Well, the spring looks to be fighting its way through the murk, and hopefully everyone has come out relatively unscathed.  I actually cleaned some gutters last week, after my usual month of next-to-nothing.  Calls are coming in, the sun is showing up here and there.  Time to strap the corkers on, I guess.  Happy almost Spring!

I still have to take down numerous strands of lights.  This year was not without its challenges- more than a few strands blew, and there were no similar replacements, since everyone is going LED now, so I had to somehow tastefully mix and match icicles with non.  Anyhow, it sure looks great when it’s done, and it’s kinda sad to see ‘em go.  But there’s always next year.  And the year after.  And…

This is the time of year when you think, “Man my windows are filthy.  But it’s raining out, and it will keep on raining for another 5 months… why would I want to get my windows cleaned?  Oh yeah, my in-laws are coming, and I don’t want them to see what a slob I really am…”.  Tough choice.  Maybe it would be better to just pull the blinds?  Of course, if you have a really nice view that completes your holiday experience in that special way…

Boy, so it froze last week, and now it’s pouring, and I need to get out and catch up with all the gutter jobs I had to put off.  Luckily I’m not on any strict schedule with these gutters, so I can hang out for a little bit and…  type this up.

There’s a first time for everything…  yesterday (and I don’t know why it never happened before) I was mopping the windows (putting water on them) and the water froze as soon as it hit the glass.  Happened the day before, too.  I had to scrape it off and relocate to a sunnier side of the house!  I also had to put off all my gutter cleaning jobs this week due to the moss-cicles in everyone’s gutters.

Man, some days it’s sunny, some days it’s rainy, some days it’s hail…  some days all of those things happen all in the space of a few minutes.  I was out finishing a job the other day when it suddenly poured about a ton of melty ice balls the size of road salt on me… and then the most beautiful sunset I’ve seen in a while popped out from the clouds… and i had left my new camera at home.  Oh well, maybe next time.

I had a great little vindication the other day.  One of my friends/clients was under the impression I was charging too much, and had actually gone to another cleaner to get his windows done.  To be honest, I sometimes wonder if I’m charging too much, and then I compare my prices to other companies I’ve worked with, and mine are always lower, sometimes much.  Well, this time I asked him how much this other company had charged.  Were they cheaper?  I always encourage people to shop around if they want to.  He said yeah, they charged him $2100.

Now, I don’t know if he had forgotten how much I charged or what.  He was just a little concerned that I had charged him $900 for 12 hours worth of work.  The thing is, I don’t charge by the hour, I charge by the job, and I’m very quick- I’ve always been the fastest cleaner when I’ve worked for other companies.  When other guys have worked for me, their hourly wage was considerably less.

Anyhow, the thing is, I clean his entire place in 12 hours… that is, I charge him $900 for the whole job.  Thinking he was getting gouged he went and hired someone else -who gouged him big time- to the tune of $2100.  They did clean 3 chandeliers also, but I guarantee you there weren’t $1200 worth of chandeliers in that place.  Maybe 5-600.

I was glad to find out that I am still charging less than most other folks out there (that is, most folks who aren’t just walking around with a bucket and a gas station squeegee, are not insured, licensed, etc.), but still making a living wage.  And that I’m also still doing better work (he also said the guy left streaks, water drops, and didn’t clean the sills).

Boy, sometimes I wonder how we squeegee slingers here in the Northwest get anything done.  Is it ever going to stop blowing at 70 miles an hour?  Hellacious, snow-filled downpours?  I guess that’s what makes life exciting, but a little too exciting for me, sometimes.  Today, whilst putting up some holiday lights, I watched a giant black blanket of stormcloud block out a shiny, sunny sky.  Impressive, beautiful, huge…  wet.  I just barely got done before the wind came up and the rain came down.  I’m glad to be home.

Well, it’s winter here in the Northwest.  Officially, that is, even though it can seem like winter all year around depending on which day you stick your head out the window (or which hour.  Or minute.)  There was even a bit of snow out there today.  I knew it was cold.

Are your gutters clean?  I’m sure you know all the nasty stuff that can happen when they’re not: flooded basement, water damaged walls and ceiling, etc. etc.  Depending on what kinds of trees you have, the gutter guard systems may work for you, or they may turn into a real headache, year after year.  I’ve seen many that have 3 inches of moss growing underneath the caps, and if you’re just using removable mesh, remember you’ll be paying the gutter guy extra to remove it every couple years to get the stuff that inevitably gets through.  Or maybe you’ll get lucky.  Do your research.

Happy winter!

-Dan

Okay, so you’re not going to be doing any grilling anytime soon, but I have a very selfish request on behalf of window cleaners everywhere:  could you put your grill somewhere away from your windows?  Greasy windows are a pain.  Sure, that’s what we get paid for, but…  I don’t know…  maybe I’m asking too much.  It’s just something I think about.  Oh, never mind.

Cheers!