Fremantle Harbour At Night. Mike Doran's Windy City Window Cleaning, Window Cleaners Fremantle

All lit up with a ghostly glamour.
I took this photo from below the railway bridge at North Fremantle with no flash, using the fence as a tripod. I'm very happy with it.

As the winter inexorably rolls into spring and then summer I am reminded of previous years and just how busy this period is for the window cleaner.
Window Cleaners Fremantle.

My business card and logo  .  .  .  .  .  Old And New. 

This is my current business card. I have been using a variation of this design for about 15 years now.

I recently found this old advertising flyer from the days when I was based in Shenton Park circa '94, '95.

Lizzie did this one for me and I've always liked it, even though the scene depicted is Sydney.

I must have delivered a few thousand of these through the letterboxes of COTTESLOE, PEPPERMINT GROVE, PERTH, SHENTON PARK, SUBIACO, WEST LEEDERVILLE, FREMANTLE, NORTH FREMANTLE, DALKEITH, NEDLANDS, WEMBLEY W.A., WEMBLEY DOWNS, WOODLANDS, TRIGG and many others. It seems old fashioned now but WINDOW CLEANERS PERTH have used a variety of techniques to promote their businesses throughout history and changing times create changing opportunities.

Black Swan With Cygnets. Perth, West Australia. Mike Doran's Windy City Window Cleaning.

           Herdsman Lake. Perth West Australia.

 This is the location. I had hoped to find swans here but, on this particular day, there were none.

I see a mother swan with cygnets and decide to attempt a photo. I have positioned myself between the water and her and she wants to get to the water.

She is wary and suspicious but decides to make a break for it.

Here it is, the shot I was hoping to get and had all but given up on. Just goes to show.

                       She brings them right past me.

They waddle past my bike, danger over, and into the creek below.

Black swan with cygnets. Perth, Western Australia 2010.
Maybe I'll try again this year too.

Combining A Swan River Night Dive with A Trigg Island Tripod Fish And Remaining Married

A modest but more than adequate bag of Swan River - caught crab and prawn, and Trigg Island tailor and silver bream, taken on the same night.

This catch represents quite a few hour's fishing on a recent Saturday night.

The only problem is that due to a misunderstanding with my wife I almost had the police out searching for me.

I set off for a dive at 7pm but neglected to say that I also intended to fish from my tripod at Trigg Island afterward.

I think the main problem with combining a couple of different  types of fishing on the same night is the gap between how long you think it will take and how long it actually does take.

Suffice to say that when I eventually did get home, fully relaxed and ready for a well earned sleep, it was 2.30am and my wife was on the phone to the police, reporting me as a missing person. Her logic is quite sound I guess  .   .   .   She thought I was only going diving and by it's very nature you can only dive for so long, she imagined my air all run out and me dead somewhere.

I guess that if I intend to remain married I need to provide full disclosure when it comes to letting my spouse know how long I will be gone. It's just that I often have trouble imagining that myself.

Trigg Island Bluehole.

                           Here's something for the true believers

In all it's many and myriad moods, Trigg Island is the absolute epicentre of my metropolitan consciousness.

                                       Trigg Island, winter 2011.

Window Cleaning Extras . . . It's What I'm here for.

Overgrown branches can get into gutters and cause a problem. I am available to prune or remove these as part of my window cleaning service.

An adjustable telescopic pole is an ideal way to access branches that need pruning where ladder access may be difficult or dangerous.

The trees have been retained and will continue to provide privacy from the busy street.

Note the screw which secures the saw to the telescopic window cleaning pole.

I have no problem, whatsoever recommending this product ; Swedish manufacture, the Bahco pruning saw retails for $44.55 at Bunnings and is a fearsome tool, dangerously sharp and a very snug fit on the pole.



A friend recently complained that a call to a plumber resulted in a $100.00 bill for nothing more than re lighting a hot water system pilot light and it occurred to me that I've performed this service to clients free of charge when I've been at their place doing their windows. Fixing frozen locks, servicing loud exhaust fans, changing light bulbs and, in today's case. pruning some branches from around the eaves of a roof are all jobs I have included within my price for a window clean.

Now I'm not saying that a plumber's call out fee is excessive. It's a fee that needs to be charged by anyone running a business. What I am saying is that you can avoid a call out fee by using me to fix those small problems when I am already at your property.
Window cleaning is a service industry so I try and provide SERVICE to my clients. Don't be afraid to ask, I am more than happy to help out. Save yourself someone else's call out fee for a job that can be done in minutes.

Trigg Tripod Fishing. New Photos.

What the hell has Trigg Island Tripod Fishing got to do with Mike Doran's Windy City Windowcleaning ?
Good question. Best answer, I don't know.
I have been a participant in this most West Australian form of angling since 1983 and that's something I am very proud of.
If I can focus all the interest, ( and online hits ), in my passion and combine it with an advertisement for my business then perhaps I can navigate a way through the new media and get a form of advertising that is targeted and effective and allows me to pursue my interests.

Oh My God has anyone ever taken a better picture of The Trigg Island Bluehole ?

First fish in hand. I remember being very conscious of the changing weather conditions. I like how the water is falling off the reef in this photo.

Rainy Day Windowcleaner's Lay - Off.

These palms have been a big worry for years. They are too big for me to cut down and they are growing into the wires.

One man on a lonely platform. He shimmied up this wet and slippery trunk like a monkey.

The right man for the job.

An hour later the trees are gone.

Dropped to the ground, broken down and left for me to deal with. $ 350.00

 A rainy day, no windowcleaning today. Look at those palms, they are way too high. When we moved in here 10 years ago my good friend, Tim Viljoen, told me they were already too high and I agreed. There is a double ring on the doorbell and a man asks me if I want my palms cut down. Is it as obvious as that ? I have been wondering how to remove those palms for weeks now so when he offers to drop them to the ground and break them up for $350.00 he is on.
A group of seven workers arrives and six stand on my porch out of the rain while one shimmies up the first palm and systematically destroys it.
Dropped to the ground, broken down and left is the deal and its a good one. I am more than capable of stacking the pieces, it's the high work I can't do.

Chasing work with an immediate turnaround is something I admire and I resolve to do more of it in my windowcleaning round. An offer to do the work immediately, even a cold-call knock on a stranger's door can result in a timely offer of work being accepted.
Thanks cold-caller you remind me of what self employment is all about.

Where Can I Buy Windowcleaning Equipment Perth?

My order arrived today. I am now using an internet company called Window Cleaning World. http://www.windowcleaningworld.com/ They provided me with a bulk order of heavy duty window cleaning sleeves and squeegee rubbers, size 14. I am relieved to have found this source after finding not one reliable retail store in Perth.

Included in my order were some specialist window cleaning tools and chemicals. I am now able to confidently book future work without worrying about availability of basic items.

Extension poles are important also.

Today I bought some white scourer pads from Bunnings. The Oates Eager Beaver are often in high demand so I grabbed everything on the shelf, only five in total. I was making my way to the counter when I saw the Power Scrub Sponge retailing at $6.90 for a pack of two. White scourer will clean difficult stains from glass without scratching whereas the far more easily accessed green scourer will scratch glass and should not be used at all.

I'm giving the concentrated window wash chemical a go and also the yellow cleaning cloths.
Total cost for all this gear $54.53.
Give Bunnings a go, they can be surprisingly good.

They are useful for a range of activities and not just window cleaning.

Specialist window cleaners' buckets.

Professional window cleaning equipment.

                                              

Tripod Fishing Trigg Island W.A.

 

Trigg Island-caught tailor 2011.

Fun and games   .  .  .  .  Don't believe the naysayers, this is as safe as houses.

Freezing gardie baits individually between layers of Gladwrap.

I've never been sure who is in this photo. Does anyone know ?
I believe that the two in the boat are Rob Davis and the late Rick Allen.

Here are some videos I've recently made with the new Go Pro  

Windows Cleaned Western Suburbs Of Perth

                                               

I  provide a windowcleaning service in Perth. I guarantee all my work.

Window Cleaning Perth, Subiaco, Shenton Park, Mosman Park.

 

Mike Doran.

Windy City Window Cleaning.

All types of window cleaning from ground level to 10 metres.

Enhance your views.

Ladder work to 10 m.

All types of window cleaning.

Leadlights, colonial, shower screen, pool partitions.

"The Fisherman" by pcphotoart | RedBubble

"The Fisherman" by pcphotoart | RedBubble:


Peter Carroll captured this image, August 31st 2009.
Click onto The Fisherman by pcphotoart immediately above this picture and check out some of his photos. The tripod photos are really atypical of his work. When I met him, 2 years ago Peter was an Alice Springs based photographer down in the big smoke and on holiday. Perhaps the reason this photo is not better known is because the location is tagged as Fremantle and not Trigg, or, as anyone who is from here would say, Trigg Island.

Peter, I know I'm using your very fine photo to whip up work for my windowcleaning business and I hope that's all right with you.
Do you remember that when you asked if I had an email address I hadn't ?
When this photo was taken, just 2 years ago I was computer illiterate.

I love this photo. It is as close to perfect a photo of me as I have ever wanted. I love the light and the colours of Trigg Island Blue Hole and the dark skies on the last day of winter. I love how I am the only human in frame, there is not a boat or a surfer or some bloke who flew too close to the sun in sight.

"Tripod Fishing " by Angie66 | RedBubble

"Tripod Fishing " by Angie66 | RedBubble:
I was very pleased to see this photo published the other day. It was taken by a local photographer called Angie 66. Check out her portfolio, she has included some great Trigg images and I like her work very much.
 Angie66, please don't be angry with me stealing your work. I'm trying to generate some window cleaning business here.

The sum total catch of that perilous trip. One half reasonable skippy with a few king prawns I caught diving in the lower Swan River the night before.