don’t your parents ever complain about the noise?
Their room is upstairs so they don’t really hear it.

What is your favorite food in Jakarta?
The baso [meatballs] in front of the East Mall of Grand Indonesia, just next to Menara BCA and close to a Korean restaurant. The place is called Mie Bloon [Idiotic Noodles].

Is that what do when you finally touch the ground? Eat and hang out at Mie Bloon?
When we are back on the ground, we continue to clean windows at the ground level, like those in the lobby. We also have a briefing with our supervisor after work.

What else do you like about Jakarta apart from the baso?
I like the fact that there are many people from different ethnic groups living in Jakarta.

Haven’t you ever been scared while up there? What about the first time you did it?
The first time, I just prayed that I’d be safe up there. But I don’t get scared. One time it got really windy, but I wasn’t scared, just shocked. I know it’s safe. The gondola is attached to the building so it won’t sway much.

Can you see what people are doing inside the building from out there?
Yes, I can. But people are usually just working.

Do you aspire to be like Alain Robert, the French Spiderman who came here last year and climbed the City Tower with only his hands and feet, no rope, no nothing?
Who? I’ve never heard of him. No, I don’t want to do that.

What do you have planned for the future?
I have a girlfriend and we are getting married this year [blushes].

Saturday Window Cleaning News

Witnesses Share Stories of Terror, Heroism From Scene of the Blasts: Former race car driver Alex Asmasubrata, who lives near the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels, was jogging in the area when he heard the first explosion. “It was quite loud and I was so shocked that I immediately hit the ground,” Alex said. He saw staff members from the JW Marriott carrying the bodies of four Westerners out of the hotel. Ambulances arrived at the scene an hour later.
The hotel required all department heads and supervisors to stay behind, but instructed staff members to go home. Some had just started their shifts and had put their personal belongings such as motorcycle keys and wallets inside their lockers, but they could not retrieve these because the hotel had been blocked off by police.
Singgih, a doorman at the Ritz-Carlton, saw white smoke coming from inside the restaurant, where most of the people who were having breakfast were foreign nationals. “I went in to help the waiters and people were rushing out of the kitchen,” Singgih said. Soleman said the explosion from the Marriott was so loud that it caused shockwaves. Five minutes later, he heard the second explosion from the Ritz-Carlton. “I saw the glass from the windows at the Ritz-Carlton shatter and come crashing down,” Soleman said. “[The guests and I] were scheduled to go to Pulogadung this morning,” Soleman said.
Zainul Supriyanto, 28, a window cleaner at the JW Marriott, said he was taking a break in the basement when he heard the explosion. He immediately ran upstairs and saw three bodies amid the devastated interior of the hotel.

Replica hawk keeps seagulls in Newcastle away: Birds of a feather no longer flock together in a street once plagued by aggressive pests, thanks to the arrival of a deadly foe. And the hawk who has successfully scared away the pigeons and seagulls has done so without moving an inch … it is made of stone. The mini bird of prey was adopted by Jason Stuart and Clare Mullin to scare away determined seagulls and pigeons from the window sills of their second floor home in Phoenix House, on Queen Street, in Newcastle. Dad-of-two Jason came up with the cunning plan after seeing one on a nature programme, and bought a stone replica hawk online to try it out for himself. The 41-year-old car salesman was fed up of feathered pests dive-bombing him and fouling the windows of the home he shares with partner Clare and their two children, Joshua, 18 months, and Lucy, six months.
Clare said: “All the sea gulls lay their eggs directly above the building. Before we had double glazing we could hear them all the time. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking it is the children crying, but it is always the birds. “Buying the hawk was an environmentally-friendly way of keeping the property clean and deterring the seagulls from coming near us. We don’t have a window cleaner and Jason said he used to be attacked all the time by them.”
As well as keeping the birds at bay, the stone hawk has become something of a celebrity with visitors and residents. Clare said: “We always see people glancing up wondering whether it is a real life hawk. “It is quite a novelty around here. We have heard a few people getting into their cars talking about it. We find it hilarious.” After the breeding season in April and May, each pair of seagulls can lay up to 20 eggs. They become naturally aggressive to defend their young. Newsagent owner Anoop Bedi, who works nearby, said there had been a problem with seagulls and the mess they create for many years around the Tyne Bridge. He said: “People always stop and stare at the hawk. He is definitely an attraction in the area. I think visitors to the quayside think he is real. But after five minutes they usually realise it is fake. “I know they are protected birds but the mess they make is disgusting.”

Police are called after Bradshaw window cleaner sees mass of flies in house: A pensioner lived in the same house as his dead sister for four months. The 66-year-old man went about his daily business as his sister’s corpse lay in a bed upstairs. Police were called to the semi-detached house in Danesbury Road, Bradshaw, on Thursday morning after a window cleaner noticed an infestation of flies in an upstairs bedroom. The man let the police in and they discovered the body of a woman in a badly decomposed state in bed in a room upstairs. Police think the woman died some time in March and has been in the house ever since. The man — who is the dead woman’s brother — is believed to have a mental illness and was in the care of his sister before she died. He has been spoken to by detectives. It is believed he simply could not come to terms with the death of his sister. The man is now in the care of Bolton Social Services.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: “Police attended following a concern for welfare report. “Officers went into the house and found the body of a woman in her 60s in bed. Inquiries are ongoing.” A post mortem examination was due to take place last night but initial inquiries suggest there are no suspicious circumstances. Neighbours in Danesbury Road expressed shock yesterday.
One woman who spoke to the window cleaner — known only to her as Steve — said he told her he had been cleaning the windows at the house two weeks ago when he noticed the flies. On that occasion he thought nothing of it and carried on with his work. But when he went back to the house on Thursday, he told her he could not see through the bedroom window because of flies and noticed a stench coming from the house. He spoke to another resident and they raised the alarm. Another neighbour, who has been living in the street for 50 years, said the sister gave up her job some years ago to come back and look after her brother and that the house had previously belonged to their parents. “They kept themselves to themselves and were very quiet. It’s awful,” she added.

Home Office sends man 300 miles to change toilet seat: Heard the one about the handyman who was paid £500 of taxpayers' money for driving 300 miles just to change a loo seat? It would be funny... except it happens all the time. The problem is that probation service staff are banned from ordering repairs locally. Instead maintenance men routinely drive hundreds of miles because the Home Office contracts work to a firm which has regional "hubs". That's why the plumber went from Birmingham to Norwich and back to replace the loo seat. And why an electrician drove 200 miles from Newmarket to Birmingham to mend a switch at a cost of at least £250. Window cleaners are also criss-crossing the country, staying overnight in hotels.

Chicago's iconic Sears Tower now the Big Willie? Sears Tower -- the tallest building in the United States -- now go by the Big Willie? Why not, says the head of the British insurance group which was granted naming rights to the building on Thursday. "People should have fun," said Joe Plumeri, chief executive officer of Willis Group Holdings. "This is a town of neighbors, a town of ethnicities, a town of nicknames," said Plumeri, who said embarrassing monikers were a sign of affection in the New Jersey town where he grew up. "They can call it the Big Willie as far as I'm concerned," he told AFP. The official name - the Willis Tower - has not proven popular with residents of the Windy City since the name change was announced in March. An online petition protesting the change has garnered more than 36,000 signatures and a Chicago Tribune columnist bemoaned "would New York let this happen to the Empire State and Chrysler buildings?"
Willis won the naming rights after negotiating to lease several floors of the 110-story black tower which dominates the city's skyline. The naming right has been up for grabs for years after retailer Sears, Roebuck and Co. moved out in 1993. First opened in 1973, the Sears Tower held the record for the world's tallest building for 25 years until the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were built in 1998.
The new name caps off a series of significant changes. A series of glass bays that extend out from the building were added to the Skydeck -- a major tourist attraction -- offering visitors an unobstructed view of the city some 1,353 feet (412 meters) down. Dubbed the "Ledge," the bays reach out 4.3 feet (1.3 meters) from the 103th floor and are retractable so as not to interfere with the window washing equipment. The building management has also recently announced a 350 million dollar sustainability plan to increase the building's energy efficiency and build and eco-friendly luxury hotel.

Matthew Stanton hopes his window cleaning and lawn maintenance business will earn $25,000 in profit this summer. The Katimavik man used his $1,500 grant from the Summer Company program to buy a ladder, a lawn mower, uniforms and advertising for his business, Student Window Cleaning and Lawn Maintenance. Stanton, a business major who is headed into his fourth year at Trent University, said he will use this summer’s profit to pay for next year’s tuition and living expenses. Three per cent of all profits from the business will go to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, he said, where he has volunteered his time as a fundraiser for the past three years. Stanton has some simple advice for prospective student entrepreneurs.
“Do enough research to know what you’re getting into,” he said. “Try to go through your personal lifestyle to make sure it’s what you want to do.” Running your own business is time consuming, Stanton said. “There’s lots of little details that you wouldn’t think of – such as customer service and organizing schedules,” he said. Stanton has been working a steady 50 hours-plus a week this summer, but said he loves his job. “I’m doing very well actually, it’s still extraordinarily busy,” said Stanton. “I plan to do it next summer.”
Entrepreneurs like Stanton, are developing business skills that will last them a lifetime, said Stephen Daze, executive director of entrepreneurship and innovation at OCRI. “Whether these students choose to keep their businesses going or pick it up again after finishing school, we are confident that their experience this summer will give them a solid base from which to launch their next big idea.”

Friday Window Cleaning News

A job on the rise: Ambasasador Window Cleaning was in town this week to clean the windows of the BB&T/Denny's building. Cale Senterfitt balances on his seat as he squeegees a window on Tuesday morning. Click picture to enlarge.
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Joel Labovitz Entrepreneurial Success Awards: Duluth , MN – The University of Minnesota Duluth Center for Economic Development announced the recipients of the 17 th Annual Joel Labovitz Entrepreneurial Success Awards during a luncheon on April 21, 2009. More than 300 business and community leaders attended the event at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. Since 1993, the Joel Labovitz Entrepreneurial Success Awards have recognized small business owners who have dared to dream, taken a risk, and invested in the region. This year's award recipients were selected from a prestigious roster of 36 nominees from throughout the Twin Ports and Arrowhead Region. The Micro-Entrepreneur Award was won by Ablaze Custom Cleaning, LLC, Don Liimatainen Jr., Cloquet. Founded in January 2007, this professional cleaning company specializing in janitorial services, carpet cleaning, and window cleaning. Beginning with a $60 investment in window cleaning supplies, Don has built a business that was recognized last October by StartupNation as one of the top 20 businesses in the U.S. run by a college student. Don handles all the day-to-day operations of the company, which has a growing client base that includes nationally known corporations as well as many local companies and residences.
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Elvis has left the village: A 'just for fun' scarecrow competition in Awliscombe and Weston fell victim to thieves at the weekend. A scarecrow depicting Elvis was stolen on Friday and, on Saturday night, villagers managed to take a photograph as a coach party of revellers from the Weymouth area drove off with two more effigies, of a builder and a window cleaner. As the coach company was being contacted in a bid to trace the missing scarecrows, a make-shift crime scene was erected next to the spot where the builder was stolen from - much to the amusement of passers-by. A notice was erected to explain the window cleaner had gone on a coach to Weymouth. Organisers said the thefts had not marred the event. Instead, they had brought out people's sense of humour. Councillor Vernon Whitlock, a former mayor of Honiton, was thoroughly impressed with villagers' efforts. He said a scarecrow dressed as a policeman with a speed gun looked real. Overall winner was Tanya Summers for her scarecrow of Amy Winehouse. Tanya also took first prize in the under-18s class for a celebrity scarecrow.
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Few options in the face of outsourcing: Among the workers who voiced their demands for improved labor conditions during May Day rallies across the country, those employed by outsourcing companies were screaming the loudest. With increasing numbers of workers being hired through outsourcing companies, concerns for the mistreatment and vulnerability of the labor market is growing. "Of course I would prefer to be a proper employee but nowadays it is hard to find companies who actually hire someone directly without using any outsourcing services," said Isnani, who works as a junior analyst at a branch of Standard Chartered Bank.
According to Isnani, he first applied to the bank, but Standard Chartered Bank directed him to an outsourcing company, who has been responsible for his employment affairs since. "Jobs considered part of a company's core business should not be drawn from outsourcing services," Rekson said.
He added workers from outsourcing companies were often unaware they were especially vulnerable to mistreatment and job insecurity due to their weak bargaining position and dependency on contract renewal. Last week, Mathias Tambing, deputy chairman of the Confederation of the All-Indonesian Workers' Unions (KSPSI), said many employers bribed their way out of violations of the outsourcing system. Edi, not his real name, who works for a cleaning service in a building in South Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post how bribery had deprived him of his basic working rights. He explained that his company failed to provide insurance when it assigned him to clean the windows of a 15-floor building. "One day officials from the Manpower Ministry made an impromptu inspection and asked whether we had insurance or not," Edi said.
When the window cleaners answered they had none, the inspectors forbade them from working for a week until the outsourcing company organized rightful insurance for their employees. "I think there must've been a special arrangement between the outsourcing company and the building management that allowed us to go up there without insurance," Edi said. Some workers do have the courage and privilege to fight the wrongdoings of outsourcing companies.
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Councillor fooled by bogus cleaner: A WINDOW cleaning scam that has targeted elderly residents across north Swindon even managed to dupe a councillor for the area. Coun Justin Tomlinson (Con, Abbey Meads) was tricked out of almost £100 by the soapy scamster and is eager to make sure other residents don’t fall into the same trap. Justin (pictured), who is also the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for North Swindon, was one of many who was tricked by the con man into paying for a year’s contract to clean his windows and repair his gutters. Justin said: “This man used to be my window cleaner years ago then he came round offering window cleaning, gutters cleaned or fixed.
“He was offering a package for £99 all inclusive for a year. I asked him to do my guttering and then paid him the money. “So I am one of the lucky ones, because at least I got something for my money. A lot of other older residents have been taken in by him “It is absolutely disgraceful that he has targeted a number of elderly residents in the area. “I would urge any resident who has come into contact with him to get in touch with the police to help them build a stronger case so he can be prevented from doing the same thing to other people.” The same man is believed to have targeted a number of other houses – leaving a receipt but failing to turn up to complete the work. Contact details for his bogus company have proved to be false.
PC Troy Smith, of the Swindon North Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “We are keen to hear from anyone who has been approached by him and especially anyone who has given money but had no work done. “We believe he has worked over quite a wide area as we think he has also been active in Chippenham. “We want to build as much information as we can about this person so any information would be welcomed.” PC Smith said that a man had been arrested but was now on bail pending further inquiries. Anyone with information is asked to call PC Smith on 0845 408 7000.
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Dad from North Shields delivers baby in kitchen: Thrilled parents Derek Tate and Donna Richards thought they were prepared for their new arrival. But the couple faced a race against time when Donna, 30, went into labour early on Monday morning. And by the time paramedics arrived at their home in North Shields, shocked dad Derek, 27, was already holding his tiny bundle of joy. Little Peri Tate beat the ambulance crew by five minutes when she was born at home in the kitchen after her quick-fire birth. When paramedics arrived at the couple’s home in West Avenue, West Chirton, she was already wrapped in a blanket and snuggled tight in her dad’s arms. And the tiny baby is now doing fine after she entered the world in a makeshift delivery suite. The couple say they are still in shock but are over the moon with Peri’s arrival.
Derek, a window cleaner, said: “It just happened so fast. I just went into auto-pilot and did what I had to do. The ambulance crew said we had done a really good job.” Donna started having labour pains at around 5am on Monday. Derek called an ambulance after the contractions started to get worse but Peri was born in the couple’s kitchen at 6.29am, just five minutes before paramedics arrived. Donna said: “I told Derek to call the hospital but he couldn’t get through. Then I said he’d better hang up and call an ambulance instead, because the baby’s head was coming out.
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Window cleaner tells of crash escape: A window cleaner has told how he was forced to leap for his life when a car hit a van, mounted a busy pavement and smashed into the front of a Ryde cafe on Tuesday.The van driver was freed by firefighters, who removed doors from the vehicle to allow paramedics to support his neck and assess neck injuries. He was taken by ambulance to St Mary’s Hospital, Newport, and treated for whiplash. Window cleaner Robert Holdcroft, from Broadway Crescent, Binstead, saw the silver automatic Peugeot 206 speeding toward him with an 82-year-old Ryde woman at the wheel after it smashed into the Four Seasons Cleaning Services van.Mr Holdcroft, 29, from Broadway Crescent, Binstead, was just able to dive out of the way.He said: “If I had dived the other way, the car would have taken off both my legs. As it was, it clipped me and all I have is a painful pulled muscle. If it had been someone less mobile, they would have been killed.“I work for Four Seasons but was on holiday and I’d just stopped to have a chat with the van driver.”

Bravos' Shipp living professional dream: Don't say defender Samuel Shipp is inexperienced. Yeah, he's never played professional soccer, and will make his debut for Rio Grande Valley Bravos this Saturday night. But just because his first touch Saturday night will be his first professionally doesn't mean he isn't seasoned. Shipp, 29, who played collegiate soccer at BYU-Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho, served a three-year Mormon mission in Argentina, where he learned Spanish. He makes a living through his window-washing business, work that nobody could say is easy. To say that his path to becoming a professional soccer player hasn't been the straightest or anywhere near conventional would be an understatement. But all of that makes Shipp, who moved to the Valley with his Mission-native wife after college, appreciate his opportunity to start a career even more. He isn't like some of his teammates, some that are a decade younger and hope to move up to higher levels. He's playing for the Bravos not to eventually become a star in American or Mexican soccer, but simply to do something he's always wanted to.

As Seen On TV Product Claims Streak-Free Shine: It may not always feel like it, but it's officially spring and that has many of us doing spring cleaning. There's one product on the market that claims to cut cleaning time and hassle. It's called the "Glass Wizard" and typically sells for $9.99. Professional cleaner Crystal Straus put the "As Seen on TV" product to the test. The product touts a "streak-free shine" on glass, mirrors and shower doors. She liked the design right off the bat. "I like the fact that it's designed in a point so you can get in corners," said Straus. The Glass Wizard is like a wand with a wobbly head. It comes with two micro-fiber bonnets and a grime buster mesh bonnet. It just needs water to work. Unfortunately we couldn't conjure a streak free shine. Straus said, "The microfiber is a good idea but using water to do this, it's going to streak." So she switched from water to Windex and tried again with some success. "All these spots are gone and it's not streaky," she said. And Straus liked the extension on the product as well. "I think the exterior pole is a good idea so you don't have to move your furniture," she said. Next stop was the shower. "As soon as the water evaporates, they (the spots) come right back." The mesh bonnet did help on the car window and so did the handle but in order to keep the glass streak-free, we had to keep changing the cloth.