Saturday, February 26, 2011

Mayor an odd jobs man (He owned a Window Cleaning Business)

FEW people can say they have gone from window cleaner to mayor.

But Rex Griffin has done just that.

Cr Griffin was the late Brian Naylor’s window cleaner in the 1980s when he owned Griffin’s Window Cleaning business.

He cleaned windows and drove taxies before and after his 9-5 job in the Australian Public Service.

It was the only way he could afford to send his children to his school of choice.

“It wasn’t so uncommon to work two or three jobs in those days,” Cr Griffin said.

“The window cleaning and my football umpiring was how a lot of people up here got to know me.”

His position as Whittlesea Mayor entitles him to an annual salary of almost $89,000, which includes the use of a council vehicle.

For 33 years, Cr Griffin worked in various federal government departments. In the 1980s, he was a medical fraud investigator, and a social security undercover investigator during the ‘90s.

“I’d be sitting out the front of cafes looking a real sight, in thongs and T-shirt, with an earpiece in my ear,” he said.

The extra money helped pay his $30,000 home loan, which, he said, “was like a noose around my neck”.

He and wife Hazel bought their Epping family home in 1980 and have lived there since. They raised two sons and two daughters and mourned the death of their eldest son, Matthew, in 2009. Cr Griffin is a life member of the Wye River Surf Life Saving Club and was its president from 1992 until 1996.

In 1990, he was elected to Whittlesea Council. “Every time I’ve been voted back in, I’ve always had the most votes,” Cr Griffin said.

“I’m always glad to get in and have a go.

“I was gutted when I lost in 2002, but it happens, that’s life.”

He has taken 12 months’ leave without pay from Bunnings Epping to be Mayor. “I couldn’t do it part time,” Cr Griffin said.

He said one of his biggest concerns was that with 12 months of morning teas, dinners and special events ahead, putting on a few kilos seemed inevitable.

Read More:http://whittlesea-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/mayor-an-odd-jobs-man/

Storm shuts down region (Canada)



The Daily Gleaner/James West Photo
Will Scott of Capital Window Cleaning washes off the glass canopy of the TD Tower building on Westmorland Street in Fredericton on Friday afternoon.

Friday's storm, which dropped between 20 and 30 centimetres of snow on the Fredericton area, left many people as they woke up this morning facing a task that's become all too familiar this winter - cleaning out plugged driveways.

Prior to the latest dumping, Fredericton had 58 centimetres of snow on the ground, more than twice as much as the norm for end of February, which is 28 centimetres, Environment Canada reported.

The snowfall, which at times created blizzard-like conditions, led to widespread cancellations of events Friday evening and brought the city to a standstill.

For the most part, motorists heeded warnings given by police earlier in the day and were staying off streets and roads.

Although driving conditions were horrendous in and around Fredericton, no major accidents had been reported as of late Friday night.

Both the Fredericton Police Force and District 2 RCMP had four-wheel drives at their disposal during the height of the storm.

Dylan Gamble, manager of roads and streets for the city, said plows would be out in full force early this morning with a view of having streets cleaned by 9 a.m.

It may be mid-day, however, before sidewalks are open, Gamble said.

Operations at the Fredericton International Airport were also expected to be back to normal early this morning.

David Innes, president and CEO of the Fredericton International Airport Authority Inc., said all evening flights Friday were cancelled.

Innes said a skeleton crew was kept on overnight to ensure the runway was operable in the event of an emergency flight.

"They (airlines) are cancelling them (flights) now ahead of time," Innes said. "It seems that all the airlines in North America are doing the same thing.

"Rather than have people cluster at the airports, they just cancel the flights."

Fredericton Transit also shut down early Friday because of the weather with all the buses off the road by around 7:30 p.m. Manager Sandy MacNeill said he expected operations would resume early this morning.

As of late Friday afternoon, Acadian Bus Lines had cancelled some of its runs.

The Regent Mall, with the exception of Wal-Mart, along with the Brookside Mall and Kings Place all closed their doors early.

Publicity in advance of Friday's storm created a sense of urgency at city grocery stores, as people scrambled to ensure they had what they needed to make it through the storm.

Diane Peters of Peters Meat Market on Main Street said her store was hopping the last couple of days.

"People are getting lots of food and getting ready to be in for a few days," Peters said.

She said customers were buying a little bit of everything, such as milk and other staples.

"Usually when there's a storm, people get prepared, but this time there seems to be an added urgency."

Claude Cote, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said that while there's no more snow in the forecast for today, it will be much colder.

Brisk northwest winds now pounding the area will diminish as the day progresses and the temperature will drop to -12 C this afternoon.

"These temperatures will be about 10 to 12 degrees below the normal," Cote said. "Along with the brisk winds, that's going to produce a windchill of about -20 C. If there's anything good (about it), there will be a fair amount of sunshine."

The cold is expected to break Monday as a low-pressure system from the Great Lakes moves into the area. That will result in southerly winds and temperatures well above freezing.

"Unfortunately, we have some rain in store for Monday afternoon and Monday night," Cote said.

As a result of that system, March will be coming in as lamb and not a lion, the meteorologist said.

While winter is far from over, residents will be get an extra 25 minutes of daylight per week in March, said Cote.

Read more:http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/cityregion/article/1383862

Friday, February 25, 2011

Burj Dubai (Burj Khalifa) in HD - Window cleaning

Glouco window cleaner arrested in connection with customers robbed in Medford, Haddonfield, Harrison

The owner of a Washington Township window cleaning service has been charged with stealing jewelry from his customer's homes.

Mark Tonelli, owner of Magic Window Cleaning Company, was arrested Thursday morning and charged with stealing about $7,500 worth of jewelry from a Medford home on Dec. 6, police said.

Tonelli had been hired by the home owner to clean the house's windows.

Tonelli also faces on similar charges of theft out of Haddonfield and Harrison Township, police said.

Source:http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20110225/NEWS01/110225066/Glouco-window-cleaner-arrested-in-connection-with-customers-robbed-in-Medford-Haddonfield-Harrison

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Window Cleaner honoured for their role in supporting the armed forces (UK)


Theresa and Joseph Carroll with their sons Thomas, 13, and Joseph, five, at the awards ceremony last night

IT’S not being on the frontline of a war zone that worries Paul McKeown, but window cleaning on Tyneside.

He was one of scores of volunteers honoured yesterday for their role in supporting the armed forces.

Dozens of members of the Territorial Army, cadets and other reservists gathered to be recognised for the part they play in protecting the country.

And despite operating in one of the most dangerous places in the world, Sapper McKeown said being on the lookout for suicide bombers and insurgents wasn’t half as dangerous as his civilian job on Tyneside.

The 47-year-old, from Newcastle, said: "I’m a window cleaner and about a year before I was posted to Afghanistan I had an accident at work which almost killed me.

"I fell off my ladder and fractured my skull in five places, broke my ribs and had fractures to my arms and legs. They say Afghanistan is a dangerous place, but the closest I’ve come to death was on the streets of Newcastle."

The grandfather-of-one spent seven months last year in the war- torn country operating in Kabul providing close protection work for high-ranking diplomatic figures.

He joined the TA three years ago but was a member of the regular Army between 1979 and 1993.

He was among the volunteers honoured with certificates by the Lord Lieutenant of Tyne & Wear Nigel Sherlock.

They were recognised for their work during an hour-long presentation ceremony at the TA Centre in Heaton, Newcastle.

It was a family affair for the Carrolls, as husband and wife Jospeh and Theresa Carroll from Newcastle picked up awards for their TA service. Joseph has served abroad while Theresa has been based back in the UK.

Corporal Paul Smith, from Low Teams, in Gateshead, was given a commendation for his services in Afghanistan. The soldier has been in the TA for 19 years, and recently spent six months in the war zone.

He was responsible for ensuring supplies reached front-line troops.

Cpl Smith, 39, said: "I was chuffed to get the award, very honoured. I love my job. There are dangers, but you get used to being places like that."

Mr Sherlock said: "It has been a pleasure handing out the awards. All these people here give up their spare time to give something to the wider community."

Read More http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2011/02/23/cadets-and-reservists-honoured-for-work-72703-28219478/#ixzz1Ensf0wav

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Wagtail Window Cleaning Tutorial







How a Skyscraper Window Washer Faces Death (Sep, 1934)







How a Skyscraper Window Washer Faces Death

by FRED A. BELL

HAILED as supermen, stunt artists are paid fabulous sums to risk their necks for a thrill-hungry public; yet their most hair-raising feats are duplicated every day by the daring men who clean the windows of the nation’s towering skyscrapers.

Perched at dizzy heights on window ledges barely wide enough to afford a toehold, the aces of the window brigade put circus acrobats and parachute jumpers to shame. For there is no margin of error—no nets or parachutes to break a possible fall. An error in judgment, a slip of the life belt and the window cleaner has signed his own death warrant. Below him there is nothing but a yawning city canyon—a square of concrete pavement to land and die on.

One of the men best qualified to paint the thrills and dangers of this hazardous profession is Richart Hart, chief of the window polishing squad of the Empire State Building, the tallest structure ever reared by man.

Hart spent ten years mining coal in the Pennsylvania coal fields before he decided he wanted an open air job such as window cleaning. Down at Wilkes-Barre he tunneled for coal as far as 2,000 feet into the bowels of the earth. Now he thinks nothing of cleaning glass at 1,250 feet, which is the tip of the Empire State Building.

“Working with a hand-pick and shovel in the depths of the coal mines,” Hart says, “was a snap compared to brushing up a window pane on the 85th floor of the Empire State Building.

“Every morning when you went down the shaft for another day in the mine, you just resigned yourself to Fate, and if the heaviside layer of coal and rock was going to crumble over you that day, well, you figured there was nothing you could do about it anyway. It was just bound to happen.

“Now with the sparrows—that’s what they nickname us because “we can perch anywhere—it’s different, You can be the master of your own fate by being careful and alert. There’s no reason for feeling it’s the end every day.”

“We have our own window cleaning department in the Empire State Building. Three years ago I had close to fifty men under me; but it’s been a case of the survival of the fittest, until today I have just eight. But they don’t come any better. They’re hand-picked men and crackerjacks at their trade. I don’t mean that their former comrades have kicked the bucket. They’ve just wandered off to other jobs where the knees don’t get jittery from prancing around at dizzy heights.

“Last year one of my best window-cleaners decided to quit. He was 65 years old, had been in the business 41 years and wanted a rest. The other day 1 ran into him and he told me that he missed the work and had gone back to polishing panes. I guess the heights get in your blood after a while and you can’t stand what some folks call terra firma.

“The men folks who squawk when they have to clean a dozen windows in their homes will get some idea what a job we have when I say we have to keep 6,500 windows looking spick and span. We have to work fast, too, because there’s a lot of prejudice among office folks when the window cleaner barges in. Yet there’s a lot of fuss made if the windows don’t get prompt attention. So we’re always in the middle no matter how you look at it.

Window Cleaners’ Reward

“The eight men are divided in teams of two. Each team is responsible for 25 floors. Those who finish first have the reward of doing the upper stories which run up to the 102d floor. Then if they have done a good job I always let them have a little time on the Observation Tower, taking in some of the sights they don’t dare peek at while they’re minding their business.

“The mainstay of the window cleaner is his life belt. This is made of leather and goes around his midsection. It is very thick and each end hitches to a steel hook which protrudes from the side of the window where he is working. If one end of the belt should lose its grip, he would still be held by the other end. The steel brace in the back of the belt is so constructed that the leather cannot slip through it.

“We never work on rainy days. As a matter of fact, we take it easy in all kinds of stormy weather. The risk would be too great when a blizzard is raging. It’s bad enough on the streets in the skyscraper zone to say nothing of bucking the arctic gales 100 stories high and trying to put a shine on a window.

“Our jobs are most dangerous in the winter time, of course. The sills of the Empire State Building windows have a one and one-half inch margin. Look at your shoe and try to mark off one and one-half inches and then you realize what a window cleaner’s foothold must be 60 or 80 stories high.

Braving Wintry Hazards

“To give you some idea of the hazards of this business, let me picture the window cleaner’s problem on a cold winter morning. He goes to the 80th floor for work. The window is probably jammed because of the ice and cold. The sill on which he is to place his feet is sheathed in ice. He’s got to get out on that perch. No wasting of time to chip off or melt the ice. He’s got to make speed.

“His mind must be off danger. The mental hazard would lick him from the start if he gave in to it. He must remember that the first thing to do on opening the window— after he has securely adjusted the life belt to his body—is, to hook up one end of the belt to the window. Then he can step out and quickly attach his belt to the other hook.

“He must not unhook the second snap on his belt until he has placed his foot safely within the interior after finishing the job.

“The closest shave I ever had was while cleaning windows in a university which had classrooms in a skyscraper here. The idea was to have the windows cleaned during the fifteen minutes between class periods.

“I had finished one set of windows and was in a hurry to get to the next classroom. Instead of unhooking my belt and going all the way around, I decided on a short cut. I unhooked the belt and proceeded along a wall ledge, about eight feet long and six inches wide, carrying a pail and a ladder.

Death Hangs in the Balance

“Just as I got to the middle, I began to wobble. My toe-hold was failing. I had allowed one foot to get out a little too far, just enough to upset my balance. I stood still, or tried to. I teetered a little but I kept calm. I was facing the building wall, trying to hug it with my body. I glanced down over my shoulder and saw a cop standing below. There was nothing he could do. I was ten stories up, and on the verge of falling.

“In the end I managed to regain my balance and my hold. I wormed my way over to the next window and went right on with my job as if nothing had happened. That’s the worst jam I was ever in. That might have been the one fall allotted me—and fatal!

“There is a standing army of 3,000 window cleaners in New York.City, and it’s my guess that we have the biggest mortality rate of any working class in the world. Most insurance companies won’t have anything to do with us. We’re marked ‘V. P. R.’—very poor risk.

“The average window cleaner gets $30 weekly for 48 hours under the NRA. Aside from the perils, it’s nice, clean, healthy outdoor work, and we have very little labor trouble. You see, this is one trade in which there are no strikebreakers.

“When a man applies to me for a job, I don’t listen to any hot air about how good he is. I hand him the equipment, take him to the 100th floor, show him what a swell sight it is, to see all the other big skyscrapers sprawled out below, and then I say, ‘Okay, my man, go to it. Tackle that window right there.’

“I’ve never seen it fail. If they’re not full-fledged window cleaners they quit right on the spot. It takes a lot of nerve to step out into space, 100 stories up, if you’re not made for it.

“I’m forty years old and like my job very much. We’re all a happy-go-lucky bunch and sleep a good ten hours every night. We eat lightly. You’ve got to. On Sundays we have a feast, however. I’ve got a son, 15, and he’s going to be an engineer. He says he doesn’t care much for the wide open spaces where his old man works. Well, maybe I can’t blame him after all for not wanting to lead a sparrow’s life.”

Source:http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/05/20/how-a-skyscraper-window-washer-faces-death/

Photo of the day

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Stuck workers rescued from side of Norfolk building



Two sign workers were pulled to safety this morning after they got stuck alongside the BB&T building at 500 E. Main St.

Firefighters were called to the scene about 11 a.m. after the two men got stuck 15 to 25 feet below the building’s roof line, said Battalion Chief Harry Worley, a fire spokesman. One of the motors on the workers’ scaffold burned out, and they couldn’t raise or lower themselves.

Firefighters who specialize in technical, high-angle rescues rigged ropes to pull the men to safety. They lowered a firefighter to the scaffold to put harnesses on the men. Then they were pulled safety about 11:40 a.m.

Fire officials believed the men were window washers, but later learned that they were working on the building’s sign.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Window washing competition attempts to set World Record


Window washing competition attempts to set World RecordCredit: IWCAAnnual Convention Photo Contest

St. Pete Beach -- Hundreds of window cleaners from around the world will try to break the Guinness World Record for fastest window cleaner during the 2011 International Window Cleaning Association Convention & Trade Show.

The show starts February 16 and ends February 19 at the TradeWinds Island Resort.

The contest will be friendly a friendly competition. Seasoned professional window cleaners will show off their skills as they try to break that world record.

The race is focused on speed, but the competition will also be determined by the ability to clean glass accurately, without streaks and drips.

The convention will also have education sessions featuring window cleaning tips, tools and techniques, safety training and compliance, marketing, improving your business and more.

Another highlight of the convention will be a display of the newest equipment and resources available to the window washing industry.

Source:http://saintpetebeach.wtsp.com/news/events/window-washing-competition-attempts-set-world-record/47385

Unbelievable Wayne Rooney Bicycle Kick Goal vs. Manchester City

Monday, February 14, 2011

“The Window Washer” circa 1960

The Window WasherNorman RockwellSeptember 17, 1960

The Window Washer
Norman Rockwell
September 17, 1960

Source:http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2011/02/04/art-literature/norman-rockwell-flirt.html/attachment/the_window_washer_by_norman_rockwell

Day in pictures: 10 February 2011


Two window cleaners are lowered over the balcony above the 50th floor of the One Canada Square skyscraper in London's Canary Wharf - currently the UK's tallest building. Cleaning all the windows takes a month.

Source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12414114

Burgling window cleaner who wore victim’s knickers walks free (UK)

A WINDOW cleaner who was found wearing a young mother’s knickers when police arrested him for burgling her home has walked free from court.

Alan Sayer sneaked into his 19-year-old customer’s home in Newton-le-Willows through an open window.

He then snatched a bra and two pairs of knickers from her bedroom.

But he was caught out after sending his victim a handwritten note asking for a date.

And when the 36-year-old was taken into police custody at St Helens officers found him wearing the victim’s pink and black knickers.

The crime is said to have left her “sickened and frightened”.

Sayer, who has a string of previous convictions, had served 80 days in custody since pleading guilty to the offence at St Helens Magistrates’ Court.

Sentencing Sayer at Liverpool Crown Court, the judge, Recorder Nicholas Fewtrell described the break-in as “a major breach of trust”.

He added: “Members of the public expect those who do work in their houses should have standards of uppermost decency.”

But, acknowledging Sayer’s time served on remand and early guilty plea, he issued a suspended nine-month prison term.

Prosecuting, Mandy Nepal explained how the mother had been stopped in the street by the window cleaner on the morning of November 10 last year.

She said: “She told him she was going to her mother’s house that day.

“(But) at about 1pm that day the defendant came to her mother’s house and said someone had broken into her property, explaining the back window was open and the blinds were up.”

The woman “panicked” and went to the house with her father but nothing appeared to have been taken from the house.

Ms Nepal added: “Later in the evening she noticed her underwear drawer was open and three items of underwear were missing, which were a pair of pink and black knickers, a polka dot bra, bra straps and laced French knickers.”

The woman was reassured by her family but contacted officers after being spooked by a letter Sayer delivered through her door the next day.

Ms Nepal continued: “She received a note through the door which read: ‘Do you want to go for a date’. It was from the window cleaner – that frightened her and she contacted police.”

After his arrest, bra straps belonging to the victim were found in his bedroom and he was found wearing her underwear at St Helens police station.

He tried to claim the knickers belonged to his ex-girlfriend but his story unravelled and he confessed to his crime at St Helens Magistrates’ Court.

Making reference to the St Helens Star’s presence in court and the embarrassing publicity that would follow for Sayer, Robert Wyn Jones, defending, said: “It’s not illegal to wear women’s underwear – even in St Helens.

“No doubt on release life in St Helens will be uncomfortable enough and windowing cleaning difficult.”

Mr Wyn Jones offered little explanation for why Sayer had committed the crime but suggested the use of amphetamine drugs had given him the urge to go into her house.

Sayer, of Sankey Street, Newton, has seven previous convictions for 17 offences since 2003. However, none of those offences related to other underwear thefts and a psychiatric report came back clear.

He was also sentenced to carry out 250 hours unpaid work and handed a restraining order, which states he must not contact the victim.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Empire State Building, Window Washing, Stunt

Spit and polish for a Seattle icon

SEATTLE -- The Space Needle is getting its first ever deep cleaning. Crews are pressure washing the 605-foot high Space Needle from top to bottom.

The Needle hasn't had a professional cleaning since opening for the 1962 World's Fair.

It got a new paint job in 1998 and 1999, but grime and dirt have settled in since then.

"It's like washing your car periodically," said Space Needle CEO Peter Beck. "You've got a paint job and you've got dirt particlulates in the paint. In order to prolong the life of the paint, a good cleaning, like on your car, is very valuable."

Crews with the cleaning company Karcher GmbH & Co. are only working at night after the restaurant and observation deck close, but they put in a few extra hours on Thursday to allow people to witness the process.

Three daring high angle cleaners hit the Needle with water that measured precisely 194 degrees.

Even though the sprayers use half the flow of a garden hose, the water shoots out at 3,000 pounds per square inch -- more than enough power to send the guy behind the hose flying.

"One thing we say is, it doesn't necessarily have to be fun to be fun. There are definitely times when I'm spinning in free space and I'm like, holy cow this is terrifying and I can't believe this is my job," said Matt Henry, rope technician.

And it's a big job with a huge challenge -- the crews aren't using any soap. That's because what they spray up ends up going down to the Seattle Center and the EMP. Splotches of grime run from the beams under the restaurant all the way down to the base.

"We don't intend to spray waste water with detergent on them. So we just use pure water. And this is quite challenging because the dirt on the surface is really stubborn," said Frank Schad with Karcher.

And as frightening as the cleaning job looks, crews say it's extremely safe.

"It's actually statistically safer than any industrial setting because of amount of preparation that's put into place," said Jan Atwell Holan of Skala. "Most industry does not have the safety culture that a rope access team does. It's exceptionally safe and statistically safer than just about anything else you can do in industry."

Part of that safety comes from the planning. Planning for the cleaning job alone took two years, and the job itself will take another six to eight weeks.

Karcher provides the high pressure cleaners and its expertise for free. The company has also donated its services to other monuments around the world, including Mount Rushmore.

The Space Needle's only expense is paying the subcontractor Skala for the rope technicians.

While the Space Needle didn't release the exact cost, CEO Beck says it's substantially less than the cost of repainting.


Photos: Karcher GmbH & Co.





















































Source: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/18982744.html