Beautiful building, beautiful couple, but . . .

This afternoon the love of my life and I attended a wedding in Athens, GA. The location was a chapel, rather than a church, and it was beautiful. Well, let me be a little more clear, the wedding ceremony was beautiful, and so was the bride, but if I may be so bold, I am referring to the building itself. The building was created from wood and stone native to Georgia. Top quality craftsmanship was evident and the emotion I felt simply from being inside the chapel made me feel close to heaven. The windows were not clean.

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Oops, did I say that out loud? It seems that all of the air just got sucked out of the room. Guess I have some explaining to do.

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The windows were structurally appealing. Nonetheless cobwebs, smudges, and that almost foggy look that windows get when not maintained regularly were evident. I am a fan of wasp nests as much as the next guy but the largest wasp nest I have ever seen was outside of the window calling my name and distracting me during the service. The wedding service went off without a hitch. However, now I feel obliged to figure out with whom to speak and offer to help this chapel maintain the look and cleanliness of the windows.

Private Gallery - New women's store in Athens

A few months ago Athens got a new women's clothing store on Clayton Street. In the space previously occupied by a shop called Mary, Private Gallery opened. Fran Hughes is the manager. This link is the writeup from the Athens Banner Herald article.

http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/041110/bus_604493607.shtml

The cobbler's children have no shoes

Early on in my business I sat down with a VP at a chain of banks in this region. Scant minutes into our conversation she stopped me and said . . . "I'm sorry (to interrupt) but I have to ask you this." I replied, "Absolutely. What is it?" To which she voiced "Are your windows at home clean?"

Now, I know I need to work on my poker face, but this comment came out of left field somewhere and whapped me right in the middle of my chest. All I could do in this stunned moment was make the best of it. I just smiled, hung my head in shame and implored, "Oh, please don't look at the windows at my house. My wife would love it if I would do our windows, but right now they are pretty disgusting."

I used to hear my parents use the old adage "The cobbler's children have no shoes". Now I am living proof. In case you need extra convincing just look at the auto mechanic's personal cars. Do they run well? Probably not. What about the house painter? Bet you his home needs paint on the inside and out.

Yep, I should probably hire someone to clean my windows at home. Of course, the best window cleaner I know is enjoying a rather tight schedule these days and I'll just bet I can't get my house on his list . . . at least not yet.

Six truisms about tape on your windows

When hanging a sign or announcement on your business windows here are a six things to keep in mind.

1. Less is more. Use only as much tape as you need. I know it is fun to completely seal a piece of paper onto a window such that it will withstand an alien invasion, but perhaps using a couple of small pieces of tape will suffice.
2. If the tape is strong enough to rip off your skin . . . you might want to think twice using it on your windows. Duct tape, packing tape, and stranded tape have very strong adhesives. Try to keep them away from your windows. 
3. Masking tape is better than strong adhesive tape, but it still leaves a heavy residue. Actually it is not too hard to clean off, but it is messy enough that you may want to choose a different kind of tape.

This is the window of one of the Downtown Athens restaurants we clean . . . covered with event flyers and tape.
4. Never use tape on windows with an adhesive tint. The tape adheres too well, and you can't scrape it off the tint without damaging it. (See this blog posting from April, 2010 on "4 things to keep in mind when considering tinting your windows" for further explanation.)
5. Whenever possible use suction cups and/or a clear plastic sheath to hold your sign.
6. Use a clear and mildly adhesive tape, like Scotch tape, when needed. It is still not super easy to get off, but it seems to be an acceptable alternative.

If you have other ideas that work share them here with others.

The Royal Peasant

First of all let me say that I love the name, The Royal Peasant. The juxtaposition of those two words makes me laugh.

Secondly, it is the name of a pub in Five Points on Lumpkin St. in Athens. You may or may not know that I lived in London, England for a while in the early '90s. In this comfortable locale surrounded by British paraphernalia and football on the telly (sure you can call it soccer, but this is my memory) I felt transported back to a little part of London that I knew well.

On a recent date with the Hardwick Window Cleaning scheduler, accountant, and mother of my children we visited the Royal Peasant. The food was great. I had fish and chips (how did you guess?). The fish tasted authentic and I can't recall eating chips that were tastier. My wife had the special, a burger with bleu cheese and bacon that was simply amazing.

On the wall is a map of the London Underground - the subway system commonly referred to as the Tube. On the map I showed Michael White, the proprietor, where I used to live between Earlsfield and Wandsworth proper. To get around the city I often walked to the Wimbledon Tube station at the end of the District Line.

I could go on and tell other memories . . . but a better idea is for you to head over to the Royal Peasant and try it out. Take a friend - or three - soak in the snugness - tell Michael I said "awright".

Want to make more on your home sale?

Realtors and home owners. Check out this blog post from last September. Talk about return on investment!

http://hardwickwindowcleaning.blogspot.com/2009/09/want-to-make-more-on-your-home-sale.html

"Wow. I wasn't expecting that!"

I love the excitement my clients show when their windows are newly cleaned.

"I was coming back from the mailbox and my windows were so shiny." This was uttered by a local doctor, and her inside windows had yet to be cleaned.

Truth be told, there is something special about newly cleaned windows. For example, you can see the difference between the windows at Trappeze Pub on Washington St. in Athens, GA and other restaurants on the same street. Check it out any time.

We clean Trappeze every week. Some of the other restaurants downtown are cleaned less often or simply 'not regularly'. ("Not regularly" is my attempt to be kind. My Mom said "If you can't say something nice . . . ")

Another time the owners of Appointments at Five in Athens said they were surprised when they turned into the driveway and looked at their newly cleaned windows for the first time. One of the owners told me later that as they pulled into the driveway she exclaimed "Wow! They look great."

(I took the pic of Trappeze (above). The Appointments at Five pic came from their Facebook page.)

Hardwick Window Cleaning's clients are the best. Comments like these are not unusual. We'll keep wowing you. Thanks for the smiles.

The Two Bucket Method (Pollen Post 2)

Normally windows are cleaned using a single bucket of water. "So", you ask, "What is the two bucket method and why should I care". It is a window cleaning technique used when the windows are very dirty - like a few weeks ago when the pollen was thick, or on a home or business with windows that haven't been cleaned in over a year.

The tools involved are the two buckets and a wetter. A wetter is a long scrubber used to wipe the window to remove dirt and debris.

1. The first bucket is the rinse. The wetter goes to the window then back into this bucket where it is wrung out a few times by hand. Then the wetter is placed in the second bucket.
2. Bucket number two is the "clean" bucket. It is this water that is washed onto the windows and squeegeed off. So the whole process looks like this:
• Wipe off the windows
• Rinse the wetter
• Put the wetter in clean water
• Wash the window again.

We don't need to use the two bucket method very often. Regularly cleaned windows shouldn't get dirty enough to require it. A couple of weeks ago the pollen was so heavy that we not only used the two bucket method, but we used a three step process where bucket #1 (the rinse) was used to give an initial scrubbing to wash the bulk of the pollen off the first, #2 was the rinse to get the rest of the gunk off, #3 was the clean bucket after which window was squeegeed. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

Pollen, Pollen, Everywhere (Pollen Post 1)

I was talking with a new business owner last week. He told me about the restaurant he is opening soon in Athens. It seems that while getting their space ready to house the restaurant they were painting the exterior of the building. It just happened that the painting was done a few weeks ago . . . . during the worst of the pollen this year. The business owner said that they are now the ultimate green business; how much more natural can you get than mixing pollen with your paint?

"Rainy Night In Georgia"

It is raining again in Georgia and I am reminded of all the great songs that mention the state of Georgia.

• Rainy Night in Georgia (Ray Charles) 
• Georgia On My Mind (Ray Charles solo or Ray Charles with Willie Nelson)
• Midnight Train To Georgia (Gladys Knight and the Pips)
• Devil Went Down To Georgia (Charlie Daniels Band)
• Sweet Georgia Brown (A jazz standard with no lyrics. Used by the Harlem Globetrotters.)
• Why Georgia (John Mayer)
• Georgia Bound (Blind Blake)
• Georgia On A Fast Train (Billy Joe Shaver)

Got any other ideas?