2015-09-10



On a high: Vanessa Villamagna works atop the One Brighton apartments in Mandurah.



Window cleaner's bird's-eye view of world: Vanessa Villamagna is accustomed to feeling on top of the world. The high rise window cleaner has discovered how to make a living out of her passion for climbing. “When I was a kid I was always very adventurous and always climbing things,” she said. “I never thought of myself as doing something like this, but I saw the job advertised and applied for it.”

BlueSky Window Cleaning took on Ms Villamagna as their first female high rise cleaner five years ago. The brave 26-year-old said a highlight of her job was the breathtaking views she took in. “It’s amazing just to be on top of the world, over the hills, the river,” she said. “The big wow factor for me is getting up on the ropes - it adds a whole new level. You pinch yourself.”

She said the male-dominated field was not for the faint-hearted. “Safety is the biggest thing. You have to make sure you eliminate any risks,” she said. “We go through intense training of going up and down ropes, doing rescues, doing rope transfers, tying knots and using harnesses.” While Ms Villamagna has never had to put her rescue skills into practice, she has scaled heights of 30 storeys.

And as well as providing a massive adrenaline rush, she said her job was a lot of fun. “Sometimes we scare people when we’re cleaning buildings – it’s pretty entertaining,” she said. “You get the odd awkwardness when you’re cleaning apartments with people inside.”



Help find little Cooper: Family appeal for help after puppy is stolen from owner's van: Cooper, a four-month-old Jack Russell puppy, was snatched from his owner's van in Busby, East Renfrewshire, on August 19. A four month old puppy was stolen from a van while his owner nipped out for a sandwich. Jack Russell Cooper was snatched in Busby, East Renfrewshire, on August 19, at around 12.40pm. Owner Lee Green had left him in his work’s van while he popped into a baker’s for a quick bite to eat.

Lee, 29, who owns his own window cleaning business, left the vehicle unlocked on the village’s Main Street, but when he returned just five minutes later, Cooper was gone. The family, including Lee’s wife, Estelle, and their two-year-old daughter, Eva, have been left devastated by the broad-daylight dog-napping. Lee, of Carmunnock, Glasgow, said: “Eva wakes up every morning asking when Cooper is coming back. “They were good wee pals, and she really misses him. It’s breaking her little heart that he is gone.

“We don’t care who took him, we just want our dog back.” Despite appeals on Facebook, and other social media, as well as offering a £500 reward - which is more than the dog is actually worth - there has been no information about the black and tan pup’s whereabouts.

Cooper has distinctive markings, and has been micro-chipped - so if someone believes they have been sold him by the thieves, they could take him to the vet’s to get him scanned. Lee added: “I’m totally gutted. I was away for five minutes getting a sandwich, and when I came back Cooper was gone. “A woman in the street told me she saw two men standing next to my van. “One of them had the dog by the scruff of the neck, and they had Irish accents. “But at the time, she had no idea she was witnessing a dog-napping.”

Solar panel cleaning key to ensuring firms continue to be extremely green: A Burton firm with a difference is urging people to make the most out of their green credentials. Springs Cleaning. based in Hawthorn Business Centre, in Hawthorn Crescent, Stapenhill, offers professional solar panel cleaning in a bid to improve energy output and efficiency.

Carl Crockford, from Springs, said: "Its a growing trend in the UK that consumers are realising the need for solar panel cleaning. As a company we have invested in the correct training and equipment to carry this out professionally.

"We bring across all of the same high standards from our window cleaning, to ensure panels are cleaned safely and to improve the overall return to our customers, People have invested thousands in these systems and they need to ensure they are working at maximum capacity to benefit from them. As a company we can give people an outline on how often they will need the panels cleaned but this is usually on a six monthly timeframe."

The benefits of installing solar panels can be adversely affected when they are left unclean for a certain period of time. It has been estimated that between 10to 25 per cent of energy output can easily be lost when solar panels are affected by dirt and grime deposits.

Springs are experienced in cleaning solar panels on industrial, commercial and agricultural premises using pure water. Springfield Property Services has several premises across Burton where they offer quality serviced office space and backed the work that Springs has done for them in the past.

Every 10 Seconds A Skyscraper Window Washer Falls To His Death (NEW YORK): A study released Monday by the Department of Labor found that every 10 seconds, on average, a window washer somewhere in the United States accidentally plummets to his or her death. "One would expect an occasional fatality in this occupation, but our research indicates that whether a rope snaps or a slip-and-trip situation occurs, more than 8,500 window washers are killed each day," said statistician Carl Eberling, adding that during a half-hour stroll through Manhattan, one is likely to see 15 to 25 workers hit the pavement, depending on the neighborhood. "Even with strict safety measures in place, the truth is, it just gets really windy up there." Eberling noted that at Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, it is not unusual for one window washer to be smashing into the ground while a second flails and screams in midair and a third, somewhere above, is beginning to lose balance.

Stephen Murphy claims the Glasgow-born multi-millionaire has not settled her bill for his last three visits to her £1.5million mansion in the village of Thorntonhall near the city.

Bra tycoon who's meant to help small firms 'has failed to pay her window cleaner': Publicity hungry Michelle Mone accused of withholding £120 from employee: She is the publicity-hungry lingerie tycoon chosen by David Cameron to be Britain’s small business tsar. But Michelle Mone is already accused of letting one such enterprise down: her window cleaner says she owes him £120. Stephen Murphy claims the Glasgow-born multi-millionaire has not settled her bill for his last three visits to her £1.5million mansion in the village of Thorntonhall near the city.

He said 43-year-old Miss Mone, who on Thursday was announced as a new life peer, asked him to start cleaning her windows after she saw him working for a neighbour. For around a year after that he claims he was paid regularly. But Mr Murphy said his invoice of £40 for each of the last three cleans appeared to have been ignored.

He said he had sent reminders, made a formal request for cash and even visited the headquarters of her business, Ultimo, to seek payment – all without success. He believes the final window cleaning visits came during the death throes of Miss Mone’s marriage to her then business partner Michael, shortly before she moved out. They have since divorced acrimoniously.

But Mr Murphy is in no doubt that Miss Mone was living in the house at the time of the visits for which he has yet to be paid – and on at least one of them, she opened the door to him. ‘It might not be a big deal to her but I’ve just bought a new house and have two kids,’ he said. ‘That £120 could be the worktops for my new kitchen.’

A spokesman for Miss Mone, who has now resigned from the Ultimo board, said: ‘Michelle moved out of this house two years ago. 'She has never heard of Stephen Murphy and her office has no record of any invoice from him.’

Illegal immigration: Minister pledges crackdown on 'rogue employers' - Businesses that employ illegal workers will be hit with "the full force of government machinery", immigration minister James Brokenshire has warned. He said "rogue employers" who give work to illegal migrants were denying UK citizens jobs, driving down wages and gaining an "unfair advantage".

The Times says immigration officers are to carry out raids on cleaning firms, building sites and care homes. But Labour's Yvette Cooper said the Home Office should "still do more". BBC political correspondent Robin Brant said ministers were trying to "enhance" practical measures to combat illegal workers, rather than bring in new measures.

The cash economy in fact: the window cleaner who does it for cash, no VAT being payable. And presumably, if they’re not paying VAT then they’re not paying the correct income tax and national insurance as well. As above, it’s difficult to imagine the level of police state that would be necessary to stamp this out. But more than that, we all know that if you tax something you get less of it. And a goodly portion of that grey economy simply would not exist if it were taxed at the roughly 40% of economic activity that the British state demands as its due. It’s not just that it happens now but doesn’t pay tax: it’s that if it were effectively taxed then it wouldn’t happen and there would still be no tax. Sure, OK, more dirty windows is hardly a tragedy for a modern economy. But it’s not something that aids with tax revenues is it?

A local merchant complained to ZIP Line about a window cleaner who was working on some second-story windows and fell off his ladder. “On the way down,” the shopkeeper said, “he damaged my neon sign to the tune of $93.50.” Evidently reimbursement from the poor fellow was not forthcoming. (It reminded me of something my mother once said to me: “If you fall out of that tree and break both your legs, don’t come running to me.”)

Far from home - Hundreds of thousands of Nepalese have signed up to work in Qatar in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In the wake of the recent earthquakes, earning enough to send home to family is even more vital. But many Nepalese are forced to work long hours for pay far less than promised.

Even then, many workers get a big surprise upon reaching Qatar: Their jobs – and pay – turn out to be less than expected. Ms. Yongan’s husband, for example, was hired as a security guard. Instead, the former English teacher (who couldn’t support his family on $30 a month) wound up a window cleaner, dangling in the sun from Doha skyscrapers. The agency that sent Mr. Tamang to Qatar said he’d earn $330 a month. But he was paid one-third less than that – despite, says a brother-in-law who also made the trip, working 12 hours a day, six days a week, until the day he died.

Giant spiders like this one, caught in a glass, are about to invade our homes looking for a warm, dry place to mate.

Giant spiders on the lookout for a place to mate - inside your home: Reports suggest there have been more spiders than usual this summer. And as Kate Whiting reports, things are about to get worse. And although the description ‘monster’ is a little far-fetched it does sum up the fact that, despite most of them being completely harmless, spiders are high on many people’s list of least favourite wild creature – even though the vast majority do an important job catching and eating flies that are, arguably, even more of a nuisance.

But if recent reports are anything to go by, arachnophobes could be in for a stressful few weeks – because according to the spider experts, or arachnologists, there’s an army of a new breed of ‘giant’ spiders about to invade our homes to lay their eggs. According to arachnologist Chris Ayre, one of the biggest spiders in Europe, Eratigena atrica, is looking for a dry, warm place to mate and our homes will provide the perfect love-nest.

As the weather turns cooler and wetter this month, ‘giant house spiders’, which are relatives of the domestic house spider and can grow up to 12cm long, will be searching for a place out of the cold and wet of autumn “Spiders don’t specifically want to enter your home; in fact, they’d rather stay away as there’s less food and it’s too dry and clean,” says Simon Garrett, head of learning at Bristol Zoological Society, which runs Living With Spiders phobia courses.

“Most species of spider stay outside all the time and never come in houses. However, in autumn, mature male house spiders start to move around in search of mates. “Although most remain outside, some will move into a house if there is an entry point for them. It is this need to mate that changes their behaviour, so it seems as though they suddenly come from nowhere at certain times.”

Apparently, while the females rarely leave their nests, and only then to feed, the males are often spotted from now until October, wandering around looking for a mate. The females can lay hundreds of eggs and in each egg sac, there can be up to 60 ‘spiderlings’. Like many spiders, these brown bugs seek out corners to build their webs, so you’ll spot them between boxes in cellars, behind cupboards, in attics, near window openings and in other spots where they’re relatively undisturbed.

However hard you try there is, unfortunately, not a lot you can do to stop them coming into your house. Mr Garrett says: “If they come across any small opening, they can easily get in. “Some people say you can stop spiders using conkers, but after a short time they dry up and nothing will really repel them fully. The best you can do is make sure there aren’t any leaky pipes or openings.”

But he says the good news is, that however intimidating they look these giants prefer to run away than attack humans and although they can bite, the bites aren’t harmful. That said they can apparently sting a little if they manage to pierce the skin. “Very few species of spider will bite people and of those that try, only a small number can even break our skin,” says Garrett. “There are no inherently deadly species of spider found in the UK as their venom is designed for killing much smaller, simpler creatures for food, such as insects.”

COLUMBUS – A broken window led to the death of a Columbus resident Saturday afternoon. Columbus Police Captain Todd Thalken says a 69-year-old woman was cleaning a window at a residence in northwest Columbus when the glass broke, causing her to fall through the window. Thalken says neighbors reportedly called an ambulance and she was transported to the Columbus Community Hospital. The reported cause of death is blood loss due to a cut artery.

Couple celebrate wedding in 'dream' venue after Sentinel appeal: Loved-up couple Rachel Colclough and Craig Plant celebrated their marriage in a 'dream' venue on Saturday – thanks to The Sentinel. The pair had been left heartbroken after finding out by chance their planned reception venue – the Norton Cricket Club and Miners Welfare Institute – had closed just days before the wedding. While they were able to secure the Smallthorne Pioneer Club as an alternative venue, they said it was 'not ideal' for a wedding. But after hearing their story in The Sentinel last week, Sneyd Green Community Hall chairman John Reynolds contacted Rachel and offered the Ralph Drive facility for free – just 24 hours before the wedding.

Now the duo – who first met after Craig sent Rachel a friend request on Facebook six years ago before their first date at a bowling alley in Festival Park – are looking forward to a honeymoon in Cyprus this October after their wedding at Hanley Register Office. Window cleaner Craig, aged 33, said: "I was chuffed. While we were really grateful for their offer, I wasn't happy with the Pioneer because a wedding's a one-time thing and I wanted it to be special. "I don't think Rachel could speak at first – she was in shock and dead happy. It feels great to have helped a local couple."

After 50 years in the music business Van Morrison – born in Belfast 70 years ago, on August 31st, 1945 – has no game to play, no impression to make, no line to sell, no image to construct or maintain. His music and his creativity are still what matter most. In the age of celebrity nothing is quite so incomprehensible as someone who hates fame. There are many ways to play the fame game: some suck it up insatiably, some hide ostentatiously from it, making reclusiveness an even more elite brand of celebrity.

You don’t have to spend long with Van Morrison to realise that his relationship with fame is one of deep, honest and implacable hatred. He experiences it neither as an addictive high nor as an inconvenience that comes with his territory but as a kind of punishment, the world’s revenge for all those moments of ecstasy and exhilaration he has achieved in his art.

Cleaning windows is one that comes into the songs, obviously?

VM: Well, that was only because I bought a run. This guy I knew, he sold me this run for very cheap, because he was retiring, and so he gave it to me for a few quid. So I had my own kind of business then.

How old were you then?

VM: Fifteen.

Were you still in school?

VM: Just left school. No, no, I was older than that. I must have been 16, because I had about five jobs before that.

So you obviously had this work ethic: it was just there?

VM: Ya, but the fact about it is that you didn’t go around saying, “I had the work ethic.” It’s just what people did. People didn’t have time to think about what it is: you either did it or you didn’t do it. There was no time for pondering. I find in retrospect a lot of it is romanticised, and mythologised, but early on there wasn’t any of that. It’s a job like any other job, and if you wanted to do it, and loved doing it, then it was a good job. So that’s the way you looked at it.

These workers have to save for 100 years to buy a home - how long will you be waiting?  Workers in certain jobs had better get used to renting, because it could take a century to save up enough for a mortgage. Bar staff, cleaners and waiters would have to save for more than 200 years to find a big enough deposit for a house. But lollipop men and women have to slave away for more than 500 years to have a chance of getting on the property ladder.

That’s the findings of online estate agent HouseSimple. Researchers looked at how long it would take workers on different salaries to save enough for the typical first-time buyer house valued at £202,765 and meet the lenders’ affordability tests. They assumed workers saving £1 in every £10 of their take-home pay. Dental nurses, receptionists and window cleaners would have to toil for more than 100 years to save enough. But pilots and IT directors could put down a deposit almost immediately.

Cam Specialist Support commits to living wage: All employees at window cleaning firm Cam Specialist Support will receive the living wage of £7.85 per hour, or £9.50 in London. This is higher than the current national minimum wage of £6.50 per hour, and will be paid to all those working for the organisation regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors and suppliers.

The living wage is an hourly rate set by the Living Wage Foundation and updated annually. It is distinct from the national living wage announced in the Summer Budget 2015. Matt Johnson managing director, at Cam Specialist Support, said: “Paying a wage that people can actually live on is absolutely the right thing to do morally and financially. Our employees are people not commodities. “We want to attract and retain quality staff and so reward them accordingly. As a London-based organisation, we pay the living wage of at least £9.15 per hour in London.”

Batting a thousand at cleaning windows: I do windows. Unfortunately, I do them every couple of years, which gives the windows plenty of time to get dirty, and even then it is clear that I don’t do them very well because I have always considered the job a pane in the glass. This year, I let a professional end my losing streak, which was, of course, in each window.

Enter (through the front door, not a window) David Wright, owner of Mr. Wright’s Window Cleaning of Centerport, New York. Not to be confused with the New York Mets slugger of the same name (“He doesn’t do windows as well as I do, but I can’t hit a baseball as well as he can”), Wright was a lawyer, a financial analyst and a monk before devoting his life to letting the sunshine into the lives of others by cleaning their windows. “I want to make people happy,” Wright said. “And a lot of people are happy when their windows are clean.”

I knew I would be happy if my windows were clean because it also would give happiness to my wife, Sue, who had been after me for the past two years to use Windex and a roll of paper towels, not to mention a little elbow grease, to clean the windows. “Elbow grease is a prime source of smudges and streaks,” I told her. Sue wasn’t buying it, which is why I ended up buying a reasonably priced cleaning package (10 windows for $49) so she could finally meet Mr. Wright.

“I’m David,” he said, introducing himself to Sue. “I’m here to clean your windows.” Sue swooned. “Thank you,” she replied. “They could use it.” Wright started on the outside, where he told me that his wife, Joanne, likes the way he does the windows at their house but wishes he would do them more often. “I’m working seven days a week,” he said, adding that he started the business last year and will be joined next year by his son Collier, a U.S. Army Ranger who is serving in Iraq. “So I don’t have the time to do our windows too often.”

“That excuse isn’t going to work for me,” I said. “You’ll have to think of another one,” Wright said as he used a water-fed pole with a nylon brush to clean the outside of the windows in the living, dining and family rooms. “Nylon?” I said. “Theoretically, I could clean windows with my wife’s stockings.” “Theoretically,” Wright responded, “it wouldn’t be a good idea.” What would be a good idea, he added, is to use resin instead of soap. “I’m using it now,” he said. “It’s much more effective.”

As he worked, Wright, who is 53, told me that he started out as a lawyer (“If you go to the bathroom, bring work with you so you can bill your clients”), then got into financial services before giving up all his material possessions and spending time in a monastery, where he decided he wanted to make people happy for a living. “I am doing my second-favorite thing,” he said, referring to cleaning windows, which allows him to meditate while he works.

“What’s your favorite thing?” I inquired. “I’d like to be a professional poker player,” Wright said. “But my wife doesn’t think it’s a safe bet.” When we moved inside, Wright said that customers always kid him about having the same name as the Mets star. “They’ll say, ‘When you finish with my windows, are you going to Citi Field?’ Maybe I should give them my autograph,” said Wright, who cleaned the windows with a long razor blade encased in a scraper. He also used a squeegee and a scrubber made of lamb’s wool and AstroTurf.

“And I use Dawn,” he said. “Who’s she?” I asked. “The person you can get to clean your windows,” said Wright, though he really meant the dishwashing liquid. “Don’t tell your wife, but most windows are dirtier on the inside than they are on the outside.” I didn’t tell Sue, who was nonetheless amazed when Wright was finished. “Wow!” she squealed. “These windows have never been so clean.” “The trick,” Wright said, “is to keep them that way.” “I’ll do my part,” I said. “In two years, I’ll give you another call.”

Thousands of Trucks Are Eligible for Buyback Over Defective Steering. Is Yours One of Them? Fiat Chrysler has agreed to buy back up to half a million Dodge Ram pickup trucks after some repairs that were performed as a result of recalls proved unsuccessful. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the recalled trucks have defective steering parts that can cause drivers to lose control of the vehicle.

In addition to the Dodge Rams, Chrysler is also allowing consumers to trade in their older jeeps or have the automaker pay for the necessary repairs to fix the rear-mounted gas tanks that could cause fires if the vehicles get hit from the back.

However, Ram owners don’t have to sell their trucks back if they don’t want to. While the automaker has agreed to buy them back from the consumers who don’t want them anymore, it is also offering to pay them back for repairs that have proved unsuccessful on some other trucks.

Fiat Chrysler is also being forced to pay as much as $105 million as part of a larger legal settlement with federal regulators. It has been accused of misconduct while handling at least 23 recalls affecting more than 11 million vehicles.

The settlement includes a $70 million fine, $20 million for outreach to let customers know about the recall and $15 million if the automaker violates any of the deal’s requirements. Dodge Ram models that are being included in the buyback are Ram 1500s from 2009 to 2012, Ram 1500 Mega Cab 4 by 4 from 2008 Ram 2500 4 by 4, 3500 4 by 4, 4500 4 by 4, and 5500 4 by 4 from 2008-2012. 2009 Chrysler Aspen, Dodge Durango SUVs and the Dodge Dakota from 2009-2011 are also among the vehicles that are eligible for buyback.

Hundreds of bikers pay their respects to Shoreham Airshow disaster victims: Hundreds of bikers paid their respects to victims of the Shoreham Airshow disaster with a Ride of Respect. Organised by the West Sussex Bikers group, around 250 motorcyclists travelled from Halfords, in Downlands Business Park, Upper Brighton Road, Worthing, along the A27 to the Shoreham Tollbridge at 7.30pm on Saturday. Giovanna Chirico, the fiancée of 54-year-old victim Mark Trussler (pictured), was among the riders. The window cleaner and a father-of-six was one of two bikers killed in the crash - the other Mark Reeves. Miss Chirico and Mr Trussler's children lay a wreath and flowers on the bridge. Organiser Andy Parmenter, thanked everyone who took part and extended his thoughts to the families of the 11 victims. Donations were collected for the Shoreham Crash Fund and more than £165 was raised. The window cleaner was riding his motorbike along the A27 when he was caught in the accident. His fiancé, Giovanna Chirico, called him an “amazing dad” whose last words to her were: “I love you too, forever.”

Colby Amparan Wins FW City Championship: “It’s my first win in a long time, I know that,” he said, while trying to recall his last golf victory. “I really thought after the front nine, I had a chance. I was 4 under and figured if I played the back nine even par, that would be the number to beat.” Amaparan, an accomplished musician who never got around to joining the Baylor golf team, came close to matching his target, hanging on over the closing stretch to shoot 1-over 37 and win by three shots.

“I love the game still, there’s no doubt,” he said. “I’ve got a window cleaning company and we’ve been growing the last couple of years. “I didn’t know whether I wanted to play golf, play music or continue running my business after college, so I tried some minitour events, but I was at a big disadvantage. I saw some promise and knew I had some work to do, but I’m so glad I chose to grow my business and now I just enjoy the game.”

Butte artist Jay Bressette instills confidence in browsers hankering to pat the elegant harps, hurdy-gurdy and wooden hinged books in his inaugural art show. As part of the monthly Artwalk on Friday, Bressette, 47, displays for the first time his crafted, playable harps and other unique items. “I only do one-of-a-kind – I will never do two-of-a-kind,” said Bressette, a Saginaw, Mich., native who has lived in Butte for 15 years. A maple-and-walnut harp, posed elegantly on a table in host artist Martha Cooney’s Art Gallery and Teaching Studio, 8 W. Park St., Suite 301, is his signature piece.

Butte artist Jay Bressette of Artistic Wood Solutions, shows his work at the Martha U. Cooney Art Gallery and Teaching Studio, Suite 301 of the Metals Bank Building, 8 W. Park St., as part of the Friday Artwalk, which runs from 5 to 9 p.m. at Uptown venues. He uses mostly saws, chisels and planes – nothing too cutting-edge to create his pieces. “I like the old-style stuff,” he said. To support his artist’s habit, Bressette runs a window cleaning service.

Haverhill responds to refugee crisis with donations: The people of Haverhill are responding to the refugee crisis with donations of blankets, clothes and food. The response has been organised by window cleaner Bryan Johnson, 40, who put out a call for donations on Facebook and is storing everything he collects in his spare room. Mr Johnson, who lives in Gannet Close, said: "The response has been absolutely fantastic. It's really brought out the best in the town. There have been people that wanted to help but didn't have an avenue. It's a chance for people to help."

He had the idea for the collection on Sunday, and by Tuesday he already had thirty bags of donations, half-filling his spare room. His friend Adam Mepham is going to be driving the donations down to a collection centre in Kent. From there, the donations from people in Haverhill will be taken across the channel and distributed in Calais.

Mr Johnson said: "Obviously everyone was massively affected by coverage of children washed up on beaches. I have been following the situation for years if not months and I though as a nation if we are prepared to go in and take military action in these countries we should also be prepared to mop up the mess. I had the time to help in some way and that's what I'm doing."

He is also planning on organising a fundraising evening a Bar Vu in Haverhill towards the end of October. He has organised lighting, DJs and venue hire for free, so all money raised from entrance fees at the event will go directly towards helping people. The proceeds of the planned October event will go either to a French charity working on the ground in Calais, or towards buying more donations to send out. Mr Johnson is still looking for help with security, and for more donations. What is needed in particular, he says, is camping equipment such as tarpaulins, sleeping bags, tents and candles.

Extreme weather may be the new normal - Lawn-care companies, window-washers, car-wash operations and many other water-dependent businesses have suffered and/or cancelled much-needed jobs. Now, it seems we have two options: Remain optimistic, “Stay Calm and Carry On” on as though this summer was merely a blip or, plan for the worst even while hoping for something better for 2016.

What I’d like to see is for all municipalities in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley (perhaps even Union of B.C. Municipalities) to form expert advisory committees to develop a plan of action based on the assumption that rain and snow events will continue at below normal levels.

If that could be done, it is essential for members of the public to be involved — because the necessary changes will not succeed unless regulators can achieve a high level of cooperation from their communities.

In his closing remarks to me, Patzert said, “You are living in a warmer world and should expect punier snow-packs … plan for less snowpack in the future. This will change how you manage your water in British Columbia — forever.” “In summary,” he said, “I suggest you change your water lifestyles. Water and energy conservation should be permanent because, as Yogi Bera said, ‘the future ain’t what it used to be.’ ”

Saving water means turning tap on change; Most people do not understand the relationship between water used on a daily basis for bathing, washing and drinks versus water consumed through food habits. What if I told you that 92% of the water we use is in food production?  In total, we need over three million litres of water for producing 200 kilograms of boneless beef. This means that to produce one kilogram of boneless beef, we need 15,500 litres of water. For those lunch pub crowd employees, did you know it’s around 2,400 litres for just one hamburger?

The solution is simple. Encourage employees to change their consumption habits to vegetarian or vegan foodstuffs for either breakfast or lunch. Whether it’s one meal a day or three meals a week, every time we switch to a vegan or vegetarian meal we are conserving more water than we would with any other solution. Companies do not have to change their respective manufacturing or distribution processes. The amount of water used in these processes overall is insignificant compared to the amount used for our daily food choices – meat- or plant-based.

We developed our food line in order to provide rich, dense, plant-based whole foods specifically to battle environmental degradation caused by our industrial food complex and to enable greater health.

If we don’t change what we eat some of the time, we will all run out of water. It’s not sustainable, our current system.

Due to ongoing hot and dry weather and the associated high water demand, Metro Vancouver has implemented the third stage of water-use restrictions, prohibiting the sprinkling of all lawns and residential gardens, pool refilling and non-commercial washing of vehicles and boats. Reducing our water consumption is necessary to ensure we’ll have enough water for use in our homes and businesses and for critical community needs like firefighting through the rest of summer and into the fall.

We understand that water restrictions affect businesses, particularly those that depend upon outdoor water use like pressure washing, window cleaning, landscaping and pool services. We also understand that Metro Vancouver residents and businesses want to do the right thing and conserve water. Our restrictions are designed to address the biggest summer water consumers while minimizing effects on businesses.

Although now is a critical time, businesses can conserve water year-round by using low-flow fixtures, repairing leaks and designing their operations to use less water. For companies that use large amounts of water, conservation can save money as well.

Understanding Window U-Factor: Windows account for 40 percent of a building’s energy loss, and with energy costs and public demand for efficient buildings on the rise, using proven tactics to lessen this loss has become more important than ever.

Finding the best materials to contribute to a building’s performance targets is essential, but knowing which products will actually shrink the envelope’s energy footprint can be daunting. When it comes to windows, U-factor is a key figure to consider and comes standard on all National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) labels.

U-factor indicates how much energy will be lost from a building through its windows by specifying how many BTUs can pass through one square foot of material in an hour. Most windows today have U-factors between 0.15 and 1.20, which NFRC-certified labs calculate using thermal measurements from the center and edges of the glass, the frame and along any dividers the window may have. In other words, whole product performance. The different measurements capture the total impact of the numerous components of a window, including glazing, gas fills, spacers, frames, weather stripping and sealants.

When considering a fenestration product, “window shoppers” should look for the NFRC label, which provides U-factor data, along with information for solar heat gain, visible transmittance and air leakage.

Like the miles-per-gallon sticker on a car, the NFRC label – which can be affixed to the glass of all certified residential products or on a separate label certificate in the case of products in commercial applications – gives reliable, unbiased performance data to help architects, builders and even homeowners determine whether a product will meet their energy efficiency needs.

While NFRC does not recommend target U-factor values, the Efficient Windows Collaborative gives suggested thresholds based on climate zones:

·Northern states: 0.35 or less

·North Central or South Central states: 0.40 or less

·Southern states: 0.60 or less

The ENERGY STAR® program, which relies on NFRC ratings to determine product eligibility, uses even stricter limits:

·Northern, North Central and South Central states: 0.30 or less

·Southern states: 0.40 or less.

Since NFRC began rating fenestration products more than 25 years ago, the program has helped to foster a 50 percent reduction in the average U-factor of certified products, a trend that has helped lower U.S. per-capita energy consumption to pre-1970 levels. As state and federal energy policies and building codes evolve, window manufacturers and builders will continue to find innovative solutions to curb window energy loss, helping to save Americans some of the $40 billion lost each year – and to significantly reduce the production of associated greenhouse gas emissions. For more information about U-factor and window energy performance, go here.

Darth Vader, Batman and friends clean windows and visit kids at Randall Children's Hospital: Superheroes and Star Wars characters personified by Millennium Building Services window washers join forces; descend nine stories at Randall Children's Hospital and give the pediatric hospital patients, their families and hospital staff an amazing experience when they mashup to clean the windows. As the workers passed the 4th floor, music was turned on and everyone in the room broke out in dance.

Window-washers can be heroes, too: On Monday morning, some of the patients at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital were clambering around the windows, all trying to catch a glimpse, and a photo, of the window-washers. These weren’t ordinary glass cleaners though; they were superheroes. Thor, Captain America, Spider-Man and Catwoman all paid a visit to the children’s hospital to wash the windows, but also to brighten the day for the young patients. Lowering themselves in front of the windows on ropes suspended from the roof, the costumed cleaners stopped outside the play rooms of the hospital long enough for pictures with the children and nurses inside, and of course, long enough to clean the windows.

As they lowered themselves down the building, the children inside were giving shrieks of excitement.

“It’s cool, it’s something for the kids,” said Jillian Gellert, whose 8-year-old daughter, Chloe Plummer, got a picture inside the hospital with a costumed Thor. “It maybe lets them forget for a little while that they’re here and they’re sick.” Thor, who goes by Ernest Eulenfeld when he’s not in costume, said washing windows for Sky Clean Inc. as a superhero is the best job he’s ever had. “To dress as the superheroes just brings it to a whole new level,” he said. “[The kids] see that, and it’s just awesome.” “When we do hospitals and stuff like this, the children stand at the windows and watch us just forever, it’s almost like they follow us from floor to floor,” Eulenfeld said. “I think they would if they could.”

Emma Hatcher, a 7-year-old patient at the hospital, said she was glad to see her favorite heroine, Catwoman. “She’s a cat and I like cats,” she said. The window washers were even popular with people on the street, with some drivers rolling down their windows to yell, clap and cheer on the heroes, said Michael Priestap, director of environmental services at the hospital. “The children’s faces were just lit up, they were just enjoying themselves so much,” he said. “We’re glad we’re able to bring a little smile to their face and joy to their life.”

Superheroes swing by Brenner Children’s Hospital: Young patients being treated at Brenner Children’s Hospital, the pediatric arm of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, received a surprise visit outside their hospital windows on one recent morning. Some of their favorite superheroes dropped by to encourage them while they received care at Brenner Children’s.

The superheroes are window washers by trade, but they took time out from washing windows to entertain the children by rappelling off the roof of the hospital down to the children’s floor. Scottie’s commercial window cleaners of Charlotte provides outside window washing services for the Medical Center. The crew spent the week washing all of the outside windows. The company provides the superhero treatment to children’s hospitals in the region.

Window washers from ISS Facility Services Inc. dressed as superheroes and rappelled the side of Saint Marys Hospital on Wednesday, much to the delight of children and their parents. The superheroes then came inside to entertain the kids and take photos. Superman is Alex Opstad, Spiderman is John Carroll, Batman is Roger Corcoran, Ironman is Sean Kraft, and Hulk is Shane Kraft.

Hershey Children’s Hospital received some super surprise visitors last week — Batman, Captain America, Spiderman, and Superman. The young onlookers could view the superheroes through the windows inside or from the front lawn. The special day, which marked the third annual appearance of the superheroes at the hospital, was a huge success. As the superheroes climbed down the building and reached the ground, they were surrounded by a waiting crowd before talking with the children and families and taking photos. Some reacted with tears and others with laughter, but either way the day brought everyone great joy.

“They’ve got to wake up each day and fight for their lives,” said Captain America, known by day as Michael DeJesus. “Today’s a day they forget about being in the hospital. It’s a small party just for them.” When the four superheroes are not busy fighting crime and saving others, they work as window washers for Northeastern Building Maintenance of Harrisburg. Their annual visit is coordinated by Penn State Hershey’s Child Life Program and Facilities Department and always provides an exciting day for children who have their own tough battles to fight.

<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--mdoouqvhn0/VfGrXi81PCI/AAAAAAAAngs/X9k5DsIVXbA/s1600/Xpic004.jpg" ima

Show more