Glass Monkey Becomes Brass Monkey - Ice Dam!

Sam Waller of "Glass Monkey", he's a window washer who relies on his bike for work -- despite the weather being as cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.

Window washer's business travels on two wheels (Roanoke, VA): Sam Waller started his own business cleaning windows more than a year ago in Roanoke - This month's winter weather kept a lot of business owners from opening up, but for some, there's no such thing as a snow day, especially if you work for yourself. Sam Waller is one of those people. "This is more than just my work,” he said. “It's my meditation."

What you see isn't necessarily what you get from this window washer. He says there's so much more.

"I believe anyone can just pick up a squeegee and do what I do, but I bring a sense of personality or relations to the customer or client." Waller is the owner and only employee of Glass Monkey Window Cleaning. "I'm all over town,” he said. “I'm on Williamson and Towers and all over downtown and I live near Grandin so I got a lot of business over there, so I bike it all and wash businesses all day."

Waller has about 100 customer in Roanoke, but he doesn’t drive a car or truck to get to them. He hauls his 5-gallon buckets, poles, blades and squeegees in a not-so-conventional way. "This is an 82 Schwinn World Taurus and it's actually a little bit of a rarity."

Not only does Waller use a bike as a means of transportation, but he also wears a bow-tie as a part of his uniform. "You just never know who you are going to meet or what you're going to do and I feel like if you're always a little overdressed you're never under dressed."

Waller says he got rid of his car nearly ten years ago because he loves cycling so much. "It was great,” he said when talking about his old car. “It was fun, but it was nothing compared to the fun of riding a bike." Not to mention it's easy on the environment.

Waller’s a one-man show, making a living with every window he cleans and proving that sometimes all it takes is some cleaner, a squeegee and a little elbow grease to make your dream a reality. "I think it's like a can of worms that you can’t put the lid back on even if you wanted to,” said Waller. “I can’t see myself working for someone else ever again."

Workers clear snow from a roof in Boston.

Minnesotans head east to fix Boston's extreme ice dams: The record snowfall that's buried parts of the East Coast has created a very Minnesota problem for homeowners: ice dams. But that misfortune has turned into a blessing for Minnesota companies that melt ice off of roofs, and have found scarce work at home during this mild winter.

Jesse Lofgren, with Monticello-based Absolutely Clean Window Washing, said he's spent the last two days working on a Boston nursing home that he estimates has thousands of square feet of ice dams built up on the roof. "In Minnesota we typically see fairly long icicles, but this is an extreme situation," Lofgren said. "The icicles on most houses up here go from the roof completely to the ground."

Boston officially hit 101 inches of snow this week — just six inches short of the all-time record set two decades ago. People in Boston are getting desperate, Lofgren said. "Everybody thinks it's acceptable to use blunt-force objects on the ice dams, such as hammers, screwdrivers, chisels," Lofgren said. "We've actually had a few beaten with sledgehammers and axes — it's what people do up here."

A cascade of ice adheres to the side of a brick building in downtown Boston on Feb. 20. Ice dams are a growing concern for homeowners in snowbound New England.

Gil Dos Santos owns a mid-century ranch house in Boston. He said icicles slowly crept from the eaves of his home's roof to the center of the house. Then the leaks started. "You see everybody with these massive icicles," Dos Santos said. "A lot of my neighbors have it; it's just a matter of if it's already started leaking or not."

The Minnesota company that cleared his roof charged $500 an hour, and it took five hours to clear the ice dams off his house. That's comparable to some premium Minnesota services, but there are reports of charges as much as $600 an hour. The Canadian native had never heard of ice dams before, and now everyone is talking about them. "We're looking up diagrams of how they form, and reading up on 'This Old House' about how to get rid of them," Dos Santos said. "You see a lot of people putting salt into nylons and throwing those up on the roof to try to create channels for the ice melt to run off."

The situation has created a lot of demand for the expertise Minnesota companies have developed over the years. Dozens of Minnesotans are clearing roofs in the city. One owner of a Minnesota-based company declined to comment publicly because he's already swamped with work in Boston. He said he's gotten more than 800 requests for work in Boston, although his crews can only clear about 25 roofs a day.

John Theis, owner of Grand Gutters Inc. in Plymouth, set out to Boston this week with eight employees. Theis' crews use steamers to clear two or three houses a day each. He's found that each roof is taking longer to clear than typical Minnesota roofs, partly because of the weather and partly because of a lack of knowledge about ice dams.

"I think Minnesotans are aware of ice dams, so we're kind of looking for them a little bit," Theis said. "Here it's just all of a sudden water is coming into everybody's houses and they don't know why."

It's been a slow winter for clearing ice dams in Minnesota, which has been good for homeowners but bad for business. Theis said his crews are hoping to get five or six days of work in Boston. He's keeping one eye on the weather report, with weather conditions in nearby states like New Hampshire looking good for ice dams.

"We've just been hanging around the last couple months, doing what we can to get by this winter, so everybody's pretty excited to be working," Theis said. "They're willing to do just about anything, as far as go anywhere. Make some money. Help people out." The influx of Minnesotans has maybe even replaced the East Coast's famous brusqueness with a sort of gratitude. "Every time a new company comes out here, it's like, 'Hey, more Minnesota guys turned up!'" Theis said. "The way the media is treating us out here, it's like we're almost Santa Claus."

Say Goodbye To The Window Cleaning Mayor

Herbert E. “Hub” Altman, was a familiar presence in Beverly as the owner and operator of a window washing service.

‘Hub’ Altman, known as Mayor of Western Avenue: Herbert E. “Hub” Altman, who was known by many throughout the Beverly neighborhood as the “Mayor of Western Avenue,” died March 11 at the age of 69. The son of the late Marie and Herbert Altman, Sr., Altman was a former employee of Smith Village, previously known as the Washington and Jane Smith Home, and also worked as a dishwasher at Beverly Country Club and at Rosangela’s Pizzeria in Evergreen Park.

In recent years, Altman owned and operated Mr. Hub’s Window Washing and Cleaning Service, and he was often seen traveling to his various clients via bicycle, rain or shine. Business owners on the 9900 block of South Walden Parkway remembered Altman as both kindhearted and dedicated. “When we bought our business six years ago, one of the things we inherited was Hub,” said Steve English, who co-owns The Blossom Boys with Ryan Steinbach.

Charging $5 to wash the windows of the storefront, Altman was particular about the manner in which he was paid, Steinbach said. “He wanted a crisp five-dollar bill every time, and I often had to pass by several bills in the drawer until I found just the right one,” Steinbach said.

A bench outside Tranquility Hair Salon was a favorite resting spot of “Hub” Altman when he finished washing the windows of the storefronts on the 9900 block of South Walden Parkway.

Despite a few minor idiosyncrasies attributable to a developmental disability, English said, Altman was always a welcome presence in The Blossom Boys and other shops along the way. “He was always on time, had an incredible work ethic and was honest to a fault,” English said. “He would apologize when it wasn’t necessary and was constantly complimenting people—he was always telling women that they were beautiful and liked to buy people flowers.”

English, who has a son with special needs, said Altman as an adult was “everything I’d want my son to be.” Born and raised on the South Side, Altman lived on the 9400 block of South Bell Avenue for many years, said his cousin, Glen Altman, and knew the neighborhood and its residents well. “He was an outgoing guy,” his cousin said.

He was also an avid White Sox fan whose gregarious personality helped him meet a lot of the club’s management and its renowned organist, Nancy Faust. “He would talk his way into a lot of situations and wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Glen Altman said. “He was very persistent.” In recent months, his cousin said, Altman had suffered from complications from diabetes.

Altman is survived by a brother, Ronald; his caregiver, Dr. Amy Warson; and many nieces, nephews and cousins. Visitation was held March 16 at the Curley Funeral Home (Heeney-Laughlin Directors) in Chicago Ridge, followed by a chapel service on March 17. Interment was at Fairmount-Willow Hills Memorial Park. Memorials may be made in Altman’s name to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, 520 W. Erie St., #200, Chicago, IL 60654.

Altman rode his bicycle to get from job to job and to visit with his many friends in the neighborhood.

Ahern: ‘Mayor of Western Avenue’ remembered fondly: Today’s column involves two compelling stories: one about a man who refused to be limited by his developmental disability and the other about a community that embraced him. Herbert “Hub” Altman grew up in the Beverly community of Chicago and spent his life loving people, socializing, working hard and attending baseball games, even as life threw him a curveball by giving him a mind that would never mature as his body would.

Despite having the intellectual capacity of a child, Altman managed to find his way in the neighborhood where he grew up. He ran a window washing business, met a variety of celebrities along the way and most importantly, cultivated a large following of friends throughout the Southwest Side. He was so liked and so well known for riding his bicycle up and down Western Avenue, seeking clients for his business, that residents gave nicknamed him the “Mayor of Western Avenue.”

When Altman, 69, passed away last month, residents again reached out on his behalf, asking that he be remembered and recognized for his zest for life and friendship. One of his closest friends was Amy Warson, a woman whom Altman eventually thought of as his mom, after his mother passed away in 1992. Even though Warson was not related to Altman, they moved in together so she could oversee his care. Speaking of Altman was difficult for Warson, and her eyes filled with tears as she spoke. “He would not want me to be sad,” she said, wiping away tears as she spoke of the man whom she met when he offered window cleaning services at her chiropractic office on Western Avenue.

“Over a period of time, our friendship evolved,” Warson said. “He became like a son to me. Hub was very personable and did his own PR. Even though he had the mental capacity of an 11-year- old, he was more like 15 because he had street smarts. He could get himself to Golf Mill Shopping Center, and he had a large extended family in Beverly, Evergreen Park and Oak Lawn.”
 

Glen Altman, Hub’s cousin, said Altman was called Hub since he was a young boy because he could not pronounce “Herbert.” Glen Altman spoke fondly of his cousin and of the neighborhood that reached out to him. “Hub was just a big boy,” he said. “He had a child’s mentality in a 6-foot 3-inch body. “He was a big White Sox fan, and he’d take the 95th Street “el” and go there (U.S. Cellular Field) by himself. Once there, he could talk his way into anywhere. He was friends with White Sox organist Nancy Faust because he probably went there and said, ‘I have to see her.’ “We have pictures of him with Ozzie Guillen, Minnie Minoso and Don Drysdale,” Glen Altman said. “It wasn’t just baseball either. We have pictures of him with Jim Nabors and Pat Boone, and I even heard he has a picture with President Barack Obama — somehow he got through security — but I haven’t found that picture. He was just outgoing, loved attention and would say hello to everyone.”

Tony Zordan, a Beverly resident since the late 1970s was another friend of Altman’s. “We got to know him when he visited (neighbors). We were his second choice,” Zordan said, laughing. “He would just kind of show up, and then he began to spend Christmas with us a few years ago. Sometimes he would call and say that he wanted to spend Easter with us, so I’d pick him up. He was just a really good guy.”

Longtime Beverly resident Don Radtke also spoke fondly of Altman and said the two met at church. “He decided we were good people to visit,” Radtke said. “He would come, we’d ask how his day was, he’d watch TV and then fall asleep. That’s how he filled his day, he visited people. “He’d call and ask for things, too. He’d ask if I could (video)tape something for him, and you know, you knew what it would take to make him happy. It’s nice to have someone that you know how to make happy.”
 

At Altman’s wake, his bike was on one side of the casket and two superhero costumes were on the other. Warson explained that Altman loved costumes and Halloween and said he even quieted an entire restaurant once by visiting dressed as Batman. “He made a full life for himself,” Warson said. “Hub knew his limitations and had a self-awareness that he was mentally handicapped, but it never slowed him down. He could laugh at himself, and I think our lesson here is that we have to live life to its fullest in spite of our limitations.”

Altman’s death was the result of a variety of ailments that “ganged up on him,” Glen Altman said. “He was in ICU on and off and was on life support three times. He tried so hard, but in the end he didn’t make it,” Glen said. “I just remember that he loved his friendships, and I am grateful to the many who opened their house to him. It’s just amazing the number of people who welcomed him into their family.”

Warson eyes again filled with tears, but she reminded herself that Altman’s death was not a time to be sad.  “He had a full life and lived life more fully than a lot of us. He brought a lot of joy to a lot of people, and I just can’t be sad about that,” she said.

A Window Washing Service On Two Wheels

Phil Prado, who owns a one-person window-washing service business, said he likes working outside because he gets to talk with clients and people on the street. Click to enlarge.

A Window-Washing Service on Two Wheels: “Dirty windows are bad for business,” said Phil Prado, 50, giving the rationale for his own business: a one-man, two-wheeled window-washing service that has him pedaling around downtown and Midtown Manhattan.

Mr. Prado uses a bicycle because his customers are often only a few blocks apart in areas where the traffic is as bad as the parking. Because he lives on Staten Island near the ferry terminal, he said, it’s a snap to bring the bike over three mornings a week — he typically works only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

He is a familiar sight on the street as he rides with a five-gallon bucket of soapy water hanging from his handlebars and an extendable pole under his seat, tied to the crossbar with his chamois window rag. “I like what I do because I have no boss, I’m working outside and I get to conversate with clients and everyone on the street,” Mr. Prado said as he pedaled along Hudson Street one recent weekday, wearing a blue windbreaker bearing his company name, Squeaky Clean Windows Inc., and his cellphone number.

He stopped at Puffy’s Tavern, extended the pole all 18 feet and affixed the spongelike wand soaked with soapy water. Pointing to some smudges on the windows, he said, “Wherever you have sports on TV, you have people leaning up against the glass outside to watch — that’s why sports bars have the dirtiest windows.” After whisking the windows into a lather, he replaced the wand with a 30-inch-wide squeegee and wiped it all dry and clean. “Here’s my overhead, right here,” Mr. Prado said, gripping a bottle of Dawn dishwashing liquid he squirts into the water.

His competitors tend to stay home in the winter, he said, leaving windows to cloud up with dust from the rock salt. “So the winter is when I pick up the bulk of my customers,” said Mr. Prado, who uses waterproof, insulated rubber gloves, and sometimes wears a battery-powered heated jumpsuit under “up to 10 layers” of clothing, which he peels off as he and the day warm up. “The other window-washers get cold because they don’t understand layering,” said Mr. Prado, who was born in New Jersey and began washing windows in Manhattan at age 17, first at the Waldorf-Astoria and then for a business in Brooklyn. He is unmarried but has a girlfriend.

After holding several other jobs, he started his own route on Staten Island 14 years ago, then moved into Manhattan nine years ago to make more money. Mr. Prado said he can handle up to 50 storefronts a day. He cleans each customer’s windows weekly, and charges a monthly fee, starting at $40 for the smallest stores. On Tuesdays, his route takes him from Water Street up to Canal Street. Wednesdays, he roams up to Union Square, hitting SoHo and Greenwich Village. Thursdays, he hits larger storefronts all the way up to West 54th Street to serve the Maserati dealership there.

At night, he lies on a heating pad to soothe his back. His health regimen includes tea with honey, vitamins and an early bedtime. “I haven’t missed a week in 10 years,” he said. “I can’t afford to get sick and leave my windows dirty so Joe Schmo can come in and take my clients.”

While taking care of some high-end shops on Spring Street in SoHo, Mr. Prado said he serviced well over 100 storefronts, but always carries a pile of business cards to attract new customers. “If I see dirty windows, I’m going in with a card and a price,” he said. On West Broadway, he walked past the MaxStudio clothing store and saw streaks on the windows. “Oh, what a shame, I can’t even walk past this place,” he said, and he strode inside. The woman behind the counter said the shop had a window-washer. “If your guy has your windows looking like that, he’s not showing up every week,” Mr. Prado said. He offered her “the best price in New York” and his “first month free” offer.

Jousting for customers can get fierce, he said, like the time when he was in a shop wooing the owner and the washer who held the account showed up. “He threw my tools in the street,” Mr. Prado said. “But I got the client.” Window-washers see a lot through the windows they clean, he said, but “we also see behind us, in the reflection.” Which is why he never needs to lock his bicycle. “Even when my back is turned, I’m watching it all the time,” he said. “Now you know all my secrets.”

More Window Cleaners On Bicycles

Window Cleaner Has Arm Severed Off

The cyclist - a window-cleaner on his way to work - is said to be in a stable condition in hospital.

Brazil outrage over Sao Paulo cyclist's lost arm: A road collision in Brazil has caused outrage after police said a motorist drove off with a cyclist's severed arm attached to his vehicle. The driver, who later turned himself in, told Sao Paulo police that he had dumped the limb in a stream. The arm has not been recovered but doctors believe it could have been reattached, police told local media.

The cyclist - a window-cleaner on his way to work - is said to be in a stable condition in hospital. The accident that saw the cyclist's arm torn off took place on Sunday morning on Avenida Paulista, one of Sao Paulo's busiest streets. The authorities say the driver, a 22-year old student, will be charged with attempted murder and driving while under the influence of alcohol. However, they haven't yet decided how to charge him for the disposal of the arm. The student says the arm fell into the car after the collision.

The motorist's lawyer, Cassio Paoletti, has told BBC Brasil he denies the attempted murder accusation and that his client did not stop for fear of the reactions of witnesses. "If he had stayed, they would have killed the boy. For instance, the police station was surrounded by hundreds of people who verbally abused and threw cans at my client's father, who's a 60-year-old man," Mr Paoletti said, adding he would press for serious bodily harm charges.

A policeman told the BBC the case was still under investigation, but the driver had admitted to throwing the arm into the stream. "It has dirty, murky waters, so it might be difficult to find it," he said, adding that the man was being questioned about the details. Police say the motorist was on his way back from a night out when his car hit the window-cleaner.

After the accident, he reportedly drove a friend home and discarded the arm, before turning himself in. A number of cyclists gathered outside the police district where the driver was being questioned to protest. Cycle activists have been campaigning for more safety on the city's streets for months.

Avenida Paulista is one of São Paulo's busiest streets.

Naked cyclists on protest rides: Sao Paulo - Scores of nude cyclists rolled through Brazil's financial and industrial hub on Saturday to call attention to the bare facts: this city is dangerous for bikers, and short on dedicated bike lanes. Some demonstrators did a Full Monty ride while others opted for a relatively demure topless protest that was carried out in some other Brazilian cities, like Porto Alegre, and in Peru's capital, Lima. “When we take it all off, we are showing just how vulnerable we are when we are not in a car,” one demonstrator in this city of 11 million with just 67km of bikes-only lanes, told local media. In Lima, protesters were demanding bike lanes and better traffic lighting. They said they also were trying to raise awareness of cycling as a healthy and environmentally friendly mode of transport.

More Window Cleaners On Bicycles

Joe's bike trailer. Click to enlarge.

Joe's bike trailer: Joe runs his window cleaning business from Waltham, a western suburb of Boston and goes around his jobs on his bike. Needless to say the dude is fit. This shot above was taken at a mobil station in Newton. Gas is expensive... Joe ain't playin'! After yesterdays blog on cargo bikes for window cleaners, here's more of the same. The next big thing could be this.

Antony Cairns cycles to work with all his window cleaning equipment attached to his bicycle.

Cycling makes environmental and economic sense for local window cleaner: Antony Cairns has been selected as a Green Streets champion for Fitzrovia. Antony is a window cleaner and travels into Fitzrovia by bicycle from his home in Somers Town. The Green Streets campaign is part of Camden Council‘s plan to encourage more walking and cycling in Fitzrovia and was officially launched yesterday (Tuesday 21 February 2012). For Antony cycling not only makes environmental sense it also makes a lot of economic sense. “I can get around quickly and cheaply and easily carry my buckets and gear,” says Antony.

He was asked to be a green champion because his work brings him into contact with lots of businesses and people in Fitzrovia and he is an ideal example of someone using cycling as a way to get around. “As a window cleaner I get to meet a lot of people and a variety of businesses in Fitzrovia. I’m also able to put people in touch with each other through my work,” says Antony who runs his own business.

“I got chosen as a green champion through these connections I have in the neighbourhood. I clean windows all over Fitzrovia. Lee Lyons of the Fitzrovia Partnership had seen me and said that Woof London, a marketing agency, were looking for suitable people to be green champions for a campaign that Camden Council were running. Lee thought I’d be good at this because I was using a bicycle to get around.

“It’s easy for me to promote cycling because riding a bike is so necessary for me to do my job. People are often impressed that I carry all my gear on the bike including a folding ladder,” says Antony. Most of his work is in Fitzrovia, but Antony also cycles to do a number of window cleaning jobs in, Regent’s Street and across the river in Waterloo. Antony has been a window cleaner for five years and has always got around by either walking or cycling.

George Williams, seen in Westmont in 2005, washed the storefront windows of businesses in South Jersey for over 20 years and was friends with many of the business owners. He had a passion for music and often sang as he worked. Click to enlarge.

For more than 20 years, George Williams made his living by washing windows — riding his bicycle from wherever he was living to shopping centers and homes stretching from Pennsauken to Deptford. He was a free spirit whose life was pretty much a mystery to the people he met, providing them with clean windows, songs that came from the heart and conversation that revealed a simple yet deep outlook on life. And when Williams died last month, he left a void in the lives of those he touched.

Simple alternative.. Window washer's trike. Austin, texas.

The Pedal Power Warehouse is open for business. The business? Creating any bicycle machine the human mind can concoct. One is custom-made for a window washer. Many are trailers and three-wheelers. One is even a bicycle bus. But don't call the funky vehicles "weird." Free Cycles builds commuter bicycles for adults and children. The Pedal Power Warehouse will focus on more industrial uses. A window washer, for instance, wanted a bicycle that could haul the business around. So Joel Williams, who works at the warehouse and also operates The World of Bicycles, designed a bicycle outfitted to haul tall ladders, short ladders and window-cleaning supplies. The bike can take a beating, too. Williams hopped onto the back and jumped up and down as hard as he could to demonstrate its stability. The vehicle didn't rattle. "If it can take that, it can take anything," Williams said.

This is a feature story on a man who washes businesses' windows in downtown Bakersfield, all while riding his bicycle.

 

Window Cleaner On A Bicycle: Window washer cleans up pedaling around Downtown: Phillip Prado is building a window-washing empire one storefront at a time. A gregarious businessman with a bucket of soapy water dangling from his handlebars, Prado washes the windows of more than 100 shops a week, many of them Downtown. Beside the clear benefits of the job — no boss, no overhead — there’s another boon that some people don’t realize: the money. “You wouldn’t think a guy like me with a bucket on his bike has a boat and antique cars, but it’s a good business,” Prado said as he swabbed the windows of the Reade St. Animal Hospital on a recent morning. “Window-washing does OK for itself.”

Prado, 45, started Squeaky Clean Windows five years ago, after selling a similar business in Staten Island. Since then, his electric bike has become a familiar sight on Lower Manhattan’s streets, even on the coldest days of winter. While many window-washers take the winter off, glass accumulates grime year-round, so Prado works year-round, too. He wears waterproof gloves from Alaska and a battery-operated heated suit that keeps him at a toasty 78 degrees. “Even when it’s snowing, I’ll go out with antifreeze to wash the windows,” Prado said. Full story here.

Window-cleaner's Bike. Interesting bike trailer, that features the ladder it transports as part of the design, a space between the rungs in the rear of the trailer makes a handy space to store your bucket. Click to enlarge.

St Paul Minnesota, Marshall Ave' -Window Washer on bike pulling ladder and gear. Click to super enlarge.

Kevin, Window Washer. He is a self-described wanderer... Homeless by definition, but he has many window cleaning contracts throughout Alberta and B.C. that he travels to, using Calgary as a home base. And also a very interesting character too... he was proud to show off his cover story in the U of C newspaper, The Gauntlet. Click picture to enlarge.

Beckon Call is owned by Jim Ordway.

Sustainable Window Cleaning: Beckon Call is reducing it’s carbon footprint. Sustainable processes need to be… well sustainable.  Cost can’t outweigh benefit and so on.  In a previous post I talked about the challenges I had with the first generation green cleaning chemicals and I really did not want to repeat that.  It is counter-productive to implement new processes or procedures that do not work, no matter how good it might sound in theory.

Our current cleaning process uses less water than traditional methods.  Pretty cool, but I wanted more than that.  Yesterday we rolled out a new process, and I think it is going to be great! A customer gave it the name of “Beckon Call à la carte” and it is our bicycle/trailer set-up. This is being used in place of gasoline powered vehicles to service business accounts in the downtown core and other flat areas in Corvallis.  The Beckon Call à la carte will be expanded to other areas we service as leg strength and cardiovascular improves… it’s a work in progress.

Beckon Call à la carte is great for the environment.  It reduces fuel consumption, one less vehicle taking up space at our customers location and it’s great for maintaining a healthy body. There are so many positives to doing this, the only regret I have is… I did not do it sooner! It was first put into use on Monday March 7th (2011) and so far I have heard a lot of positive comments and appreciation for doing the right thing.  I would like to hear what you think and any ideas that you might have!

Local Window Washer Pedals Down Gas Bill: Beckon Call provides service for residential, commercial and retail customers in Corvallis, Albany and Eugene.  With rising prices and a push for more sustainable practices, Beckon Call has started using a bicycle and trailer to service a large portion of their retail customers. "It just makes sense," Ordway said.  "It's really great for the environment, the MPG is literally infinite and I'm getting into shape." The bicycle and trailer set-up, dubbed Beckon Call à la carte, is not practical for all the jobs Beckon Call performs.  Any job that requires ladders taller than a 4-foot step ladder or heavy tools still requires a non-human powered vehicle.  "I've been told I can get a trailer that will haul some of the bigger ladders, but with safety a major concern for this type of work it's just not practical.  It would be very difficult to exert all the energy required in getting a big ladder to the job via bike and be ready to climb up and down ladders."
When asked what other sustainable processes Beckon Call is doing Ordway said, "Beckon Call has been utilizing a reduced water process for washing windows since we started.  In the near future we would like to start harvesting rain water to make that even more efficient.  It really is fun to work through all the different options and find practical ways to implement some great ideas." Ordway said he was surprised at the number of positive comments from community members, "I knew it would be well received, but I was not expecting people to approach me and thank me for doing this.  The fact that they are, well that's awesome!" So, if you notice the Beckon Call truck parked around town,  there's a good chance they are in sustainable mode, pedaling from customer to customer washing windows.

Ladder Bike Trailer: Some bike hacks are elegant and you might not even notice them. Hornby Island is a small island off the east coast of the larger Canadian island of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The locals tend to be artsy types that live paycheque to paycheque. Typically they support their art habit and laid back island lifestyle with self-taught handyman skills. My wife and I recently encountered this sketchy set up that appears to part of a window washing business. The ladder does double duty as the trailer and holds the extension brushes. The front end is attached to the bike via a couple of strips of strapping and cannibalized bike tubing that swings (and grinds) the seat post and the main frame. The re-purposed bike trailer at the far end holds the smaller stuff. The rear end makes use of the ladder's hollow rungs and the cross piece of the trailer. A second cross piece prevents the trailer from "rocking" fore and aft.

This guy using a trailer for his window cleaning business. Click to enlarge.

Cargo bikes: “A growing number of businesses are using cargo cycles, a move towards sustainable and free-flowing city traffic that is now strongly backed by public authorities. Research indicates that at least one quarter of all cargo traffic in European cities could be handled by cycles. And, by using special distribution hubs, larger vehicles and electric assist, this proportion could be even larger. A cargo cycle is at least as fast as a delivery van in the city – and much cheaper to use, giving a strong economic incentive to make the switch. Cargo cycles also bring important economic advantages to tradesmen, artisans and service providers.” When I as visiting a couple of weeks ago, I was very interested to see that Christchurch already has some entrepreneurial businesses taking advantage of these opportunities.

Team Aquaduct was declared as the winner of the first "Innovate or Die" Pedal-Powered Machine Challenge that took place earlier this month. Google, in collaboration with the bicycle maker Goodby Silverstein & Partners, held this competition in order to encourage innovative pedal-powered solutions to environmental issues. The Californian team Aquaduct, who won the challenge, developed a pedal-powered water transportation and filtration vehicle designed to aid families in developing countries. Could this be the next innovation for reverse osmosis powered bikes?

Winter Cycling in Copenhagen. Click to enlarge.

Cargo Bike Winter: There is, however, an interesting detail that reflects the utility-minded Danish relationship to bikes. This chap has spent about 15,000 kroner (€2000/€2600) on a cargo bike - probably a bit more with that box with a lid - and yet look at the fenders. He hasn't bothered to peel off the blue, protective film. It's a good bike, an expensive bike, a useful and practical bike but hey... it's just a bike.

Clive Donavon from Bristol says "We filter water from your tap, when we use the bicycles, this works out about 1.8 pence for 25 litres" "So about six barrels for one pence" "We have work that is close to the exits of the Bristol cycle path, for when the weather is nice to use our bikes, needless to say we don't use our bikes often." Two videos to help you go wfp on your bicycle..

Mark Henderson in Italy of Window Cleaning Resources says "Word of mouth is the most effective way to advertise." "Things that are out of the ordinary get people talking." "The method shown in this video might not be practical for all window cleaners but it works well for me and it may give you some ideas." "It reduces stress, saves time, saves money, its green, it keeps you fit and it works great as an advertising medium."

No, no, no.

A Mexico City local with his entire window cleaning business attached to his bike. Yes, he does have a ladder strapped to his bike.

Cargo Bike Window Cleaners

Scott Baermann &Ryan Hoban clean windows at Ipsento on a sunny September afternoon. Click to enlarge.

New cargo bike business wants to protect your windows by Steven Vance: Scott Baermann has been in the window cleaning business for 10 years, mostly in northern Indiana. He operated that business from afar when he moved to Chicago in 2006. Earlier this year he took on his friend Ryan Hoban as a partner. But the future didn’t lie in northern Indiana, it was here in Chicago. I interviewed the Urban Street Window Works guys in August at their “office” in Ipsento Coffee House in Bucktown. This was the same office at which Scott and Ryan decided to try storefronts as a way to break into business in the city, an industry they said was dominated by “one bucket wonders”.

Most people already have a guy, and they don’t know who it is. He just comes around a few times and you pay him $7, $8 bucks. We want to develop a relationship, in how we want to separate ourselves. We want them to know our names. Our first storefront was Ipsento, I know Tim, I asked, “Who does your windows?” Shoot me a quote and we’ll talk. Tim bought the equipment himself, “but as you can see I don’t do a good job”.

Scott Baermann cleans windows at Ipsento on a sunny September afternoon. Click to enlarge.

Ipsento became their first customer. A walk around the neighborhood netted them a few more customers. The pair got bikes on their radar after the threat of parking tickets raised its ugly head (fortunately they didn’t get one on an early work call). They looked at trailers on Craigslist and bought a single wheel trailer in Evanston. Ryan mentioned the benefits of using a bike for work, saying, “We can be a lot more efficient. I love riding my bikes. So this is like a dream come true, riding my bike every day.” After a trial run, and realizing they looked mismatched, it was decided to get a uniform style of bike and trailer. An obsession with finding the right bike started, with Ryan leading the search.

I’m the bike guy, so I looked it up. I went on YouTube, found the Larry vs. Harry Bullitt, and then I just kept going [viewing more videos]. I might have typed in cargo bike. Two friends from church told me about cargo bikes, and the Cargo Bike Roll Call. One of them wanted a Metrofiets. That’s how I heard about “cargo bike” for the first time. I saw the interview with Hans Bullitt Fogh [yes, that's his middle name], and thought, “this guy is freaking awesome”. The next day, I was like, “Scott, man, I think we really need these expensive cargo bikes to clean windows!” Scott was opposed at the beginning, because we thought just buying regular bikes would be expensive. The more and more we looked at them…

Ryan Hoban arrives at Ipsento on a Larry vs. Harry Bullitt cargo bike. Click to enlarge.

"We want to be the leaders in bicycle-based service businesses in Chicago and major cities throughout the globe. No carbon emissions. No fossil fuels. Lowers traffic congestion. Promotes a healthy lifestyle." Click to enlarge.

Scott couldn’t ride his wife’s bike forever. Hans, in a reply email to Ryan and Scott, recommended they meet up with Brandon Gobel at Chicago Cargo to test ride a Bullitt. The pair wanted a bike that would stand out and turn some heads. In the test ride, a gawking passerby confirmed that this would be the bike to do that. Ryan and Scott, though, have higher aspirations than creating a bike-based business about washing windows, removing acid etching and graffiti, and installing anti-acid window film. Urban Street Window Works wants to help advance the community of bike-based businesses and cargo bikes in Chicago.

"Urban Street Window Works is a full-service provider of storefront window care. We clean, repair, and protect storefront windows throughout Chicago. Our services include: regularly scheduled window washing, graffiti etching and scratch removal, and anti-graffiti film installation." Click to enlarge.

It was good talking to Brandon, to talk about “green mobility”. Chicago is a perfect city for this. They’re building so many new bike lanes. America’s late in finding the coolest, newest trends in the world. This is going to happen eventually here, so we want to be leaders in that. We want to be advocates for cargo bikes in the city. We want to be good residents in the city.

I asked how they would be leaders in bike business and cargo bike use.

Ryan uses a fancy Sorbo squeegee from Denmark that speeds up work calls. Click to enlarge.

We hope and envision ourselves being an active voice in those circles, involved with Active Transportation Alliance, present at Critical Mass, present at Cargo Bike Roll Call. It’s not about reinventing the wheel, but joining the other causes. It’s already happening, so we don’t want to think that we can do it better, but we want to join the causes that are happening, so we need to find out what’s going in Chicago.

The newly minted cargo bike enthusiasts said “We want our families riding bikes, too”; Scott has four kids and Ryan will have a second child in November. They are just as serious about business, though.

Ryan exclaimed, “We want to see a fleet, Steven! Business-wise we see this multiplying.” We talked about how that could be possible, and how the service they provide is important. Being the first thing customers see, clean glass makes a business more appealing, inside and outside.

Urban Street Window Works has matching bikes. Click to enlarge.

Our goal is to take away the glass, so it’s invisible. Graffiti etching is a big problem in the city. It destroys and mars the looks of glass. That’s why we’re removing it and providing glass protection. Our business plan is in 6 years to have 12 staff on bikes providing these services. Perhaps some consulting.

A month later I met up with Ryan and Scott at Ipsento for a work call, cleaning the windows inside and out. They received their Bullitts from Splendid Cycles in Portland, Oregon. The paint and bins were made by Splendid Cycles, and the logo graphics were put on by QDP Graphics (next door to Ipsento).

 "We believe clean glass makes a difference on how we feel about our world." Click to enlarge.

George Williams, Window Washer, Gets Send-Off

To the grassy blanket of souls buried Thursday at the Camden County potter’s field, George Williams lent some panache.

A friend in life, death - Window washer, others buried in potter's field: To the grassy blanket of souls buried Thursday at the Camden County potter’s field, George Williams lent some panache. The singing window washer who was found dead March 11 was laid to rest by the county along with six other indigents at Lakewood Memorial Park in Gloucester Township. But while the other graves were mostly devoid of color or sentiment, No. 2044 was graced with a floral tribute to Williams containing an inset photo of the 69-year-old from a Courier-Post story earlier this month reporting his death. It shows Williams in front of a colorful Haddon Township wall mural with the tools of his trade: a bike with a black bag slung over its handlebars and a white bucket of soapy water. See initial story here.

But along with county workers and representatives of the medical examiner’s office, there were also guests in attendance at Williams’ grave, including musician friend Bill Roccia of Mount Ephraim and Audubon florist Renee Mettinger. The latter has overseen unsolicited donations from businesses and residents that followed publication of the Courier-Post story. The funds will buy a grave plaque for Williams expected to be placed in the next two months. “No human being should be a number,” Mettinger said. “And I’m very thankful that the county has done this.” Williams was known by business owners along White and Black Horse pikes from Pennsauken to Deptford. According to the story, he supported himself with window washing but lived in an abandoned Audubon house. According to Roccia, he died of natural causes.

Friends and acquaintances said Williams claimed to be a long-ago member of the singing group “The Tymes,” whose major hit was 1963’s “So Much in Love.” But the newspaper reported in its April 6 story that the only George Williams known to have been a member of the group died in 2004. At graveside Thursday, Roccia carried an iPad loaded with songs, including one he wrote called “Don’t Know Why.” The sparkling harmony on the song, Roccia says, is George’s. “I met him a few years ago when I was riding my motorcycle and I saw him working,” recalls Roccia, 57. “He would come over my house and we’d grab the guitars and make up songs.” The Rev. Vincent McDonald of Immanuel Baptist Church of Maple Shade donated his time to conduct Thursday’s service at the site, behind a complex of athletic fields. Seven mounds of brown dirt were piled in neat formation. In front of six of them was a plain, blue-gray casket; the other casket was covered with a flower print. All of them were donated by P&J Cooper Funeral Supplies in Barrington.

 The potter’s field contains the remains of about 2,600 people from Camden and Gloucester counties whose bodies were never claimed. McDonald quoted Matthew 10:42 and evoked the essence of Williams’ life when he said, “And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.” Because of the friends he made, Williams’ cup was fuller than the others who went to their graves Thursday at a cost to the county of about $250, according to spokesman Dan Keashen. But Williams also had Roccia and Mettinger. To the latter, the sound of two geese squawking overheard was a fitting backdrop for George Williams’ burial. “It just reminded me of what a free spirit he was,” Mettinger said.

The Gloucester-Camden-Salem Medical Examiner's Office buries the bodies of seven people who remained unclaimed by family members on April 26, 2012. Pictured here is a photo of George Williams next to his casket. A small ceremony, performed by Rev. Vincent McDonald of Immanuel Baptist Church of Maple Shade, was held at Potter's Field for Stephen Cohen, Arthur B. Doughty, John Gaughan Jr., Michael McGovern, Charles Rudder, Colista Saleh and Williams.

Regional medical examiner's office buries seven unclaimed bodies: Rev. Vincent McDonald’s heart broke Thursday as he walked toward the seven open graves at Potter’s Field in Camden County, where he would officiate the mass funeral service for Gloucester, Camden and Salem County indigents whose remains were claimed by next of kin. McDonald, pastor of Maple Shade’s Immanuel Baptist Church, realized quickly that his morning funeral service for seven would be before more caskets than there were mourners. “As a pastor, it’s usually such a time to give care to the family. To not have any family around is shocking,” said McDonald, whose Potter’s Field burial service was the first he has ever officiated.

The regional medical examiner’s office holds two burials a year in which about a half-dozen indigents are buried at Potter’s Field, a graveyard behind the Gloucester Township Lions Football Fields. Children who play there don’t notice the grave markers under their feet during pick-up soccer, Frisbee and football games. The seven unclaimed bodies of Michael McGovern, Charles Rudder, Colista Saleh, Arthur Dougherty, John Gaughan Jr., Stephen Cohen, and George Williams — a well-known Camden County window washer — were laid to rest among the more than 2,000 other recorded individuals buried there. The bodies, which have gone unclaimed by next of kin for several months, were strangers to each other, all being buried alone.

Each person interred in the open field behind the Gloucester Township Lions Football Field had a favorite food, a history and someone who recognized their lives as precious, McDonald told those who gathered. “I don’t know all of the days of these lives here,” McDonald said in his 10-minute service, before praying over each casket. “Every one of these lives is one that had days of laughter, had someone in their life who knew their laugh and could pick out it. Each one of these individuals all had personal aspects that were cherished by others ... these are personal lives here that we stand here to remember.”

Only workers with the Gloucester-Camden-Salem Medical Examiner’s Office and Camden County’s public works department, plus a few of Williams’ friends, showed for the short service. “I do truly believe — even though my heart breaks that they don’t have family around them — that what we did in this moment was real,” McDonald said. Of the seven plots, only Williams’ site will have a plaque that marks his grave. The others will get military gravesite markers, flat white stone with a number carved in it. “I always saw him as a just another street person washing windows,” said Bill Roccia, of Mt. Ephraim, who stood beside his daughter Kate looks at Williams’ casket. “Then, I saw him one day, and decided this man had a story, and I wanted to know what it was.”

The Roccias, and a handful of others, were the only attendees not affiliated with the medical examiner’s office. While the small crowd of friends stood around Williams’ casket, the other six caskets sat alone beside the designated graves and the mounds of dirt that would cover them over. “For a minute, I wished I knew all of them,” said Roccia, who played a song on his iPad that he and Williams had recorded together. “They weren’t as lucky as George to have touched so many lives.”