How does the Yin and the Yang apply to window cleaning?

A wise man once said, “There are two sides to the universe. One side has dirty windows and the other side clean. This is the Yin and the Yang of window cleaning.”

Actually, I don’t know how wise he was. I was in a coffee shop and the two guys at the next table were playing chess. I just happened to overhear their conversation. My first thought was that he was joking. But, as I thought about it, it occurred to me, maybe he wasn’t too far off.

The Yin and the Yang are concepts of Taoism. The idea, as described in the Website www.personaltao.com, is that the Yin and the Yang have “Two halves that together complete wholeness.” We’re all familiar with the symbols of the Yin and the Yang. But, if the chess player in the coffee shop was serious, how could he think that the Yin and the Yang could apply to window cleaning. That’s just crazy, right?

Aha, not so fast.

Reading further in the Personal Tao Website, you learn that Yin means shady side and Yang means sunny side. Yin means night and Yang means day. These concepts, or definitions, are easily applied to window cleaning. Ok, maybe we need to stretch them a little to get there but, to humor our chess-playing friend, let’s go there anyhow.

Presumably and clearly, if you’ll pardon the pun, according to ‘the wiseman’s definition,’ Yin represents dirty windows and Yang represents clean windows. Now, to achieve equilibrium in the universe, you may want to have only half of your windows cleaned. Maybe, if you have vertical double-hung windows, you can clean the bottom halves for your Yang and the leave the tops dirty, for your Yin. If they’re side-by-side double-hung windows, where possible, you could clean the southern side – the Yang – because that side is closer to the sun. If you have casement windows, you could measure to a halfway point and clean to that line.

Then again, you might achieve the Yin and the Yang of window cleaning by only cleaning the outside of your windows and leaving the inside dirty, unless you’d prefer to have the Yang closer at hand, in which case you’ll want to clean the insides.

There’s also the possibility that the Yin and the Yang of window cleaning is a temporal matter – the windows are clean sometimes – the Yang – and dirty others – the Yin. This works out well if you clean your windows once or twice each year. Since winter is the Yin of the seasons, and summer the Yang, you can clean your windows in the summer and leave them dirty in the winter.

The drawback to dirty windows in the winter is that, with cabin fever, it’s rather nice to look out, through clean windows, on a pristine blanket of snow while sipping a cup of coffee, with or without playing chess. Then again, maybe you should seek equilibrium elsewhere in the universe and allow the Yang to dominate your clean windows year round.

Don’t get caught up in a Griswold Christmas Vacation – have the pros put up your Christmas lights

“Nobody’s walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We’re all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We’re gonna press on, and we’re gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny … Kaye.”

― Clark W Griswold

Does the 1989 movie, “National Lampoons Christmas Vacation” cut a little-too close to home? You love the holidays. And the decorations are beautiful, once they’re up. Well, they’re bright and colorful, anyhow, even if your husband, who, around the beginning of December, seems as though he’s possessed by the Ghost of Griswold past, tends to put up too many lights in random and disassociated … can you call them ‘patterns?’

Putting up the holiday decorations is an annual ritual, though more an act of insanity, isn’t it? How long will it take to untangle that massive ball of last-year’s lights? And how many times will your husband cuss before the strings are untangled? Once the Christmas lights are untangled, how many of those strings will work? How many strings of lights will work just long enough for your husband to dangle precariously from the ladder and install them before they go out like the punch line to Christmas comedy?

Of course, you don’t watch him putting up the lights. The experience, watching and waiting for him to fall, always leaves you breathless with terror. Besides, there’s the deterioration of his language. Well, who needs to hear that and, hopefully, the neighbors won’t. It’s better just to stay inside and hope for the best until he’s done, though you do keep an ear pealed for any loud thuds that might indicate a need to call an ambulance.

Then there’s the tree. Putting up, and decorating, the tree would probably be more fun if it didn’t somehow always occur as an extension of the frustration caused by putting the decorations up outside. If you could just relax enjoy it as a family activity. Instead, you almost expect a squirrel to jump out of the tree even though it’s an artificial tree you keep up in the attic the rest of the year.

Take a deep breath. Make some hot chocolate, have a seat and think about it. Isn’t it true that the Jones’s across the street have lights beautifully strung on their home each Christmas? Their Christmas lights are installed with purpose. The Christmas lights even seem to favorably accent their home. And have you ever seen Mr. Jones out on a ladder installing their Christmas lights? It’s as though a little Christmas magic carefully strings the lights along the gutters, eves and windows.

Come to think of it, haven’t you seen a work van in their driveway every year around Christmas time? Men with ladders get out of the van and go to work. But you’ve never really paid attention to what they’re doing. Could it be their putting up the Christmas lights?

Just think of the possibilities; professionals will come to your home, people who know how to work safely from ladders, who use good, quality, ‘working’ Christmas lights, and who know how to install the lights with the care and detail of professionals. The only Clark W Griswold you’ll see in your house is the one of the TV screen when you pop the DVD in while casually decorating the Christmas tree.

It’s time to say thank you for all those window cleaning referrals

Companies use an array of tools to attract business. They advertise in newspapers, radio, television, and magazines. They build Websites and establish social networking accounts to get the word out about their companies. They put up billboards, signs, and paint their logos and message on the side of their vehicles. But, there is nothing better for a business than word-of-mouth marketing.

As much as we rely on word-of-mouth to spread the news about Northern Illinois Windows, it is only fitting and proper that we should take a moment to thank our customers, networking-group partners and friends for all they do recommending us to those who need their windows cleaned, as well as other services.

We take pride that the quality of the service we provide is sufficient that customers and friends feel at ease about the idea of referring us to others who can use our window cleaning and other services. But, providing quality service does not obligate customers to tell others about how we did an exceptional job cleaning their windows; we were compensated when we finished cleaning someone’s windows, or installing 3M window film or cleaning their gutters. 

When you share a good word about NIW with someone, we realize that, doing so, isn’t part of the agreement we made when you contracted us to clean your windows.

So, when someone passes our name along as a referral to another potential customer, while we thank you, we also take that as a compliment and, importantly, as a responsibility.

You’ve spoken highly of us and we have a responsibility to ensure that we live up to the quality expected, based on that referral; we have a responsibility to live up to your good word.

So, with no small measure of gratitude, I say Thank You,

Bill Thomas, Owner
Northern Illinois Windows

Window tinting not just for the car – your home and office will love window tinting, too

Have you ever climbed into a hot car in summer? The temperature can be stifling. On a 70-degree day, within an hour, a parked car can reach temperatures approaching 113 degrees. On an 80-degree day, if left in the sun, the temperature inside a car can reach anywhere from 130 to 172 degrees.

An egg white will cook at 149 degrees. The egg yolk at 158 degrees.

One way to keep the temperature from reaching these highs is to lower the windows a little. Another way is to have the windows tinted. Window tinting can block 99.9 percent of the sun’s UV rays and makes a big, big difference in keeping the car cool. Window tinting also keeps things cool in your home or office.

Window tinting is great for the home and office, too

Most people have heard of window tinting for cars. Fewer are aware that window tinting is also readily available for their homes and office. And the benefits go beyond keeping your home or office cooler. In fact, there are five significant benefits to adding window film (tinted or otherwise) to your home or office.

• Save money on energy costs: By cutting down the heat coming in through your windows, you’ll reduce the energy required for your air conditioning to cool your home or office.
• Preserve furnishings and floorings: Over time, your furniture and flooring is dramatically faded by the sun’s UV rays. But, it happens slowly so you probably haven’t noticed. One way to see the difference is to move a dresser that sits in the sun a lot and compare the floor around it and the floor that was under it before you moved it. You’ll probably be shocked at how effective the sun is at bleaching the color out of wood and fabrics.
• Maintain your privacy: While clear window film can also block 99.9 percent of the sun’s UV rays, tinted window film can eliminate the fishbowl perspective that you may have around the windows in your home or office. Tinted window film can enhance your privacy dramatically.
• Increase your security: A window covered with window film is extremely difficult to break through, even with a hammer. If it won’t stop a burglar, or worse, from getting into your home or office, it will slow them down and require that they make extended noise thy won’t appreciate. And, with tint, they’ll find it harder to look in and see if the coast is clear to break in.
• It’s a cost-effective improvement: Tinted window film can dramatically change the appearance of your home or office. It’s a quick and easy makeover.

A great Mother’s Day present? Hire someone to clean the house and clean the windows

How many of us struggle to find that exceptionally wonderful gift for mom each year at Mother’s Day? Flowers, a box of chocolates, and dinner at a nicer restaurant, are the staples of Mother’s Day gifts. And, they’re appreciated. Mom would probably tell you that you don’t need to get her anything else. But, you know in your heart that, if you could take that Mother’s Day gift to the next level, Mom would just love it. So, how about hiring someone to do some of chores around the house, such as hiring someone to clean or wash the windows?

Those staples of Mother’s Day giving are so expected that they’re kind of boring. There’s no surprise. It’s kind of like buying a tie for Dad every Father’s Day. You watch him feign excitement but everyone knows he’s only appreciative that you took the time to acknowledge him on this day, as mom reacts when you acknowledge her with flowers, chocolate and dinner.

It’s not that you shouldn’t take her out for dinner. And the flowers and chocolates are still nice. But, imagine her surprise when she finds out that a crew of professionals will arrive at the house to clean – and clean the windows. She can sit back, smell the flowers and enjoy the chocolates while a cleaning service does a professional job of giving the house a professional cleaning. And, she can enjoy the flowers and chocolate while gazing out windows that clean and streak free after the professionals cleaned the windows for Mother’s Day.

Taking Mother’s Day giving to another level is not difficult. On Mother’s Day, you can give mom a certificate so she can schedule to have the windows cleaned when she’s ready. Or, and there’s still time with Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 15, you can schedule the cleaning to occur a few days before or after the holiday. That way, she’ll have nothing to do but enjoy the flowers and chocolates.

Water-fed poles keep window cleaners off ladders and safely on the ground

You’re the kind of business owner who thinks ahead and considers threats and opportunities and how they could affect your business. You understand the importance of making a positive first impression on potential clients (see our recent blog about businesses making positive first impressions). As part of making a good first impression, you wisely insist on keeping the windows clean. Unfortunately, with a multi-story business, this involves window cleaners climbing on ladders to get to the upper windows.

Of course, you insist that the company cleaning your windows is insured and bonded. Still, it’s a little nerve wracking watching those workers up on the ladders knowing that, with one little misstep, they could fall and hurt themselves. Besides, you don’t want your customers walking under ladders while the windows are washed. If only they didn’t have to climb on ladders to clean your windows.

It turns out there is an alternative to using ladders to clean windows. Qualified window cleaning companies have the right equipment to allow access to upper windows without climbing on ladders. The equipment is called a ‘water-fed pole.’

A hose is connected to the bottom of the water-fed pole. Most water-fed poles can reach up five-stories high. And, five-stories high, they do a great job in the hands of a qualified window cleaning technician. And the job is generally done much quicker; the window cleaners don’t have to climb up and down the ladders – they don’t have to move the ladders.

The point is that, with a water-fed pole, you’ll have clean windows without the worry of someone climbing around on a ladder to get them that way.

Keep your business and windows clean to maintain a good first impression

BUDDYZ Pizza in McHenry knows the importance of the first impression and takes pains to present their restaurant in a positive light, including with clean windows.

As a business owner, you’ve probably read books about the importance of making a good impression. No doubt, you realize this is a concept that extends to the physical presence of your store or office. That’s why you take the time to clean and organize. This is why you spend time designing your signage and decorating the front window to give potential customers the right impression. Of course, while creating a storefront-window display, you also make a point of cleaning the windows.

An Sept. 5, 2014, article, in Forbes magazine, refers to one ‘expert’ who suggests that first impressions are often “highly accurate.” Though another expert refers to first impressions as “frustratingly arbitrary,” the question is really a matter of how people react to their first impressions.

If you own and operate a restaurant, cleanliness is more than ‘next to Godliness;’ it’s one of the business commandments for a place that serves food. Someone who is considering your restaurant as a place to dine wants to know that their food is properly prepared and, in fact, safe. One sign they’ll automatically look for is the general cleanliness of your establishment. But, this also applies to other businesses.

Ask yourself, why would a hiring official reject a resume with a few grammatical errors from someone seeking a position as a welder? The answer is that the quality of the resume is a demonstration of the prospective employee’s commitment to doing a thorough job. It doesn’t matter that the welder will, probably, never have to consider grammar while welding.

Still, if someone thought about it, they might say, ‘I don’t care that things are unorganized in this store or office; why does it matter to me that the windows aren’t clean?’ They might figure that, once they bring the products they buy home, or contract for your services, they may never return to your office. But, they might also say, how good are can their products or services be if this is how little they worry about creating a good impression.

Worse yet, many people don’t consciously think about first impressions at all. The first impression is made silently, without conscious thought, while coloring their decision-making processes. This is why it’s essential to maintain a clean and organized store, restaurant or office. You can save yourself from that bad first impression. Oh, and don’t forget the clean windows.