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| Hard to Forget: Thomas Skeens, according to Beverly’s Fabrics manager Marilyn Harder, is a dependable dude: “He doesn’t forget about jobs he says he is going to do.” Click to enlarge. |
Enter the Vampire - Behind the mythos of the cowboy window washer with a beard: Thomas Skeens’ signature look – a tattered and weathered cowboy hat adorned with tons of feathers and doodads – is so classic around Monterey County he got picked as an extra in a Clint Eastwood movie in the 1970s. Skeens is also well known for his self-given nickname, “Vampire,” and his rather visible gig: He’s often found washing windows around Oldtown Salinas.
Born in Wichita, Kansas, Skeens and his wife Shirley Ann drove to Monterey County from Oregon in 1966, because she wanted to see California before she died. (She was battling health issues.) He started working as a dishwasher at Sambo’s Cafe in North Salinas, doing any janitorial work the restaurant needed, which included washing the windows. He continued with the windows on his own after he left his other duties at the cafe. “It looks really good when I’m done, really clear,” Skeens says. “All the dirt and dust is off and man, they shine! If you have dirty windows, I’ll be at your place, knocking on your door, asking if you need them cleaned.”
Skeens talks with a clear but wavering vibrato. His slight drawl pronounces “washing windows” as “warshing win-duhs.” He laughs often. “If you see my buckets and my hat, go ahead and take my picture,” he says. “I don’t mind.” His outward appearance looks a little like Yosemite Sam. He used to wear cut-off jean shorts. Though he abandoned that in favor of rolled up jeans, he still rides Monterey-Salinas Transit buses with his squeegees and rags.
He says the nickname came when he started doing windows on his own. “Everybody calls me ‘Vamp’,” he says. “I wanted ‘Vampire in the Night’ for my janitorial business, because I wanted people to remember me.” Today his business card reads “Vampire in the Night Janitorial Services,” with his real name, and word he also cleans home rain gutters. It lists a P.O. box, but no phone number.
Many Oldtown business owners know Skeens, but as the Cherry Bean Coffee House owner Todd Williams says, they don’t know much about him. “He’s been around a long time. I remember him from when I went to North Salinas High School,” says Williams. “What do you think of someone who lives in a red, mid-’70s Chevy Nova with Vampire in the Night printed on the side? He had stuff crammed to the hilt in that car!”
When Skeens came to Salinas, he and his wife used to live out of a camper trailer they moved around town. His wife died nearly 30 years ago, but he keeps a good attitude about life. “I’d rather have him come through my line than some of the other folks,” says Cathy Venuti, manager of Old Town Deli and Cafe across from Cherry Bean on South Main Street. “I talk to him when I can. I think he is a bit confused about life now that his wife is gone. His mouth wanders and so does his mind.” Venuti thinks he copes by living in a fantasy world. This has gotten him in trouble with people, including Williams. “We’ve had problems with him before,” he says. “He used to come in and try to negotiate a cup of coffee. He would slap a dollar and say that it’s how much he should pay.”
Venuti takes a bigger-picture approach. “Whether he is a pest or not, he is a human being,” she says. “You have to take him with a grain of salt. That’s just Thomas and I know he’s dependable.” Venuti says she will give him lunch as payment for washing windows. Aside from her deli, Skeens washes the windows of Beverly’s Fabrics. “He’s a hard worker and very punctual,” says Marilyn Harder, Beverly’s manager. “Sometimes he’ll purchase things at Beverley’s that are stolen from his cart by teenagers.” David Federico, co-owner of Federico’s Drive-In Shoe Service in Monterey, agrees. “He just came in one day a few years ago and asked if he could wash the windows. He does a good job for a fair price.”
For the last eight years, Skeens has lived in a shoddy room in the transient hotel near Soledad Street in Salinas. He pays for it with his social security. He says one of his greatest joys is sitting under the warm Salinas sun when he is not beautifying windows, usually on a city bench with a cup of his favorite drink: coffee. “I’ll go and go and go and go, but sometimes I’m off,” he says. “Usually on Sundays, I’ll sit and drink all the coffee I can and then piss like a dang dog!” With that, Skeens cackles loudly and turns his attention back to the sun.
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| BUSY: Gerald Ash, with Bumble the dog & a Wagtail, has started a window-cleaning business. |
Gerald Ash, who used to weigh 50 stone, has started a window cleaning business: Gerald Ash used to weigh 50st and was unemployed for over a decade. Now the 46-year-old, from Linden, has turned things around. He weighs 35st and he has started a window cleaning business. He said: "To be honest, when I weighed 50st I wouldn't have employed myself. "I didn't have a job for 14 years, although I was a full-time carer. So when I lost the weight, I decided to do something."
Being an animal lover, Mr Ash, whose waist has slimmed from 108 inches to 72 inches, has decided to donate a percentage of his earnings to Teckels animal sanctuary in Whitminster. "For all new customers Teckels refer me to, I will give 25% of my fee to Teckels for the first clean," he added. "And after that, I will donate 10 per cent from any future jobs with that customer. For any customers that are referred through existing customers, I will give 10 per cent to Teckels. I'm looking to work with other charities too."He launched his business on Monday at the Whitminster animal sanctuary. Teckels manager Joan Barrett said: "He saved up his benefits money and spent £135 on equipment. "I think it is great what he is doing and hopefully he will inspire other people to get up and find themselves a job."
5 Questions With ... Window cleaner Grady Kerr: Since opening Grady's Window Cleaning in 2008, lifelong Fountain Valley resident Grady Kerr, 32, has cleaned thousands of windows, inside and out. The Fountain Valley View sat down with Kerr to talk about it.
Q. Why did you decide to get into this type of business?
A. I wanted a job that would let me be there for my family on the weekends. I wanted to create my own schedule, too. Plus, I wanted a job that I could really enjoy. So I found them both. I love working in Fountain Valley, my hometown.
Q. What kinds of structures do you work on?
A. We do both commercial and residential, up to three stories. Big, medium and small. The company also does hard- water stain removal, vinyl lettering, screen repair, awning restoration and gutter washing. I work with two helpers, and we clean windows Monday through Friday.
Q. Any challenges?
A. We did a home with a glass patio roof and white carpet. There was no way to walk on the glass, so we ended up doing the ceiling upside down with lots of drop cloths on the carpet. It worked! Another client had a window that we could only get to by walking on a tile roof covered with moss. It was really impossible to walk up there without slipping and falling.
Q. You've peered into a lot of windows ... have you seen anything unusual?
A. We were on the roof, cleaning some outside windows, and the son was in his bedroom. He was still in bed at 11 a.m. after a tough night of playing "Call of Duty." The sound of us cleaning woke him up, and he freaked out and ran out of the room yelling for his mom and saying "Mom, there is a strange man cleaning our window!"
Q. What keeps you busy when you're not cleaning windows?
A. My family. My wife Kristie and I have three children, and one on the way. There's Garren, age 7, Greyson, who is 4, and Gavin, 2. The baby will be named Ginger. Lots of G names in our family! I volunteer in my son's class at Cox (Elementary School), am in the Fountain Valley Kiwanis Club and am high school KIWIN'S adviser. We love movie dates, and watching television shows like "The Walking Dead." I sang under Ted Reid at Fountain Valley High School, and am currently a first tenor in the Orange County Mormon Choral Organization. My two older boys sing in the youth choirs there, too.
