Saveloy & Chips

Saveloy sausage & chips.. more important than your car on fire.

Nonchalant window cleaner chomps saveloy and chips as flames consume his car: The dilemma of what to save in a fire was answered decisively by a sports fan when his car burst into flames – golf clubs. The high street in Epping was brought to a halt at lunchtime on Tuesday afternoon as astonished passers-by stopped to watch the drama. David Ayres, of Congreve Road in Waltham Abbey, was returning from a round of golf when the fire broke out in the engine of his Citroen Picasso. After unsuccessfully battling the flames with a small extinguisher, he bought a saveloy and chips from a nearby fryer and calmly ate them while waiting for the fire brigade to arrive.

"There was nothing else I could do. Someone had called the fire brigade so I went and got some chips while they were coming."

Smoke blocked the high street as officers from the nearby fire station brought the blaze under control, but the car was already wrecked. The 28-year-old window cleaner said: "I noticed smoke coming into the cabin and stopped, and when I checked under the car I saw a small fire. "I tried to put it out with an extinguisher someone gave me but it just seemed to make it worse. "I grabbed my golf clubs and got out of the way. "There was nothing else I could do. Someone had called the fire brigade so I went and got some chips while they were coming."

Masters Week Helps Window Cleaning Companies

Cleaning companies, window washers and landscapers are among businesses that benefit from Masters home rentals.

Local businesses keeping busy with Masters clients: The week leading up to the Masters Tournament is a busy time of year for some Augusta area businesses. From landscapers, window washers, maid services and tent rental companies, Masters Week means big business. “This is our busiest week throughout the whole year,” said Robert Ledford, owner of Merry Maids in Martinez.

Ledford said his business doubles the week before the Masters. People renting out their homes want them cleaned before guests arrive. Despite the extra business, Ledford prefers not to hire extra workers for only a week. His regular staff of 25 works additional hours and even Saturday and Sunday before the Masters to complete jobs, he said.

Frank Rodriguez, of We Wash Windows, works at a home in Martinez. Many work overtime during the month before the Masters, but business owners say the extra hours are worth it.

Business triples at We Wash Windows for residential clients around Masters Week, said owner Quincy Fuller. The tournament week provides 25 to 30 percent of his annual income, he said. “If we do one house a day typically, this time of year we’re doing three or up to six houses a day,” Fuller said. Fuller said that he hires three or four additional workers to meet the demand. His company will be washing windows until next Tuesday or Wednesday. “I’m going to do so much work during this month that it will cover certain expenses throughout the year,” he said.

Quincy Fuller, owner of We Wash Windows, says preparing for Masters provides 20 percent of the company's annual income.

Masters Week is the busiest time of year for Stars Discount Window Cleaning, “as far as having the most jobs in the shortest period of time,” said registered agent Marilyn Marsh. Business picks up about 25 percent the month leading up to the Masters, she said. Many of their clients are renting out their homes. The owner, Paul Marsh, doesn’t have employees, so he works longer hours to meet the demand.

Various business groups prepare the area around an AllStar Rents Inc. tent on Magnolia Drive across from the National.

Tents are also high in demand. Allstar Rents Inc. in Augusta has been busy setting up tents for mostly corporate clients, said office manager Rachael Wolf. They started filling orders on March 19 and plan to finish by Monday.

Landscaping companies have been busy sprucing up yards for clients renting out their homes. Augusta Lawn & Turf has a 10 to 15 percent spike in business near the Masters, said owner Larry Price. His company plants flowers and puts down pine straw and mulch. “Just making sure everything is in tip-top shape for their guests coming in,” Price said. Price brings in two to four seasonal workers to help his regular crew, he said.

Andy Watson Landscaping Inc. has been doing spring cleanups and putting down pine straw, plants and mulch, said owner Andy Watson. Twenty-five percent of his spring business comes from Masters clients. Calls started coming in at the beginning of February. To meet the demand, Watson hires one or two extra workers to assist his small staff.

Landscape Contractors Inc. has been doing re-sod jobs, general cleanup and checking sprinkler systems, said owner Porter Fleming. Business has slowed down, in general, because of the economy, but “it’s definitely picked up coming into the Masters,” he said.

Golf, Cheques, Wind & A Library For Window Cleaners In The News

Ever Wonder How Much It Costs to Clean All Those Library Windows? The Fountaindale Public Library has tons of window space. In fact, nearly the entire second and third floors are nothing but windows. Have you ever wondered how much it would cost to clean them?The library's board of trustees found out last week when they approved a measure to hire a window cleaning company to do the dirty work for them. The board will pay the Smudge Free Window and Cleaning Service, a Bolingbrook-based company, $3,460 annually to clean the hundreds of window in the new library. The company will clean the lower windows four times per year and clean the higher windows once per year. The measure was approved at last week's board meeting.

Wicked Winds Whip Through Borderland Sunday (EL PASO, Texas) - Winds whipped through El Paso Sunday afternoon and into the early evening. Construction crews working on the Coronado Tower in west El Paso left a window cleaning cart suspended about 4 feet off the ground. When the winds kicked up the cart began swinging and crashed into the building, breaking two of the windows. KFOX-14 spoke to the leasing company, who sent someone to secure the cart and board up the broken windows.

Pulex boab's at dawn: (l-r) Neville Hunter, Paul Lee, Club Pro Jason Laszkowicz, Rebecca Staley, Stuart Staley and Jason Kendrick are taking part in a charity golf day to raise money for Retts Syndrome in aid of Demi Turner, 2, who is Stuart's grand daughter. Picture: Andrew Roe.

Tot’s family want to raise ‘hole’ lot of cash: The family of a tot struck with a brain disorder are gearing up to get a charity challenge in full swing. Demi-Leigh Turner, aged two, has Rett Syndrome which has caused her to suffer from epilepsy and left her unable to walk. A group of keen golfers and window cleaners, including Demi-Leigh’s uncle Neville Hunter, of Poplar Road, Skellow, and her grandad Stuart Staley, of Charles Street, Skellow, have decided to do a sporting challenge which will see them play five rounds of golf on an 18-hole course in a day.

The dusk ‘til dawn challenge will take place on Tuesday at Owston Hall’s golf course and there will also be a raffle. The group want to raise around £1,000 which will be donated to the Rett Syndrome’s registered charity RettUK. Organiser and Demi-Leigh’s auntie, Becky Staley, 28, of Poplar Road, Skellow, said: “My niece is one of the youngest sufferers who was diagnosed before she was three-years-old but she’s still a happy, loving child. We are hoping to make that little bit of difference by providing money that could help to maybe one day find a cure.”

Cheque guarantee cards check out: It is the final weekend for the cheque card. Forty-one years after they were first introduced, they finally become defunct on Thursday, 30 June. No longer will you have to ask a tradesman to write your card number on the back of a cheque. No longer will there be a guarantee from the bank that the payment will be honoured. Many people are unhappy about the change, but the banks say such payments have almost died out anyway. They point out that the number of people using cheque cards has been falling for years. "In the last five years, the numbers have dropped off by 65%," says Jemma Smith, of UK Payments.
Cheques themselves will continue for at least another seven years, but without the backing of a guarantee. Last year, at least 95 million were written with a guarantee number on the back, although that was only about 7% of the total. Many people still rely on them for paying tradesmen, such as plumbers, carpenters, window-cleaners and electricians. For many of those tradesmen, the guarantee card is important for preventing fraud and making sure that they get paid. "Many people will write out a cheque, whether or not they've got money in the bank," says Charlie Mullins of Pimlico Plumbers. As a result, he fears his business will lose out when the guarantee system comes to an end. "No cheque card means cheques may not clear. It's going to be absolute chaos to do away with it," he says. 

The alternatives - Those people who need to use cheques are being advised to continue doing so. They will not disappear until 2018 at the earliest and that date may be changed in 2016. That means the banks have five years to come up with alternative payment methods. In the meantime, consumers can consider using debit or credit cards, paying on the internet, via mobile phones or using new contactless cards. In any case, cheques are falling in popularity. Whether that is because fewer places are accepting them, or because consumers prefer to use other payment methods, is hard to determine. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) insists it is the latter. They say that only one in 1,000 retail transactions now involves a cheque.