Window Cleaner – Now A Swine Flu Call Operator

I was a window cleaner – now I'm in a swine flu call centre.
Case study: 'Dave' Swine flu information line worker.

I found the job on a website, applied for it and got a call back within a couple of hours. It didn't seem to matter that I had no medical experience. Before I was made redundant I'd worked in many different jobs, including a stint as a window cleaner. The guy was really just checking that I could hold a conversation over the phone. He gave me the job on the spot and sent me an email mentioning that training would start on Wednesday – the day before the hotline went live. I didn't hear anything else so turned up and between 8am and 4pm we were taken through what to do by someone from NHS Direct and the contractor.
There was quite a bit of confusion and there were a few problems with the paperwork and the website, but probably no more than you would expect for a start-up. One of the first issues we encountered on the job was that we could only help people in England – everyone from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland had to be directed elsewhere.
I must have taken one call every 20 minutes so there was some thumb-twiddling going on. But it was clear that the system was erring on the side of caution. Of the 40 people I spoke to on the first day, I recommended all but two should take anti-viral drugs. It seemed to be all about dishing these things out. The procedure is so heavily scripted that you can end up asking silly questions. I heard one woman asked whether she was conscious when she rang up. We are also required to ask all women aged between 10 and 70 whether they could be pregnant, which can be embarrassing. People were asking things like: "These are strong drugs – are there any side-effects? What happens if I drive on them or have a couple of pints?" I advise them to read the packet.
There were also people ringing up from parts of the country where they have still not got any collection points for the drugs – places such as Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Sheffield. We couldn't really help these people. I wonder how useful the hotline is. People are ringing up thinking they are going to get a diagnosis but we only run through a checklist of the symptoms. They seem to think I'm the world's leading authority on this, but I tell them "I'm not a doctor".
During the training they were telling us what an important job we were doing allaying people's fears and potentially saving lives. I thought, if it is such an important job, shouldn't we get paid more than £6.60 an hour?

The writer did not wish to be identified.

Killing Swine Flu - H1NI & the Window Cleaner

With news from the sensationist UK newspaper today stating that "swine flu will rip through the globe and infect a third of the world’s population in the next six months," it also reports it will get worse this winter.

Prof Ferguson, of the WHO’s emergency committee, added: “Seasonal flu every year affects around ten per cent of the world’s population, so we are heading for a flu season which is perhaps three times worse than usual. “We can say it is not going to be as catastrophic as the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 that killed 50million. “But it is still possible it could be like 1957 - where 3 to 4million people died that year because of the pandemic worldwide. “I am not predicting 3 to 4million deaths. That was what happened in 1957. The world is a very different place today. “We have drugs and vaccines, which should reduce the burdens of the disease. “At the moment, the virus is not spreading fast in the northern hemisphere, because we are outside the normal flu season, but come the autumn it is likely to cause a really major epidemic. It was also reported in the less sensational UK newspaper here nearly word for word.

With increased warnings of keeping your hands clean, wearing masks & avoiding crowded areas - what effect will this have on the average window cleaner? Well for one, we have contact with a wide range of people & for another we are cleaning, perhaps cleaning areas that are considered "infected" by clients or the general public. The good news is that in this Q&A article in USA Today labelled "Do you know your swine flu?" - Soap and alcohol-based cleansers kill viruses, and flu is a virus. But antibacterial substances kill bacteria, not viruses. Below is the new UK advertising campaign urging people to catch the sneeze before binning the tissue.

For those that old enough to remember, the disease was swine flu, whose appearance in 1976 was believed to be a reincarnation of the infection that killed tens of millions of people in 1918 and 1919. the swine flu campaign is the one recent example of a large, government-sponsored emergency immunization program, and as such may offer lessons for today.
Events began with the death, on Feb. 4, 1976, of an Army recruit at Fort Dix, N.J., during an outbreak of respiratory infections following the holidays. Throat washings were taken from 19 ill soldiers, and a majority tested positive for that winter's dominant strain of the influenza virus, which was called A/Victoria. But four samples were different, and New Jersey public health officials sent them to the CDC to be identified.
On Feb. 12, the CDC delivered a chilling report. The four samples – which included one from the dead soldier – were swine flu. As the name suggests, swine flu was endemic to pigs. However, the devastating pandemic of the Spanish flu in 1918 and 1919 is believed to have been caused by a strain of swine flu that, through mutation, gained the ability to infect people.

Three elderly people in Pittsburgh died on the same day within hours of getting swine flu shots. It was a chance event, but just the sort of guilt by association that arises whenever a public health intervention is done on a mass scale.
What killed the program, though, was the observation in early December that people given the swine flu vaccine had an increased risk of developing Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare, usually reversible but occasionally fatal form of paralysis. Research showed that while the actual risk for Guillain-Barre was only about 1 in 1,000 among people who had received the vaccine, that was about seven times higher than for people who didn't get the shot.
On Dec. 16, the swine flu vaccine campaign was halted. About 45 million people had been immunized. The federal government eventually paid out $90 million in damages to people who developed Guillain-Barre. The total bill for the program was more than $400 million. Below is the video for the swine flu propaganda in 1976.

N95 Masks Are Useless at Protecting Wearers from Swine Flu: When it comes to infectious disease, preparedness is good. But ill-informed preparedness is a waste of time and resources, and there's a lot of ill-informed preparedness going on right now with the swine flu.
Case in point: All those people buying N95 masks (respirators).
They think wearing a mask protects them from swine flu. The mainstream media perpetuates the myth, broadcasting images of people wearing the masks, all while talking about people "protecting themselves" from swine flu. If it wasn't a potentially life-and-death situation, it would all be quite hilarious.
But let me ask you a question: Have you ever had surgery or visited a surgery room? Did you ever notice that the surgeons and medical staff are all wearing surgical masks that are very similar to the N95 face masks being used by people afraid of swine flu?
Did you ever wonder WHY they are wearing those masks? Here's the question: Are they wearing those masks to protect themselves from the patient's germs? Of course not! They're wearing those masks to prevent their own germs from infecting the patient!
N95 masks, you see, have but one purpose: To prevent the wearer from infecting others. To use blunt medical terminology, they work by preventing snot, spit or other virus-carrying particles from becoming airborne. Thus, if the wearer sneezes, coughs, drools, spits or talks excitedly, his or her infected fluids will be trapped in the mask and will not infect others.
N95 masks have virtually no ability to protect the wearer from other people's airborne germs. This should be obvious by simply noticing that N95 masks are not air-tight! When you inhale while wearing such a face mask, the air you're inhaling enters through the gaps on the sides of the mask, completely bypassing the mask filtration system.

You may also want to check out this story from 27th February this year before the virus had even been news-worthy: The company that released contaminated flu virus material from a plant in Austria confirmed Friday that the experimental product contained live H5N1 avian flu viruses. And an official of the World Health Organization’s European operation said the body is closely monitoring the investigation into the events that took place at Baxter International’s research facility in Orth-Donau, Austria. “At this juncture we are confident in saying that public health and occupational risk is minimal at present,” medical officer Roberta Andraghetti said from Copenhagen, Denmark. “But what remains unanswered are the circumstances surrounding the incident in the Baxter facility in Orth-Donau.”
The contaminated product, a mix of H3N2 seasonal flu viruses and unlabelled H5N1 viruses, was supplied to an Austrian research company. The Austrian firm, Avir Green Hills Biotechnology, then sent portions of it to sub-contractors in the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Germany. The contamination incident, which is being investigated by the four European countries, came to light when the subcontractor in the Czech Republic inoculated ferrets with the product and they died. Ferrets shouldn’t die from exposure to human H3N2 flu viruses. Public health authorities concerned about what has been described as a “serious error” on Baxter’s part have assumed the death of the ferrets meant the H5N1 virus in the product was live. But the company, Baxter International Inc., has been parsimonious about the amount of information it has released about the event.

This strain of influenza contains viral code fragments from:
• Human influenza• Bird Flu from North America• Swine flu from Europe• Swine flu from Asia
This is rather astonishing to realize, because for this to have been a natural combination of viral fragments, it means an infected bird from North America would have had to infect pigs in Europe, then be re-infected by those some pigs with an unlikely cross-species mutation that allowed the bird to carry it again, then that bird would have had to fly to Asia and infected pigs there, and those Asian pigs then mutated the virus once again (while preserving the European swine and bird flu elements) to become human transmittable, and then a human would have had to catch that virus from the Asian pigs in Mexico! - and spread it to others.

Smell a rat yet? Whatever you do - don't get "vaccinated!" Reports have emerged that health care workers in Mexico City who were vaccinated, died within days.

Window Cleaning News

Photo of the day.

After Reno's only confirmed H1N1 (Swine Flu) case, a handful of parents chose to keep their kids home Thursday. School district officials, however, say there's no need to worry: schools are safe and they're taking preventative measures to keep them that way. "It used to be if you took a vacuum cleaner and a mop bucket, you made this look pretty and that was clean, that's what a custodian did," Washoe County School District Custodian Trainer Rex Morrison says. Those days are long gone, with threats of the Swine Flu virus looming. They're using state of the art equipment, systematically cleaning classrooms and restrooms. "We divide that area into four parts, we color code it and put it on a map," Morrison says. It's part of a program called "Process Cleaning for Health," put into place nine years ago. "They clean the window glass, they disinfect the door handles, the light switches, the telephones and every student desktop in the classroom," Morrison adds. They use a hydrogen peroxide base disinfectant that would kill any flu or cold virus on site. He and the many other custodians take pride in keeping children safe and healthy at school.

Number of confirmed Texas swine flu cases rises to 28: The number of confirmed swine flu cases and school closings in north Texas rose Friday. Cleburne school officials announced Friday that all schools will be closed through Monday while awaiting test results of four probable swine flu cases sent to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. In 16 other districts, at least one campus was closed because of the flu. All told, about 265,000 students are affected by the closures, the TEA reported. He also said the city is not asking churches to cancel services.
"Doctors have told us people should go to church. It's a source of strength," Reynolds said.
If people are ill however, they should stay home, he added. "They've stepped up and have been cleaning with TRAID III, ramped that up doing that on touchable surfaces every day," said Bryce Nieman, spokesperson for the Keller school district. The district isn't spending any additional money on the disinfecting efforts, he said. It is doing less window cleaning and other aesthetic type cleaning – shifting the schedules to accommodate the daily disinfecting.

Police issue break-ins warning: Police are warning people in the central Scotland area to be vigilant after a number of break-ins in the Balfron and Callander areas. Central Scotland Police say that at around the time of the crimes, there were reports of people claiming to be window cleaners. The two suspects are believed to be in their 30s, one is five feet three tall with a stocky build and short brown hair, the other is described as six feet tall, with a stocky build with short brown hair. Sergeant Roddy Swan from Central scotland Police said: "It is a legal requirement for window cleaners to be licensed before they can clean windows in the Stirling area. This applies to cleaning both residential and commercial premises. "It is important that members of the public who allow window cleaners onto their private property should be able to do so safe in the knowledge that they are bona-fide operators who have undergone the relevant vetting and are properly insured. "Members of the public are entitled to check the licence of anyone who offers them a window cleaning service. Householders are recommended to make use of this to protect themselves from bogus workmen or unlicensed operators." Police say anyone who has information regarding unlicensed window cleaners should contact them.

THE Cutting Edge documentary is another look at people struggling to make ends meet in the recession. The gimmick, if you want to call it that, is that they all live in Wall Street. Not the thoroughfare that’s the capital of the US money system, but in the 23 roads around our country that are called Wall Street. Window cleaner Paul is sitting on a gold mine in his three-bedroom house in Grimsby. One room is piled high with Star Wars memorabilia. He doesn’t have just one light sabre, but seven of them. He and his wife, Kerry, who have a three-year-old daughter, Lucy, rent a house after losing their home and pub business. He works part-time in a pub.
His creed is, if he has money in his pocket, he spends it. His Star Wars collection is worth, maybe, £15,000 or £20,000, but selling it doesn’t enter into his financial plan.

'Man auction' raises €2,000: THE services of more than 40 men were snapped up at an auction in Murphy's Pub, Ballyferriter, on Saturday night. The event was organised by local woman Mary Dinneen to raise funds for the All Ireland Air Ambulance, which is expected to be airborne by September. On offer at the auction were the services of gardeners, window cleaners, chefs, painters, carpenters, plumbers, guides and golfers. Some of the men were auctioned in abstensia with an average price of €50 per man being paid.

About 60 public bronzes will be restored to their former glory. Displayed outside for two decades, the modern bronze sculpture depicting three American Indians is showing its age.
"When Friends Meet" by famed artist Allan Houser, located on the Oklahoma State University-Tulsa campus, is weathered, covered with bird droppings, and its plaque appears to have been shot with a pellet gun. But Steve Spinharney is ready to return it and about 60 other publicly displayed bronzes throughout Tulsa to their former glory. "This is the people's art, yours and mine, and it's important for us to take care of it," he said. With a $26,500 donation from ONEOK, the city's Arts Commission has hired Spinharney to clean and wax all of the bronzes, from the giant tigers at the Tulsa Zoo to the American Indian on horseback in Woodward Park to the Will Rogers bust at the airport. Spinharney, who has a professional window cleaning business, perfected the process himself many years ago after being approached by NatureWorks officials about cleaning their wildlife bronzes.
Since then, he also has picked up many in Oklahoma City as well, having cleaned graffiti off the Land Run Centennial Monument bronzes not long ago. "Bronzes will last hundreds of years, but they are like anything else; they just need some tender loving care," he said. "My job is to make sure the artists' intentions are preserved and to make it look as much as possible like these just came from the foundry." Spinharney pulled a high-pressure hose from his truck and soaked down the Houser bronze, which towers about eight feet off the ground. Then he took a soft scrub brush with gentle soap and washed it from top to bottom. After rinsing off the sculpture and towel drying it, he slowly applied a thin coat of wax with a paint brush. Spinharney then used a propane torch to melt and harden the coat of wax, which after cooling provides a layer of protection from the elements.
The job normally takes about four hours. Depending on the size and complexity of the bronze, sometimes it takes longer. The impact of Spinharney's work on the Houser bronze is quite evident, with the natural sheen and color returned. Arts Commission Chairman Ken Busby said the before-and-after difference is "always dramatic." "Most of the bronzes in the city have probably never been cleaned, and it's something we really should do each year," he said. The gift from ONEOK is paying for each of the bronzes to be cleaned and waxed once over a year's time.
Ginny Creveling, ONEOK Foundation executive director, said ONEOK is proud to assist with the effort.
"By restoring these bronze statues to their original beauty, we will be ensuring that future generations of Tulsans will have the opportunity to appreciate the artwork made possible by the generous donations of so many throughout the years," she said. Busby said he hopes more private money can be obtained to continue the process annually. While the city has an ordinance that sets aside 1 percent of a public building's construction dollars to buy art and regularly receives art donations, no money is usually reserved for upkeep. "That's really something we need to rectify," Busby said.

Chiefs trade Gonzalez to Atlanta: KANSAS CITY, Mo: The Kansas City Chiefs finally said goodbye to tight end Tony Gonzalez, trading the popular tight end to the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday for a draft pick next year. The Chiefs insisted they also improved their chances for success in 2009 by making the trade. The Falcons will send a second-round pick in 2010 to Kansas City in exchange for Gonzalez, the only tight end in NFL history selected to 10 Pro Bowls. Gonzalez caught 96 passes for 1,058 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2008. He owns NFL career records for tight ends with 916 receptions, 10,940 yards receiving, 76 TDs receiving and 26 100-yard receiving games. One of the most popular athletes Kansas City has ever had in any sport, Gonzalez said leaving the town and its fans is not easy. "I love Kansas City," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "The fans have been unbelievable to me. I'm going to miss them. This is a happy day for me, but in many ways it's a sad day, too. I'm going to miss running out that tunnel and seeing that sea of red in those stands." "And now I'm leaving at 33. It's been a huge part of my life," he said. "When I retire, I'm going to retire a Chief. It's been a beautiful, beautiful ride in Kansas City. I'm not selling my home there." He also plans to keep his window-cleaning business, Xtreme Clean 88, in Kansas City and be active in Shadow Buddies, a Kansas City-based charity which distributes kits and educational materials to kids and the elderly.

The first time I saw the term "Crook County" was more than 25 years ago. Some shady judges and greaseball lawyers had just been indicted on federal corruption charges in a case called Operation Greylord. "They don't call it Crook County for nothing" was the widely reported quote from wry Chicago political analyst Don Rose just after Christmas, 1983. I'm sure the nickname Crook County had been used before by the cynics, but I'd never heard it. When the late Cook County Treasurer Ed Rosewell was indicted on corruption charges almost 12 years ago, that snide surname surfaced again. Rosewell's story was unusual, even by Crook County standards. Among numerous ghost payrollers brought on board by the popular, pudgy county treasurer was his window washer. Mr. Rosewell took in the window washer (quite literally) and gave him a promotion to deputy county finance officer and a hefty raise to go with the new title. It apparently didn't matter that the new hire wasn't qualified or didn't do anything for his pay. Eventually, Rosewell and the much younger window washer moved in together. Their relationship went sour when the county treasurer began financing his roomie's heroin habit. But that was another story.

A WINDOW cleaner was over the alcohol limit when he crashed his car.Michal Noszczynski, 25, of Beech Avenue, Warton, admitted drink driving. He was disqualified from driving for 12 months, fined £100 with £50 costs and ordered to pay the £15 victims' surcharge by Blackpool magistrates. Jayne Barty, prosecuting, said police were called to Lytham Road, Warton at 1.20pm on April 13, where the defendant's Audi had crashed and was missing its rear off-side tyre. Skid marks showed he had lost control and collided with the kerb on the opposite side of the road. A breath test showed 58 micrograms of alcohol in his body – 35 is the limit. David Charnley, defending, said his client, who had no previous convictions, had been out with friends. He had drunk five beers, but felt okay to drive.

Sisters Debra and Judy White (pictured) hate the idea of clearing out the cobwebs and washing windows at their homes. Because, for the past 11 years, they've been cleaning other people's houses. Judy White has started her spring cleaning but there is a lot more to do. She looks up at the ceiling and notices a huge cobweb. "I'm embarrassed because I can see dust bunnies in the corner. It's going to take me a couple of days because I live in an old farmhouse. I have the old windows. "The only way you can clean the outside storm windows without going outside with a ladder is to take off the inside wooden frame and take the window completely out. That's why my upstairs windows haven't been done for three years." When it comes to spring cleaning, both women say they've noticed many people have decided to tackle the grit and grime on their own rather than hiring professional cleaners to do the job for them.
"I think it's the recession. You know, it's a luxury. People are cutting back and to have someone come in and clean for you is a real pleasure. I guess they feel they'll have to do without it," says Judy White. But many people hate housework enough to be willing to continue to pay cleaning companies to do the dirty work for them, no matter what the economy is like. If you've decided you are going to spring-clean your home on your own, the White sisters say there are things you can do to make the job easier.

.

Window washing is the way to see clearly now: With spring in full bloom and the sun wandering the sky more than half of every day, it might be an appropriate time for you to let all the light indoors that you can by washing the windows. Coincidentally, one seven-day period in April is also designated as National Window Safety Week by the National Safety Council. With assistance from the council and the folks at Simonton Windows, here are some tips to help put your best squeegee forward: Never use a high-pressure spray. The extreme pressure could crack or destroy caulking around the units. Instead, take the time to clean the windows individually. If you have windows with vinyl frame, a soft cloth or ordinary long-handled soft-bristle brush and some mild detergent may be all that's necessary to maintain your windows. Do not use abrasive cleaners that may scratch the frame or glass.
Stain removal: To remove unexpected stains on vinyl windows and door frames (such as bubblegum, felt-tip pens, lipstick, motor oil, or top soil), try using Fantastik cleaner. For tougher stains (such as tar, pencil, or oil marks) use Soft Scrub. If the children decide to draw on the windows with crayon, Lestoil can often remove their creative efforts. Buddy system: If you do have to use a ladder to gain access to the exterior of your windows for cleaning, work on the buddy system. Always have someone hold the base of the ladder for you and secure it on a level surface. Avoid loose-fitting clothing (which could get stuck in the ladder), and wear close-toed shoes or sneakers — no sandals, please. You can find ladder-safety tips at "Tips for safer ladder use." Frame cleaning: Thoroughly wash the exterior frames of your windows (including the sill that is exposed within your home closest to the screens) twice yearly. Remove any bugs or dirt that may have accumulated. Here's a "Q" tip: Over time, dirt may accumulate on window edges and corners. To remove the buildup, use cotton swabs dipped in vinegar. Be sure to thoroughly rinse with water afterward.

Graffiti Busters clean up: Tecumseh At first, it was just a bit of spray paint. But in the past year, the side of John Roy's parents' garage has become covered with bright blue and purple graffiti. "My parents, they're a lot older. They can't see this spot from their window," He said the elderly couple's garage in Tecumseh is a prime target for kids with spray cans. "They do it where they know they can't get caught." Roy's story is becoming a familiar one in Tecumseh -- graffiti is a growing problem in the community, much to the frustration of residents and business owners. But one group is trying to tackle the problem. Const. Lee Batte with the Tecumseh OPP is leading the Graffiti Busters. Thanks to a $14,000 Safer Community Grant from the province, the team of five local volunteers has been cleaning graffiti off walls in Tecumseh since 2005.
They use a power washer and an environmentally friendly cleaning solution. "We clean every piece of graffiti we can find," Batte said. "We're a team. We work like a well-oiled machine."
She said small pieces of graffiti written in pen or marker tend to come off easily. But large pieces done in spray paint can take several days to remove, because the paint often seeps deep into porous materials like brick or concrete. Although some cleanups require a little more elbow grease than others, Batte said it's worth the effort. She said one piece of graffiti inspires others, and the faster they can remove it, the less likely it is to continue. But Batte said Tecumseh's graffiti problem is not unique. "It's a problem in urban settings. It's going to happen." Police in Lakeshore arrested a teenage boy recently in connection with a rash of graffiti in that area. He faces mischief and property damage charges.

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — North Ridgeville voters will narrow down to three Democrats of the four running for the at-large City Council seats in the May 5 primary. Rick Winrod, 46, of Englewood Court, owns two businesses with his wife, Nancy; a residential and commercial window-cleaning business and the Grateful Dog Bakery in North Ridgeville. This is his second run for council at-large after an attempt in 2007. Winrod has lived in North Ridgeville for 10 years and has served on the North Ridgeville master plan committee for eight months, he said. "We've studied in great detail the challenges and opportunities North Ridgeville will face in the next 10 to 20 years," he said. "This experience has provided a unique perspective on what it will take to make North Ridgeville's future more prosperous." City Council must provide leadership on economic development, he said.