I dont get in here very often but since it is snowing today and i have time on my hands i popped in. And what do i find?, a discussion about my trade. I took up window cleaning/washing way back in the early seventies. The idea was that i would have time to pioneer in the short time left until the end in 1975. And so along with another brother we set up our buisness. One month i would work full time and he would temporary pioneer, and the next month i would do so, and we would split the cash and support each other.
I thought, this will do me until 1975. And yet here i am all these years later and still at it. What can i say?. The job has had its ups and downs, and sometimes its a bit of a pane, but on the whole its been a great job. I have raised my children and dont owe anyone a bean. I have enjoyed being my own boss and have also,especially when younger and fitter, made decent money.
And there is far more to being a window cleaner than meets the eye. I reckon you become more like a social worker, always on hand to help people in thier time of need. I have made numerous friends which has meant being invited to weddings and other functions. I have also shared in the grief and sorrow of those who have lost loved ones. I have experienced the joy of seeing children born, then grow and have thier own children. Its also been sad to lose so many friends having spent almost forty years helping them "let the sun shine in".
But here i am after all these years and coming to the end of my time as a "visual optical engineer". Sadly it may soon be time to hang up my tools and put my ladder away. Forty years of going up and down in the world has taken its toll. While the spirit is willing the flesh is now weak. Who would have thought all those years ago that i would still be at it?. Mind you if the end was close in 1971/2, then it must be much closer now.......only joking.
I wonder if the snow has stopped?. Hopefully not, looks like i will have to stay in and tough it out and keep warm with a nice drop of single malt. Cheers to all fellow visual engineers.
Eddie