Winterize

It's official....winter is here! You spent a lot of money on your pure water window cleaning system this year. Watch the video below for some tips on getting it winterized and tuned up for next season!

Genius Winter Add-On Service for Window Cleaners

The Cut N Slide is a genius way to drum up some business in the winter months! This innovative roof snow removal tool was released two years ago and is now more popular than ever. Created by Mark Strange at Beautiful View.  

It's great for removing large amounts of snow off your roof which can cause damage.  The Cut N Slide attaches to Ettore and Unger extension poles and smoothly rolls up the roof without damaging shingles.  Unlike roof rakes, where the user has to drop it high on the room and pull down, the Cut N Slide is pushed up the roof, getting under the snow to dislodge it and send it sliding down to the ground. 

See it in action:

Video overview:

Homeless For The Holidays

Richard Craig says he chooses to be homeless, but he has a plan to get back on his feet. Back in Albuquerque, he had a successful window-washing business until his equipment was stolen.

Homeless for the holidays (By Patrick Yeagle): If you didn’t know better, you might think Richard Craig is a powerful businessman. An athletic, handsome man of 46, he’s dressed sharply from head to toe: black wingtip dress shoes, black dress slacks, a black turtleneck under a black diamond-knit sweater and a long black overcoat. He has a salt-and-pepper flat-top crew cut and fashionable stubble over tanned, weathered skin. He carries himself with confidence and seems to know everyone. Others come to his table to say hello. People passing on the street nod or wave to him as they would a well-connected member of the establishment.

But Craig is not a businessman – at least not at the moment. Right now, he’s homeless. Craig is one of hundreds of homeless people facing another winter on the streets. While he insists that he can handle it, he’s worried about those with less experience and less will to survive.

Even in the best circumstances, being homeless is mentally and emotionally draining. Homeless people interviewed by Illinois Times describe feeling invisible, lost, alone, hopeless and constantly afraid for their lives. Winter adds a physical element to the suffering, bringing new challenges and compounding the effects of homelessness on the human psyche.

This winter in particular will be challenging for Springfield’s homeless population. The Salvation Army – usually a linchpin in the battle against homelessness – doesn’t have any shelter to offer this year. The group is in the midst of renovating a new-to-them building at 221 N. 11th St., and their old facility was sold. Corps administrator Major Steve Woodard says the new facility is slated to open sometime in 2016.

That means 36 shelter beds will be out of commission this winter, putting further pressure on the Winter Warming Center, previously known as the Springfield Overflow Shelter. It’s a seasonal facility open from November to March each winter to supplement Springfield’s permanent shelters. Juan Huerta, director of the Office of Community Relations for the City of Springfield, says the other shelters expanded to absorb the people that the Salvation Army would have otherwise served. 

Rod Lane, executive director of Helping Hands of Springfield, says his organization recently expanded from 33 beds to 45 beds by moving to a new location. Still, he says there probably won’t be enough beds for everyone at some point. While demand isn’t high right now, it will likely grow as the weather worsens. Additionally, Helping Hands has not been paid in months by the State of Illinois because of the ongoing budget impasse, and Lane says his organization is running on reserves.

“If we do not get a state budget soon, we will absolutely, unequivocally shut down,” he said.

Huerta said he’s working to have the City of Springfield pay Helping Hands up front for operating the Winter Warming Center, instead of reimbursing them afterward. The temporary shelter opened on Nov. 1.

The lower number of available shelter beds may be somewhat mitigated by the current strong El Niño, which refers to warmer-than-usual surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. The phenomenon is projected to push air that is warmer and drier than usual into the upper Midwest this winter, which could mean fewer sub-zero days and less snow. Still, winter storms and cold snaps will undoubtedly happen, and one frigid night is enough to endanger the lives of those people who wind up on the street.

    

A day in the life:

Richard Craig usually wakes up before dawn. A local business owner lets Craig sleep under his shop’s awning, so Craig likes to move his suitcase and other belongings out of sight before the business opens.

Most homeless people prefer to sleep at one of the shelters, which offer protection from the weather. However, Craig is one of a handful of people who prefer to sleep outside. During the winter, Craig lines his sleeping bag with garbage bags to keep in heat. While that has kept him from freezing in previous winters, he says it causes him to sweat, which makes him even colder when he gets out of bed. He says he always sleeps on cardboard because “concrete drains your energy.”

Craig says he grew up in a family of itinerant fruit pickers, so he’s used to moving often and sleeping outside. He has lived in California, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico and several other places. Back in Albuquerque, he had a successful window-washing business until his equipment was stolen. He says he actually chooses to be homeless now because being in a house reminds him that his ex-fiancée took their son, now nine years old, when they split up. He keeps in touch with them but doesn’t see them regularly. 

Several people have offered to let Craig stay with them when they find semi-permanent shelter like a cheap apartment or an abandoned building. He always turns them down, in part because he sees his homeless status as a calling to protect others on the street. 

“There are a lot of predators out here,” he said.

From 6:30 until about 10:30 each morning, Craig and dozens of other people head to the Washington Street Mission at 408 N. Fourth St., which offers hot coffee, laundry service, showers and biweekly clothing giveaways. Inside the mission, people sit at tables or walk around aimlessly, seemingly paying no attention to the woman playing hymns on an old piano. The small men’s room is constantly full, doubling as a changing room and a place to groom. 

Outside, people hide from the cold wind in the doorway while they smoke and socialize. A thin, goateed man who looks to be in his late 30s aggressively paces back and forth on the sidewalk, waving his arms and issuing a profanity-laced threat to “beat anyone’s ass” who messes with him. He finally calms down when someone gives him a cigarette.

Santa Does Windows

December 16, 2013 - Phillip Hartlip, a patient at Randall Children's Hospital, shares a moment with Santa. Santa and his elves made the windows of the Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel extra bright Monday morning.

Santa does windows: Cleaning crew dresses up for children at hospital (Portland, Oregon) - Jolly Old St. Nick and his elves checked two things off their "nice" list Monday. They brought big smiles to the faces of sick children and they also spotlessly washed the windows at a Portland hospital. A very special cleaning crew scaled the outside of Randall Children's Hospital dressed as Santa Claus and two of his elves.

The merry band of window washers then rappelled down the north Portland building as groups of children gathered on each floor to watch and wave. "They're giggling, jumping up and down, smiling, a lot of laughter. It's really great," said Jason Kirk, also known as the window-washing Santa Claus. One boy said Santa was just getting a jumpstart on all his regular Christmas duties, which always includes washing windows. "Yeah, he cleans windows," said 6-year-old Klever, a patient at the hospital. "Yeah, he did it to my house … when I was asleep." Back in April, Kirk played the part of Superman when a window washing crew dressed as superheroes for the boys and girls at Randall Children's Hospital.

Folks at Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel watch as Santa Claus and his elves made the windows extra bright Monday morning. The window washers, employed by Millennium Building Services, have been washing the hospital's windows for 22 years. Santa (Jason Kirk) was accompanied by some of his elves (Dustin Atkins and Andrew Nava).

Window washing Santa drops in for visit at Randall Children's Hospital: A window washing Santa Claus and two of his elves brightened some hearts -- and windows -- at the Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel in North Portland on Monday morning. Phillip Hartlip, 9, a patient from Camas, Wash., was among the children and families inside the hospital to share the special moment with Santa and helpers, who ditched the reindeer for the day and opted instead for a rope and harness. After the windows were shined up, Phillip chatted about the experience with local television and radio crews. The window washers, employed by Millennium Building Services, have been washing the hospital's windows for 22 years. Santa (Jason Kirk) was accompanied elves (Dustin Atkins and Andrew Nava).

Winter Window Cleaning Tips & Scams

Window cleaner working in the snow in the East End of London circa 1960.

The end of Christmas tipping? More than half of us no longer give cash to postmen, binmen and milkmen: For years it was a time-honoured tradition: families would wrap a fiver around a milk bottle to thank the postman at Christmas, or slip a few quid to the binmen for a festive drink.

But today as few as half of UK households still tip tradespeople at Christmas, a new study has found.

Just over a fifth of people tip their hairdresser, while postmen are the next most like trade to receive a festive tip (22 per cent) followed by binmen (15 per cent) and window cleaners (12 per cent).

Milkmen are at the bottom of the list (11 per cent) although this is most likely to reflect the dwindling number of residents who have milk delivered to their door. The older generations are most likely to tip, the study found, with 54.8 per cent of those aged 55 and above saying they tip, compared to 45.3 per cent of 18-24 year olds.

But Londoners are the most generous, with 16.9 per cent of those who tip giving more than a tenner, in comparison to 1.3 per cent in East Anglia. People living in the West Midlands are most likely to dip their hand in their pocket for the postman at Christmas, while London residents are more likely to tip their binmen during the festive period than people elsewhere in the country.

Downtown Minneapolis, 20 floors up on the side of a skyscraper on a window-cleaning platform. I hope they’re getting paid well. The building is the Campbell Mithun Tower, the “second tallest glass-curtain skyscraper in Minneapolis, after the IDS tower.”

Of those who do tip, the majority (65 per cent) give up to £10, 6.4 per cent give more than £10 and 28 per cent prefer to give something other than cash, like food or drink. Budgeting account provider Thinkmoney, who conducted the study, suggested the low level of tipping could be due to increasing pressures on household budgets.

Ian Williams, director of communications at budgeting account provider Thinkmoney, said: 'The Christmas box is a lovely tradition and a great way to show your appreciation to hard working tradespeople. 'But with household budgets under increasing pressure it is perhaps no surprise that less than half of those we questioned leave a tip nowadays.'

Publicity Monster search engine 'scam' victims settle privately: Almost 100 people who claim they were scammed into paying to get their business websites to the top of Google's search results have settled their cases privately, leaving others at risk of abuse, lawyers warn. Publicity Monster, run by convicted hacker Timothy Sabre (pictured), cold-calls small businesses, pledging to make them appear in Google Local's top seven search results for a chosen key word.

Consumer Action Law Centre chief executive Gerard Brody said 90 people had complained about the company in small claims tribunals in NSW and Victoria in recent years, with many saying it had not delivered on its promise. But most appeared to have privately settled their disputes with the business, with only one resulting in a reported decision.

Mr Brody said many consumers came to the centre with similar claims of misconduct, including high-pressure door-to-door sales tactics. But they often settled their disputes, agreeing to keep the matter confidential and leaving future claims to be treated in isolation. "We try and negotiate individual outcomes for all those consumers, which takes time and effort and it's not the most efficient way to resolve the issue."

Mr Brody said consumers mainly relied on laws against unconscionable conduct to take action against businesses, which was difficult to prove: "There shouldn't be such a high bar, particularly where numerous people are suffering significant consequences that are similar. That should be enough to show there has been unfair trading and a regulator could go and take action."

A Consumer Affairs Victoria spokesman said the watchdog had received 32 complaints about Publicity Monster since July 2011 and continued to monitor it regarding alleged consumer law breaches. "As with any investigation, Consumer Affairs Victoria relies on assistance from the consumers involved." He said the body could investigate and enforce laws against complaints that "suggest systemic issues".

Mr Sabre, also known as Timothy Said, was convicted of destroying, erasing, altering or inserting data into a Commonwealth computer in 2001 and sentenced to 450 hours' community service. He was stripped of his Google accreditation last August after Fairfax Media reports about Publicity Monster.

Luke Dunsford, who runs a window-cleaning business, gave his credit card details to the company over the phone. He was told Publicity Monster could bring more people to his website. Mr Dunsford does not know whether web traffic grew, but said the number of customer phone calls and emails he received since then had not.

He was told he had to contact the company to cancel his account but assumed it would expire when he did not renew the contract at the end of the year. The company then contacted him saying he owed it more than $3000 – double what he had initially paid. He began action against it in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in July. "I'm quite happy to take this as far as I can and not do a deal with Publicity Monster so they can't do that sort of thing [to other people]," he said.