Lucky Escapes For Amateurs

PRECARIOUS: Serangoon residents were shocked to see a maid balancing on a window sill to do cleaning.

Maid's safety in the balance for 15 minutes: Residents of an HDB estate in Serangoon were shocked to see a domestic worker balancing precariously on a ledge to clean windows on Saturday. The incident occurred at about 2.30pm at an eighth-floor unit of Block 539 in Serangoon North Avenue 4, Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News reported yesterday.

Ms He, a 40-year-old housewife who lives at a block opposite, told Shin Min that she saw a maid climbing outside to clean the windows. "To see that maid standing on the window sill, grabbing on to the window to clean it without any safety measures on the eighth floor, it really frightened me," she added. She said she had wanted to go over to stop the maid but changed her mind when she saw that there seemed to be other people in the unit.

Another resident, Mr Chen, a 45-year-old construction worker, had also witnessed the maid's actions. "I wanted to shout at her to ask her not to do that, but I was worried that if I did, disaster may follow if she got frightened so I could only watch." Mr Chen added that the maid had spent about 15 minutes wiping the windows, most of the time squatting on the sill.

Madam He said this was the first time that she had seen the domestic worker carry out such a dangerous act. "Luckily, she climbed down safely in the end, much to my relief," she added.

Shin Min approached the maid's employer, who said that the woman had worked at his home for about five months. He said the maid was hard-working although they had some difficulty communicating.

After he saw the picture of the maid cleaning the window, the employer was shocked and said that he did not know she had done such a thing. He was normally away from home during the day, with only his mother and children around. He added that he would advise the maid to be more careful and that he had instructed her not to clean the windows' exterior since it would rain anyway.

Another lucky escape for those DIY amateurs. See below for video.

Lucky Escape For Man Stuck in Compost Bin: This guy stood on top of a compost bin so he could clean his gutters. However, the bin couldn't handle his weight, so he fell through and got stuck. He called for his family to help him, but all they did was laugh at his misery. This homeowner got away lightly & shows another case of how hiring a professional to do the job over DIY can pay for itself many times over.

This could have turned out very badly, luckily the man fell in such a way that he didn't harm himself. But in a lot of cases were knee flex is restricted when landing can cause serious damage. Extended knee landing results in serious deformation of the meniscus and cartilage and increases the risk of bone-to-bone contact and serious knee injury when the load exceeds the threshold safety height. This risk is considerably greater than the risk of injury associated with walking downhill or flexion landing activities.

Let DIYers Have A Go

We've all seen them, even tempted to buy & see if they are any good! They're cheap & crap.

Sandy’s Garden by Sandy Simpson: Early this year – in the very depth of winter, in point of fact – our regular window-cleaners stopped coming. We noticed, one cold, bright day, that the sunshine was illuminating just how grimy our windows were; and with that discovery, we realised that we had not seen our window cleaners for weeks. 

And we were unable to contact them, for the simple reason that they had initially rung our doorbell many years ago in the time when we still washed our own windows, asked if we would like them to do the work, quoted a very fair price and, having done the windows to our complete satisfaction, made us realise that they did a better job than we did in less than half the time. So we agreed that they would come approximately every fortnight and that we would pay them on the day, it being further agreed that, if we were not in when they called, they would leave a slip through the door and we would pay them the next time we saw them. No names were noted, no addresses, no telephone numbers; and the arrangement has worked admirably for decades.

In their absence, I decided that I would resume washing the windows myself and bought a telescopic window washing tool to reach the upstairs windows. And what brings this to mind is the delivery, with our Sunday newspaper, of a chirpy leaflet with numerous bargains in gardening tools and equipment, its front cover featuring two ladies in appropriate attire, one smilingly wielding a ‘9 foot Telescopic Hedge Trimmer’ and the other cheerfully using a ‘9 foot 5 inch Telescopic Angled Branch Lopper’. Ladies, I envy you your apparent strength, which would put the average Amazon to shame; and I hope I never cross swords with either of you, for I think you could break any of my limbs with the greatest of ease!

Perhaps it is my advancing years and corresponding physical decline, but I found my telescopic window washing tool more than a trifle unwieldy in anything more than its unextended mode. The seemingly-rigid handle became surprisingly-flexible and correspondingly difficult to control, its business end’s contact with the windows dangerously erratic, varying from hitting the glass sideways on to doing no more than leaning against it. Meanwhile, the liquid intended for cleaning the glazing ran down the handle and down the sleeves of my jacket as well as dripping into my eyes. 

But, since I was delighted to retire my telescopic window cleaning tool when my regular window cleaners reappeared from hibernation in the spring, I shall make do without any of them and shall settle for envying the women … and men, for the leaflet illustrates both genders using the tools … who still have the physical strength and dexterity to master these no doubt invaluable bits of kit.

Window Cleaning T.V.

Window Cleaning Resource has opened up their new T.V. station. Want to know what that window cleaning product does? All the different brands of window cleaning equipment? How to utilize it? Which soap or chemicals to buy? See those scrapers, gutter cleaning equipment & also water fed pole equipment before you buy. Maybe even watch a few shows & opinions on tools & grab a few tips? These videos & more can be found all in one place - Window Cleaning T.V. You'd be mad not to see it! Often imitated but never beaten - WCR has it all.

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Fake Window Washing & Other High Flying Stunts

An Ad in Tallinn Center, Estonia, with fake window-washers.

Fake window cleaner arrested near Queen’s palace: About 30 people have become victims of the fake window cleaner who was active in The Hague, Rijswijk and Delft. The man was arrested on Saturday by the Royal Military Police in the Haagse Bos. The fake window cleaner rang doorbells and asked residents for money for cleaning windows. But in reality he did nothing. The police warned residents several times about a man in an un-groomed appearance with bad teeth. The Royal Military Police noticed the ‘window cleaner’ near the Queen’s residence of Huis ten Bosch when they approached and arrested him.

Greenpeace Shames Apple With, Um, Fake Window-Washing.. you may remember this one from a previous blog here. Greenpeace had upped the ante in its fight to get Apple to commit to using more renewable energy in its data centers. Or at least it tried to up the ante.

To highlight the extreme quality of sponges, Scotch-Brite, a brand of 3M, used a window cleaning platform and turned it into a huge sponge. The effect could be seen by passers-by near a building of the legendary Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid. Only nobody told them that green pads scratch glass.

Web of Lies by Mark Tisdale: This blotchy photo (obviously saved and re-saved a number of times, a sure tip off for a questionable story) is purported to be of window washers at a Children’s hospital in London. Note all the missing details – what hospital for instance? As far as I was able to deduce in a grand 5 minutes of web searching is that this is actually a Shanghai Sheraton Hotel! Granted this is taking the word of another website that could be equally misinformed, but the fact that this story appears back in 2008 and the only time I find this photo associated with the children’s hospital story is this year makes me suspect the more recent version. I’m surprised for a change that a little more digging shows there’s a kernel of truth. I found this article on a Southwark newspaper’s site from 2010 showing a completely different photo with far more details about a superhero duo of window washers at the Evelina Hospital. Ladies and gentlemen, those are the heroes you’re looking for!

DIY Brooklyn Man On A Ledge Cleans His Own Damn Windows: Look, not everyone can afford professionals to come wash their precious windows, with their fancy safety equipment and insurance. Sometimes you've just got to climb out on a ledge with a couple rags and DO IT YOURSELF. The fastidious fellow in this video knows what we're talking about—after all, why do architects put ledges on buildings if people aren't meant to climb out there? 

The witness who took this video says the man was cleaning the windows on the third floor ledge for approximately 20 minutes, "with my entire office gasping and holding our breath." Out tipster, tells us the building is located on the corner of Washington and Front Streets in DUMBO, and adds, "I can't believe he couldn't see all 50 of us pressed to the window watching. It was nuts and we haven't seen him do it since." We can only conclude that while our mystery man isn't afraid of heights, it really freaks him out when people stare at him.

Window Cleaners To Climb Walls In The Future?

OluKai Maliko Suction Cup Shoes: Wouldn’t it be rad to be able to dash up walls and walk on ceilings.  Inevitably crime fighting would be a requisite with such power, or at the very least window cleaning. Needless to say, that ain’t gonna happen with these shoes from OluKai, called the Maliko, which boast integrated suction cups in its rubber sole. Unlike traditional shoes, which these are anything but, the Maliko have a split toe design for added dexterity and balance.  The upper portion of the shoe is made from a light weight mesh material that dries out quickly and firmly wraps around your foot using a one pull lace system – no knots required.  That means putting these shoes on, or taking them off can happen in a snap and you’ll never have to struggle with tangles or unlacing in mid stride.

But the real magic lays in the sole.  Based supposedly on an octopus’ tentacles, a set of mini suction cups have been carved into the rubber bottom to provide added traction on both dry and wet surfaces.  We’re a bit skeptical as to how effective they are, but we’d definitely be willing to give them a try, since in theory the divots that make up the suction cups would at the very least help displace the water thus preventing the hydroplaning effect. The Malikos are designed to be fully submerged in water, so in addition to a light weight upper mesh build, the inner sole is removable and water resistant.    A pair are set to cost $100.

Inventor Climbs Building Using DIY Vacuum Cleaner Suction Gloves: I don’t know what to make of this  – real or fiction – but  inventor Jem Stansfield from the show Bang Goes the Theory on BBC climbs the face of a 100′ building using a pair of home made suction gloves crafted from what appears to be a vacuum cleaner and plywood.  He’s roped in (of course) so it’s hard to tell where the majority of his weight is being displaced, but the vacuum’s noise seems to imply that it’s adhering him to the building, sort of like when you vacuum between the cushions and clog the hole with fabric.

A Home Owner Cleaning Windows - A Foot From Death

Lucky... man's foot caught in metal grille after falling 2 floors, saving his life.

Harrowing ... the man hangs precariously from the window grilles

Incredible escape as man catches leg on window grilles after apartment fall: An elderly man in Beijing is rescued by police after dangling from the eighth floor window grill of his apartment building. A Chinese man has had an incredible escape after slipping from his 10th floor apartment while cleaning his windows. The man was saved from a complete freefall to the Beijing street below when his leg caught on the window grilles of a unit on the eighth floor. Neighbours found him dangling outside their flat on Tuesday and called police.

When rescuers arrived, they secured the man's leg with a rope in case it came free, before pulling him to safety. The man had to be persuaded to let go of the railing before the rescue worker who climbed out to him was able to haul him to safety, London's Daily Telegraph reported. Local media reported the man was treated at a nearby hospital.

Safe ... the man is carried to safety.

He was remarkably unscathed except for a few scrapes, reports said. Original Chinese video of the event below.

Home Owner Who Loved To Clean Windows Falls To His Death

Traffic moves through the intersection of Church and Helen streets in Saranac Lake on Monday in front of the DeChantel Apartments. Residents of the 130-unit apartment complex are still coming to grips with the deaths of Louis Sparacia, in a fall from his 10th floor apartment last week, and another DeChantel tenant by suicide two days earlier.

Deaths disturb high-rise residents: Saranac Lake - Residents of the DeChantel Apartments on Church Street are still mourning the death of Louis Sparacia, who died a week ago Monday when he fell from the window of his 10th story apartment. Sparacia, 69, was apparently trying to clean the outside of his apartment's windows when he fell to the ground between the building and Helen Street. Police say the death was accidental.

Sparacia's death, particularly the way he died, has upset many of the DeChantel's residents, a tight-knit community of more than 100 people. Many are still coming to grips with what happened that day. "I saw the ambulance pull up," recalled a DeChantel tenant named Jim, who declined to give the Enterprise his last name. "I went downstairs and saw everybody standing in the community room. I looked out the window and saw (his body) was there. It was just very depressing." Sparacia's death was the second tragedy to hit the apartment complex recently. Another tenant committed suicide by gunshot just two days earlier.

To help those who are grieving, Phil and Wayne Feinberg, the father and son who manage the 130-unit apartment complex, invited a bereavement specialist from High Peaks Hospice, a counselor from North Star Industries and two local clergy - the Rev. Mark Reilly of St. Bernard's Church and Rev. Joann White of First Presbyterian Church - to a bereavement session for the building's tenants on Friday. Feinberg said he's been told that people are doing better now, but initially they were "pretty shaken" by the two deaths. "When two people pass away in three days the way that they did, it hits everybody," he said.

A resident of the DeChantel for the past nine years, Sparacia was well known among the building's tenants and had served as president of the DeChantel tenants' association as recently as two years ago. He was described as a friendly man who was always willing to lend a hand to help his neighbors. "He was a big stalwart of this community here," Jim said. "He was a really nice guy - one of the nicest guys I've ever met in my life." Jim said he wasn't surprised to learn that Lou - as he was known to his fellow tenants - had been trying to clean his windows the day that he died. "He loved to clean," he said. "He'd go around to apartments and want to clean them for people. He wanted to do mine one time."

A longtime DeChantel resident named Charlotte, who also declined to provide her last name, said she took Sparacia shopping several times because he was visually impaired. "I knew him well," she said. "He was a good cook. He'd cook here when we had parties. He worked at the Adult Center often. A real gentleman." Phil Feinberg recalled seeing Sparacia frequently over the years. "He was a very nice guy," Feinberg said. "He would usually try to help anybody if he could. He was quite a gentleman."

Asked about the circumstances surrounding Sparacia's death, the Feinbergs said they don't clean the windows of individual apartments and don't want their tenants, many of whom are elderly, to do that work. They typically try to help their tenants find someone to clean their windows. "Usually every year there's one or two people who put signs up in the lobby, and they'll come in and do the window cleaning for people," Wayne Feinberg said. "We're not telling people to be reaching out and cleaning their windows."

The DeChantel building, which opened in 1973, is owned by the nonprofit Dechantel Apartments Inc. and has 130 apartments, all of them for low-income senior citizens, with rents subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Louis Sparacia is survived by two sons, a daughter and other family members. Funeral services took place Monday at St. Bernard's Church. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Sparacia will be laid to rest at Saratoga National Cemetery.

Amateur Window Cleaners Raise Their Game

Clean Windows: How to Reach, Wash and Leave Them Spotless (by Nikki Pepper): We've got products you can make at home, tools that won't break your budget and the right way to reach and cleaning those screens. Growing up, if window cleaning was on your chore list, it usually meant swiping at a few windows with some newspaper and glass cleaner. But when you're the grown-up, you see all the different steps involved: Getting to the second floor windows, tackling the screens and using eco-friendly (and wallet-friendly) cleaners. No worries, we'ev got you covered - these videos should answer all your window-cleaning questions.

To see a lambswool and squeegee method for cleaning glass, watch this video.

Having trouble reaching second floor windows and want an inexpensive option? Check out this short clip on how to create your own money-saving tool to reach any window.

If a squeegee is too large to get in between panes of smaller windows, learn how to resize the squeegee (genius!) in a few simple steps.

Now that you have the tools and methods intact, what solution do you use? While there are many products you can buy at the store, you may prefer a homemade option. Check out this clip and pay attention at the 40 second mark for a window-specific recipe.

Now that the glass is shining, it's time to get the window screens just as clean. Here's a video showing a method utilizing a baby pool - yes, a baby pool, in your backyard.

Cornstarch As Window Cleaner

Reader Tip: Natural Window-Cleaning Solution - Reader Peter Casey shares his tip for streak-free windows, passed down from his DIY-loving grandfather. My grandfather's house always had the clearest windows I had ever seen. One year, to learn his secret, I came over to help with some spring-cleaning chores. Being a do-it-yourself sort of fellow, he didn't use a single paper towel or commercial cleaning product to clean. Instead, he mixed 2 cups of hot water with 1/4 cup of vinegar and a tablespoon of cornstarch. "The vinegar gets anything off the window," he beamed, proud of his homemade window cleaner. "But it's that little bit of cornstarch that really gives it the shine!" After shaking the solution up in a spray bottle and spritzing the windows, we wiped them down with crumpled newspaper. Unlike paper or cloth towels, newspaper is absorbent without leaving lint behind. Those windows sparkled in spectacular fashion! From that day on, I have used this method to clean the windows in my own home. It works like nothing else and keeps my windows shined to perfection.

Corn starch, cornstarch, cornflour or maize starch is the starch of the corn (maize) grain obtained from the endosperm of the corn kernel. Thomas Kingsford is credited to have been the inventor of corn starch in the 1840, while he was working as the superintendent of a wheat starch factory in Jersey City, New Jersey. Until 1850, corn starch was used primarily for starching laundry and industrial uses. Corn starch is used as a thickening agent in soups and liquid-based foods, such as sauces, gravies and custard. It is sometimes preferred over flour because it forms a translucent mixture, rather than an opaque one. As the starch is heated, the molecular chains unravel, allowing them to collide with other starch chains to form a mesh, thickening the liquid. It is usually included as an anti-caking agent in powdered sugar (10X or confectioner's sugar). For this reason, recipes calling for powdered sugar often call for at least light cooking to remove the raw corn starch taste. Baby powder often uses cornstarch.

Homemade Glass and Window Cleaners: 

Ingredients: 1 part vinegar - 1 part alcohol - 1 part water

Directions: Combine in a spray bottle. This can be used on windows, mirrors, appliances, faucets, etc. I find that it works better (read: less streaking) than store bought.

RE: Homemade Glass and Window CleanersBy Steve Miller (Guest Post): As a professional window cleaner for over 30 years, let me tell you from experience and experimentation; Newspapers or vinegar are NOT the best choices for home made window cleaning solution. I've tried them all extensively. 

Most window cleaners use a few drops of dawn or joy dish washing soap in a bucket of water. If you want to us as a spray, add some Alcohol, rubbing alcohol works but is not the best choice. for Window shield washer fluid add more alcohol- to prevent freezing, not an issue if you don't have freezing weather.

It's not the chemical that produces the streak-free clean window it's the training, practice, skill & techniques of the professional that make the difference. Professional tools also help. But why waste your hard-earned free time cleaning windows? It's easy to hire a pro... just look up Window Cleaners in the YP or Google "Wndow Cleaners (+your location"and spend that free time doing something you enjoy!

Adding Squirt To Your Window Cleaning Pole

Window cleaner uses unique contraption to get the job done: Ray England is 70 years old and lives in Albion. He cleans windows for a living and has a handful of clients in Downtown Batavia. He was on Main Street this afternoon in his top hat and green scarf taking care of some shop windows when I met him. He uses a contraption that he built himself. It's quite ingenious. One metal poll with a cleaning wand at the end. A tube is connected to the wand and an air-pressure garden sprayer on a pull cart. England can spray water up the tube and onto the window. One advantage of the system, he said, is that his hands never get wet, so he can easily clean windows in winter.

The squeegee he uses to wipe the water off the windows has a swivel head so he can handle any shape, including rounded edges, of a window. The idea for the design came to him after he was seriously hurt in an auto accident. “My arm was broken in three places and split at the wrist," England said. "For two years I couldn’t use this arm. It was dead meat. That’s when the great Lord above, the great engineer, He designed the universe, showed me this idea. I put it together and I’ve been using it ever since."

England claims to have a patent on the design and would like to find a U.S. manufacturer to build it and sell it so Americans could be put to work, but he claims a German company stole his idea and is building the same system out of cheap plastic. "Mine is made with steal and copper and I sell it for $600," England said. "They sell theirs for $1,700 and if you drop it, it breaks." Click the pictures to enlarge.

Not to be outdone - Lewis Doubtfire also uses a similar tool & probably more enhanced. As seen in the following pictures below. More information is given at the water fed pole academy in the traditional gear section. Made from "squeegee-mates" (not available any more), an Unger zero degree & a pump up pressure sprayer, Lewis manages to clean windows without the excess water. The double arm angle adaptor also lets him swap the tools quickly by just a twist of the pole. You may remember Lewis from a previous blogs entitled "DIY Traditional Mobile Bucket" & "Under Pressure."

Window Cleaning News

A window cleaner could be taking a swipe at stardom after making it through to The X Factor bootcamp. Luke Stevenson, aged 30, from Horwich, had not officially entered The X Factor auditions, but went to the MEN Arena where they were being held with the hope of turning his singing hobby into a professional career. Unfazed by the lack of a sound system or backing music, Luke made his own by bolting a CD player to a wheelie bin and regaled the waiting auditionees with a rendition of Tony Christie’s Amarillo. The show’s staff were so impressed by his inventiveness that they took him to the front of the queue, and he found himself auditioning in front of a 6,000-strong audience. His quirky performance, complete with the bin, was featured on The X Factor spin-off show, The Xtra Factor, on Saturday. And he revealed that Louis confessed his performance made him want to cry.
Luke sang Boyzone’s Gave It All Away, the last single by the band to feature Stephen Gately, who died last year. He said: “After the show Louis told me that he didn’t say it in the auditions, but my performance really moved him and nearly made him cry.” The judges put Luke through to bootcamp. “I’m really chuffed with myself for getting through to bootcamp — the whole experience so far has been great,” he said. During the auditions Simon Cowell told Luke he did not see him as a million-selling artist.

What is it and who is it suited to? Window cleaning is not all buckets and suds and step ladders. It’s a lot more dangerous than that. If you believe research conducted by Churchill Insurance way back in 2004, window cleaning might even be the most dangerous job in Britain. Thankfully, it’s not quite as risky as such surveys suggest: things have become a little safer with the passing of time. “Window cleaners now have equipment that allows them to completely eliminate the need to work at height,” Damian Whittaker of the British Window Cleaning Academy (BWCA) explains, “Modern window cleaning is no longer the dangerous job it once was.”
Perhaps because of this dangerous reputation, window cleaning has suffered from something of a poor public image in the past, but don’t let that deter you. Window cleaners come from all all walks of life. While a City background may not be what you expect from the MD of a successful window cleaning company, there are many who have just that.
Christopher Turner, who set up The London Window Cleaner in 2006, for instance, is a former hedge fund manager. “I was actually in a hedge fund for the charitable sector; and I spent eight years in charity work before I left,” he says. “There are lots of people in the business from the City. I got out because I wanted to go back to something that was fundamental, something practical and useful and that would always have a market.”
A City background is not a prerequisite of course – although it might help with your start-up costs. Window cleaning is often a family business and, according to Damien of the BWCA, there are a few husband-and-wife teams around. Like most start-up businesses, entry is limited only by commitment and interest. In times of downturn especially, many people who have lost their job use their redundancy payment to start a business in something like window cleaning. So if you want to take up your squeegee and ladder, don’t let the scare stories put you off. Read on for our tips on how best to start up.

SURPRISING TREND: In addition, a newly released ServiceMagic survey found that in the last quarter, 59% of homeowners considered green alternatives for their home improvement projects. Energy-efficient windows topped the list of projects, with an increase in window service requests up 81% from last year in the same quarter. Of those who invested in windows, 83% did so for energy reasons with cost savings from increased energy efficiency being the top motivation. However, only 19% of homeowners surveyed were motivated to conduct home improvement projects because of tax credits. For homeowners who did not consider green alternatives for their remodeling projects, 50% of them were not aware of the eco-friendly options, while 27% did not like the green product choices and 16% found the cost of green products outweighed the benefits.
Moreover, less than 10% of homeowners requested green or energy-efficient alternatives for their home improvement projects. “A surprising trend this quarter is what we are learning about consumer purchasing behavior around green and energy efficiency,” says Craig Smith, ServiceMagic CEO. “While we show a fairly decent level of awareness for green and energy efficient alternatives, it isn’t translating to action beyond window projects.”

Window cleaner caught drink driving after darts match row: A 42 year old man who incurred the wrath of his wife when he was late home from a darts match got in his van and drove away to avoid confrontation. Unfortunately he had been drinking and Blackburn magistrates heard Gary Kendall was stopped by police because of the erratic nature of his driving. A breathalyser test showed him to be more than double to legal drink-drive limit. Miss Clare Knight (defending) said Taylor, who has a window cleaning round in Clitheroe, did not want to argue with his wife in front of their children. "He left the house with the intention of driving to Clitheroe, sleeping in his van and going to work the following day," said Miss Knight. Kendall, of Poets Road, Burnley, admitted driving with excess alcohol. He was banned from driving for 17 months and fined £115 with £90 costs.

Police issue security alert following robbery: Police enquiries are ongoing into an incident which saw an elderly pensioner attacked and robbed in her own home. The 77-year-old woman suffered a broken thigh after a terrifying ordeal at Smithyends in Cumbernauld Village, on Friday, September 3. The distressing episode began when a bogus caller turned up at her door pretending to be a window cleaner. This was simply a means of gaining access - and his next move was to push the lady to the ground, run into her house and steal her purse. Police have issued a set of guidelines on how best to deal with bogus callers, who often claim to be working for utility companies. Some may even wear the 'hi-vis' fluorescent jackets, but that does not make them genuine.
•Ask to see identification. No-one genuine will take exception to this. Check identification carefully - does the photo on the card look like the person at the door? Contact the company concerned if you are in doubt.
•Bogus callers are not above pretending to be friends or relatives of neighbours who are out - asking to come into your home to wait for them, leave them a note, or to make a telephone call.
•Consider installing a spy hole in your front door and a door chain.
•Only when you are 100 per cent happy that they are genuine give them access to your home. If not then ask them to leave and close your door.
•If you think a bogus caller has called at your door contact the police immediately. Try to give a description of the person.
The earlier the police know that bogus callers are in an area the quicker they can investigate.
To contact Cumbernauld Police Office call 01236 503900. You can also call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111

To mark Roald Dahl Day, the winner of the Funny prize set up in his memory selects his favourite tales from 'the master' - 7. The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me: A giraffe with an extending neck, a pelican with a bucket-sized beak, a dancing monkey and a boy with big ideas join forces to create the Ladderless Window-Cleaning Company. Their biggest job? To clean all 677 – yes, six hundred and seventy-seven – of the Duke of Hampshire's windows. Expect chaos in this lavishly illustrated silliness.

Give your arms a good workout by washing all the windows in your house. The up and down and around movement will challenge your biceps and triceps and give you more toned arms than ever before. The more muscle in your body the more calories you burn during sedentary moments. Don’t shy away from window washing and keep your windows pristine all the time. Another household chore that is useful for weight reduction is to redecorate and move your furniture around....

DIY Dangerous: I still am not persuaded of the best way to clean out gutters and de-clog them. I would prefer to be on the ground, of course, but that doesn't seem to be the best option when you can't SEE into the gutters themselves to clean them and test for proper drainage. I have been on the roof several times now and have cleaned out the most accessible/lowest gutters as well as half of the roof surface debris, but there are some gutters that are even higher up that make me uncomfortable. I have not run water into any of them to test for drainage, and I have not attempted to unclog the one that I know is clogged (can see it from an upstairs bedroom window). I just haven't figured out yet what the best method is and I don't want to remove gutter pieces if there is a way to declog without disassembling. Unecessary and ignorant disassembling is the root of all DIY hell. Just ask anyone who didn't really have to take apart plumbing pipes but did anyway...I guess of course there's always the option to just hire someone. But I'm kind of cheap. If I CAN do something myself by learning the right methods, I'm willing to try it. I do have a short list of things I won't touch though - most electrical, orange peel texturing, and most plumbing work. Most everything else, I'm game to try, but I'll be the first to admit I'm no expert. I am just another hopeful sucker who's become DIY Dangerous.

Jail for cruel conman who preyed on elderly: A serial predator was jailed with these words ringing in his ears: “You deserve the loathing of the good folk of Tyneside.” Time and time again Shaun Bell (pictured) has ripped off pensioners by posing as a window cleaner. In June he was given one last chance to keep his freedom after targeting an 84-year-old disabled woman in her own home. But within a few weeks he stooped to a new low by fleecing then robbing an 89-year-old man who has been left terrified by his ordeal. Bell spun the same old lies about cleaning windows and intimidated the pensioner into handing over cash for work which had never been done. When the pensioner eventually got wise to Bell’s evil ways and hid his wallet in his pocket, the low life resorted to violence, pushing him and yanking the wallet free, injuring the victim’s hand and wrist and tearing his trousers.
Now the 27-year-old heroin addict has been jailed for five years and nine months after he admitted robbery and fraud. Jailing him at Newcastle Crown Court, Recorder Duncan Smith told Bell: “You deserve the loathing of the good folk of Tyneside. “You are a predator who preys on the elderly and I should make an example of you. “The elderly cannot protect themselves against intrusion so the courts will intervene to protect them.” In passing sentence the judge made Bell look at pictures of the bruising he had inflicted on the 89-year-old telling him “you did that”.
Bell, of Eslington Court, Teams, Gateshead, had been up in court for the earlier offence in June this year after carrying out a fraud against an 84-year-old disabled woman, in which he used the same facade that he was a window cleaner. On that occasion he was allowed to keep his freedom after pleading for help with his drug habit. The court heard he had also targeted an 82-year-old woman who suffers from dementia in a burglary in 2008 and had only been out of prison for that offence for five days when he targeted the 84-year-old. Then in July this year he turned up at the 89-year-old man’s house in Gateshead to demand payment for, he said, cleaning his windows. The pensioner disputed that any work had been carried out and invited Bell in to prove his point. But the low life persisted in asking for £5 and made his victim feel so uncomfortable he eventually gave him the money as he feared otherwise he would not leave. The next day Bell turned up again, this time spinning a yarn about having cleaned the windows he had missed previously and made the pensioner hand over £8.
Three days later he was at it again, knocking on the back door and asking to be let in because it was raining. The kind old man allowed him in, only for Bell to start claiming a note the pensioner had handed over on a previous occasion was a forgery and telling him he wanted paying again. Michael Bunch, prosecuting, said: “The pensioner felt uncomfortable and put his wallet in his pocket. “Bell then pushed him back and made a grab for the wallet, forcing his hand in his pocket.
“He said ‘don’t try fighting you will only get hurt’ and pulled the wallet with such force the pocket ripped.” Bell then took £30 out of the wallet and scattered other documents on the floor before fleeing. The victim said in a statement: “I feel disturbed by the actions of this man. “It has prevented me from sleeping and has badly affected me.” Geoff Knowles, defending, said Bell had been a heroin user since he was 13 as his dad was also a drug addict. Mr Knowles said: “I don’t attempt to excuse what he did but he had found someone who was prepared to give him money at a time when he continued to suffer problems which required ready access to cash.”

“I was hoping to show an awareness of other people in our communities. Many of them are immigrants. Everybody has a story but one never knows the trials and tribulations they have gone through to be here,” she reflects. “With the showing coming out it is sorta a good time with all these immigration issues coming up. The ‘right-wingers’ are complaining about immigrants taking jobs. Immigrants are not taking jobs. They often work for below minimum wage at jobs some Americans don’t want. When my grandparents came here, my grandfather was a window washer. My grandmother worked in a hat factory. This is now just another round of immigrants that this country was built upon.” More on Nina Talbot.

Three St. Louis area franchises of Fish Window Cleaning Services Inc. won top sales awards from the company: Fish Window Cleaning of St. Charles County; Fish Window Cleaning of South County, Jefferson County, St. Louis city and Metro East; and Fish Window Cleaning of St. Louis County. Education Technology Partners, Fish Window Cleaning Services Inc. and Schaeffer Manufacturing Co. all placed on the 2010 Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies.

A peer's daughter who smashed her Land Rover through church gates in Worcestershire in a "blind fury" has been convicted of dangerous driving. The Honourable Linda Granville, 61, daughter of the late Lord Granville, was also convicted of causing criminal damage to Great Malvern Priory's gates. She jumped a red light, narrowly missed pedestrians and hit two other cars in Malvern, Worcester Crown Court heard. Granville, of Malvern, claimed her vehicle's brakes failed. It prompted a concerned window cleaner to close the church gates and another witness to contact the police. But she then smashed through the gates - causing £1,500 of damage - before hitting a stationary Peugeot which was pushed into a hedge.

A burglar claiming to be a window cleaner stole a 94-year-old woman's pension money. The man got inside the house in School Road, Penn, High Wycombe,only to be disturbed by the resident. He asked if she wanted her windows cleaned, but was told no. After leaving he walked around the side of her home and looked through the side window. The The victim later discovered her handbag and purse, which contained her pension money, had been stolen. It happened on Wednesday between 8am and 9am. Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed a man acting suspiciously in the area around the time of the offence to contact them. This message to residents was issued by officers: “Distraction burglars prey on the elderly and vulnerable. "If you see people calling at houses and are suspicious of their intentions, you are urged to contact police immediately.” Householders should never open their door to a stranger and IDs should be checked if possible, police advise. Anyone with information about the burglary should contact Det Sgt Nicola Pocock at High Wycombe police station on 0845 8 505 505 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Company cleans up dispute over windows: Dear Greg: I had 11 windows on my small house replaced by Accurate Window and Door. They are Anderson double-hung windows that tilt in for cleaning purposes. Six of the windows will not tilt in because the plantation shutters inhibit them from tilting. The installers never tried them before leaving. The windows were all smeary after installation, and I said, "Are you going to leave them like this?" And they said, "Window cleaning's not our job!" I know it was hot that day, but really. I don't know what to do. I can't afford to redo the shutters so the windows tilt. RIA MERK.
Dear Ria: Accurate Window and Door has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. This doesn't mean it never makes a mistake; it means that when stuff happens – as it will – the company steps up. "My sales rep, Tim, and Mrs. Merk have different opinions as to whether we covered the issue of the tilt cleaning feature not working for her because of the plantation shutters," said owner Jim Heidish. But he chose to tilt in your favor. "I offered to send my service man once a year to clean the windows outside," Heidish said. "She suggested a refund for what that cost would be to the company. We hashed it over and reached what I believe to be a fair settlement." Update: Ria reports that two days later she received a $1,000 check from Heidish. "He said I'm now his personal customer — if there's anything he can ever help me with, to call him." He meant windows, Ria, not pizza delivery.

Chapelfield helps the planet: Behind its bright open spaces and glittering shop fronts, Chapelfield has been quietly taking huge steps forward in its drive to reduce its environmental impact. The centre was also the first of its type to offer free electric and hybrid charging points in its car park. Non-bleach based, citrus and enzyme products are used for cleaning inside the centre - and all external cleaning is completed with biodegradable products. Water used in window cleaning does not use chemicals or detergents so that no contaminants end up in Chapelfield's water system.

I bought a Cumberland News on the way to Brunton Park, home of the famous Carlisle United. I always say that, in my head, thinking of the overexcited north London bloke on the PA system at Tottenham who exclaims: "Welcome to White Hart Lane, home of the world-famous Spurs!" All football clubs are world-famous - in their own little worlds. There was an obituary of someone called Fred Armstrong, who had died aged 90. I cut it out to file with my CUFC memorabilia, once I had spotted the subheading: "A war hero and Bill Shankly's window cleaner". Shankly was Carlisle's manager from 1949-51. Surely being his window cleaner should have had top billing. Sub-editors these days, eh?