The Incredible Story Of Window Washer Alonzo Martin

Alonzo Martin poses outside of the Independence Center on Forest Park Boulevard in St. Louis, where he works, on Wednesday on conditional release status.

After seven years locked up, St. Louis man wins chance at freedom - On a Good Friday more than seven years ago, Alonzo Martin was finishing his window-washing route at a popular St. Louis barbershop when he made an off-color comment to the owner’s wife that would destroy his life.

“I told his wife, ‘You are so sexy, you look like my wife,’ ” he recalled. Her husband heard. A violent ruckus ensued. Police were called.

In the seven years since the incident, Martin has paid a price. He’s been locked up in jails and state mental hospitals, most recently at the St. Louis Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center on Arsenal Street. His indefinite confinement is based on a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Had he pleaded guilty to charges, he probably would have been free long ago.

Instead, he has missed the births of five grandchildren and much of the childhood of his youngest son who is now 13. Throughout it all, Martin has argued he was the victim, not the offender, in the barbershop crime. And he said he never agreed to enter the insanity plea made by his attorney.

On Monday, a judge backed him up. St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Philip Heagney lifted Martin’s order of commitment after the court and his former attorney Paul Sims could not produce the legal document Martin should have signed off on stating he had no other defenses. It is required in any order of commitment.

In a hearing last month, Martin’s new pro-bono attorney, Thor Mathison, successfully argued that because the court could not produce the document, the commitment was void. Mathison also told the judge that Martin probably would have been acquitted of the charges had the case gone to trial.

“Had he even pleaded guilty, I’m not sure he would have ended up spending seven years in the custody of the state,” Mathison said Tuesday.

By Martin’s and Mathison’s accounts, Martin was attacked and severely beaten by several people after he made the remark in Yams Barber and Beauty shop on South Jefferson Avenue. He tried to flee in his car. One of his attackers shattered a passenger window, causing Martin to drive up on the sidewalk toward pedestrians and witnesses, some of whom took part in the altercation.

But St. Louis police saw it another way. Martin — who had no previous convictions for violent crimes — was charged with three counts of first-degree assault and three counts of armed criminal action. Yet, as Mathison told the judge, Martin was the only person who was injured in the altercation. Martin’s arrest photo shows a severely bruised and swollen face.

“Ironically, Alonzo was the one who called police,” Mathison said. Martin first spent three years in the city Workhouse awaiting trial on the charges until his then-private attorney filed a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. The plea was accepted by the court.

He was then confined at Fulton State Hospital, and later transferred to St. Louis Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center where he eventually resided in low-security cottages. Doctors at Fulton had diagnosed him with bipolar disorder, though Martin doubts the diagnosis and said he had never been manic nor been a behavioral problem.

Monday’s ruling isn’t Martin’s first court victory. In January, the Post-Dispatch reported that he won $34,000 in back wages for himself and others in a federal labor dispute against St. Louis Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center. He successfully claimed the facility set unfair work performance quotas and underpaid him and other residents who were required to do light manufacturing jobs in the facility’s work center. (More below).

In the past year, Heagney granted Martin conditional release status, which allowed him to leave the facility for work training, a janitorial job at a church and to visit his mother. Those freedoms were revoked by state mental health officials last month after Martin attended the hearing in shackles to fight his commitment.

After the hearing, he was put on lockdown with everyone else after two residents escaped from the facility. But after the lockdown was lifted, Martin remained under the watch. At one point, he was confined to a high-security observation room that he said smelled of feces and urine.

Martin formally appealed the lockdown to hospital officials. Documents in response to that appeal shared by Martin show an “administrative decision” made to keep him on lockdown on a high security ward with no visiting or conditional release privileges “to reduce the chance of elopement pending resolution of court case.”

Martin said by phone during the lockdown that he felt he was being punished for fighting his commitment and the wage dispute. Mathison, his attorney, thought the move was extreme. “I understand that the facility has to be mindful of security, but Alonzo had been there for a long time and had followed the rules for a long time and to sort of punish him for executing his constitutionally protected rights seems unfair,” Mathison said.

Despite Heagney’s ruling Monday, Martin is still not free. He was transported Tuesday morning from the psychiatric facility to the St. Louis City Justice Center on $50,000 bail. Under Heagney’s order, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney has until Friday to refile charges. Mathison said it would be hard to try the case, given that seven years have passed and witnesses are hard to locate.

If no charges come, Martin will go free and restart his window-washing business. If he is recharged, Martin said, he will ask his mother, 80, to help him post bail.

Ward of St. Louis psychiatric center wins labor dispute: Five days a week for nearly two years Alonzo Martin was required to do the most menial of tasks to earn his keep inside St. Louis Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center where he was committed by the city Circuit Court.

Over the course of his confinement at the Arsenal Street facility he’s stuck labels on plastic clamshell packaging for produce. He’s changed out photos behind the glass lids of wooden gift boxes for Hollywood Casino. He’s stuffed San Francisco Giants World Series replica championship rings into tiny plastic bags. He’s packaged erasers. He’s even put together Boy Scout tool kits to make Pinewood Derby cars.

Martin is unsure if he will ever fully gain his freedom under what he believes was a bogus court order to commit him after an alleged crime. But he says he has at least prevailed in a federal labor complaint against the facility’s work center, which he said underpaid him and others and operated like a sweat shop.

Records released last week show federal inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor validated many of his complaints. The federal agency ordered the facility to repay more than $34,000, the equivalent of two years’ back wages, to many of its residents.

Officials with the Missouri Department of Mental Health declined last week to comment on the report or the payments. But as part of the inquiry, the facility has also agreed to adjust the way it figures those wages to comply with federal standards.

Martin is an even-spoken, articulate man of normal intelligence who says he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder about 10 years ago, though he disputes that diagnosis.

Records show he’s been paid as little as $2.55 an hour for his work at the rehabilitation hospital’s work center. That has occurred even though labor laws say those wages should be based on an average prevailing wage, which currently hovers a little above $9 an hour. And he’s watched 40 percent of his meager earnings taken away each month by the facility to pay for room, board, health care and other expenses — a practice allowed by state law.

Martin said state law also limited the savings residents could accrue and enabled the state to take the rest. A spokesman with the state Department of Mental Health said the cap was set at $768, with additional earnings being deposited in the state’s general revenue fund. The cap is intended to help the state pay for psychiatric medicine and treatment but also ensures that clients remain qualified for Medicaid when they are discharged. Medicaid also prohibits savings and limits net earnings.

Under the rule, Martin said, he typically reaches his savings limit after just two months. Records also show Martin is currently paying court-ordered child support with half of his earnings. If he could save more, Martin said, he could pass more along to his children.

Some may say that’s just the way it goes for the 100 or so residents committed to the psychiatric facility under criminal court pleas of not guilty by reason of insanity. The alternative might have been a guilty ruling and prison sentence.

Martin has for years maintained that he is innocent of the assault and armed criminal action charges that led to a three-year confinement in the city jail and then nearly four years in state psychiatric facilities. He says he never consented to a not guilty by reason of insanity plea bargain made by an attorney nearly seven years ago.

So the wage issue has really bothered him, and he decided to take a stand. “Whether I’m mentally ill or not, they shouldn’t be in here paying us only $2 an hour,” he said.

QUOTAS AND PRODUCTIVITY

The final report by federal labor inspectors concluded the facility was underpaying the workers by 46 percent. Wages went as low as 85 cents an hour, the report shows.

In the end, 73 residents were found to be significantly underpaid; each got a slice of the $34,000 in back wages.

At issue was a formula used to determine just how much a worker should accomplish within 50 minutes to earn an hourly rate of pay commensurate to the prevailing wage. Investigators found that the facility had improperly inflated that production quota and expected workers to meet it even though it was 54 percent higher than it should have been.

That low productivity drove down their pay far beneath the prevailing wage.

Martin, who at one point wrote to federal officials, “we are tortured here daily with an impossible to reach high standard,” said he was reimbursed about $850 in back wages after the federal findings. He used the money to buy a computer that he keeps at his mother’s home, which under the terms of his confinement he is allowed to visit once a week. He said that at least his mother and his children could use it.

He said facility residents were told neither about the labor violations nor why they got the back wages. He said more back wages should have been returned because the facility had been underpaying clients for well over a decade. The Department of Labor went back only two years in its investigation, with a statute of limitations preventing a longer review.

“I really feel sorry for the guys who’ve been here 15, 20 years,” Martin said. “They are owed a lot more.”

WAITING

Martin does not know how long he might remain in the psychiatric facility. He was committed after the court accepted a not guilty by reason of insanity plea from his former attorney on three counts of first-degree assault and three counts of armed criminal action in 2007.

He contends he was fleeing an assault by two people when one of the perpetrators burst his car window as he drove down a sidewalk. Some bystanders possibly associated with the assault claimed he tried to hit them with the car. Court records said the victim was not injured but Martin was. Martin also made the 9-1-1 call to authorities after the incident, records show.

Martin, who had a prior felony conviction for theft that resulted in prison time, said it was possible he would have served some jail time for the assault if found guilty — but certainly not the seven years he’s been confined under the plea bargain.

In October, his attorney Thor Mathison, who took on the case pro bono, filed a petition demanding Martin’s immediate release. The petition claims Martin’s commitment order is invalid because the court has yet to produce a legal document signed by Martin declaring he understood his insanity plea.

So for now, Martin waits. Though he is still a resident at the psychiatric facility, he no longer works in its work center. He is transported daily to the Independence Center, which gives job training and support for those coping with mental illness.

He said he would like to return to the window-washing business he ran in The Hill neighborhood. He’d like to spend time with his family. His youngest child is now 13. He has six grandchildren.

The New Window Cleaners + Other News

A window cleaner works on a glass office tower roof. According to a new report by the Center for an Urban Future, jobs in the property maintenance industry are growing faster than those in other sectors in New York City.

Job Opportunities for Youth? Report Points to Janitorial Services - If you ask people what the most popular jobs for young New Yorkers are, many would say baristas at Starbucks or sales assistants in chain retailers like Uniqlo, where you can make an average $8 to $10 per hour, or no more than $20,000 a year with regular working hours. But did you know an average janitor in New York City could easily make more than that? A recent report by the Center for an Urban Future (CUF) reveals the median salary for New York janitors is $30,870, nearly 14 percent more than any coffee shop jobs. Although this occupation may not sound sexy, it does have a future.  The State Labor Department is projecting 1,700 openings in janitorial jobs every year through 2018, making it one of the most promising fields for young people without college degrees. “Some of the jobs actually start at a relatively low wage,” said Jonathan Bowles, the executive director of CUF who supervised the report, who added that “they also have a lot of room for advancement.”

The national unemployment rate soared to 8.2 percent in May, but the figure for youth unemployment is more than double that. According to a youth employment support organization, Jobs First NYC (JFNYC), in New York City alone, nearly 175,000 young adults between 18 to 24 are currently “out-of-school, out-of-work and out-of-luck.” Many inexperienced young adults, particularly those without a college degree, have been discouraged from looking for jobs by the dismal job market and competition with skilled job seekers, said the executive director of JFNYC, Louis Miceli. In an economy where most decent paying jobs require at least some sort of associate degrees, blue-collar industries are now actively hiring and growing, and they do provide a path to middle-class salaries.

By CUF’s estimates, there will be more than 2,640 opportunities a year in property maintenance, which includes janitorial, cleaning, building maintenance and repair jobs, as well as 460 jobs in telecommunication and utility works. The number is projected to grow by six percent over the next six years. None of these jobs ask for more than high school degree. Only short-term vocational training is required. Some of the occupations provide solid paychecks to entry-level workers, the report points out. For instance, the median starting salary for general building maintenance workers is $27,000, and can reach the average salary of $41,680. The salary for equipment installers and repairers is much higher: $46,110 for entry-level workers and $69,560 for professionals.

The report suggests these are good fields for young people with limited degrees and who don’t mind working their way up from the bottom. Among all the general maintenance workers in New York City, nearly 43 percent have only a high school diploma and 14 percent did not graduate from high school. “Most of these jobs are not sexy and not getting attention from the news media, but these are the fields where young adults can realistically get hired,” said Bowles.

Even though these jobs are expected to grow rapidly, in reality they haven’t been very attractive to young people. “These manual jobs often don’t immediately lead them to the next step, and young people don’t even know what career ladders exist.” said Miceli. “So rather they see these jobs as dead-end.” Mallory Scott, 38, a janitor working at a private sector building in Hell’s Kitchen, said she seldom sees co-workers under 24 years old. The average age at her work place is 40 to 45. Scott has been in her position for seven years. She works eight hours a day, five days a week, receives health benefits and enjoys a three-week vacation every year. “A lot of young kids are not gravitating to this type of business,” said Scott, who believes a janitorial job is stable enough to support her and her family. “For those people who probably feel [the job] is degrading, they don’t know what we make. They could be making $15 [an hour] and they have no clue that I’m making almost $30.”

Start-up janitors in New York City typically earn $10 to $11 per hour, Scott said, and the pay rises to $15 to $16 if they become union members. Many janitors in New York City, even in the private sector, are organized, like the SEIU 32 BJ office cleaners who nearly went on strike last December. In the public sector, many janitors have long been organized. During the Republican presidential primary campaign, candidate Newt Gingrich took heat when he suggested public school districts replace their unionized janitorial staffs with young workers. But Gingrich’s comments were particularly controversial because he was talking about jobs for people 18 and under. Three months is the average period before being eligible for union membership. General cleaners are able to be promoted to utility workers — as long as they develop sufficient skills — and to supervisors or foremen.

We are, as everyone must know by now, in a double-dip recession. The amount of stuff that the country is producing is less than it was. So the latest unemployment statistics are a bit of a puzzle. You can see the ONS's release here: full-time employment is up by 82,000, part-time employment is up by 83,000 and overall, unemployment is down by 0.2 percentage points, or 51,000. Public sector employment is down 39,000 and private sector employment is up 205,000. (On the other hand, the claimant count – the number of people on the dole – has increased). So more people are working, and yet we are producing less stuff: that's a bit weird, though not new to the British economy. The great puzzle of the last four years has been explaining why, despite the recession being far worse for GDP than many previous ones, unemployment did not shoot up in the way that it did in say, the 1980s.

So the best explanation I can see is this one: the increase in the number of self-employed people accounts for most of the increase in employment – 84,000 more people are self-employed than were three months ago. Given that self-employment can include anything from ad hoc babysitting to window cleaning, the rise in self-employment would explain why employment is increasing even as GDP falls: people moving into self-employment are earning far less than they used to earn (assuming of course that they are declaring all of their income to the taxman…).

Recession-Resistant Commercial Cleaning Industry Adapts to More Demanding Customers -  Marketdata Enterprises, Inc., a leading independent market research publisher of “off-the-shelf” studies about SERVICE industries since 1979, has released the 9th edition, a 227-page market study entitled: The U.S. Commercial & Residential Cleaning Services Industry. The study estimates national receipts from 1987-2016 forecasts, covers operating ratios, emerging trends, franchising, competitor profiles and more. “This $78 billion business, which encompasses janitorial services, pest control, window cleaning, carpet/floor cleaning, parking lot maintenance, security, HVAC/facilities management, residential maid services, disaster restoration, and more, is very competitive, comprised of 820,157 mainly small operators, including 48,000 franchised outlets. Competitors run the gamut from mom & pop cleaners, to giants such as ABM Industries with $2.4 billion in revenues.

Many feel that this business is recession-resistant. This is a low-tech business that’s easy to enter, and many do. However, moderate growth in receipts came to a halt in 2009, hurt by the recession, the housing bust, the collapse of commercial real estate, low-ball pricing and lower profit margins,” according to Research Director, John LaRosa. Revenues… Marketdata estimates that industry receipts grew 2.5% to $78 billion in 2011. In 2009, receipts fell by the most since 1993—down 4.6%. This year, we expect 3% gains to $80.5 billion, and 4% yearly gains to $93.7 billion by 2016. Specialty niches like disaster restoration, HVAC, security, air duct cleaning and “tag work” should grow faster than “commodity” services such as janitorial.

Marketdata estimates that there is 77 billion sq. ft. of commercial floor space in the U.S. and the cost to clean it averages about $1.49 per sq. ft.—for a POTENTIAL market of $95 billion. Operating Ratios…. The “typical” contract cleaner grossed $623,000/year in 2007 and $643,000 in 2011. Pre-tax profit margins fell to 6.6% of net sales. Average annual receipts per employee were $43,878 in 2007 for the industry overall, but as high as $92,867 for “miscellaneous” services (not janitorial, pest control or carpet cleaning) and $90,772 for pest control workers. The industry has 85,843 establishments with payrolls. The smallest “non-employer” services number 734,314 and account for $12.7 billion in receipts.

Demand Indicators… 90% of contract cleaners service office buildings. Unfortunately, the commercial real estate market may not recover for years. Commercial construction fell about 35% from 2008-2010. Office vacancy rates hit 16.6% in 2010 and are projected to fall only slightly by 2013. Healthcare construction is one of the few bright spots. Delays in federal appropriations are pushing contract awards for government business into 2012. Major industry issues include: a move to more certification and “green” cleaning, price compression, a shift to more science-based cleaning, longer sales cycles, high worker turnover, more day cleaning, the bundling of services by large accounts (total service concept), major geographic differences in the health of commercial and residential end users by city/region, and the growing importance of niche and specialty markets.

About The Study: The U.S. Commercial & Residential Cleaning Services Industry, published in June 2012, is an independently researched “off-the-shelf” study. The study is 227 pages in length and contains 152 detailed tables/charts. The study costs $1,995 and is also sold by individual chapters at lower cost. A free table of contents is available by mail, email (marketdataent(at)yahoo(dot)com) or fax. A 36-page Overview of major findings is available to the general public for $79.

About Marketdata: Marketdata Enterprises is a 33-year old independent market research and consulting firm that publishes industry and market studies covering a wide range of SERVICE sectors and emerging niche market. It has tracked the commercial cleaning industry since 1991. Studies are also available online via commercial databases such as Profound, and distributors (Global Information, MarketResearch.com, Bharat Book Bureau). John LaRosa is available for interviews.

Attack victim spends payout on cannabis unit: A Doncaster man who used cash from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board to set up his own drugs factory has narrowly escaped going to jail. Michael Cook, aged 34, was given a suspended four month prison term after telling a judge he was using cannabis to help him conquer his drink problem and he had not planned to sell drugs. Doncaster Crown Court heard how the Balby window cleaner received £2,000 compensation for facial scarring suffered in an assault and used half of it to set up the cannabis production unit. When police raided his rented home in Finch Road last January they found 14 cannabis plants growing to a height of 75cm in the garage. The unit included growing tents, transformers, lamps, electric timers and a water butt. Police experts said the plants could have yielded more than £3,000 worth of cannabis, said Jeremy Evans, prosecuting.

Cook had no previous convictions but Mr Evans said the potential output would have created a surplus which could have got into general circulation. Defence solicitor Cedric Hennis said his client did not accept that, because the cannabis would have been for his own use only and there was no evidence of him selling it. Giving evidence, Cook said he had used the drug ‘on and off for years’ and used YouTube to get information about cultivating his own. “I intended to use it to get off the alcohol. I’m an alcoholic and have been seeking treatment for it. I wanted to use it to stop drinking. “I had no intention of supplying anyone else with cannabis, it was just for my own use. I didn’t know how much each plant would produce.”

Cook, who earns £55 a week on his window round, denied a prosecution claim that he saw it as additional income and said: “No, I was just thinking about my liver. I’m not very money motivated.” Cook, who admitted cannabis production, was also sentenced to 150 hours of unpaid work and supervision after the judge said it was important he should deal with his alcohol problem.

Birds trapped in boarded up flat: Residents in central Hamilton were shocked to see distressed birds desperately trying to get into and out of a boarded-up flat last week. The empty flat in Cadzow Street contained nesting pigeons, and had been boarded up by the owner leaving birds and nests inside. Confused pigeons sat perched inside on the window ledges wondering why they couldn’t get out. And other birds, possibly mates of those inside, were seen banging into the boarded up windows trying to get in. The empty flat is above but separate from a functioning letting agency.

Concerned neighbours asked a window cleaner to remove one of the boards and then phoned the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA). One neighbour said: “It was awful. The birds had been coming in and out for weeks, and they were just left inside, with no way to get out. Other birds were also trying to get in. Pigeons are classed as vermin but you can’t just board them up like that.” Another said: “You could see the pigeons trapped inside. “We had to ask a window cleaner to take one of the boards off.” An officer from the SSPCA attended and managed to get in touch with the estate agent in charge of the building, and to get the situation sorted out.

Window Cleaning: With the bright mornings we're having, I thought people might like the number of a window cleaner, especially if you're on the upper floors where you may be taking your life in your hands by doing it yourself. Especially if you're in Holden or Wilshaw where the windows don't open the way Lewisham Homes thinks they do. Let's face it, if you don't have three giant arms you can't open your back windows more than two inches. Even the front windows aren't easy if you're not young and fit. You'd have to be a monkey to get to the kitchen window from the inside, and very brave to get up high on your balcony to do the outside.

The cowboys I got in are quick and efficient. It cost £15 for all six windows but it has lasted six months and is still looking good compared to the previous four-year build up (the last time I did it myself). Treat yourself, the council ain't gonna do it for you. Even if your view isn't great, you'll feel like a million dollars when it's done. If you're strapped for cash, maybe you can find some near neighbours who want a good clean at the same time and you might get a reduction on a job lot? Negotiate.

Cotton shirts less stinky: A squad of shirt-sniffers played a key role in new University of Alberta research into the science of smelly clothes. Textiles scientist Rachel McQueen and chemistry scientist James Harynuk paired up for a field study examining odour-causing bacteria from sweaty T-shirts. Participants exercised wearing test shirts -- without deodorant -- over a 10-week period, and a 17-member volunteer “odour panel” assessed the tops in a sniff test at the end of the trial. The study concluded that cotton shirts smelled less than polyester shirts both before and after washing, and that antimicrobial coating did not appear effective in reducing body odour. “Doing the analysis was a big challenge in this study. But it’s good, because this is the kind of thing we have to consider when we’re looking at a real-world sample, we’re not looking at a contrived situation,” Harynuk said.

Harynuk also analyzed pieces of each shirt in a series of lab tests that revealed 1,000 to 2,000 molecules on every dirty shirt sample. Researchers found the number of molecules on the cotton shirts dropped significantly more after washing than the molecules on the polyester shirts. Harynuk said it is not yet known which molecules contribute to causing odour. “Human sweat, in and of itself, doesn’t smell,” he said. “It’s the microbial action on the sweat, as the microflora on our skin and on our toes (interacting), that’s what generates the smelling compounds and molecules.” The project was an unusual endeavour for Harynuk, who recalls McQueen approaching him a year ago with the idea. “We said, ‘Sure, sounds like fun as long as I don’t have to sniff (the shirts) and my students don’t have to sniff them,’” he said.

McQueen said the aim of the research is to find the key to developing a material that resists odour-causing molecules. She said more controlled lab testing will likely be needed to determine which molecules are causing odour and how they bind to different fabrics. One practical piece to take away from the study, she suggested, is that cotton shirts do not necessarily need to be washed as often as polyester shirts. “A lot of people don’t even bother doing the sniff test, they just throw it in the washing machine after they’ve worn it once,” she said.

Men as well as women shun household chores: Australian women are doing less housework than they were five years ago. But it's not because men are pulling their weight around the house more. Rather, the latest census data shows both men and women are spending less time doing unpaid domestic work, which means either our homes are getting messier or more of us are outsourcing the chores. More than 44 per cent of all men and women aged over 15 say they do less than five hours of housework a week, or none at all. This compares with 41 per cent in 2006.

At the same time, the number of people who say they do more than 30 hours of housework a week dropped significantly from 1.8 million people to 1.7 million. Of people who did unpaid domestic work in the week before the census, 25.6 per cent worked five to 14 hours, 12 per cent worked 15 to 29 hours, and 10.1 per cent worked 30 hours or more. Stephane Fayd'herbe, of the Melbourne cleaning company Cleaning Institute of Australia, is not surprised by the figures.

He says the demands of juggling a family and a career means more and more families are outsourcing their domestic duties, particularly in households where both parents work. ''We've certainly seen our business grow steadily each year over the past five years,'' he said. ''I think that is largely driven by an increasing population that is incredibly time poor and who are therefore looking to get other people to do their more menial and mundane tasks for them.'' He said much new business came from working mothers with young children.

In only the second time the census has looked at the distribution of domestic labour, the results again show that for those households that still mop their own floors and iron their own clothes, women do about twice as much housework as men. According to the figures, almost twice as many men as women do less than five hours of housework a week or none at all. While three times as many women spend more than 15 hours cooking and cleaning each week. The figures show that while 1.4 million women are engaged in domestic chores for between 15 and 30 hours a week, only about 500,000 men do the same.

Women secretly love being homemakers: Many women admitted to researchers that they love cleaning because it gives them a sense of 'pleasure' and 'achievement'. It also makes them feel better about receiving surprise visitors who wouldn't see the house in a mess. However, almost four out of ten of those who love cleaning admitted that it was a secret passion - and that they would never tell their other half they enjoyed getting to grips with the housework. The admissions emerged in a survey carried out among 2,000 women by Zoflora disinfectant.

"There are a growing number of common misconceptions about cleaning however, women can and do get a great deal of satisfaction from cleaning," the Daily Mail quoted Dr Jane McCartney, a chartered psychologist and consultant to Zoflora, as saying. "There is the therapeutic routine or sense of control in creating a home environment but also perhaps, that homes also make a personal statement - cleanliness and choice of fragrance adding to their overall sense of personal pride satisfaction. "Taking on tasks that you have a realistic chance of completing can provide immediate positive feedback; the undertaking and completion of the task will allow you to have a sense of control," she said.

Dr McCartney further said that the sense of achievement, which the women felt after completing the chores, was an important factor that attributed to a person's well being. Also cleaning is an area where this achievement can live beyond the actual task itself. The study found vacuuming, tidying up and wiping surfaces clean are three household chores women enjoy. But cleaning the oven, the toilet and doing the ironing were the ones they were most likely to hate.

Household tasks, which required too much time, too much effort or were labelled 'disgusting' were most likely to be left to their other half. But chores that left their house looking noticeably clean were the ones women preferred and enjoyed, like dusting and washing up. Making sure their house smelt clean and fresh was also a priority for women, with more than three quarters admitting that they would judge someone with a bad smell in their home, or look at them in a negative light. "Not only is it just unpleasant to be near a bad smell, this also stems from our basic evolutionary development too," Dr. McCartney said. "In the past unpleasant smells would signify a danger to survival, in as much as they indicate contamination, illness or even death," Dr. McCartney said.

Living green wall planned for InterContinental Chicago: Laurence Geller, the blunt-talking British chief executive of Strategic Hotels & Resorts, plans to literally spruce up the facade of the InterContinental Chicago hotel on North Michigan Avenue with a 9,800-square-foot living green wall. The wall, which requires City Council approval, would be covered in thousands of plants growing year-round in concealed trays hung perpendicular to the wall. It would be the largest wall of its kind in North America and one of a handful in Chicago, according to Geller and Anne Roberts, the local landscape designer he has hired to build it.

Maintenance will be necessary two to three times per year and done in a similar manner to window-washing. Workers will dangle from the roof to trim and replace plants. "This is horticulture to the 100th degree," Roberts said. "It's infinitely much harder to figure out what's going to grow on a wall. And this wall will face west, meaning very, very hot in the summer, and is near the lake, meaning high winds." Geller said the first year will be "trial and error and effort" — "we'll over-irrigate and kill some (plants)," he warned. But if it succeeds, he believes tourists will flock to photograph it and that will propel more business.

The courage of whistleblowers and why we should welcome the huge rise in care home complaints: Complaints about abuse of the elderly and disabled in care homes and hospitals rocketed last year.

More than 4,300 whistleblowers have come forward to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which regulates care home in England in the last 16 months. Complaints, from relatives, staff and ancillary workers such as window cleaners and hairdressers, are up from 22 a month in December 2010 to 556 in March 2012. This is a rise of 2,500 per cent. More than half of these complaints were so serious that they triggered a full investigation. The rise has been attributed in part to greater awareness of the problem, in the wake of the shocking BBC Panorama programme broadcast in May 2011 in which an undercover reporter secretly filmed appalling scenes of abuse of patients with learning difficulties in Winterbourne View private hospital near Bristol. The home was closed and 11 staff charged with abuse.

Aston Villa winger Marc Albrighton has spent his holiday break cleaning windows! Albrighton swapped his boots and shinpads for a bucket and sponge to join Bolehall Swifts boss Daren Fulford and his son Conor on their round in Tamworth town centre. "I’d had a bit of banter with them about window cleaning," Albrighton told the Sunday Mercury. “They were saying I had never done a hard day’s work in my life. I’d put it to the back of my mind, but when the season finished they brought it up again. So I decided it would be fun to give it a go and it was a great laugh. “I really enjoyed it and didn’t think it was too tough.

The one killer part was the 5.30am start, but I thought I did well with the rest of it. It’s always been drilled into me to stay as grounded as possible and my mum and dad have always helped me to keep my feet on the ground. “I know a lot of people have bad views on footballers. “There’s a stereotypical view of players in the Premiership but there are a lot of good lads. “For me, I enjoy being a part of Tamworth. It’s my hometown and so doing things like this are important to me.” Fulford says there was more to Albrighton's efforts than just replying to a wind-up. “School kids in particular were walking past and then glancing back and saying, ‘that’s Marc Albrighton’. I just thought it was great that he was doing it.” Also here.

Toronto’s falling condo glass prompts new Ontario rules:  The Ontario government has amended the province’s building code after a recent spate of falling panes of glass from balconies in downtown Toronto. “The public deserves to know that their homes and neighbourhoods are safe,” Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Kathleen Wynne said at Polson Pier on Thursday morning. New changes include what type of glass must be used and how it is installed, depending on how close the pane is to the balcony edge, Wynne said. The changes will take effect July 1. However, Toronto councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam said the amendments only apply to new structures and will not affect existing buildings.

While praising the move as a good first step, Wong-Tam told CityNews: “There’s been close to 30 panels that have fallen in the past two years. It could go a little bit further.” Under the new Ontario rules, construction companies will now be required to use heat-strengthened laminated glass when glass is close to the edge of a balcony. This is the same type of glass used in windshields and is less prone to shatter, the government said. Wong-Tam said consumers need to know where their glass is manufactured. Companies must use heat-strengthened laminated glass or heat-soaked tempered glass where glass balcony guards are inset from the edge of the balcony.

Last week, glass fell from a condominium on Simcoe Street near Richmond Street West, smashing onto two cars, but falling glass has been a problem in downtown since last summer. On May 29, glass fell from the two outer window panes of the 30th or 31st floor of the RBC Centre at 155 Wellington St. W., crashing onto Simcoe. On March 24, glass fell from the top floor of the Trump International Hotel and Tower on Bay Street, prompting police to clear nearby streets. Similar incidents last August prompted two separate class-action lawsuits. The two lawsuits represent owners and renters in the Murano Towers and the Festival Tower, who, according to the lawsuit, have not been able to use their balconies for nearly a year. One woman was injured last summer, receiving a cut to her hand from a falling panel.

Lanterra Developments, the defendant in one of the lawsuits, announced that it would remove all tempered glass panels from its properties on Grenville, Grosvenor and Bedford streets and replace them with laminated glass.  Thirty existing properties will be inspected, and future and current projects will also use laminated glass.

Shattered glass rains down in uptown: Intoxicated man broke window on 39th floor of One Wells Fargo uptown. Someone sneaked past security at the One Wells Fargo building Sunday evening, went up to the 39th floor and shattered a window pane, sending shards of glass falling to the street, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said. “We believe that a highly-intoxicated male somehow managed to throw some type of object through the window,” said police spokesman Bob Fey in an e-mail. There were no injuries reported as a result of the incident, which occurred about 8:30 p.m. Sunday. But a number of people walking on the street had to scramble to safety when the glass began falling. “We were sitting outside, and we heard a boom,” Heather McDonnell told WBTV, the Observer’s news partner. “And 20 seconds later, it was raining glass.”

The 39th floor has been vacant for more than a year, said David Pitser, director of office property management for Childress Klein Properties. The company has owned the building since it was constructed in 1988. Police told WBTV that no structural problems were involved. “There’s absolutely no truth to any speculation that the windows have any type of problem,” said Pitser. Pitser estimated the damage at “well under $10,000” and said he expects the 4-by-5-foot window to be replaced by the end of the week. On Monday afternoon, several people who work in the uptown building said that neither their employers nor the property owner had notified them about Sunday’s incident. “That’s scary though,” said Ryan Webster, an intern at a law firm on the 26th floor. “I feel like the windows that high up should be shatterproof.” He also noted that typically, to get into the elevator area, one would need to use a badge.

The Houston Pavilions building in downtown Houston is having problems with falling glass. The main tenant of the Houston Pavilions Office Tower is NRG Energy and its subsidary Reliant. Panes of glass have shattered mysteriously. Most workers said they first remember hearing about trouble several months ago. “They sent out the emails to let us be aware of it. So that we would know what was going on,” said Gertrude Harris. Later the entrance was closed and building managers sent out another notice. Workers said an inside window pane on the sixth floor shattered Monday. Two weeks before it was an outside  window pane on the floor above. “The one on seven, someone was saying they thought something hit it,” said Josh Brinker, a building worker. An entire block has been closed as a precaution.

Love Running Your Service Business: ServiceTask was founded in February 2011 by Edward Giardina at a small office in the state of Rhode Island. Ed ran a home service company before the launch of ServiceTask. As his business expanded, he searched for simple, web-based tools for his business operations but found none. He then explored the idea of developing a software for service businesses that would be user friendly, leading to the creation of ServiceTask.

Managing a service business is extremely tricky, depending on the size of your customer base. They face service labor issues, scheduling challenges, customer confusion, and more. When you are service business, disorganization can affect your profits. Simplify your life! Use a software that schedules smarter and faster, manages your contacts, reduces unnecessary phone time, and track your workflow. Try ServiceTask for free if you do not believe that it is that easy!

Our mission is to transform the way service businesses manage their processes by providing them with a simple and better way to work. It works for landscapers, handymen, maid services, window cleaning, plumbing, pest control services, and much more. We promise to dedicate all of our time and energy to providing you with the easiest-to-use software to better run your business.

Banned driver 'guilty' of child's death: Andrew Paul Morrow, aged 33, had the charges put to him again and pleaded guilty to causing the death of Daniel Mooney by driving dangerously on Mountcoole Park in the north of the city on 15 May last year. Standing in the dock of Belfast Crown Court in a grey tracksuit top, Morrow, from Vara Drive in Belfast, also pleaded guilty to causing the schoolboy's death by driving while disqualified and without insurance. At a previous court hearing Morrow, a window cleaner from the Ardoyne area of north Belfast, admitted charges of failing to remain and failing to report an accident. Only child and talented dog shower, Daniel was riding as a pillion passenger on Morrow's scrambler motorbike when he fell off and he tragically died from the head injuries he sustained. He was not wearing a helmet. On Thursday, Judge Patrick Lynch adjourned passing sentence until pre-sentence probation reports have been compiled and also until the outcome of proceedings against Morrow's co-accused, 19-year-old Dean McComb, from North Queen Street, also Belfast. His trial is listed in September but prosecuting QC John Orr told the court: "We will look at the outstanding matters and see what our view is of the co-accused" who faces similar charges."

Der Fensterputzer (The Window Washer): Theatre; When Pina Bausch died in 2009 she left barely 30 works in the repertoire of the Tanztheater Wuppertal, so London’s current season by the company offers a chance to see not only all 10 of her creations inspired by residencies in some of the world’s major cities but a third of her entire surviving output.

Der Fensterputzer’s music is every bit as deracinated. Bausch responds to Hong Kong’s traffic by turning to Portuguese Fado, Romanian gypsy laments and folk tunes from Argentina — songs of yearning that immortalise old loves and long-lost sensations. Her movement, too, with its anemone arms that draw in to allow precise hand gestures, seems to be catching at moments as they drift past, and preserving them in small, private rituals.

The dancers often touch their own bodies, rearranging bits of themselves as if they were Chinese puzzles with a hidden inside. There are touristy snapshots such as the window washer of the title suspended in a neon-tattooed night, or a rope bridge that descends from the heavens, but they get quickly whisked away. Der Fensterputzer is less concerned with the blizzard of experiences provided by a city such as Hong Kong, and more with how we distil memories from them.

Is it bad for women to objectify men - the way men objectify women? One, the idea that admiring men for their physical attributes is something new, which ignores the decades-old existence of a partially clothed David Beckham, the key Brad-Pitt-based plot point in Thelma & Louise, any scene on TV or in the movies or in real life in which a group of whoo-hoo-ing women go to a male strip club or drool while gazing outside at a sweaty, muscle-bound male window washer (who exists only in the movies or TV)—not to mention an entire, long-charted-from-ancient-times history of women considering men attractive even if they don't like or know them personally.

Wrapping Up the Los Angeles Film Festival: Nadav Kurtz's Paraiso won best short doc at Tribeca and the Seattle International Film Festival and hopefully will find its way into a theater or your laptop somehow, someway. It's a beautiful little gem about the immigrant window washers of Chicago -- Mexican immigrants who daily strap themselves to the tops of the Windy City's most totemic skyscrapers and dangle precariously over the edge, all so you can look out your corner office with just a little less grime obscuring that Masters-of-the-Universe view. Delightful, probing, insightful, and most importantly, ennobling its subjects without the least trace of condescension, Kurtz takes you on a 10 minute ride to the top of the world with men who face death on a daily basis just to feed their families-- and then joke about catching people having sex in their offices. It's enough to make John Steinbeck cry.

Janitorial tender sparks debate: A little debate was had over the janitorial tender awarded at Monday’s city council meeting. The tender was to cover the cleaning of various City buildings from Sept. 1, 2012 to Aug. 31, 2014 including the City Hall, the library, City garage, water treatment plant, the wastewater treatment plant, and the public safety building. Swan Cleaning submitted the lowest tender of $134,518.69 but was passed over by city council following reference checks.

The City found that Swan Cleaning currently holds the contract for the Provincial Building and with Manitoba Housing in Portage. It was revealed that Swan Cleaning had a slow start with frequent evaluations and direction to improve performance. On the other hand the current contractor JG Janitorial has provided satisfactory service in the past.

Coun. Irvine Ferris entered into the debate on behalf of the Portage and District Library, who had some issues with the cleaners. He stressed that although the local people did excellent day to day work the library did have some issues with the biannual carpet cleaning and window washing, which caused him to not support the tender. Despite this the tender passed by a vote of 3-2, awarding the janitorial contract to JG Janitorial for the sum of $169,631.20.

Man Breaks Into Home, Cut Self On Window, Dies: Burke, Vt. - Vermont State Police say a man died after he broke into a home. Police responded to a report on Wednesday of a dead man on the kitchen floor of the unoccupied home in Burke. They identified the man as 73-year-old Duwayne Masure, of Sutton. According to WCAX, Masure smashed the glass out of a back window of the home while attempting to burglarize it.  He tried to climb through the smashed window, but was severely cut and bled to death.

April Fools Day For Window Cleaners

London Window Cleaning Company Beats Traffic Congestion In London With New Fleet Of Helicopters: London's notorious traffic jams and the relatively new controversial introduction of the Central London congestion charge along with steadily rising parking expenses has lead one of London's most well known window cleaning companies to introduce a new range of vehicles to complement its current fleet of vans.

The purchase of five Bell Jet long range helicopters that can carry up to six passengers will soon be dropping the company's window cleaning staff directly on to each job in an amazing attempt to stem any potential problems of missed or late appointments due to worsening road conditions in London. Fully equipped to clean both residential and commercial windows with the use of water fed pole they plan to beat the competition once again.

Speaking to the company spokesperson Nathan Colwell the Director of Ncpm247.com stated:
"With our new fleet of helicopters we can drop our window cleaning staff on site on time without any of the problems of London's notorious road conditions." The helicopters that have all been converted to carry up to 700 litres of purified water are able to deliver the water required via hose directly to the cleaners below. Time will tell how effective window cleaning by helicopter will be but one might assume that the London Mayor may well find a taxation system to tackle this brave new concept very shortly.

Toll plan for Kurilpa Bridge: The river city's elected officials will never consider introducing tolls for Brisbane's pedestrian bridges, if our April Fools' Day story is any guide. Unsurprisingly, many readers reacted with outrage to the 'proposal', with more then 90 per cent of poll respondents rejecting the idea. The joke was also lost on one Queensland government media adviser, who demanded the story be removed from the site.

......Pedestrians and cyclists could be forced to pay $1.50 to walk or cycle across the Kurilpa Bridge as part of a controversial plan being considered by the state government. A maintenance report obtained by brisbanetimes.com.au suggests "tolling" as a way of recouping larger-than-expected upkeep costs. The report shows each spire costs $1 million a year to clean due to the need for a specially modified window washing-type rig. An additional $4 million is required to remove marks left by youths dragging their skateboards. "The unforeseen escalation in maintenance outlays makes it necessary to consider the implementation of a user-pays approach," the report says. "The department acknowledges this matter is politically sensitive, however alternative strategies must be considered to deal with this recurrent budget pressure."
Pedestrian and Rider Action Network Queensland (PRANQ) chief executive officer Verity Abson said the plan was "a complete joke". "I can't believe they would consider such an extraordinarily foolish idea," she said. The proposed toll, if approved, would come into effect on April 1 next year.



Want a chance to work for PlayStation? Do you have the skills and determination to work as a Sony Janitor? Well , the wait is finally OVER! Today SCEE is announcing a new original program that will be created for the PlayStation Network called “The Janitor.”

From the beginning , Playstation was the pioneer of video gaming, and has pushed their consoles into all-around entertainment machines. Their recent success in launching "The Tester" on the US PSN Store has inspired Europe to bring us the next great leap in quality entertainment: The Janitor.

The Janitor looks to be a great show. It has all the intense and dramatic moments you expect from a reality show: intense competition, toilet cleaning, window washing and much more! All this is to be hosted by a posh, hot British woman nobody has ever heard of.

The Cast will be selected among people who send us their video cleaning their own toilet while serving tea and dusting off a desk, the judges then will select the best shiniest toilet and the best pair of coveralls, so don't hesitate guys! Send your videos for a chance to win! Of course we're saving the best for last, the grand prize for the best janitor!

The winner will win a job as a janitor at SCEE to the tune of £6.00 per hour and a pair of Louis Vuitton coveralls with the Sony Playstation logo embroidered on by homeless Chinese children. Check the UK PSN Store for tonight's premiere episode!