Window Cleaning News & Photos

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Photo of the day - Reunion Tower window washer - Here's a beauty from staff photographer Sonya N. Hebert, of Hugo Suarez of Cliffhanger Building Maintenance hanging off of Reunion Tower in Dallas. She said the photo gods were shining on her today, providing a blue sky, a red shirt, and angled light. She did the rest! The photo came about when I stepped off the DART train this morning and saw a window washer nearing the bottom of one of the legs of the tower. One phone call and 10 minutes later, Sonya was on the scene, and nailed the photo when she spotted another employee of the same company at the top of another column. In newsroom parlance, this is the dreaded "weather feature" combined with the "what an editor saw on the way to work" feature.

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Beilue: Man mourns toll of cancer on body - Michael Davis, who has a window-cleaning business, doesn’t seem to have anything in common with seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong or gold-medal figure skater Scott Hamilton — except for that testicular cancer thing. They had it. Davis has just been through it. Because of their celebrity network, it’s doubtful Armstrong and Hamilton lacked for emotional support in the weeks and months after. Davis just wished he had the same personal understanding. “It’s been tough,” said Davis, 40. “A person can’t fully understand losing a body part until they actually lose it. To a certain degree, it’s made me more aware of what a woman goes through when losing a breast or a veteran who loses a body part.”

Davis, diagnosed with testicular cancer in March, had an orchiectomy — surgery to remove a testicle — in April in Lubbock. Before surgery, he had two rounds of chemotherapy. Since surgery, he takes a testosterone shot every two weeks. Testicular cancer, serious as it might be, has no doubt spawned a few jokes at comedy clubs for the man-card crowd. Davis has heard them too, with “Hey, grow a pair!” leading the list. “Actually I kind of joke about it some as a coping mechanism,” Davis said. “My aunt and I have a neat relationship. One night I called her and said, ‘I really do miss my nut.’ She said, ‘Well, you shouldn’t be so careless.’” Though testicular cancer strikes about one male an hour and kills one a day, it’s still pretty rare. Striking about 8,300 males a year, most from the ages of 20 to 39, the survival rate is as high as 85 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Glass artist fell to death in cathedral: A master stained-glass artist who died following a fall at Durham Cathedral had been putting the final touches to a new window, an inquest was told yesterday. Michael Lassen, 61, was helping put in the last panel of the 170ft stained-glass window when he fell 20ft from a ladder and suffered a fractured skull during a work break. A jury sitting at Newcastle ruled he died accidentally. Witnesses described Mr Lassen’s hands slipping off the ladder and him falling backward onto the stone flag floor in the cathedral’s South Quire. The reason for his fall remains unclear. Glass artist Tom Denny, who was commissioned to create the new Transfiguration window, told the hearing he had taken on Mr Lassen – one of the most experienced craftsmen in his field – to lead and install the window when a previous assistant became ill.

On the day of the tragedy on September 3, last year, Mr Lassen was working on scaffolding inside the cathedral, while Mr Denny worked on the outside of the building. Mr Denny said, while “wiggling around” the last rectangular panel, he saw the chairman of the Friends, Bill Apedaile, and others inside and decided to show them the window. He took the friends to the second level of the scaffolding, leaving Mr Lassen on the lowest level, when he heard a “clattering” noise and a woman scream. Cathedral volunteer steward Kathleen Burdon said: “I saw his (Mr Lassen’s) hands on the ladder and in an instant they just seemed to leave the ladder. “It all looked as if it happened in slow motion. His hands just seemed to slip off it. “I closed my eyes because I knew it was inevitable he would fall.”

Steward Maria Atkinson, who saw him fall backward, said he had made no attempt to grab out. The Gloucestershire artist was taken to University Hospital of North Durham, before being transferred to Newcastle General Hospital. He died on September 8 of bronchial pneumonia brought on by his head injury. Health and Safety Executive specialist inspector Stewart Eddie said he was satisfied with the ladder and scaffolding and no prosecutions were being considered.

NYPD, SEIU honor union members who died on 9/11 - Police Commissioner Ray Kelly joined SEIU 32BJ President Mike Fishman and others from the 32BJ family at a Security Recognition Ceremony on Saturday to honor the men and women of 32BJ who lost their lives on 9/11. Kelly also helped the union give out merit awards to current private security officers who have excelled in the line of duty. “They were dedicated individuals who worked as security officers, some as window washers, cleaners, elevator operators, maintenance workers,” Kelly said. “The police department considers you very much our partners in this effort. Because of the nature of your work you are in a better position than most to spot the indicators of terrorism. We depend on you. We depend on you to stay engaged, to act as our eyes and ears.”

Life-saving window washers: Enormous thanks to the window washers who potentially saved lives by reporting the loose 600 kilogram block on the building downtown. Their daily task puts them in a much better position to evaluate the integrity of buildings. They are actually on them, not in an office filing a report. Please give them a salary equal to a building inspector’s salary. They deserve it!

3M window film generates electricity, blocks light: 3M showed new window film that both cuts infrared light transmission through the glass and collects solar power from both indoor and outdoor lightsources. A square meter of the film can generate enough electricity to charge an iPhone under peak sunlight. This film has two strong energy conservation traits. The first is that it generates electricity. The second is that it blocks heat. The film generates electricity, so it can be used to power things like LED lights. As for blocking heat, this can help conserve energy, because if heat is blocked then the air conditioning of a building can be lowered, saving electricity. Those are the two main advantages for energy conservation.

The film blocks or absorbs about 80 percent of visible light and 90 percent of infrared light. In this demonstration at Ceatec in Japan the company showed the temperatures on each side of the glass, with the inside thermometer about ten degrees lower than the outer one. The film comes in flexible sheets and can be glued onto windows. There’s a greenish tint to the film, but 3M plans to make it clear by the time it plans to commercialize it sometime in 2012. The film generates only about a fifth of the electricity that a traditional silicon solar panel does and will cost about half as much, though pricing hasn’t been announced.

Ward Blanchard, 89, lives north of Grand Rapids and is the oldest man to motor 1,000 miles in 24 hours.

1,000 miles on motorcycle in a day? No problem for 89-year-old Michigan man: Just my opinion, but, frankly, I think it’s interesting all by itself that this summer, Ward Blanchard rode his motorcycle more than 1,000 miles without sleep, grinding out the distance in less than 24 hours. Something else makes it altogether stunning: Next July, Ward Blanchard turns 90. Not that you could tell. He’s got the facial features of a guy in his 60s. And he could be a hand model for dish detergent.

Not that he’s got the time or inclination. He’s too busy busting his butt on a three-wheeled cycle known as a Can-Am Roadster, setting records for long-distance motorcycling while some of his cronies are probably having trouble — let’s face it — gathering up enough steam for a spirited game of cribbage. “Don’t let your age tell you what you can do,” says Ward, who worked full-time until he was 87, mostly as a factory laborer and window washer. “Just forget about your age and do it.”

Window cleaner Steve Waplington is concerned about the effect that the closure of Lea Road will have on town business.

‘Road closure will be catastrophic’: Concerned local businesses have voiced their frustration at the closure of a major road into Gainsborough in fear that it may harm trade during a busy period. The A156 Gainsborough Road at Lea will be closed for up to two weeks for resurfacing work between Monday 24th October and Friday 4th November. It is hoped the ‘essential maintenance’ work will be completed during the half-term, while diversions will be in place along the A1500 Tillbridge Lane, A15 and A631, However, the road is one of the major routes into town from Lincoln and nearby villages such as Marton, Torksey, Fenton, Newton on Trent, Knaith Park and Saxilby - which has concerned local businesses.

Steve Waplington is a window cleaner who believes that the impact could be ‘devastating’. “I’ve contacted the council and asked them to reconsider this full road closure,” he said. “I don’t see why they can’t do a part closure with a contra-flow system, like they did when they were carrying out similar work near Blyton.” “This will have a detrimental effect on mine and other businesses in town.” “Not only is it approaching the Christmas shopping period for shops in Gainsborough, but if we were to have another cold snap like last year when it re-opens then the impact will be catastrophic.” Steve continued: “I’m on my soapbox because I think it’s wrong - doing this at such a busy time of year will be terrible.” “I don’t think that they have really thought this through.”

To some people, Paul Bastock may be your window cleaner. He may be the nice man who used to care for your dear old nan. He might even be the bloke who coached your son at one of his goalkeeper academies. But to those people who spend their Saturday’s worshiping idols in amber and black (maybe that should be green), the man known as Bazza is something much more. At Histon this week, the club’s all-time appearance record holder reached another miraculous milestone... his 650th appearance for the club. Those 650 appearances, during two spells with the club, have brought hundreds of highs and lows.

The time he ran to the half-way line to punch an opponent and receive his marching orders. The time he crashed into his own goalpost and played the remainder of the contest with an egg-sized lump on his hairless head. The occasion he saved two penalties in on match at King’s Lynn. The time he missed one from the spot himself. These are just some of the more bizarre moments that stand out from Bastock’s career with Boston. And in an era where footballers at the top of the game are vilified for being detached from society, it is refreshing to see a local hero like Bastock prove that life means more than football... while opening a few village fetes along the way. That life has seen him work locally as a window cleaner, in a care home and also as a sports coach.

West Dunbartonshire Council award window cleaning licence to gunman: I would like to comment on the report regarding a recent West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC) licensing meeting. I was present at this meeting and was astonished at some of the decisions taken. Firstly, a window cleaning licence was granted to an individual who had recently served a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for possessing a machine gun! This was followed by an application by an individual who by all accounts was a serial offender, having recently served a three years and nine month sentence for drug offences. This individual had also been observed lately by a police unit in the company of “serious and organised” criminals and planned to rent a unit from a known criminal in the Dumbarton area.

Despite strong objections by Strathclyde Police to both applications being granted, the board of WDC’s licensing committee saw fit to ignore the case put forward and proceeded to grant them. Bearing in mind that these same councillors granted licences to a gunman and a serial drug dealer I suggest that this smacks of double standards. TOA should certainly bring the matter to the attention of the Standards Commission on the grounds of complete incompetence by WDC licensing committee.

Strong Winds Blow Out Glass From Near North Side High-Rise Window: Chicago - Glass from at least one window from a Near North Side high-rise was blown out due to heavy winds on Wednesday, causing nearby streets to close to pedestrian traffic. The glass fell from a 12th-floor window in a building north of Chicago Avenue on Wabash Avenue near the Loyola Water Tower campus, Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford said. The sidewalk was closed right away and crews were sent out to block the west side of the street. A high wind watch is effect from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning near Lake Michigan. Winds will quickly increase Wednesday afternoon with strong and potentially damaging winds likely through Wednesday night. Winds will reach 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph likely, the National Weather Service said. The very strong winds could result in minor wind damage, downed tree limbs and power lines. High-rise buildings near the lake will experience even stronger winds just a couple of hundred feet above ground, the weather service said.

Food Share benefit is coming up: "Will Bowl For Food 3," which benefits Marion-Polk Food Share, is slated for next month. Oregon Paralyzed Veterans of America and ABC Window Cleaners & Building Maintenance are hosting the event. Will Bowl For Food 3 will begin at 1 p.m. Nov. 5 at Firebird Lanes, 4303 Center St. NE. Cost is $25 per person for shoe rental and two games. Or, attendees can rent a lane for $100 for up to five people, which also includes shoe rental and up to two lanes. Attendees can donate food for entry into a door prize raffle: one ticket for five cans, two tickets for 10 cans, three tickets for 15 cans and four tickets for 20 cans. For more information, call Samantha Demchak at (503) 851-4156.

City of London: Protest continues for third day - Self-employed window cleaner and protester James Awberry said he expected the demonstrators to be stereotyped but that there were many "normal, hardworking" people among them. "It's not just a bunch of hippies. We're not a single issue and we're not a one-day march. The reason why protests have never worked and never changed anything before is because they're generally speaking for a single issue for a single day. This is many issues for as long as it takes." Foreign Secretary William Hague on Sunday said that protests were not the answer, but the Green Party on Monday pledged its support to the protests in London and around the world.

"Miss Representation" takes critical look at media images: "American teenagers spend 31 hours a week watching TV, 17 hours a week listening to music, 3 hours a week watching movies, 4 hours a week reading magazines, 10 hours a week online. That's 10 hours and 45 minutes of media consumption a day." Those statistics swoosh onscreen at the beginning of Jennifer Siebel Newsom's film "Miss Representation," then swoosh off to show highly sexualized clips of women sucking their fingers, or dancing on stage in a strip club, or even just washing a window. The effect is disturbing.

Cheapening Window Cleaning One Deal At A Time

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$95 for Two Stories of Full-Service Window Cleaning!

FINE PRINT:

• $95 for Two Stories of Full-Service Window Cleaning!
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• Promotional value expires on 12/31/2011 afterwards voucher is valid for amount paid
• New Clients Only
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• Appointments are required and are subject to availability
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Discuss here.

Window Cleaning News

Practice of treacherous high-angle rope rescue prepares Portland firefighters for real thing: Firefighters from Portland’s Station 1 convened at Keller Fountain Thursday to train for high-angle rope rescues, a specialty of the southwest Portland team. “We want to get new people exposed to the training,” said Rich Tyler, of Portland fire. “High-angle rope rescue is our specialty.” Tyler and 11 of his colleagues cordoned off much of the park for the two-hour training, which prepares firefighters for high-angle rope rescues. Garrett Diehl glided back-and-forth on the rope, which was attached to two opposing trees on the north and south sides of Ira Keller Park, simulating what a real-life rescue may be like. “If there was a window-washer stuck high atop Wells Fargo, we’d be the station to go,” Tyler said.

The quote brings to mind last week’s rescue of a window-washer dangling near the top of the Seattle Center civic complex. The man, who was eventually saved by Seattle firefighters, was stranded 65 feet off the ground at McCaw Hall, a concert venue. A KIRO-TV helicopter captured the spellbinding video as the man was brought to safety. Tyler said the trainings—two were on the agenda for Thursday—are difficult to schedule because the entire staff is involved. “If a rescue happened downtown right now, we’d be on it,” he said.

One of the more recent attempts at a high-angle rescue led firefighters to the discovery of a climber who fell 50 feet to his death at Rocky Butte in Northeast Portland. Police confirmed the man’s death even as firefighters were performing a high-angle rope rescue to retrieve the man’s body. A recent response shows the range of the station's ability to repel down as well as up.

The crew from Station 1 was called to rescue a man at the bottom of a ravine off Southwest Barbur and 35th near Jackson Middle School, said Kurt Sommer, a Station 1 firefighter. About noon on July 4, Portland firefighters responded to the area and reached a man who was 35 feet down an embankment in a ravine. Sommer said the man was in an "altered state," by himself and naked in the ravine. Initial responders deemed the rescue too difficult and called on Station 1 for backup. "We bring all the goodies," Sommer said. While other stations are equipped for 'low-angle,' rescue, Station 1 is the only group performing high-angle techniques. Sommer said firefighters, the engine and anchor arrived to the area and hoisted the man to safety.

Window cleaner's ladder stolen: Popular Ashbourne window cleaner, David Hollingworth, has had his ladders stolen. The aluminium double extending ladders were propped up at the side of Bargain Booze on Monday July 11. While Mr Hollingworth washed windows just 100 yards away, two young men are thought to have travelled down Coxon's Yard before taking the ladders away via Dig Street. The ladders were stolen having been left unattended for just 10 minutes between 7.40pm and 7.50pm. Anyone with any information to contact PCSO Blackwell on 0345 123 33 33 or call Crimestoppers annonymously on 0800 555 111.

Working man tends to stuck kitten in Concord for almost 3 hours before managing to set it free: Staten Island, N.Y. - A tiny gray and black tiger cat went fishing through a hole in a utility box cover yesterday morning. The only thing it caught was its paw. At 8:30 a.m., Oscar Avarenga was walking to work when he spotted the stray kitten trapped near PS 57 in Concord. The feline's front right paw was stuck in a hydrant gate box, an eight-by-eight-inch square cover on the side of the street at the corner of Hanover Avenue and Palma Drive.
Avarenga, a window washer from Honduras who lives in South Beach, alerted authorities and kept the cat company, wrapping it in a wet shirt and giving it water to keep cool as temperatures approached 90 degrees. "I was afraid it was going to die," Avarenga said in Spanish. "I knew it was scared. It kept saying 'meow, meow' and I didn't know what to do."
Nearly three hours later, at 11:10 a.m. -- after several attempts to remove the cover -- Avarenga managed to lift it out of the ground with his finger. As he pulled it up, the cat flailed its body and removed its paw from the hole, freeing itself. It immediately scurried away into the woods and vanished. Judging from its dash into the trees, the cat did not appear to be injured. It was a bittersweet moment for Avarenga, who was hoping to adopt the cat and take it home with him. He is a cat-lover who owns Isi -- a tiger cat, as it happens -- and wanted to bring home a playmate for her.

Window cleaner set for walk to aid Kidney Research UK: A Shepshed window cleaner is taking on an 18-mile walking challenge to raise money for a kidney charity which helped him get his life back. Dave Baxter, aged 47, of Charnwood Road, had a kidney transplant thanks to a donation from his wife Sharon five years ago after suffering from nine years of problems. He is now taking part in Renal to Renal, walking from Loughborough Hospital Renal Unit to Leicester General Renal Unit with his family and friends, to raise awareness about kidney health, organ donation and raise money for Kidney Research UK. He told the Echo: “The transplant meant everything to me, it’s got me back doing the things I used to do. “I’ve done loads of things to raise money since my transplant but this one is a big one. It’s a good way of fund-raising for a great cause.”

Alaskan company loses BAMC contract: An Alaskan company that handles cleaning and other services at Brooke Army Medical Center and at health care facilities at Camp Bullis apparently has lost the lucrative contract. That prompted Ahtna Facility Services Inc. of Anchorage to notify the state last week that it may have to permanently lay off 434 workers, primarily housekeepers and floor-care technicians, on Aug 31. But those workers, represented by the Laborers' International Union of North America, are not in jeopardy of losing their jobs. Under the terms of a collective-bargaining agreement, the company that wins the contract simply will take over as the workers' new employer. “There will be no mass layoffs,” BAMC spokesman Dewey Mitchell said. The new contract has yet to be awarded, he added.

Ahtna officials didn't respond to requests for comment. Ahtna has had the contract for at least five years. A posting on the Federal Business Opportunities website dated May 2010 said the “estimated value of the 12-month period of performance (for the contract) is $32,407,972.” Ahtna has provided various services, including housekeeping, collection and distribution of linens, solid-waste and recycled material collection and window cleaning. The Army in December solicited proposals for a new five-year contract. However, the Army later excluded Ahtna after finding numerous shortcomings with the company's proposal. Ahtna filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office, but the protest was denied June 30.

Ahtna on July 11 asked the GAO to reconsider, but the status of that request is unclear. The same day, it sent notice to the state on the possible layoffs. Employers who anticipate mass layoffs are required under federal law to give 60 days advance notice. Mary Davidson, business manager for the union's local chapter, said an expansion at BAMC could mean even more cleaning jobs — upping the workforce to 600 people. BAMC is adding about 760,000 square feet to the existing hospital. Mitchell had no information on how many new jobs the project might add. Ahtna is a subsidiary of Ahtna Inc. The Ahtna are one of the tribes of indigenous people in North America.

Plans to save at least £1.5bn from private finance initiative (PFI) projects and "fully recycle" the money back into frontline services by the contracting authority have announced by the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury Lord Sassoon. The three main areas of savings in operational PFI contracts were identified as effective management of contracts, including sharing savings on insurance, making efficient use of space, for example, from subletting or mothballing surplus building space, and making sure the public sector doesn't buy more than it needs when specifying facilities management such as window cleaning. Under PFI contracts, private companies are paid back for the construction costs of new public sector projects over a number of years. The long-term costs of PFI have attracted criticism from MPs of all parties, and ministers want to see more effective management of contracts. The Treasury said this would include reducing wasteful energy consumption, mothballing surplus building space, and reviewing soft service requirements, "so that the public sector does not buy more than it needs when specifying facilities management such as window cleaning and frequency of decoration."

Javier Morillo-Alicea serves as president of SEIU Local 26, which represents private-sector workers in the property service industry, including janitors, security officers and window cleaners. MINNEAPOLIS - Let us pledge to stop calling the funding mechanism for the state budget a "school shift." That sounds too innocuous, as does "accounting gimmick," which makes it sound as if these are fake numbers people are playing with that have no real consequences. When the state "shifts" payments that are promised to schools, it forces the school districts to borrow money to make up for the money it should have received. Who do they borrow from? Why, from the Big Banks that we bailed out with our tax dollars at little or no interest!

And do these Banks, out of respect for those taxpayer-funded bailouts, make these loans to school districts interest-free? Quit your dreaming. They charge interest rates that the schools will have to make payments on. And how will they do that? You guessed it -- through property tax levies, or, if voters reject those, they'll see reduced school services or ever-expanding class sizes. This is not an accounting gimmick – it is stealing from our children. And those charter schools conservatives love so much? The robbery is even greater, since they must borrow at higher rates. So, think about it - we taxpayers pay once to bail the banks out and then again through property tax increases to pay the very banks that are now loaning school districts money.

Ontario program encourages youth to become their own bosses: There were 261 Summer Company applicants this summer from the Ottawa area. Diana Martinez-Cachon, the business adviser for youth entrepreneurship at the Ottawa Centre for Regional Innovation, picked students based on business plans and estimated cash flow, including the ability to show at least a minimal profit. Popular perennial startup companies through the program include landscaping and driveway maintenance. "When it's a landscaping or window cleaning business, I need to see that they really have a sense of the business plan. ... And the big thing is how are you going to differentiate yourself from the other people doing the same thing?" said Martinez-Cachon. Some of the unique Summer Company startups include a private practice birth companion and a CPR-training enterprise.

Father writes poem after thieves target his baby’s grave: Mr Reddington, who works as a window cleaner, said: “I’m always writing poems. I know he has been gone a long time but people shouldn’t mess with people’s graves. I want people to be aware someone is stealing his lamp and wanted to put the poem in Nathan’s words.” To whom this poem may concern, I pray you are willing to read and to learn. Why would you steal from such a young boy? My little lamp and my only joy. My mummy and daddy gave it to me, for when darkness falls in hope I might see. It saddens my heart and faith in mankind, to take from my graveside something you find. I have little else yet still you deny, the only true thing that lights up my sky. So I implore you, thief of the camp, please keep your hands from my little lamp.

Growing up around criminals, Harry Archer witnessed horrific violence. He saw people slashed to death, watched his parents robbed and, at the age of just 16, felt the butt of a sawn-off shotgun in his mouth. The result was he emerged into adulthood hardened to pain. “I felt no fear,” he said. “And I mistook that for confidence.” The violence he saw was so horrific that Harry could not understand the fuss when he threw a few punches at his ex-girlfriend Faye, the mother of his two sons. But, thanks to completing a 24-month Integrated Domestic Abuse Programme (IDAP) with Staffordshire and West Midlands Probation Trust, the once explosive character is confident he can keep his temper under control – no matter the provocation. “It was such an in-depth course. It really made me look at my behavior,” he said. “Before I always felt I was at the end of a tug of war. Now I think, ‘If you want the rope that badly, then have it. “I was scared of hurting people’s feelings,” he said. “But inside I would seethe and then I would hurt them anyway through my anger. I used to be so tongue-tied. Now I’ve learnt to tell people how I really feel right from the start.” Harry, who was never jailed, says he’s now the happiest he’s ever been. He’s due to marry new girlfriend Michele next April and is hoping to start a window cleaning business. And he’s so impressed by the course he wants to tell everyone about it.

Women were kicked in the head during street fight: A mother and daughter were both kicked to the head during a violent incident in Chirk, a court heard. Football playing window cleaner Daniel Meredith, 25, and his partner, trainee accountant Katie Crouch, 20, both admitted affray but were spared custody yesterday. Mold Crown Court heard the victims were Meredith’s former partner Samantha Thomas, and her mother Sharon Thomas. Judge Niclas Parry said that in a public street at night, when members of the public were about, the defendants were involved in a serious incident of public disorder which involved two women being kicked to the head while on the floor.

Meredith, of Charles Street in Chirk, was given a 24-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months. He was ordered to carry out 150 hours unpaid work and remain indoors under a three month curfew between 8pm and 6am – apart from on Tuesdays and Thursdays when he plays football or trains for Chirk. Matthew Dunford, for Meredith, said he was a window cleaner who played football for Chirk. He had pleaded guilty and the injuries were relatively minor. It was clear he had acted out of character. Mr Dunford said it was very unlikely he would come before a court again.

Quinte melts: Is it hot enough for you? Temperatures, with the humidex index, rose as high as 46 Celsius Thursday, sending many running to pools and air conditioned buildings. But some couldn't escape it, even if they tried. Diamond Window Cleaners Terry Roshotte and Ryan Miller had towels on their heads, which they hold down with baseball caps to keep the sun off of their necks, backs and shoulders. "We don't wet the towels, they start to heat up and it just gets worse" said Roshotte, wiping sweat off his brow with the towel. Where ever you were Thursday, heat was something you couldn't avoid. The temperature should ease off a bit today, with The Weather Network calling for a high of 31 C with the humidex rating making it feel like 36 C. Saturday's forecast calls for 29 C, with the humidex making it feel like 35 C.

The service interruption was caused by a NSTAR crews in Everett performing maintenance on a transformer, said Michael Durand, a utility spokesman which left 36,000 across Somerville, Charlestown, and Cambridge powerless. In Davis Square, the bustle of motorists and pedestrians soon became a column of cars piled in all directions leading to the messy intersection, and a crush of office workers and others who sought refuge in a fully powered Starbucks that one barista said was strangely untouched by the outage. Other businesses were not so lucky. Back at Sally O'Brien's, Figueiredo had to wrestle with a tempermental alarm system that locked him - and about a half-dozen customers, scheduled food and liquor delivers, and a window washer - outside in the heat.

Could house building schemes benefit window cleaning firms? Window cleaning firms could be one group that benefits from government measures to boost the house building sector. Housing minister Grant Shapps revealed this week that he wants to see an end to regulations that have made it difficult for the UK to fully embrace the concept of self-building. Indeed, he remarked that the country is one of the worst performing nations in Europe for encouraging people to construct their own abodes. Mr Shapps has called for more land to be made available and for mortgage lenders to issue loans to house hunters who want to create their dream pad. If there is a significant improvement in uptake, window cleaners across the UK could see greater demand for their services.

Man sold 'cocaine' to police officer: A man sold an undercover policeman what he claimed was cocaine – but when the powder was tested it was found not to contain the drug, a court heard. Daniel Mosley, aged 20, instead handed the officer a mixture of chemicals used as cutting agents and caffeine, Plymouth magistrates were told. The court heard that Mosley was a 'prolific' dealer but he claimed through his solicitor that this was the first time he had sold drugs. The court heard the powder was tested and found to contain benzocaine, caffeine and lidocaine. Mrs Furniss said police found £1,040 in Mosley's home. She added the police viewed him as a 'prolific drug dealer'. Graham Kinchin, for Mosley, said he had no previous convictions. He said Mosley wanted to get involved in drug supply but had been naïve and had done his first deal with an undercover officer. Mr Kinchin said Mosley worked as a window cleaner and the money seized by the police had been earned legitimately.

Cheque u-turn joy for Spa group:  A controversial plan to abolish the use of cheques has been scrapped and hailed as a ‘victory for common sense’ by members of an influential town group. Members of the Droitwich Area Forum for Older People are celebrating after the Payments Council announced the u-turn which will see the payment method be retained for as long as it is needed. The council announced in 2009 that cheques would phased out by October 2018, as long as viable alternatives had been developed. Work started last year on an alternative paper-based system, but the organisation has now said it will retain the cheque as a method of payment. The forum’s Sheila Neary, said: “If the cheque book was withdrawn as a way of paying bills it would have been a disaster for older people, small locally based charities and many voluntary organisations. “Many of us use cheques to pay small bills and for services like the window cleaner, the plumber, trips out, Christmas gifts and charity donations.

When I’m cleaning windows....! Cleaning the windows at Warwick Castle isn’t something that can be done with a bottle of window cleaner and a stepladder. In order to get to the windows a specialist team last week had to abseil down the walls. It’s not for the fainthearted, as while they try and clean the windows of varying sizes, there is a 100 foot sheer drop to the River Avon. Marketing director Georgina Kelly said: “Maintaining and restoring the historic fabric of Warwick Castle is a priority for us and we invest £250,000 annually to ensure that our wonderful building is in the best condition. We’re used to having brave knights at the castle but I’m not sure any of our jousting heroes or Merlin himself could cope with this job.”

Cec Thompson, who died on July 19 aged 85, fought his way up from the streets and orphanages of West Yorkshire to become one of the first black men to play rugby league for Great Britain. A nasty knee injury in 1958 curtailed Thompson’s career at 32. After playing, he still earned a living from the game as manager of Barrow, but a gnawing desire for self-improvement eventually got the better of him and he left two years later. In an era decades before the over-inflated wages of sports stars and the cash injections of Sky Sports, Thompson had supplemented his earnings by working as a window cleaner, a grim living in the cold and often wet north of England. However, it was on his round that he found inspiration for the next stage of his life.

“I used to go to schools to clean their windows and I would see teachers at work and imagine how pleasant it would be if I could do their job,” he recalled. “Window cleaning is cold, harsh work. Playing rugby is a brutal occupation. Put the two together and you have my life.” Self-financed by his window cleaning business, Thompson went to night school in his mid-30s, taking a course for 14-year-olds who had failed their 11-plus. At 39 he won a place at Leeds University, graduating four years later with an honours degree in Economics and a teaching diploma. While there, with typical enthusiasm and aplomb, he co-founded the Student Rugby League along with Andrew Cudbertson and Jack Abernathy: another part of his legacy that flourishes today.

On leaving university he taught economics, first at Dinnington Comprehensive School and then at Chesterfield Grammar School, where he ended his career as head of economics and master in charge of rugby. Alongside this he had continued to run his business, developing it from a humble window cleaning round into a highly successful industrial cleaning company with 250 employees.

In 1994 he received an honorary degree from Leeds University for his services to the community and in 2003 he became a freeman of the Borough of Allerdale. He spent his later years writing, travelling and expanding his business. Cec Thompson was a businessman, International rugby league player and economics teacher, who described himself as “half Trinidadian and half Yorkshireman and proud of both”, and is survived by Anne, his wife of 47 years, and their son.

Window cleaner Graeme Dust in court over attempted murder charge: A man accused of trying to kill his wife in Enfield is due in court this morning. Window cleaner Graeme Dust, 45, has been charged with soliciting to murder and attempted murder of his wife Nina. He was arrested at their Holmwood Road home in April, and is due at the Old Bailey this morning to enter a plea.

Sometimes you can't give window cleaning away. $75 for $150 Worth of Cleaning Services: Gonsalves Cleaning & Restoration is here for all your cleaning needs. Gonsalves Cleaning is a cleaning and restoration company who specializes in the clean up and drying of water & flood damage, fires, smoke, and mold. Also specializes in carpet cleaning, upholstery & fine fabric cleaning, Oriental and European area rug cleaning, window cleaning, power washing, striping and waxing of floors, floor sanding and restoration, and tile and grout cleaning. Since 2005, Gonsalves Cleaning & Restoration, has supported the use of non toxic, biodegradable, and environmental friendly cleaning products. Restrictions: Limit 3 vouchers per person, unlimited as gifts. Only 1 voucher per visit. Cannot be combined with any other offer.

Dalton running for re-election: Councilman Keith Dalton is running for re-election to the Post 3, East Ward seat. Dalton will finish his first term on the Covington City Council this year. “As tough economic times as we’re having right now, I think it’s more important than ever for my conservative voice to be on the council,” he said. Dalton, 46, is a 1983 graduate of Newton High School. He served as a city police officer from 1987 to 1992 and was chief of police in Oxford until 1998. He currently owns a janitorial and lawn maintenance service, Covington Window Cleaners Inc. He also is active in local fund-raising efforts for the American Cancer Society’s annual Relay for Life event and is a member and fund-raiser with the local Elks Lodge. Dalton and his wife Kim have two daughters. Dalton so far is the only candidate to announce for Post 3, East Ward.

Houses of superheroes: Where does a superhero live? In a top secret location, location, location. Iron Man's retreat: Location Point Dume, Malibu, California.

Estate agent pitch - John Lautner modernism meets Zaha Hadid-style high-tech in this stunning cantilevered clifftop pad. Great ocean views.

Facilities - Tennis courts, helipad, wrestling ring, extensive underground parking for vintage cars, entertaining and shagging facilities.

What it says about the owner - Insecure narcissist who's yet to work out what he's overcompensating for.

Would also suit - Formula One driver, Roman Abramovich, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

Drawbacks - Structurally vulnerable in high-impact combat situations. Large window-cleaning bills.

For a quick sale - Convert it into a boutique rehab facility.

Remember that luxury mansion that was used in the Iron Man film series? Well it turns out that it’s just been put up for sale for a whopping $25 million. The 11,000 square feet luxury mansion comes with 4 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms and private access to Black’s Beach.

FaceBook Window Cleaning Deals - Will You Use It?

Facebook Deals: Create window cleaning offers with friends, family & clients. Help your business stand out from the crowd with deals that people can enjoy with their friends. Deals encourages people to share their excitement about your business. This creates incredible word-of-mouth for your business and can help you build long-lasting relationships with your customers. Read on to learn more about how you can create memorable experiences on Facebook. Why use Deals?  Create experiences that make people remember your business, not just a discount. Thumbnail images show people which of their friends have liked or bought your deal. See a window cleaning company using deals here. Those that got burnt by Groupon may want to check Facebook Deals out. Read what Facebook have to say...

• Buy Now – This takes people through a simple purchase flow where they can buy your deal using their credit card or existing Facebook Credits. Deals can also be purchased as gifts.  
• Share – This lets people send a message about your deal to their friends, or post your deal to their Wall.
• Like – This enables someone to express interest in your deal. Liking a deal generates News Feed stories and notifications, which helps spread the word about your deal.

 

Facebook distribute your deal in 8 ways:

1. The Facebook Home Page. The Home Page is the first thing that people see when they log on to Facebook. There is a Deals link in the left-hand navigation column, so that people can find and buy your deal easily.

2. The Deals Page. This page shows your deal, along with others that are available for purchase in a given city.

3. Sponsored units. Your deal will be eligible to appear in a Sponsored Deals unit on the right-hand side of the Home Page. This unit shows people friends that have liked or bought your deal and lets them buy your deal directly.

4. Personal messages and Wall posts. People can send messages about your deal to their friends or share your deal on their Wall. This makes it easy for people to make plans together.

5. News Feed stories. News Feed stories appear on the Home Page and give people information about their friends. When people interact with your deal, News Feed stories will help spread the word about what you’re offering in a natural and relevant way.

6. Onsite Notifications. We’ll notify people when friends like or buy a deal that they have also liked. We’ll also tell people when their friend buys a deal for them.

7. Deals tab. Your deal is eligible to appear on the right-hand side of any deal that is currently running on a Facebook Page.

8. Emails. We’ll email people when friends like or buy a deal that they have liked as well. We’ll also send daily emails to people who have subscribed to our Deals updates.