Shop With A Cop McHenry party offers a great time for a great cause at VFW Saturday

There’s a party going on at 6 p.m. this Saturday, Nov. 21, at the McHenry VFW, 3002 Route 120, a quarter mile east of the Fox River. Party goers are guaranteed a good time that includes food, music, prizes and auctions. They’re also promised to come away with a warm sense of having done something for those less fortunate.

The event is the Shop With A Cop Party – an annual fundraiser hosted by MC3, a McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce business networking group. The networking group supports McHenry County Police Charities by raising funds so that police officers can take children from disadvantaged families shopping.

A police officer will arrive, in a squad car, to pick up a child, or siblings, for a one-on-one shopping experience. Each child receives $150, along with a winter coat, hat, boots and gloves. The officer will then take the child to Meijers, on Route 31 in McHenry, where the two of them will go down the aisles as the child picks out presents.

“I’ve heard that, often, the kids are picking out presents for their families – the parents, brothers and sisters,” said Bill Thomas, the owner of Northern Illinois Windows. “The police officer has to remind them to get something for themselves.”

Thomas, a long-time member of MC3, said he’s been involved with Shop With A Cop for several years. The party, he said, is a great time supporting a great cause.

In the past, the party ran from 5 to 8 p.m . on a Thursday night. This year, however, the group moved the event to a Saturday in the hopes of raising more than the approximately $14,000 they’ve raised the last several years. To increase the draw to the event, locally renowned band Hans and the Hormones will play at the event this year.

Musical entertainment will also include a performance by the Johnsburg High School Madrigal Choir singing Christmas and holiday songs while dressed in Victorian outfits.

Beyond the music, the event will offer table after table of raffle items, more tables with silent auction items and other live auction items. This year, the live auction items include an African safari.

There will be food and a cash bar.

Cleaning leaves from Northern Illinois gutters - how could something so incredibly beautiful be such a terrible pain in the neck?

Sure those leaves are beautiful in Northern Illinois, but that doesn't
make it any safer when someone has to climb a ladder
to clean the leaves out of the gutters.

For many Northern Illinois residents, autumn is their favorite season. The weather in Northern Illinois is generally cool but not too cold. The bugs are generally less prevalent and, above all, the leaves are incredible. People check for the optimal times to take trips where they can see the fall colors in their full splendor. The autumn colors are a wonder of the world. They are beautiful beyond words. And yet, those beautiful leaves are also a major pain in the neck.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the leaves were brightly colored with reds, yellows, oranges, browns and greens the year round – that they never fell from the trees? But, here in Northern Illinois, they do fall and when they fall they create a mess for homeowners and businesses. There’s all that raking. But the leaves don’t just fall on the ground.

When the autumn leaves fall, they don’t just land on the ground. Any obstacle between the branches and the ground is a potential resting place for falling leaves. That includes buildings – homes and businesses. With wind and rain, the leaves work their way down from the roof and into the gutters.

Think about it. If a modest home has a roof area of 2,000 square feet (50 X 40), that’s the equivalent of a small yard’s worth of leaves waiting to work their way into the gutters. Yes, some will blow over, particularly when the gutters and full and bulging with leaves. In no time at all, the gutters are busting at the seams with leaves.

A gutter full of leaves is a gutter that doesn’t work. Working, a gutter moves water from the roof through downspouts and away from the home or office. Full of leaves, a gutter is completely useless. If you’ve ever seen a home without gutters, you’ve seen how the water spills directly off the roof digging a small ditch line around the structure.

Without gutters, the water builds up in the wrong area and, once frozen later in the next season, presents a serious hazard with the potential to cause falls. The water also has the potential to work its way into the basement of the building.

More than just creating a situation where the gutters don’t work properly, when the gutters are full of leaves, ice and snow build up on top of the gutters. The weight can cause the gutters to break. This presents another hazard and an expense.

Without gutters, the roof will also create an army of icicles, all in a row. This is another falling hazard.

The solution is to clean the gutters every fall. It’s a good idea to wait until the leaves have fallen but, once they have, it’s time to make sure the gutters can do their intended job.

You can clean the gutters yourself but safety is a big factor. It requires working off a ladder and, to some degree, reaching out from the sides of the ladder into the gutter. It’s a messy and hazardous job. Better yet, why not just hire someone to clean the gutters for you?

If you do opt on having someone else clean your gutters, be sure to hire someone who knows what they’re doing – they’ve done it before. Also, and this is essential, make sure they’re insured. The risk of a fall is all the greater with some novices doing the work. But, either way, you want to make sure that, if someone does fall when cleaning your gutters, they don’t leave you holding the bag.

What’s all this mumbo-jumbo about the water to use for washing windows?

Have you ever heard someone say, “I sure get a charge out of washing windows?” Probably not. It’s more likely you’ve heard someone say, “… but I don’t do windows.”

Frankly, window washing is a pain. You can try to do everything right and still you have streaks, you miss spots and you leave lint on the glass. In a word, it’s ‘frustrating.’

This is one of the big reasons that many prefer hiring a professional to wash their windows. There’s no hassle; they come out and, in a relatively short amount of time, the windows are clean and they’re leaving. Of course, that assumes a true professional window-washing company was hired, not just someone with a bucket and a squeegee.

You find yourself wondering, how could they do such a good job in such a short amount of time? Well, they’re professionals. They’ve cleaned windows before. They know how to do the job and how to do it right. One reason they don’t struggle is they use the proper implements for cleaning windows.

One of their tricks, which you’ll like to know if you’re determined to wash your own windows, is the type of water they use. The water they use is de-ionized water.

De-ionized water has undergone a chemical process that replaces minerals that have partially dissolved in the water with hydrogen and hydroxide ions. Those ions combine and produce, well, water.

Why Is The Water So Important?

Water that isn’t de-ionized is apt to contain a number of elements – elements you’ve liable to find stuck to the windows when the water dries. This condition is most common with hard water.

Water hardness is determined by measuring the level of positively charged multivalent cations in the water. Yeah, that’s a bit technical. Suffice it to say that hard water can contain dissolved minerals, such as calcite and gypsum. It can also contain dolomite, a magnesium mineral that includes calcium.

There is more than one type of water hardness. One type is what the ambiguous ‘they’ call temporary hardness. This occurs when the water contains dissolved bicarbonate minerals – calcium bicarbonate and magnesium bicarbonate. Boiling water with temporary hardness can reduce the minerals in the water. Lime (calcium hydroxide) can also reduce temporary hardness.

Boling won’t help with water that ‘they’ say has ‘permanent hardness.’ I this case, the water usually contains calcium sulfates and/or magnesium sulfates.

What’s the lowdown on all this mumbo-jumbo?

What all this mumbo-jumbo means is that, if you wash your windows without the right water, it’s not surprising if you find the experience frustrating. With the wrong water, you’d have a better chance of getting your windows clean if you washed them with dirty engine oil.

Of course, you don’t have to worry about water hardness, calcium, magnesium, or whether you’ll need a sodium bicarbonate to relieve that pain washing the windows yourself; just call a professional and find something more relaxing to do while they make your windows shine.

Security in the shade with 3M window film in the Chicago area

3M window film is a wonderful thing. It can cut the glare of the sun. It even blocks 99.9 percent of the sun’s ultra-violet rays. Those UV rays will bleach out your carpet, furnishings and, if you own a business, your display products before you know it. The damage the sun can do is far more significant than you might imagine. But, 3M window film will do more than that.

3M window film also offers significant benefits in terms of security

Take a hammer to a window and the outcome is quite predictable. One swing of the hammer and the glass will almost assuredly shatter into hundreds of pieces. But, with 3M window film, the glass may break but the pieces will hold together. The hammer-wielding assailant will have to really work at it to make their way through the glass.

In other words, glass won’t keep someone out indefinitely, but it will slow them down. This will give you time to react. You’ll almost assuredly hear them pounding on the window. Then, you can call the police or otherwise prepare yourself to respond to their intentions, whatever those intentions might be.

When the window fails to shatter easily into pieces, it generally comes as a surprise to the person with the hammer. It’s a little bit disconcerting.

On the one hand, their plan isn’t going according to hoyle. In the midst of that frustration, they suddenly realize that they’re no longer moving obscurely in the shadows. They’ve blown their cover. Now they have to work fast. But, that darn window continues to spoil their plans. Sure, they’ll work their way through but, by then, there is a good chance the police are on their way. And those inside have the necessary warning to prepare an appropriate reception.

The security benefits of 3M window film go beyond interfering with the plans of intruders; it also restrains the glass in the case of severe winds or explosions.

During WWII, shop owners in England put tape on their windows in an effort to hold the glass together if a German bomb fell nearby during the Battle of Britain. People in the path of hurricanes understand the same principle.

In Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin, the biggest risk of shattering glass is a tornado. The tornado might blow the glass out of the window frame but not the way it would without 3M window film. When glass is shattered by an explosion, hurricane or tornado, it shatters and flies through the air as though it were hundreds of razor blades. People nearby are cut to shreds.

While a tornado is not likely to come down your street and, hopefully, a bomb is far less likely, if any of these do occur, 3M window film can make a world of difference. Whether the glass shatters as a result of a natural occurrence, or a man-made assault, 3M window film can make a life-saving difference.

Once a lot of fun, Maple-seed ‘helicopters’ clog your gutters

Peaking over the edge of this gutter are 'helicopter' Maple seeds that have clogged the gutter. Once they were fun, now they're more of a nuisance. 

Oh, when we were young we loved them. We’d pick them up from the ground and toss them in the air then step back and watch them spiral to the ground. Of course, there was a technique. If you threw them wrong, they tended to drop like rocks. They needed to reach their apex flat and horizontal to the ground. If you threw them up just right, they would spiral slowly to the ground.

We called them ‘helicopters’ but they’re actually seeds from Maple trees. As adults, we don’t always find them as enjoyable as we once did. The density in which they fall varies from year to year. Some years, such as this, they come down heavy.

Whether they come down heavy, or not so heavy, they’re a nuisance. They cover the grass so that, when you cut the lawn, they leave trails in the grass behind. You’ll also find them all over the pavement. You’ll see neighbors out sweeping them off the sidewalks and walkways. But, worse of all is what they do to the gutters.

Filled to the brim, the gutters ravenously collect those twirling ‘helicopters.’ Then, when the rains come, the ‘helicopters’ wash into the downspouts and clog. Suddenly, the water has nowhere to go. It backs up and pours over the leading edge.

If left that way, not only will the gutters fail to function, but the ‘helicopters’ will begin to decompose into a thick and sticky mass.

The solution is to get up there and clean the ‘helicopters’ out of the gutters. Then, it’s advisable to push a hose into the downspout and flush the helicopters out.

Yes, it’s a hassle. But, the hassle it will create over time is much worse. And the good news is that, if you clean them now, there’s little to worry about until the leaves fall in the autumn.

Probably the best way to deal with the hassle of ‘helicopters’ falling into your gutters is to let a professional do the job. This way, you avoid the messy job of cleaning them out of the gutters and, better yet, the hazard of climbing a ladder to do the job. That’s also why it’s important to hire a company that is insured to do the job. You don’t want the hassle of the medical bills if a worker alls from the ladder, too.

So, let someone else clean the ‘helicopters’ out of your gutters. And, just to reminisce, toss a ‘helicopter’ or two into the air to see if you still have the technique.

Clean your windows in March and save 15 percent

Print this ad, or just mention the ad to claim your 15% discount.

If you look out the window right now, you may find it hard to believe that Spring is coming. It is and it’s not too far away. We could still get some rough weather but, Daylight Savings is around the corner, the days will grow longer and the cold will grow shorter. And then, a lot of people will switch into Spring-Cleaning mode.

Inevitably, Spring Cleaning includes what many consider an unsavory chore – washing windows. Fortunately, Northern Illinois Windows is available to spare them the aggravation and drudgery of window cleaning. More than that, the window cleaners at NIW know how to do the job quickly and right.

Since April is always a crazy time for window cleaners, Northern Illinois Windows is offering an Early Bird Window Cleaning Special for home owners. Have your windows cleaned in March, pay with a cash or check, and you’ll receive a 15-percent discount.

Yes, NIW cleans windows in the cold. Their window cleaners will go through wind and snow to clean your windows. They’ll clean your windows down to zero degrees. And, most importantly, they’ll leave them streak free and clean.

Imagine how nice it will be to start your Spring Cleaning and your windows are clean already.

To schedule a window cleaning, call 815-385-6646. To learn more about Northern Illinois Windows, visit www.niwservice.com.

Woodstock Eye Care applies 3M Kryptonite to windows to protect glass frames

In the summer, you can almost feel the sun blazing through the windows and burning the color out of the products you have on display. At least you don’t have to worry about that during the winter. Wrong.

Even when it’s well below zero outside, when the sun shines in the window, those ultra-violet rays are at work draining the color out of everything in their path. There are exceptions but that’s only when someone has taken precautions. One such exception is at Woodstock Eye Care, 591 South Eastwood Drive (Route 47), Woodstock.

The optometrists at Woodstock Eye Care are joining that wise group of business owners who laugh in the face of UV rays. How can they act so carefree in spite of the relentless assault from the rays of the sun? The answer is simple – they have some Kryptonite.

Woodstock Eye Care provides the highest quality products, including eyeglasses, contacts, optical supplements, sports vision and more. They are specialists in providing the best eye care experience for patients of all ages and treating many different eye conditions, such as myopia, astigmatisms and presbyopia.

In the windows up front and along the side of the building are display racks with a wide range of frames. The problem is that they noticed the sun was doing a number on the display frames. Frames that were once dark or full of color are increasingly gray and faded.

That’s why they called in window experts to provide some Kryptonite. Against the UV rays of the sun, Kryptonite is called UV resistant window film. Their concern was that they would have to apply a heavily tinted film in order to block enough UV rays to make a difference. They were happy to hear that’s not the case.

The industry leading manufacturer of window film is 3M. Their film blocks 99.9 percent of the sun’s UV rays and it doesn’t matter if it’s a deeply tinted Night Vision film or the Neutral 70 film Woodstock Eye Care has chosen – they all block the UV rays the same.

With the 3M Neutral 70 film, prospective clients driving by on Route 47 can still see the frames in the window. Now, however, those frames will last and last with virtually no negative effects from the sun.

To contact Woodstock Eye Care, call (815) 338-0107.

With a couple adjustments, window cleaners keep windows clean in the winter, too

Window cleaners use water to clean windows. No problem – a bucket of water, some soap, a sponge and a squeegee is all they need, right? But what about winter?

In the winter, when temperatures drop, water tends to freeze outside. Window cleaners either have to stop cleaning windows or they need to make some kind of adjustment.

At Northern Illinois Windows, they mix windshield washer solvent with the water. The colder the weather, the more solvent they use. If it’s not so cold, they just use a solution with a little less solvent.

Other window washing companies may use ethanol or even alcohol racing fuel in the winter to avoid the bucket-of-frozen-water syndrome. Whatever they use, they all have one thing in common; when the temperature drops below zero degree Fahrenheit, there’s not much they can do. Even these mixtures and elements begin to thicken when the air is that cold.

Of course, another aspect of washing windows in the winter is the effects of the elements on the window cleaners themselves. The colder it is, the more they need to bundle up. As a result, their physical movement is hampered somewhat. It can slow the process.

For a professional window cleaner, they’re generally good enough at what they do tha they can clean your windows without getting the water (or whatever is in the bucket) all over themselves. That’s a bit tricky but it’s something they learn after doing the job for a while.

When the temperature gets cold, it’s a really good idea not to get wet out there. A wet window cleaner is liable to be a sick window cleaner the next day.

Many people don’t even think about the idea of someone washing their windows in the winter; they assume the cold brings the process to a halt. That’s not the case. It merely requires appropriate accommodations.

Regardless of the temperature, as long as it’s above zero, Bill Thomas, the owner of Northern Illinois Windows, said his window cleaning technicians are able to do the same quality work. They still get those windows clean.