Cleaning Windows And Hauling Trash

Raig Thomas, left, washes windows at the Homer Public Library with Clear View owner Bev Vosburgh, right.

‘We’re all about the view’ (By MICHAEL ARMSTRONG) - Bev Vosburgh celebrates milestone anniversaries of two businesses. Cleaning windows and hauling trash might not seem to be businesses that go hand in hand. For 33-year Homer resident Bev Vosburgh, Clear View Window Washing and RRR Trash & Recycling have both proven to be successful small businesses. This year, Clear View celebrates 30 years and RRR celebrates 20 years. Vosburgh has redone logos noting the anniversaries and even had T-shirts printed for her workers. Both provide basic services: keeping the windows of Homer’s homes and businesses clean and hauling away trash and recyclables.

“Here I have two businesses and I never had a business course,” Vosburgh said. Vosburgh moved to Girdwood 37 years and has been in Homer almost a few years longer than her first business, Clear View. She started Clear View when her daughter, Fanya DeForrest, now 33, was in kindergarten and Vosburgh wanted a job that gave her the freedom to be with her daughter after school. “I started Clear View so I could meet the school bus, so I could meet my daughter coming home from kindergarten,” Vosburgh said. “And then it just kept going.”

Clear View washes windows inside and out, no matter the height. Vosburgh came up with her first husband from Wyoming, where she’d learned to love climbing mountains. That’s a skill set essential for washing windows. “I’m a mountaineer,” she said. “I absolutely love heights. I make the guys nervous.”

The crew from Clear View Window Washing and RRR Trash & Recycling pose for a photo. From left are DanAvendano, Bev Vosburgh,Cole Johnson and Kevin Duff.

Vosburgh started out as Clear View’s sole worker, but now has three employees working for her. Clear View uses ladders and occasionally lifts to get up close to windows. “You can’t wash a window properly unless you’re on top of it,” Vosburgh said. Once or twice she has even used technical climbing skills. “I’ve roped up and come off the roof,” she said.

Clear View has washed windows at South Peninsula Hospital, at the four-story Land’s End Lodges and Land’s End Resort, the Homer Public Library and the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. “We do all the hard stuff, but we also do right down to the little old lady who wants her three windows done,” Vosburgh said.

Some people just want upper story outside windows washed. Others want all the windows washed, inside and outside. Clear View gives free estimates — one of the secrets to its success, Vosburgh said and offers a streak-free guarantee. Vosburgh has developed a technique that makes that a guarantee she can keep. She buys her cleaning supplies and equipment from Ulmer’s. “When you’ve got an extension ladder in a third-story window on somebody’s white carpet, you don’t want to go back,” she said.

The window washing business picks up in the spring and then in the fall, Vosburgh said. “We’re all about the view. Everyone wants them done in the spring. I make my living in May and June,” she said. “And then I come back in September. People want to have them as clean as possible going into a long and dark winter.”

Much of Clear View’s business is for construction projects, where newly installed windows with sticky logos and paint and drywall smears have to be scraped and washed. Vosburgh also has gotten boosts in business from events like the 1989-90 eruption of Redoubt Volcano. “That’s what bought my property,” she said of Redoubt ashfalls. “I was washing windows out there 10 hours a day.” Vosburgh now has a “farmette,” she calls it, on her Waterman Canyon property out Eastn End Road.

RRR Trash & Recycling came about when vandals kept torching the Dumpsters on East End Road and for a while the Kenai Peninsula Borough had closed them. People didn’t want to drive their trash all the way to the Baycrest Hill dump, now a trash transfer facility. Vosburgh also was looking for more regular, year-round work.

“RRR” stands for “rubbish removed and recycle.” For $8.50 a month, with discounts for seniors, RRR hauls away two bags of trash and takes separated recyclables for free. New customers get one month of free service. While other companies haul trash from Dumpsters or curbside trash cans, RRR picks up trash from cans in people’s front porches. “We will go up on your deck. We will go into your garage,” she said.

RRR recently replaced its old Toyota pick up truck with a shiny white truck. A wire bin like a cage keeps bags of trash from blowing away, while garbage cans hanging on the side hold recyclables like paper, plastic and aluminum cans. For businesses who don’t need trash pickup, RRR also hauls just recyclable material like cardboard.

Vosburgh now spends part of her year in Portal, Ariz., but manages her businesses year round from the convenience of a cell phone. Calls to the local number of 235-4174 go direct to her. Both businesses have grown as Homer has grown. Vosburgh said.

“It started very small and I let it be that way,” she said of Clear View. “It turned into a super little business. I have a very loyal clientele.” It’s a business that suited her needs then as a mother and now as a grandmother and a farmer. “I never really wanted to make money,” she said. “I wanted to be home, be a good mom.”

Cleaning Windows At Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace gets the waterfed pole (wfp) treatment. Click to enlarge.

If you could see what I could see when I'm cleaning windows! Man with an extra-long extendible pole makes sure the Queen gets a clear view from Buckingham Palace.

• Window cleaner gives his client the Royal treatment with his extended brush.
• A pole measuring approximately 100ft long is essential for the job.
• The brush was located at the end of a pole measuring approximately 100ft long.

In reality, the extended 9 section wfp shown here would be no more than 60 ft.

Without the help of scaffolding or ladders, it is seemingly an essential piece of kit for buffing Her Majesty's windows up to the required royal standard. Just how easy it is to manoeuvre is anybody's guess, although the gentleman carrying out the task appears to have had a fair amount of practice.

The window cleaner has a tough job making sure the gooseneck doesn't twist at such heights.

Mail Online is certainly not aware of any breakages and one assumes the window cleaner gave the windows a good polish after washing them to eradicate all streaks, smears and smudges. And he probably felt under a huge amount of pressure to do a proper job: the pictures show he was cleaning the windows under the watchful gaze of one of the soldier's from her infantry unit The Queen's Guards.

A deep gooseneck is needed to reach over the sills. There are 760 windows in Buckingham Palace. All windows are cleaned every six weeks to keep them clean.

Wigan's most famous Ukulele playing star George Formby famously brought out the lighter side of a window cleaner's lot with his 1936 hit When I'm Cleaning Windows. In it, he fondly sang about how 'for a nosey parker it's an interesting job'. Yet with both feet firmly on the ground, and some 760 windows at the Palace to plough his way through, it's like that our man has neither the time nor the opportunity to peek through her Majesty's net curtains.

Also see: The Royal Window Cleaner

Window Cleaning Info

Mole & Jersey tenth video!

The Mole and Jersey Show Episode 10 - Mole & Jersey are talking with Mark from Canada's best window cleaning supply store. And a ton of other great window cleaning and pressure washing awesomeness...

The Segments:

3:38 The Wire...Yelp ratings court hearing

6:45 Marketing Madness...Logos

11:25 The Chop Chop...Mark the window cleaner

20:33 Fail of the Week

23:47 Top 5...Things I hate about my business

28:48 Screw you Shecky...

Clean – at all costs (Article by Torsten Deutzmann) Torsten Deutzmann, managing director Unger's European division, writes his first blog for ECJ. He emphasises the importance of cleaning tool manufacturers working closely with their customers in order to develop the most effective, cost efficient solutions.

No country in Europe has been immune to the ‘age of austerity' that has swept the region, and the world. True, some have managed to weather the storm better than others, but it has encouraged us all to question how we spend our money - and to hold governments and big business to account over how they spend theirs.

Words like rationalisation, lean management and restructuring have leaked into our respective languages, making regular appearances in media reports and TV broadcasts. As competition increases in all sectors, business owners have to watch budgets and balance sheets closely, constantly searching for ways to make their output or service provision more affordable for clients that are becoming ever more demanding, thanks to seeing their own budgets reduced.

However when it comes to cleaning, quality standards cannot be sacrificed to cost cutting. Although slashing cleaning budgets is sometimes tempting when a quick financial fix is needed, this is a dangerous strategy as the resulting short-term gain often has a much bigger negative impact further down the line. Hygienic results must be maintained, as any dip in service provision can result in dissatisfaction at the best, and increased worker absenteeism, due to unclean surfaces spreading germs and viruses, at the worst.

Contract cleaners have to be realistic, though. Clients will always look to secure the best possible price for the products and services that they are procuring, age of austerity or not. So, can quality cleaning really be delivered on a budget?

I believe so. The cleaning professionals with whom I have had the privilege to work, when developing new products over the years, have all been wholly committed to delivering the very best service to their clients. They're not afraid to try new methods or products in order to remain competitive, and clean in a safer, more efficient way.

By investing in the best tools and equipment, professional cleaners can improve the way they work, passing on benefits to their clients. Product design has moved swiftly over the years, and tools now make cleaning less of a strain on the body, allowing operatives to finish their work more quickly, and preventing any break in service due to injuries or sick leave.

Cleaning tools have now also become more adaptable. Systems, such as window cleaning poles, can reach further thanks to the addition of extensions, and clean specific surfaces or shapes by using changeable brush heads. Additional savings can be made by choosing more ‘eco-friendly' equipment, such as machines that use less energy, or do not require chemicals to clean.

The challenge for cleaning tool manufacturers is to ‘keep it real'. They must not be remote from the market and their customers - instead, they should strive to ensure they have regular contact with the cleaners ‘on the ground'. Working in partnership with cleaning operatives is the only way to ensure that the equipment of the future continues to deliver the right results at the right price - which is a win-win situation for all involved.

Can you clean windows in the rain? Myth busted: Rain does not make windows dirty. Let your customers know and give them piece of mind. (P.S. ..Unless you live near a desert).

Harness Snap In Edinburgh, Scotland

Hospital: The cleaner was injured when he fell from the office block in Edinburgh.

Window cleaner plummeted from office block after harness snapped: A window cleaner has been taken to hospital after his harness snapped and he fell from an office block. Two men from a Perth-based company were cleaning the windows at Exchange Place Estate on Semple Street in Edinburgh on Friday when the man fell. It is understood his harness broke just after 4pm and he fell from the building. The worker was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary with injuries to his wrists, ankles and back. A spokesman for Police Scotland said there were no suspicious circumstances around the fall and the Health and Safety Executive are investigating. A spokeswoman for the Health and Safety Executive said: "We are aware of the incident in Edinburgh and are investigating." 

Exchange Place Estate on Semple Street in Edinburgh.

Soccer Star Tries To Clean His Own Windows

Balancing act: Paul Gascoigne cleans the windows on his top floor flat in Boscombe. Click to enlarge.

On the straight and narrow: Paul Gascoigne perches precariously on a tiny ledge as he cleans his windows. Paul Gascoigne, 46, is undergoing rehabilitation for alcohol addiction near to his Bournemouth apartment. Troubled former footballer spotted cleaning windows on his forth floor flat.

Watch your step: Troubled Paul Gascoigne, who last month pleaded guilty to a drunken assault, cleans the windows on his top floor flat in Boscombe.

It seems troubled Paul Gascoigne is back on the straight and narrow - as he balances precariously on a ledge while cleaning the windows on his top floor flat. A shirtless Gascoigne, 46 - who last month pleaded guilty to drunkenly assaulting a security guard at a railway station - climbed out of window to get to the dirt outside his apartment. The former footballer is recovering at the fourth-floor flat in Bournemouth following the latest in a list of alcohol-related incidents.

Dirty work: Paul Gascoigne decided to do some housework while recovering at his forth-floor apartment in Bournemouth.

An onlooker said: 'It was an extraordinary display by Gazza. After recent events, you’d normally be worried seeing him on a narrow ledge 50ft in the air. 'But it seems he’s been looking after himself and staying off the booze. He looked in really good shape and was ripped as though he’d been working out. 'Perhaps he should be thinking about getting a window cleaner and stick to less dangerous household chores, though.'

Recovery: A tattooed Paul Gascoigne looked fitter and healthier than he has on previous occasions as undergoes rehab for alcohol addiction near his Bournemouth home.

Gascoigne has battled alcoholism for many years, but looked much leaner and healthier than on previous occasions as he did the housework on Sunday. The former Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur star was arrested after police were called to Stevenage station in Hertfordshire at around 10.30pm on July 4. Last month, he was fined £600 for one charge of assault and £400 for a drunk and disorderly charge. His solicitor told magistrates he was making progress during one-to-one session at a rehabilitation centre near his home.

Paul Gascoigne shows he is cleaning up his act – as he washes his windows bare-chested perched on a narrow ledge 50ft up. The Geordie football legend, 46, looked fit and healthy and appeared to have put his recent booze problems behind him. Showing an array of tattoos on his toned stomach, back and arms, Gazza squeezed out of a small fourth-floor window with a damp cloth in his hand as he set out to tackle the grime.

He then climbed over a balcony and balanced on a ledge to reach another window at his seaside penthouse. At one stage a concerned neighbour went outside to ask if all was well – and the former England ace replied with a cheery thumbs-up before continuing with his chores. An onlooker said: “It was an extraordinary display by Gazza. After recent events, you’d normally be worried seeing him on a narrow ledge 50ft in the air. “But it seems he’s been looking after himself and staying off the booze. He looked in really good shape and was ripped as though he’d been working out. “Perhaps he should be thinking about getting a window cleaner and stick to less dangerous household chores, though.”

Gazza has been recovering at his home in Bournemouth after a series of booze-related incidents. Last month he was fined £1,000 for a drunken assault on a railway security guard who tried to stop him falling on the tracks in Stevenage, Herts. Gazza’s solicitor told the town’s magistrates the star was making “great progress” in one-to-one sessions at a rehab centre near his home.

Gazza in his former glory when he played for England.

Access Problems, Cleaning Windows Between Neighbours

John Byron claims John Trayers, who lives in an apartment above him, blocks access to his door when he puts up a ladder to clean his windows.

Row gets messy: Feuding Blackley neighbours fall out over window cleaning - Two neighbours are locked in a bitter feud – over window cleaning. John Byron, who lives in a ground-floor flat, complained when John Trayers – who lives in the apartment above – began using a ladder when he washed his windows. Mr Byron claimed the ladder blocked access to his front door. The pair had a blazing row about the issue – which ended with Mr Byron locking himself in his flat to avoid his neighbour.

Both men then went to Northwards Housing, which owns the properties in Elder Mount Road, Cheetham Hill, asking them to take action. Northwards have now written to Mr Trayers, 50, advising him to send Mr Byron a note giving 24 hours’ notice when he intends to put up the ladder. The letter, in the name of Rob Doherty, Northwards’ local services manager, reads: “As you do not want to speak to your neighbour when cleaning your windows I think the best way forward is that when you intend to clean the windows in the future you post him a brief note the day before with the time you expect to clean the windows the following day.”

Mr Byron, 45, who is on disability benefits, said he had been hoping to reach an agreement face-to-face. He claimed Mr Trayers had not been willing to co-operate. Mr Byron said: “He has been left in this situation because of his unwillingness to speak.  “Northwards Housing and myself wanted mediation. “When he first put the ladder up I could not see who was at the top and thought someone was breaking in.  “When John came down he flew off the handle at me and I threw him off my property. “I locked myself in my home.”

Unemployed Mr Trayers is seeking legal advice over Northwards’ ruling. He said: “I find the whole thing ridiculous. “The idea that I will put a note through his door when I want to clean my windows – it just doesn’t happen.  “I’m entitled to clean them. He has never had problems with this before. It is nonsense. “It is ridiculous that they are telling me what to do.” Mr Trayers said the claim he could be hindering Mr Byron entering his flat was ludicrous – as Mr Byron has a back door. He added: “I would rather not clean my windows than speak to him or put a note through his door.  “It is not about cleaning windows. It is all about principles.” A spokesman for Northwards declined to comment, but said they hoped the neighbours could resolve their dispute.

The letter sent to Mr Trayers.

Cleaning Windows With Backpack Lazers - The End Of WFP?

Backpack Laser Cleaner: Clean Laser Systems of Germany has announced the release of the "first real fully mobile cleaning laser unit in the world. Available in electric versions or rechargeable battery powered, the laser unit consists of an air cooled "state of the art" diode pumped laser with an excellent laser beam quality and an ultra small focus."

In layman's terms what they have done here is "invented" the backpacks from Ghostbusters. I had one of these when I was ten, it just looked a lot more like my mom's canister vacuum, and if you want to get technical, there was no laser involved - there was, however, a stair cleaning attachment.

HOW IT WORKS: 

Powerful, very short, rapid and moving laser pulses produce micro-plasma bursts, shockwaves and thermal pressure resulting in sublimation and ejection of the target material.

A focused laser beam precisely vaporizes the target coating or contaminant.

Process optimization of the laser beam produces maximum reaction with the target material for speed while, at the same time, does so safely and without harm to the base material.

Metal surfaces are well-suited for many laser cleaning applications. Optimized beam settings will not metallurgically change or damage the laser treated surface. 

Only the coating, residue or oxide targeted for removal is affected as the laser beam is precisely adjusted not to react with the underlying metal surface.

Laser beam power density is accurately and easily adjusted to achieve cleaning results impossible with all other options.

Technology benefits:

• Fast set-up
• Easy to operate
• Quiet
• No clean-up
• Leaves no residue
• Highly reliable
• Easy to automate
• Low operating costs
• Virtually maintenance-free
• No consumable media - no abrasives, chemicals, solvents
• Green process - no pollution
• Laser beam settings are precisely adjustable to optimize process speed & gentleness

Laser cleaning works by using extremely short duration pulses of laser light, scanned across the surface to vaporize soil, carbon deposits, oxides with other organic and inorganic contaminants. A fume extractor is used to capture the vaporized residues as they are removed for a dust free process with nothing to clean-up. The equipment is designed for safe use in a wide-range of applications. For personnel safety, the operator, and nearby observers, wear special laser safety glass that provides comfortable eye protection, in addition to other simple to implement procedures.

Glass & coated plastics: Laser cleaning offers a solution for the challenges of removing coatings applied by vapor deposition to glass and other surfaces in the automotive and other industries. For example, glass treated with infrared reflective coatings for heat protection can be de-coated precisely, efficiently and very fast. cleanLASER removes TCO coatings from solar panels to create clean edge isolation. The technology is equally effective for similar applications involving TFT monitors and displays.

From an Egyptian burial chamber, to an aircraft wing, or work in remote areas, the backpack laser is made to go almost everywhere. The CL 20 Backpack features a 20 Watt diode pumped laser source with a range of adjustable beam and power settings. The laser is mounted to a backpack frame making it comfortable to carry and ease to move around. This super portable 20 Watt laser is well-suited for small area treatments and for gently cleaning historic surfaces. With its rechargeable battery pack, this laser can operate completely cordless.

 

These mid-power systems are designed around a powerful, diode pumped solid state laser source. Mid-power lasers deliver performance with gentleness for the precise de-coating and cleaning in many industrial applications. Using the remarkable power of short pulses of laser light, high-value parts can be treated without damage and virtually no emissions. Laser cleaning applications include surface prep for bonding and welding, de-coating metallic surfaces – fully or selectively, removal of production residues from tools, molds and many more. Each unit is designed to consistently deliver high performance with reliability and do so virtually maintenance-free. Easy to set-up, operate and automate. Plug it in, turn it on and start cleaning/de-coating with laser light - without chemicals, media, dust, water and or clean-up. Application examples:

• Complete or selective paint removal
• De-painting for weld inspections
• Removes oxides, oil, grease and production residues
• Mold cleaning
• Pre-treatment for adhesive bonding
• Structuring of metallic surfaces
• Natural stone cleaning
• De-coating metallic and glass surfaces

cleanLASER hits the spot with light to provide unique surface preparation options. A global leader in laser cleaning technology, cleanLASER is the only manufacturer that offers fiber-coupled, compact, mobile or stationary laser cleaning units, with 20 to 1000 watts of laser power for a wide-range of applications. From ultra-mobile backpack mounted units to fully-automated robotic laser work cells – companies and industries about the world trust cleanLASER for innovative solutions backed by proven performance.

CIProcess Ltd, the UK-based, innovative Cleaning and Process Systems company, announces that it is the exclusive distributor in the United Kingdom of laser cleaning systems produced by Clean Laser Systems in Aachen, Germany.

adapt laser system is a Kansas City, MO based company, serving all of North America. We are the leading supplier of laser cleaning technology and fume extraction systems. adapt laser systems offers innovative laser ablation technology for industrial surface treatment, cleaning and paint removal applications. Our laser technology removes contaminants, production residue and coatings without damaging the substrate. The laser cleaning systems combine power and versatility with the lowest operating cost of all industrial cleaning methods. Our laser cleaning systems are being used by leading companies and government agencies to clean surfaces or remove paint. 90+ installed laser systems speak for themselves. We offer a variety of off-the-shelf units, suiting most laser cleaning applications and budgets.

Cleaning Windows By Helicopter

They REALLY want their windows clean! By Brett Bailey: Earlier this year, some of us here in California were complaining that, while we were open to working in the rain, our customers didn't want the windows done at that time. Today, it's raining in California and all of my customers today were ecstatic that I was willing to work in the rain so that their windows would be clean for their holiday parties. They were making me coffee, lighting the fireplace for me to warm up by.....anything that they could do to accommodate me.
.

But this past Wednesday took the cake. Me and my crew got to the first job. The house is located way up on a hill and the driveway was at the end of a cul-de-sac. When we got to the end of the cul-de-sac, the water company had the road closed to fix a main water leak. There was no way possible I was going to get to the driveway, and there was no way in hell I was going to carry all of our ladder and gear up that mountain to get up to his house. So, I called him and told him of our dilemna.

Now, I knew that this gentleman was a man of resources, hence the reason why he has been so successful in life. But I never could have imagined what would happen next. After I told him of the situation, he very calmly said he would be right down. I thought to myself; does he think he is going to convince the water company to move? Is he going to come down here to carry the gear up himself? Maybe he would bring a tractor down here and we could use an auxiliary road that I didn't know about? I wasn't sure what he had in mind.

Well, about 10 minutes went by and I heard a loud noise. I looked up to see a helicopter landing in the field next to us. I thought that was odd until I saw my customer getting out of it.....then it was BIZZARE! He came over and told us to load the guys and our gear up and he would get us up to the house. It took a couple of trips, and we had to strap the ladders to the skids, but we made it.

One thing I forgot to mention about this gentleman. When we were done with the job and doing our walk around, he told me how he worked his way through college. He made up fliers that said, "Ironing by the piece and window cleaning by the pane" and passed them out in downtown San Diego. This guy used to be a window cleaner! That was a guy who REALLY wanted his windows cleaned!

Tom Cruise Cleaning Windows + Other News

Cruise That At The window? Star Tom Films Stunt... 124 Floors Up - It wasn’t exactly the view they had expected from the 124th floor of the world’s tallest building. As they looked out from the observation deck of the 2,717ft skyscraper, Daniel Mathew and his family were suddenly confronted by Tom Cruise – dangling in mid-air outside the window. The 48-year-old Hollywood star, suspended by several safety wires, was filming a stunt for Mission Impossible IV. The scene sees him chasing another actor around the outside of the Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai. Mr Mathew, who lives in Dubai, said: ‘

My sister Caitlin is visiting from our home town of Norwich. I told her I was going to show her something really special and took her to the tower with my wife and kids. ‘When we got there we saw this pair of legs outside and assumed it must be a very brave window cleaner. 'Then Caitlin shouted, “That’s Tom Cruise!” I said, “Don’t be ridiculous”, but sure enough, it was. I grabbed my camera and he smiled and laughed. ‘He was cool as a cucumber. Anyone brave enough to film up the Burj Khalifa Tower deserves a Hollywood pay cheque.’ Pictured: Adrenaline junkie: Tom Cruise runs along the side of Dubai's Buri Khalifa, the world's tallest building, as he films scenes for the fourth Mission Impossible film.

The cost of cleaning the windows at Foster & Partners’ City Hall in London has spiralled to £13,600 a month, new figures reveal. The unusual design, nicknamed “the glass testicle”, means highly specialised cleaners are needed to wash the 30,000 panes of glass. But the £145,000 annual bill for 2010/11 is more than twice what it cost when the building opened in 2002. The latest monthly cleaning bill was £13,600, though the building is not cleaned every month. Previous news blog also here. More pictures at the link.

Knight rides in to the rescue with a plan to clean up: A window cleaner has a clear vision of how to clean up in business with the addition of a new wheelie bin scrubbing service. As Enfield Council rolls out wheelie bins in Winchmore Hill, Southgate and Palmers Green, Richard Knight is seizing the opportunity to offer his existing customers the option of a spruce-up for their rolling recycling receptacle. Richard, 42, who owns Knight’s Cleaning, said: “It’s difficult out there at the moment. Everyone’s started doing window cleaning now. I bought a water system – a purified water tank that fits in the back of the van – which I had for the windows, and I thought that I might as well start another business. So I can go round and, even if the people are not in, I can clean their bins. “I’ve been working for 12 years and I can say that Enfield people are very house proud so I expect they will want to keep their bins really clean.” With the tank holding 230 litres of water, Richard and his assistant will wash bins inside and out with bleach and freshen them up with an odour spray. Householders will pay between £3 and £5, depending on how many bins they have, and there will be a discount for those having their windows done as well.

Soldier Tom returns to Afghanistan: A former window cleaner from Scarborough has returned to Afghanistan for the second time. Private Tom Revitt, 20, left Graham School and worked with his cousin washing windows when he joined 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment. Now he is serving as a machine gunner in the Nad-e Ali area of Helmand province. Working alongside members of the Afghan National Army, his job is to protect his fellow troops, as well as to train up his Afghan counterparts. His previous tour, in a similar role, was in Sangin. Tom is looked up to by younger soldiers on their first tour. It also gives him a perspective on progress being made. Tom said: “The local population understand much better why we are here and the Afghan soldiers are becoming a lot more capable and skilled. “I was obviously a little anxious about coming back to Helmand, at the same time, it’s always exciting to get to do the job you have trained for. Tom is based at Colchester Barracks in Essex, where his battalion has its headquarters.

Man who burgled five Bristol properties is jailed: A long term drug addict who burgled five Bristol properties, including four in one day – has been jailed for 18 months. Simon McLoughlin broke into a home in Hanham where he had cleaned windows, helping himself to an iPod and laptop computer. Three months later the 30-year-old, who is of no fixed abode, burgled a house, two pubs and a sports and social club in one day. McLoughlin was arrested and admitted one charge of burglary. He asked for four further offences of burglary and one offence of theft to be taken into consideration.

Mary Harley, prosecuting at Bristol Crown Court, told how the defendant first raided the home of Jason Bateman in Church Road, Hanham, on July 16 this year. She said the defendant had offered his window cleaning services to Mr Bateman and a neighbour and the day before the burglary had asked his victim for £10 payment. The court heard Mr Bateman did not have the money then so the defendant returned when he was out and stole his laptop and iPod. The defendant had been stopped by police while he was carrying the items but the burglary had not yet been discovered and he was allowed to continue. He was later arrested when Mr Bateman returned home and found his property missing.

Ms Harley said McLoughlin was on bail when he then committed four burglaries on October 19. She said he broke into the Kingswood Colliers public house and stole cash from a fruit machine. He also broke into the Brass Mill public house in Keynsham where he also broke into a fruit machine. Ms Harley said the defendant also burgled a home in Samuel White Road where he stole two televisions. He also broke into Bitton Sports and Social club. He caused damage getting in but did not steal anything. The court also heard the defendant had stolen a jar of ladies cosmetics from a pharmacy in Kingswood.

Jane Chamberlain, defending, said her client had struggled with a class A drug addiction following a disruptive childhood. She said the father-of-four wanted to put his drug use and offending behind him. Jailing McLoughlin for 18 months, Recorder Mr Adrian Palmer QC, said: "You know courts regard burglary as very serious offences and they attract a term of imprisonment."

Enterprise is not the sole preserve of the entrepreneur. You don’t have to be Sir Tom Farmer or Sir Tom Hunter to be an enterprising fellow. You can be imaginative, hard working and organisationally wise without founding your own business. You can bring enterprise to any firm, department or office. In fact, it’s misleading to think that everyone should be an entrepreneur. There isn’t room for that many new ideas, or even old ideas like taxi driving or window-cleaning, the stand-by part time occupations of many of the men who lost their jobs in the last round of de-industrialisation.

50 years ago today; Ambitious Halloween plans of two pranksters were dampened when they were subjected to window-washing chores. Sheriff deputies ordered the youths to wash the windows at the home of Mrs. Naomi McNally, 4579 Lakeshore Road, which they had soaped.

Call for change in benefits system: THE friend of a grieving husband who felt 'let down by the system' after being hit by a huge funeral bill for his wife has called for a change in the benefits system. Dr John Robinson said change was needed to help people on low incomes. He was speaking after Amersham man Colin Bowden was refused support for the funeral of wife Marilyn, who committed suicide a year ago on Sunday. Mr Bowden applied for funeral funding through the Job Centre in Chesham but was turned down as he was not on benefits. However, the Department for Work and Pensions said the resident of The Gowers would have been eligible for support if he was already on benefits. Dr Robinson, from Lawson Gardens, Pinner, said: “It's absolutely shambolic people like Colin, who've worked hard all their lives, can't get any help. “He's never claimed any benefits. What motivation is there for this guy to keep working and not to take benefits? He's resisted them all his life and accrued very little on his pension and he's got no savings. “It just seems if you are on benefits you get everything. There doesn't seem to be any help for people who are working but not earning much.”

Dr Robinson wrote to the Prime Minister about Mr Bowden's plight and received a response from Pensions Secretary Steve Webb. Mr Bowden, who works as a window cleaner, has since come to an arrangement where he pays off a certain amount of money owed from the cost of his wife's funeral each month. Marilyn committed suicide on November 7 last year after suffering from depression. Mr Bowden said: “I feel the system is totally wrong. I thought they were supposed to help people.” Patricia Gondim, spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions, said: “Funeral payments help people on low income, who are claiming certain benefits, towards the costs of arranging a funeral. “Anyone who disagrees with a decision can ask Jobcentre Plus to reconsider or they can appeal to an independent tribunal.” Previous blog here.

PEKIN, Illinois: John Edward Wagle, 62, formerly of Pekin, passed away at 12:04 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010, at Fairview Nursing Plaza in Rockford. Born Feb. 22, 1948, in Peoria, to Duke E. and Alberta (Simpkins) Wagle, he married Nancy Schettler Stroup on Nov. 8, 2001, in Pekin. She survives. Also surviving are a daughter, Angie Durr of Decatur; five grandchildren; a great-grandson; three sisters, Rita Potter, Patty (Doug) Anderson, and Donna Wagle, all of Pekin; and two brothers, Terry (Mary) Wagle of Pekin and Mike Wagle of Daytona, Fla. John was preceded in death by his parents. He had owned and operated Four Seasons Window Cleaning in Pekin.

Republican Warren Petryk has defeated Incumbent Democrat Jeff Smith in the 93rd Assembly District by 71 votes. A well-known Eau Claire musician is challenging incumbent Democrat Jeff Smith for the 93rd Assembly District seat. Republican Warren Petryk lives South of Eau Claire and works for UCP of West Central Wisconsin. Petryk has been part of the band “The Memories” in Eau Claire for 38 years. Incumbent Jeff Smith is hoping to be re-elected for a third two-year term. Smith, of Eau Claire, was elected in 2006. Smith owns Bob Smith Window Cleaning in Eau Claire. The winner of this seat will represent Southern Eau Claire County, including much of the City of Eau Claire and parts of Dunn, Pierce and Pepin Counties.