Window Cleaner Makes $3,600 In 5 Minutes

Taco Bell - Giving away money.

Trio returns $3,600 mistakenly handed out at drive through: A recent West Ottawa High School graduate got more than she ordered at a drive-through window at Taco Bell in Kentwood last weekend. Instead of the fast food, Kennidi Rue, her boyfriend and friend received what could have been some fast cash — $3,600  — in their order on Saturday night. “I didn’t get any food. Just money,” Kennidi Rue of Holland said Monday. The money, including a big roll of 20s, was in three bags.
 

Rue, her boyfriend Grant Kruse of Holland and driver Luke Postma pulled over and counted the cash. After a brief discussion about what to do, they called police. They met the officer at the restaurant and returned the money to the Taco Bell employee who was in tears and grateful for the trio’s honesty.
 

“As soon as you see all that money, stuff runs through your mind about what to do with it,” said Kruse after finishing work Monday at Shine Window Cleaning in Zeeland (website). Kruse is a 2011 Holland Christian High School graduate who recently returned from nine months on the ground in Afghanistan with the Army National Guard.
 

They all agreed that the only option was to return the cash. “It felt like the right thing,” said Kruse. Keeping it would have been wrong, Rue added. “It’s not the right thing to do,” the 2013 West Ottawa graduate said about taking the cash. “It’s not the way we were raised.”
 

Rue will head to Davenport University in the fall to study nursing. This isn't the first time that a Taco Bell employee mistakenly gave a customer thousands of dollars, according to jobs.aol.com. A manager of a Taco Bell in Ohio said it's store policy to keep bank deposits in the same bags that are used for takeout orders, which reportedly is why a drive-through worker in May 2010 confusedly handed a customer $2,000. That customer, who appeared in surveillance video to be a “young woman in her 20s,”  and the money were never heard from again.

Taco Bell customers find and return $3600 received in order: Three hungry customers pulled into the Kentwood, Michigan Taco Bell drive-thru expecting meals, so they were surprised when they found thousands of dollars in cash in their bag instead of food. As reported by WZZM 13 On Your Side, Kennidi Rue, Luke Postma and Grant Kruse didn’t even realize the fast food restaurant’s mistake until they had driven miles away. Kennidi said, “I opened my bag to get my food and it ended up being three bags of money, a lot of money, and then another wad of like a ton of 20s. We added it up and it was like…” “It was like $3600,” the men added.

The trio had a decision to make: return the money or keep the cash. The friends admitted that there was a brief moment where they were tempted. “Of course, initially you want to keep it,” Kennidi conceded. “But then you’re like, ‘No someone’s going to lose their job. Let’s bring this back,’” said Luke. Grant added, “It obviously wasn’t ours. It’s not like we were losing anything by giving it back. So we just thought we’d bring it back and I don’t know, just do it the right way I guess.”

Luke explained what happened when they returned the money. “We went in and the lady, we met her, and she had just a stone cold look on her face. And we brought it in and she just started like, on the spot, just like losing it. She was crying. She was I guess, pretty happy.” The three customers were also happy. They said the best part of their good deed, was that they finally got their food from Taco Bell.

Keeping The Family Window Cleaning Business Afloat

Dad’s sick...so I’m running his window cleaning business: A son is keeping his family window cleaning business afloat while his dad fights cancer. Jack Smith, 20, from Basildon, didn’t want to see the company his father, Matthew Smith, worked hard to build up fold when his dad fell ill, so he took it on himself. Matthew, 43, was diagnosed with kidney cancer two years ago and underwent gruelling chemotherapy. He is making a good recovery and has entered remission.

Jack, who lives with his dad in Spruce Close, used to work as an underwriter in London, but didn’t want to see Shine Cleaning Services fade away. He said: “My dad had done it for 15 years, so I decided to take it on. We’re really close – I’d call my dad my best friend – and I feel really proud to have kept the business going by following in his footsteps. “My dad can’t handle the physical side of the job any more. “He’s still a bit involved in the financial side, although I do most of it myself.” Many of the cleaning company’s regular customers have been hiring its services for more than a decade because they built up a rapport with outgoing and friendly Matthew.

Jack said: “A lot of them are pleased to see me carrying on the business, because he was so popular.” Jack currently cleans houses and small commercial properties across south Essex, but plans to expand the business in the future by securing big contracts and taking on staff. He said: “I’d love to clean some of the big skyscrapers in London and it would be great to get a contract with Southend Airport, because it’s a big local business. “If I had children one day it would be great if they could carry the family business into a third generation.”

Sharing The Streak Free Shine

Window washing advice from an expert - Professional cleaner shares how to get that streak-free shine. Washing windows, especially the exterior of upper-story windows, is a perennial household challenge. Vlad Agapov, of Quality Cleaning and Remodeling in Greenfield, Mass., offers some tips on methods and products to help your window-washing project go more smoothly.

Tools to assemble: Agapov suggests starting by assembling the following tools: One or two buckets, a soft sponge, a razor scraper, step ladder, cleaning solution of your choice, squeegee, optional extension poles for sponges and squeegees and drying materials, such as paper towels, lint-free cloth or crumpled newspaper.

Recommended products: Agapov says that he prefers to not use ammonia, and recommends Unger products, which can be purchased at big box stores and online. Unger products are "environmentally preferable," come in a variety of solutions and are gentler on skin than ammonia. If you want to use a green DIY product, you can mix ¼ cup of white vinegar to a gallon of water to wash your windows.

When it comes to drying materials, Agapov says that he uses the most inexpensive paper towels. “The inexpensive paper towels are as lint-free as any other paper towel,” he says. Crumpled newspaper also works well, and it's a great way to repurpose a material that might otherwise get thrown away.

Getting the process down pat: According to Agapov, depending on how dirty the windows are, you may want to start by putting a drop cloth down to avoid damaging your floors. Then wipe down the window frame and sill. Once you have wiped down the window frame and sill, you should use a razor scraper to take off sap, bird droppings or paint. He adds that many people wash their windows once a room has been painted, and the razor scraper is the best tool for removing paint from glass. “You don’t ever want to use steel wool (for this type of clean-up),” Agapov says.

Next, he recommends that you just scrub the glass pane with your soft sponge dipped in cleaning solution, then squeegee and/or dry with drying materials. When using a squeegee, it is best to overlap your strokes starting partially on a dry area. Wipe your blade often and clean up any drips.

Agapov says to clean your windows from inside the house and outside the house – even if you have tilt-in windows. “Some windows are very easy to clean by tilting in. Others, you need two people to tilt them and you can damage the window. I would never clean my own windows by tilting them in,” Agapov says.

Safety while washing from outside: "I remember as a child watching my mother sit on the window sill on the second story of our house, leaning out scrubbing away at the window," Agapov says. "Personally, I wouldn’t recommend this dangerous technique." Agapov says that even though the use of extension poles doesn’t always leave your windows as clean as they could be, it’s a much safer way to wash your upper-story windows from the outside. “It won’t be as good, but they will do the job,” Agapov says.

Hard water stains and the effects of acid rain: Depending on where you live, you may experience the effects of acid rain or hard water deposits, such as sprinkler water that hits the windows while watering your garden. Hard water deposits, which often appear as a white powdery substance, are a bit harder to clean. There are cleaning products designed to address mineral/hard water deposits or you can just use more elbow grease. Agapov says that acid rain can be damaging to window panes and sometimes creates “etching” where dirt can get trapped. If it’s an older window, Agapov recommends taking extra care if there is heavy etching, as the glass may break more easily.

Cleaning screens: Agapov says that screens should be cleaned more often than windows as they “collect fine dust, mold and pollen ... Take the screens outside and wash them well with water and a soft scrub brush,” he says.

When to hire a professional to wash your windows: If you simply want to save time or your windows haven’t been cleaned for a very long time, Agapov says those are good reasons to hire a professional. “Other reasons would be if they have a lot of old storm windows or there is a lot of climbing involved,” he says.

Below Vlad & team doing a house wash & roof clean.

This article is re-posted & this blog in no way accepts or agrees with this article or content contained, only to provide information to other window cleaners for insight.