[wpclean]

I have been on the glass for 28 years on and off, and I can honestly say that window cleaning has been good to me.
I have built rounds up and sold because of boredom, but i have always come back to start again.
I am now content and love this job because it gives me so much freedom to work hard and plan other activities.
We all like a moan on here but we have it good dont you think ?

[BORBRYCE]

It's 5.30 am on a Saturday morning and I am off to work. I'm a tad fed up with it but I need the money.

[james51174]

to me its a means to an end...always has been

started it when i left school in '91, as i had about five years of school holiday experience...plus my partner is my dad, who started in '73...and always told me i was going to work for him

i wasnt ever pushed into it...but never really thought of doing anything else

shame, as my passion would be history and archeology...but a mrs, 2 kids and a morguage doesnt allow my to change career right now

i did try to become a voluntary policeman...but they turned me down because i have my forearms tatto'ed!!!! their loss, but hey

and yes....im working saturdays too, as tesco, BP, british gas and seeboard wont allow me to rest lol

if im honest...its not the worste job in the world.....but there are options out there for those who have the time and means to apply themselves, to earn an easier, more lucrative living

my youngest was helping me do our house windows....he is only 3 and had my short gardiner pole.....looked so cute...told me "daddy, i want to clean windows when im a big boy"

i only hope he tries to further his education and do something else tbh

there are alot of things i owe to my living....but its not a challenging job, and doesnt suit me really....each to their own i suppose

[StockClean]

To be honest, window cleaning as a job, is only that, a job if thats how you want it to be.

Or it can be a business, and you can make it into a good profitable business if thats how you want it to be.

The sky is the limit really, depends how much you want it, how much you want to earn and how far you want to take it.

When people say its a means to an end, thats true. We all end up retiring at some point.

You tell me where there is a career where you can earn well in excess of 50k a year with little or no qualification, no silly jumped up bosses or people telling you what to do.

I have a few contracts where i have to clean office windows inside and out, i tell ya to see those people sittin there in front of a computer all day, doing naff all but answering the telephone, or doing some task their boss asked them, or having to put in overtime with no extra pay, and always wondering if they are going to keep their job next year, they dont look happy do they?

Some have unrealistic opinions of themselves, perhaps looking at me and thinking id hate to clean windows as a job, what a demeaning task to do. Of course im the one laughing really, if only they knew that in one day i can make probably more than they can in a week, why go to the trouble of degrees and a levels for a liftime of debt paying back a student loan with a measly 25k a year to live on? 

Some people put to and two togther an realise you can pull in a lot of £ doing this job, but they dont have the guts to do it themselves, and would rather justifiy the time they wasyed at uni getting drunk for a qualification by sticking with their nine till five.

[james51174]

all perfectly correct i spose

maybe my problem is being partnered with my dad, who is stuck in his ways...no room for my ideas

took me 5 years to get wfp....and even now he only allows me to use it on 25% of our work

[Pope vader]

its a means to a end for me,  bores the life out of me,  sick of the thicko who want to be window cleaners and just cant do,  get sick of being asked do you have any jobs going as need a cash in hand job,

the only good points i see really is that i get around £25 an hour,  dont leave till kids have gone school and am home before they finish,  plus can take a day off when ever i want

am happy with my little business, there are a few wanna be business men near me,  with 2-3 vans,  loads of debt asking me, if i can lend them a pole or pressure washer as they aint got any   muppets

[StockClean]

Well said ori

[king marko]

Ive got to say im happy with my lot - spent 20yrs straight from school working in a furniture factory, upholstering for 40 odd hrs a week - no pay increase for the last 10 years of that either.
so when the opportunity came about 2yrs ago via my brother-in-law, it was a gamble what with mortgage etc.. but im glad i took it.
hardly ever work more than 5/6hr days, regularly have a day off here than there (just coz i can!) and no moaning jumped up jobsworth boss to answer to.

[Ian101]

Some people put to and two togther an realise you can pull in a lot of £ doing this job, but they dont have the guts to do it

had this last month with a Solicitor I clean windows for @ £15 for his house.

Nice bloke but always wants to tell me how great he is so normally just nod and agree whilst working away so last month he says are u busy ... always busy I tell him .... so how many customers u got he asks .... 375 I tell him ..... so how many staff u got he asks ......... just me and step son the very occasional afternoon for a few hours ..... then realised my mistake as I could see him doingthe mental calculations 

[Ian101]

Am I content

well currently 7 out of 10 on the contentness scale

will be 9 out of 10 when done the following

 Increased my prices for ALL customers next March / April with no prisoners being taken when it comes to the increases - got some jobs (early customers) way under due to conservatories not being priced correctly when first starting out last year some of these will go from £10 / £12 up to £18 or a little more - will I loose them ? - possibly yes but they're now hindering my progress so not bothered - easily replaceable

Got a new van - prob a 850kg Partner or maybe a Nissan NV200 @ 750kg (off to look at them later today)

Got an employee so I can expand

Dropped 40000 to 80000 leaflets


but before all this happens still happier than I was when I was employed in a Toyota Dealer as Sales Manager/ Auction Buyer .... 6 days a week, weekends , long long hours also felt like a Russian Prisoner on death row where u dont know when your last day is going to be - maybe today- maybe tomorrow - maybe next year .... they just open a hatch in your cell roof and shoot you -

[dazmond]

ive been window cleaning a good while, 18 months of it WFP.I can honestly say im well happy at present.ive picked up a fair amount of work this year and im getting round my work faster and more efficiently than ever due to getting a tank a few months ago rather than humping barrels about with my trolley.

im straight up with my round so ive decide to take a week off!!im 40 next week and ive got a few friends and family to catch up with.im also having  new carpets and lino fitted in my flat.

no work until a week on monday!!


ill be bang at it for the next months onslaught though the week later fully rested and tackling it with renewed vigour!!


happy shining lads!!!


dazmond

[A & J Owen Window Cleaning]

In a word yes.
Get to work with the other half,  no idiot boss to worry about, you're not working hard to line others pockets. You can't get made redundant, if you lose work you can go out and get some more.
Sure it's cold sometimes and you get people looking down at you but that's their loss.
I worked in an office for 20 years and when we do offices and they give you that pitying look I sometimes say that I did what they did but I went up in the world ie I had the gumption to work for myself 

[Tom White]

The thing about contentment is that it's not really 100% linked to the exterior world.  You can have a good business, a nice family, lovely Missis, money in the bank, good health, etc, etc, etc, and yet still not feel content.

And although the basic things we need to live are important, such as food, clothing, a roof over our heads, a computer, a car, a van mounted WFP system with a flow controller; really contentment is more of a state of mind, more than anything else.

So I told anyway.  I'm not content.  And just wait till something 'bad' happens; many of us here are going to get illnesses, cancer, heart problems, mental health problems, have loved ones die etc.

In fact I'd go as far to say that if you're having a good time right now, just wait, something bad is going to happen.  'Good times' are the short bits in-between 'bad things happening'.

This is the nature of life.

Anyway, stay positive, be kind, and don't drink too much.

Regards,

Tosh

[Tom White]

And another thing, castrated tom cats are more content than intact tom cats.

Think about that one too. 

[H S and Son]

Now wanting to overly complicate my response as the question was simple enough. Yes.

[Tom White]

Now wanting to overly complicate my response as the question was simple enough. Yes.

At 54, I reckon you're more towards the castrated cat side of contentment, then? 

[H S and Son]

At 54 I expect I will be 

[Tom White]

 

[Lee Burbidge]

And another thing, castrated tom cats are more content than intact tom cats.

Think about that one too. 

How do you know that? lol

[Tom White]

And another thing, castrated tom cats are more content than intact tom cats.

Think about that one too.  

How do you know that? lol

I can't for sure; outside of my mind, I can't be sure of anything (I'm often not sure what's happening in there too); but I reckon it's a valid inferential cognizable phenomenon.

Hope that helps.  

Here's a little quote I quite like with reference to contentment:

There can be no Joy, no Serenity and no Contentment in your heart, if the things you say, are different to the things you do.

[Ian Lancaster]

The thing about contentment is that it's not really 100% linked to the exterior world.  You can have a good business, a nice family, lovely Missis, money in the bank, good health, etc, etc, etc, and yet still not feel content.

And although the basic things we need to live are important, such as food, clothing, a roof over our heads, a computer, a car, a van mounted WFP system with a flow controller; really contentment is more of a state of mind, more than anything else.

So I told anyway.  I'm not content.  And just wait till something 'bad' happens; many of us here are going to get illnesses, cancer, heart problems, mental health problems, have loved ones die etc.

In fact I'd go as far to say that if you're having a good time right now, just wait, something bad is going to happen.  'Good times' are the short bits in-between 'bad things happening'.

This is the nature of life.

Anyway, stay positive, be kind, and don't drink too much.

Regards,

Tosh

Poor old Tosh, half of what was in your glass to start with has gone already

Now me, I look at my glass and think: 67 this year and so far I've only used half the glass full - got all that left to enjoy for what time there is still

[Tom White]

Yep!  And we could get cancer tomorrow and die happy!

Wonderful! 

[combat1]

blimey! lets get back on track, yes i'm fairly content, after 20 years in sales this is the perfect life for me, a bit sad maybe but I love it. Always done the window cleaning and couldnt wait to become full time, now after 3 yrs full time am happier than i've been in a long time.
Got the WFP going well, although still using backpack and barrels (at 60) so longing for a van mount,but it will come.
Had first child at 58, planned, so this life gives me plenty of time to enjoy being a dad.

[Andy Prittchard]

Yep!  And we could get cancer tomorrow and die happy!

Wonderful! 

Not if you got cancer tomorrow and didn't die for quite some time thereafter, you wouldn't be so happy.  Or would you?  I doubt it.

[Tom White]

Yep!  And we could get cancer tomorrow and die happy!

Wonderful! 

Not if you got cancer tomorrow and didn't die for quite some time thereafter, you wouldn't be so happy.  Or would you?  I doubt it.

I wouldn't be so contented then would I?  But actually, this Buddhism lark focusses a lot of attention on the suffering of ageing and death; that's not to say they wait for it; it's going to happen anyway; the bunch of miserable gits; Tibetan Buddhists! 

Anyway, who cares?  I bet most of us are contented at times, discontented at other times; happy sometimes, sad sometimes.  Such is the nature of that ever present mental factor called 'feeling'.
Feelings come, stay for a while and change to another feeling; all things are impermanent, in a state of flux and subject to change; an' all that malarkey.

[boshravie]

The thing about contentment is that it's not really 100% linked to the exterior world.  You can have a good business, a nice family, lovely Missis, money in the bank, good health, etc, etc, etc, and yet still not feel content.

And although the basic things we need to live are important, such as food, clothing, a roof over our heads, a computer, a car, a van mounted WFP system with a flow controller; really contentment is more of a state of mind, more than anything else.

So I told anyway.  I'm not content.  And just wait till something 'bad' happens; many of us here are going to get illnesses, cancer, heart problems, mental health problems, have loved ones die etc.


WELL SAID SIR 

In fact I'd go as far to say that if you're having a good time right now, just wait, something bad is going to happen.  'Good times' are the short bits in-between 'bad things happening'.

This is the nature of life.

Anyway, stay positive, be kind, and don't drink too much.

Regards,

Tosh

Poor old Tosh, half of what was in your glass to start with has gone already

Now me, I look at my glass and think: 67 this year and so far I've only used half the glass full - got all that left to enjoy for what time there is still

[ps outthere]

It's life.
I am still putting my prices up.
We have to make a living and, that is all i am doing.

[Tom White]

But you seem to think that if you changed from whatever state you are in now (post sex with your dog or whatever,) to getting cancer that you would be 'happy'?

I didn't say that!  I don't know how I'll feel when I get cancer.  However, I thought I had cancer in my testicles once though (well my right testicle to be precise); I found a lump while having a fiddle in the bath; it interested my GP and a specialist for a while, but I was okay about it.

And I honestly don't know how I'll feel when (and if) I'm given notice of my impending demise; though I regularly meditate on my own death.  It might sound a bit morbid, but the point is to focus me on living 'right'; it helps prioritise what's important.  When my time is up, I hope I'll go peacefully, but that remains to be seen.

Are you sure?  I don't think you are sure, Tosh, and if you think about it, what you, yes, YOU, should be more concerned about is your level of CERTAINTY, not the actual state of your mind.

Our whole world is constructed in our minds; it can't be any other way if you think about it logically and rationally.  But I'm not sure what you're going on about.

ie, be happy, be sad, be that feeling that you are, but why don't you just check out how SURE you are that you are actually 'there', in that zone?

I feel neutral now; neither happy nor sad.  I don't have to 'check' anything.  It's there!  Mind is clear and knowing - that's it natural state (you'd see that if you meditate; when your mind clears of cognitive thought); our feelings - a mental factor - colours our mind and we 'feel'.  

What's there to check?

[Andy Prittchard]

I'm not good with that clever quoting thing you did there, so I'll just reply in red colour, just like Gold when he's trying, although failing to be pertinent.

But you seem to think that if you changed from whatever state you are in now (post sex with your dog or whatever,) to getting cancer that you would be 'happy'?

I didn't say that!  I don't know how I'll feel when I get cancer.  However, I thought I had cancer in my testicles once though (well my right testicle to be precise); I found a lump while having a fiddle in the bath; it interested my GP and a specialist for a while, but I was okay about it.
That's nowhere good enough for being close to dying from cancer.  For example, if you were that close, you might at this moment barely be able to breathe.  Let alone think.
And I honestly don't know how I'll feel when (and if) I'm given notice of my impending demise; though I regularly meditate on my own death.  It might sound a bit morbid, but the point is to focus me on living 'right'; it helps prioritise what's important.  When my time is up, I hope I'll go peacefully, but that remains to be seen.

Are you sure?  I don't think you are sure, Tosh, and if you think about it, what you, yes, YOU, should be more concerned about is your level of CERTAINTY, not the actual state of your mind.

Our whole world is constructed in our minds; it can't be any other way if you think about it logically and rationally.  But I'm not sure what you're going on about.
It's not that difficult, Tosh.  You seem to jabber on about 'hereness' and other intangibles as if they are certainties.  I don't think anything is certain, and I'm surprised you seem to take certainty of existence for granted.  Maybe I'm missing something in our writings?

ie, be happy, be sad, be that feeling that you are, but why don't you just check out how SURE you are that you are actually 'there', in that zone?

I feel neutral now; neither happy nor sad.  I don't have to 'check' anything.  It's there!  Mind is clear and knowing - that's it natural state (you'd see that if you meditate; when your mind clears of cognitive thought); our feelings - a mental factor - colours our mind and we 'feel'. 

What's there to check?

That's up to you.  I'd check your certainty quotient, for staters.

Got to go, the ole bitch wants a go on the 'puter.

Slag.  (rolly eyes etc.)

[Bushboy]

Wow , I never knew window cleaners were so deep,  

I'm happy with my lot , I've been doing this for about a year now , bought
A established round , was a area manager a feŵ years back for tesco
& hated every minute of the 25 years I gave them blood suckers ,

When I left tesco I went into business & it was a big success , but then found
I was doing the same as tescos & doing 100 hours a week & beating staff up all
Day .

So sold up looking for the holy grail ie to work & enjoy myself , a good mate once told me Your a lucky f#u#cker if you go to work & enjoy yourself ,

Well window cleaning does that , sad but I like the hard graft & the ethos what you put in you get out .  

Plus no staff to worry about happy days .

[H S and Son]

Got to go, the ole bitch wants a go on the 'puter.

Slag.  (rolly eyes etc.)

 

[Tom White]

Andy Prittchard said:

I don't think anything is certain, and I'm surprised you seem to take certainty of existence for granted.  Maybe I'm missing something in our writings?

Who says I take the certainty of existence for granted?  There's Two Truths here; one conventionally correct, and the other ultimately correct.  Conventionally, of course I have to take the certainty of existence as real.  If a car is coming towards me, I'm going to move out of the way; because it would be stupid not to.

But at an ultimate level, there is another truth that's analytically razor sharp, but takes some effort to understand and is probably beyond my scope to explain in this format because I don't understand it properly myself.

I also hope your good lady logs on and reads your last post!  

Just to add; there is one certainty - DEATH.     At a conventional level anyway. 

[Tom White]

Wow , I never knew window cleaners were so deep,  

You'll get like this; too much time on our hands to think while we're washing windows! 

[Moderator David@stives]

     Re: Are you content ?
« Reply #30 on: Today at 11:17:56 pm »       

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote from: Andy Prittchard on Today at 11:14:14 pm
Got to go, the ole bitch wants a go on the 'puter.

Slag.  (rolly eyes etc.)

 
 Not nice that

[G Griffin]

I agree with SSWC Andy.
Tosh, you can't really use your lump on the testicle story, in the context of this thread.

[Tom White]

I agree with SSWC Andy.
Tosh, you can't really use your lump on the testicle story, in the context of this thread.

Okay, no problems.  I'll not remove it, but consider it removed. 

[Tom White]

My Tibetan Buddhist teacher reckons (and anyone is welcome to disagree with him), that we in the West have a culture of saying "I'm okay, you're okay', when really we're not okay.

It's almost as if it's a 'personal failing' if we're not contented, because maybe we don't realise that, for periods of time anyway, it's the human condition to be this way.

I've also read somewhere that "quiet silent suffering' is the British way.

I think there's truth in both statements.

[dazmond]

it was pink floyd who who wrote the lyric "hanging on in quiet desperation is the english way".

i find AA meetings a real tonic for my mind and they make me "giddy" in my soul at times.to be able to switch off after a busy day and be open and honest and have a laugh without having to half kill myself with drink is a wonderful thing.to be able to help other people there is a very altruistic thing.very healing.

yeh tosh its like when a newcomer at AA says their F.I.N.E!!F**ked up.Insecure.Neurotic,Emotional!!

most of the time when i say im fine i am though!not many things phase me these days.even though i have a girlfriend whos battling cancer with another 5 chemo treatments to suffer.its sad but thats life.just doing the best i can for her and hope she pulls through.if she doesnt then it will be sad and emotional but i wont go to pieces.

impermanance.nothing lasts and everything changes.the ebb and flow of life and death.we get attached to lots of different things.

ive already been to my girlfriends funeral in my head months ago.


most of the time i am content in myself and have a deep inner strength i never new existed just 5-6 years ago.looking forward to the meditation class on tuesday and will be taking my girlfriend with me if shes well enough.



best wishes


dazmond

[perfectpanesplymouth]

You tell me where there is a career where you can earn well in excess of 50k a year with little or no qualification, no silly jumped up bosses or people telling you what to do.

Bailiff I did it for a number of years only took 6 months training! But the stress does get to you!

[dazmond]

i doubt there is any window cleaners earning £50,000+ a year!and even if they are they wont be content as they will be working their selfs into the ground with no work life balance and lots of stress.pointless really!!

[laddermonkee]

50,000 is only 40 hrs per week @ 25quid per hr

[dazmond]

yeh!yeh!whatever ladderchimp!!nobody works 40 hours a week window cleaning "on the glass".certainly not 52 weeks a year!!

just wait in a few months when youll get lots of window cleaners on here moaning their skint!!!because of a few weeks of bad weather!!!

theyll be restless,irritable and DISCONTENT!!!


dazmond

[H S and Son]

No-one who window cleans for a living works 40 hours a week. They also wont work 50 weeks a year. It simply is an impossibility.

[laddermonkee]

According to some on here 50,000 a year is easily achievable

[Rayleigh Window Cleaning Services]

Nice one Daz
 100%  SPOT ON MATE 
My words exactly


Steve

[Pope vader]

According to some on here 50,000 a year is easily achievable

you dont believe what they say on here do you,  they are making all that money and got all these big contracts  yet 1 week of bad weather and the house is getting repo

[james51174]

its easy to do if you own the business though...esp with employees or subbies

[TomCrowther]

What is life, but a dream within a dream? {fao Tosh}.

[Tom White]

What is life, but a dream within a dream? {fao Tosh}.

No, I don't think it is.  If life was a dream (even within a dream), then nothing would really matter would it?

Buddhism doesn't teach this.  It teaches that things aren't inherently real, and neither are they non existent.

It teaches the truth is in some subtle area between these two extremes (the extremes being, everything is real, and nothing is real); that's why it's called The Middle Way (also the middle way between the two extremes of eternalism and nihilism).

It's too complex for me to fully explain - I don't fully understand it myself - I'm just working my way through a commentary on the Heart of Wisdom Sutra (which explains this stuff), and it's tough going; though it's analytically razor sharp.  The Buddha geezer was definitely a radical thinker; though he didn't invent any of this; he just explains the way reality is and has always been and; a direct perception of which (which is far deeper than mere intellectual knowledge) is Enlightenment itself.

But as to the dream analogy you gave, I've heard a similar Buddhist one that doesn't explain the nature of reality, it just asks us to question what our innate belief of what reality is.

It says something like, when we're dreaming, we think the 'dream world' inherently real.  If we knock an object in a dream, it'll feel real.  If we're 'with a woman' in a dream, she will feel real.  But then we wake up, we realise it was all a dream.

And it goes on to ask 'isn't our 'waking world' a little bit like that?'  It basically points out that in the dream, everything in it feels real, but it's our mind that creates it.  In this vein, another word for Enlightenment is 'Waking Up'!

But Buddhism does not teach that everything is a dream.  This would be classed as a wrong view; big style.  Thinking about it, I think Buddhism teaches that things exist LIKE a dream; just they're NOT a dream. 

Hope that helps.  

Now wake up!