I am a police officer currently and looking for a second income. I love being a LEO and glad I did it. I just wish I would have done it 10 years ago(these kids are very fast nowa days). Now I want to own my own busines and will be officialy starting my business… Wish me luck!!
Tony
printer
landscaper
bus dude
shelf stocker
pizza maker
horrible job after horrible job…
Good Luck! It’s a great experience. I know what you mean about these young guys. up until 6 months ago I had never been in a gym. Add that with sitting on my rear for 10 years, getting back into shape is hard work. I am close right now. So Far I have passed my first PT test. The crap part is that they moved the academy back so I have to retake it right before. Then six months of military style living. It should be awesome. Can’t wait to get tazed!
What about pepper spray…will you be required to experience that as well?
DOD Network Engineering & Security Analyst 10 years.
Photographer Atlantic/sony records 10 years.
I started this company because I wanted NO STRESS after all the government work. I also got tired of working for people who knew nothing about computer security. Nothing against their management skills or anything but they were older and came from a differant generation. They did not understand that when it came to computer security there is no time to get approvals from washington or fill out paperwork. That’s the one section in the government I would have stayed in, if the rules were changed to the point where you could be proactive not reactive.
Although I’ve had some part time jobs here and there when I was younger, I’ve consistently been cleaning windows since I graduated high school in 1991.
My favorite part time job I had was valet parker. The worst was dishwasher at a seafood restaurant.
Why did I become a window cleaner?? I dunno. I saw in ad in the local paper and it seemed like a good Summer job. I was never an office kind of guy.
A success story. I love it!
I was a valet for a couple of years when my daughter was first born. It is a fun job. I only once did the Ferris Bueller thing, though not quite that extreme. It was a big wig finacial guy who had to have his Bentley Flying Spur kept up front. No problem its a Bentley, he pulled the old I’ll take care of you when I leave. He didn’t. Next time he came in I found out what its like to go from zero to 70 to zero in 3 city blocks. That is definetly a very sweet ride. I never got to drive any Ferraris or Lambos but I have driven just about everything else. My favorite regular car to drive was any S version Audi.
I worked for a tree service as a kid, joined the Army National Guard at 18. While in the Guard I spent 4 years doing loss prevention busting shop lifters. I then did a big jump to Scaffold erecting and swing stage. Was a certified Journeyman Scaffold Rigger for a few years. Built scaffolds and swing stages on probably 80% of the building in Portland, Or. Started in and out of window cleaning I think in 97 or 98 working for a few local companys. Started my business in 2000 and been going steady since wondering why I didnt do this from the get go…lol.
I’ve had just about every lousy job you can imagine. I’ve done just about every job in the grocery store biz from stock boy to butcher. I’ve done just about every construction job also (even had my own contracting company for 10yrs). My wife and I had a cleaning company for a few years as well. A friend recommended wcing as a way to make good money and since I had 3 kids at home and since I had done some wcing w/ our cleaning biz and enjoyed it I made the jump. I also wish I had started this years ago.
Engine Company 38…Bronx
. I was at Ladder 4 in Manhattan for 15 years before i came to bronx
I was hired as a photographer and darkroom specialist for a newspaper straight out of high school. I worked there for 8 years and ended up being their graphic designer for most of my time there too. I also had my own portrait photo studio on the side. Loved that job but it was in a small town, and there were not enough girls to chase. So I started checking out bigger cities.
I finally ended up in Billings, MT. Where I couldn’t get a job at a ‘real’ newspaper because I didn’t want to work deadline hours anymore combined with the fact that I didn’t have a college degree. Plus they were only going to pay me 8.00/hr. after I made gobs more than that at my previous job.
I tried signs for a year before my window cleaner friends convinced me to try it. I worked for them for 6 months before buying a portion of their business and going out on my own. I love having my brains still fresh at the end of the work day, instead of being fried to mush after so much stress.
It’s been 5 years and now each month, I pay more in federal taxes alone each month than I ever earned in a month anywhere else, I pay my one employee more in wages each month after one year than I ever earned even after my 8th year as an employee at a newspaper.
yep yep. I will get the luxury of being sprayed in the face and eyes with pepper spray. Then will have to run and wrestle another cadet and cuff him before I can wash it off. The only thing I am really worried about is the Tear gas Chamber. Something about being in a room full of tear gas for 2 mins makes me a bit uncomfortable but then again so does the locker room. Not sure about random towel snapping lol
retail mgt/real estate agent for 5 years/bartended in the winters the first few winters of window cleaning, made really good money at bartending, but had to put up with a lot… gladly gave that up once the window cleaning could sustain me thru the winter…have made so much more $$ cleaning windows than any other job…love being my own boss…love working outside …love the physical aspect of job!!! :)…btw, very interesting to see what youve all done before wcing,good thread.
Oh the lovely bronx. I lived there when I was a little boy. Then my parents figured not the best place to raise a family. Jerome Ave. Needless to say we don’t hit that area anymore when coming in to visit family. No one likes to put on their bullet proof vests. 
I thought it was bad until I saw where my friend did his first couple of years in the NYPD. PO40 nice area. lol.
Ah it’s not that bad. If it’s anything like the military just focus it will be over before you know it. I really had no problems when I went through mine. Not sure how your instructors will be, but ours wanted to make sure they saw lots of snot coming out of the nose. So when you come out make sure you are spitting up and stuff. In the military they like to see you got a good dose. lol. OH an make sure you shave shave shave. Get a really good seal on that sucker.
I was ElectronMechanicalRobotic Tech for a company for 25 years. Made over 100k a year BUT the company was bought out and i nolonger FIT in the corperate scheme of things…
Ran internet sales web sites, till the big internet shakedown of 2006
Last couple of years been working for a GLASS company, repairing broke windows, and installing showers…
Not up to speed with window cleaning yet, (working it part time) but working it…pax
Yea Jerome Ave is still the O.K. Coral…but believe it or not…there are million dollar homes in certain areas. Little italy(Arthur ave) is still great…and the best italian anything around…Love working there…but wouldnt want to live there…
Getting tazed is gravy… Getting sprayed is the worst pain you can ever imagine then times by a 1000… unbeleivably painful!!!
I’m currently a machinist in the process of getting certified to teach Ag. Mechanics. I hope to become a window cleaner and get the business running to point where my brother can keep it going until the summer breaks. Man that would be a dream come true. Teach Ag and clean windows. Just have to wait and see what the Man upstairs has in store for me.
