Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Window cleaning tips to get Shiny windows
I created this video with the YouTube Video Editor (http://www.youtube.com/editor)

By: Mark Munro

Follow this link:
Window cleaning tips to get Shiny windows - Video

Rogue NRS Window Cleaning Gloves

By: Window Cleaning Resource

See the original post here:
Rogue NRS Window Cleaning Gloves - Video

WickClean Carpet Cleaning and Window Cleaning Frisco Texas Plano Texas www wickclean com
""Our window and carpet cleaning services firm offers residential and commercial window and carpet washing services throughout Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney...

By: WickClean Window Cleaning

See original here:
WickClean Carpet Cleaning and Window Cleaning Frisco Texas Plano Texas www wickclean com - Video

CSF of Mansfield Dollars for Scholars has concluded another successful holiday window painting contest and fundraiser. More than 23 Mansfield businesses donated more than $3,000 to CSF to have their windows painted. Their donations are designated for the June 2014 scholarships awards. Anonymous judges from the Mansfield Music and Arts Society determined the winners. The judges looked for composition, use of space, colors, and artistic ability.

The winners are:

Holiday Window Category - 1st place, Mansfield Electric Department, Calvin & Hobbs, by Rachel Tarantio, Haley Wagner, Leina Xu and Stephanie Walker; 2nd place, Carvallo & Signoriello, Donald Duck & Goofy, by Alexandra Peri, Brenna Driscoll, Haley Lynch and Megan Neely; 3rd place, at Mansfield Bank, Snowman, by Kristin Brangwynne and Emily Sarkisian; Honorable mention, Mansfield Fabric Care, Im Cute Rudolph window, by Alyssa Eagan, Carolyn Kennedy, Shannon McGrath and Lexie Wright.

Business Holiday Window Category - 1st place, Stefanos Pizza, Despicable Me Pizza Tree, by Aryana Nirenberg, Alexandra Wild and Courtney Cerretain; 2nd place: Mass. Premier Courts, Despicable Me Basketball, by Lauren Baldwin, Sara Paulson and Felicia Salden; 3rd place, Mansfield Post Office, Gingerbread Houses, by Cassie McKenney, Olivia Carlevale and Victoria Nelson; Honorable mention, Car Care Pros, Yellow Car, by Hannah Sankey, Christina Murphy, Kevin Moran and Craig Polutchko.

CSF asks you to join us in congratulating the 152 high school students from the town of Mansfield as well as students from Project Teammate who met the challenge as well as the award winning student artists. CSF also congratulates Mansfield students for donating food to Our Daily Bread Pantry.

CSF would like to thank the following businesses for their faithful support:

Barrows Insurance, Colonial Insurance, Carvallo & Signoriello, Cousins Pizza, Dry Cleaning Pros, Mansfield Bank, Mansfield Electric Department, Mansfield Eye Care, Mansfield Fabric Care, Mansfield Jeep-Chrysler, Mansfield Police Association, Mansfield Fire Association, Mansfield Health Center, Mansfield Post Office, Mansfield Variety & Deli, Mass Premier Courts, Miss Cindy School of Dance, Mockingbird Music, Pro Car Care, Stephanos Pizza, Stop & Shop, Sues Cleaners, Sharon Credit Union and North Easton Savings Bank.

More here:
CSF names holiday window-painting winners

Heater installed
this is the summit racing heater and duct work installed.

By: Scott T.

Follow this link:
Heater installed - Video

(credit: Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) Before you tear open that December gas bill, prepare yourself. It could be double what it was last month.

With colder weather moving in again, natural gas companies caution it could further increase consumption, which has risen as temperatures have fallen this month.

Consumption is 97 percent higher than last month due to temperatures that have been 36 percent colder than average for the first half of December, said Becca Virden, a spokesperson for CenterPoint Energy. Were letting our customers know ahead of time so they can be prepared.

The change in consumption has pushed bills higher, even as the commodity price of natural gas has stayed steady, rising from $0.65 to $0.66 per therm in the past month, a negligible increase.

Three things impact customers bills: commodity prices, the economy and consumption, Virden said. The only significant one of those factors (that has changed) in the past month is consumption.

CenterPoint Energy is offering customers advice to cut down on their usage, recommending the following tips:

Furnace: A furnace is the largest natural gas consumer, and typically makes up about 70 percent of your natural gas bill.

Lower your thermostat to 68 degrees when youre home and 65 degrees when youre not. By lowering your thermostat 10 15 percent for eight hours a day, you can save up to 10 percent a year on your heating costs. Installing a programmable thermostat can help you automatically control your heat usage. Add on extra layers of clothing to keep warm.

Change your air filters monthly. A dirty filter restricts airflow and can increase the operating cost of your furnace by as much as 10 percent. A good reminder is to change the filter each time you receive your natural gas bill.

The rest is here:
Tips On Keeping Warm Without Paying A Huge Gas Bill

For anyone who has ever wondered what Christmas is like in Bethlehem, the site where Christians believe the first one took place, here it is, 2013 years after the fact.

Snow melts underfoot in Manger Square, the plaza that surrounds the Church of Nativity, where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born. Businesses bordering the central hub of Bethlehem are unfurling a bit late this year, after the worst winter storm in the region since 1953; for them it is economic crunch time. The meteorological-induced downturn is added to an already-stagnant economy in the West Bank, which the local council is attempting to turn around. An oversized (55 feet tall) artificial Christmas tree that was made in China stands beside the Church of Nativity, covered in shiny red baubles and a large metal star, steps from the Omar Mosque. Shops bordering Manger Square are fully stocked with Christmas wares for the masses of Christian tourists from all over the world who will pack the square on Christmas eve and day. Nabil Giacaman, 30, who is Christian, helps his father Issa in the family shop, Christmas House, which sells holiday-themed ornaments and nativity scenes carved from local olive wood. When a reporter for International Business Times visited the shop just a week before Christmas, it was quiet after the bad weather, but business was slowly picking up. Giacaman said local businesses are doing well, despite the setback posed when the municipality set up an outdoor Christmas market directly outside their shops, taking business away. Most of their stuff is made in China; ours is made locally and supports the locals," Giacaman said. "It is not common sense to set up direct competition for us and take business away from the local economy. Guides are taking tourists to big shops where the commission is 40 percent and no one is preventing them. I am suffering from this. But, Giacaman was happy to report that there are few conflicts between the region's Christians and Muslims, as exemplified by the fact that the Mosque of Omar and two Christian churches easily coexist on Manger Square. Bethlehem merchant Nabil Giacaman talks about the influx of tourist business during the Christmas season. Kate Shuttleworth Giacamans father, Issa Giacaman, recalls when the citys economy fell victim to extreme violence. In March, 2002, the Israeli Defense Force rolled into Bethlehem two days after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 30 Israelis and injured 160 in Netanya.Two hundred gunmen, mostly Fatah and Palestinian Authority policemen, took refuge in the Church of the Nativity, holding 46 clergymen and up to 200 civilians hostage as the IDF closed in on the sacred site. During the 39-day siege, Issa Giacaman's warehouse, where he stored the olive wood he used to carve the ornaments he sold in his shop, was destroyed. This year, said George Hadweh, manager of the Bethlehem peace center restaurant and bar in Manger Square, business was great prior to the rare snowstorm, but for him has been extremely difficult since. We were closed last week because the pilgrims didnt come -- I couldnt even make it to work because the roads from my home in Beit Jala were blocked, Hadweh said.We were supposed to have 80 people for lunch, but it was canceled when the bus couldnt reach us." Because Bethlehem is perched on a 2,500-foot-tall hill, reopening the ancient citys snowy roads was difficult. The area is still covered in snow and the walkways and roads are hazardous with ice. Bethlehem is also still reeling from seven years of international sanctions, the construction of the West Bank security barrier with Israel, and random incidents of violence. Though it is just a few miles from Jerusalem, the city has been cut off since 2003, when Israel quickly erected a security wall during the violence of the second intifada, which lasted four years, saying it was necessary to protect Israeli citizens from Palestinian terror attacks. Bethlehems history and its association with Christianity is what attracts visitors, and Christmas is the obvious season. Beyond that, many wonder about the city's future. Modern Bethlehem struggles under the occupation and what they lament as Israels refusal to provide some sort of financial injection into the Palestinian economy in return for propping up its own tourism industry. Land in the greater Bethlehem region is proving another stranglehold for the area. Only 13 percent of the Governorates 660 square kilometers (260 square miles) is available for Palestinian development. Up to two-thirds of it comes under Area C, which under the Oslo Peace Accords remains under full Israel military control. Palestinians who wish to build anything from a water tank or garden shed to a house have to apply to the Israeli military for a permit, and permits are rarely granted. Bethlehem Mayor Vera Baboun, 49, is the first woman mayor. Shes Christian, a widow and a mother of five who also remembers the 39-day siege well. Bethlehem Christian Vera Baboun is optimistic about the future of her religion in her home city, despite Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Kate Shuttleworth Her husband Jonny, a Fatah member, was imprisoned by Israel for three and a half years during the first intifada, leaving Baboun to raise their young family alone. He died in 2007 and was given a martyrs funeral at the Church of the Nativity, which Baboun can see from her office every day. It was tough -- the 39 days were not only on the nativity, it was on the city as well. The deported are all still away. She agrees there's now little conflict between the citys Muslim and Christian communities. In Bethlehem we talk about Palestinians per se; there is no schism between Muslims and Christians. The only schism is a national one, between Fatah and Hamas. Baboun is working hard to reclaim Bethlehem as a Palestinian tourism site. According to latest Israeli tourism figures, 65 percent of Israels tourism earnings are reliant upon tourists visiting Bethlehem. Yet, that money doesn't always return to the Palestinian city, she says. Between January and June of this year, an estimated 1.7 million tourists visited Israel, and many of them made the short trip to the Palestinian town of Bethlehem. Sixty-five percent of Israeli tourism is because Bethlehem exists, and yet Bethlehem does not really, economically, humanly benefit from tourism, Baboun said. Its not a matter of number only, its a matter of efficient presence in Bethlehem. When I consider the movement of tourists in Bethlehem, I consider Bethlehem as if it is not a touristic city. Baboun said pilgrims typically entered the Church of Nativity and left Bethlehem within three hours. Christmas events in the city began on Dec. 1, and while Bahoun doesnt think the tourist influx is as high as normal, she conceded that all 3,300 hotel rooms in Bethlehem are booked for Christmas. We have another four hotels, including the regions first five-star hotel, being built at the moment that will lift the number of rooms to 5,000, she added. The most-important tourist offering is the Church of the Nativity, which was built at the behest of Queen Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, in 327. It's one of Christianitys most visited and scared sites, standing above the grotto where it's believed Jesus was born. More than two million people visited the church last year. Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity is undergoing a long-awaited restoration. Kate Shuttleworth This year the church is undergoing a $2.75 million renovation. The restoration work began after the State of Palestine was admitted to UNESCO, and the international organization recognized the church as a protected heritage site and joint work on the restoration effort became possible. The Palestinian government contributed $2.6 million toward the project, which the Italian company Piacente Spa is supervising. The basilica located at the Church of the Nativity is wrapped in scaffolding as the roof is repaired to prevent leaks from damaging mosaics and other priceless items. Despite Babouns reassurances, Samir Qumsieh, the founder of the Christian Nativity TV channel and an outspoken Palestinian Christian, said he's not optimistic about the long-term prospects for his people in the birthplace of their religion. The future of Christianity here is gloomy and anyone claiming otherwise is wrong. Extremism is expanding and we, the Christians, are the weakest link in the chain. But for now, Christmas is coming up, which is foremost on the minds of the tourists (in addition to avoiding slipping down on snow and ice), the shopkeepers, the hoteliers, and, in particular, the local Palestinian Christians. The giant Chinese Christmas tree is there in Manger Square, like a beacon, advertising and paying tribute to Jesus' birth, while in the square, a mix of tourists, local Christians and Muslim women hurry past, many of them chattering away on cell phones.

Read the original here:
Christmas In Bethlehem: A Rare Snowstorm, A Struggling Economy And A Chinese Christmas Tree Beside The Mosque

15 Arundel St West Pymble Tree Removal
Watch our trees disappear as the house build starts!

By: Martin Ralphs

Continued here:
15 Arundel St West Pymble Tree Removal - Video

San Francisco Tree Removal
How do you remove a tree inside of a city block? Get a large crane and lift pieces of it over the buildings and into a giant wood chipper. (Santa has a quick...

By: andi sumpter

Originally posted here:
San Francisco Tree Removal - Video

The city of Houston has recovered $225,000 through a settlement with Signature City Homes, its owners and contractors, following the removal of two large, healthy and valuable trees in the public right-of-way.

The developer removed a 100-year-old Live Oak with a trunk measuring approximately 36 inches in diameter from 801 Bomar and another tree at 1704 Blodgett St. The actions were in direct violation of city ordinances that prohibit the unpermitted removal of a tree when at least 50 percent of the trunk is in the public right-of-way.

The city filed suit in October after learning about the tree removals and also red tagged each of the properties to halt construction. This settlement will enable construction to continue, but all further permitting requirements must still be met.

We are fortunate that both commercial and residential development is booming in Houston to meet the demands of the strong economic growth in our City, however, developers cannot put their own commercial interest ahead of the law, said Houston Mayor Annise Parker. This settlement and another that followed the removal of trees in Woodland Park in Woodland Heights are meant to send a strong message we will not tolerate the removal and destruction of city trees and vegetation without permit or approval.

The settlement funds will go directly to the Houston Parks and Recreation Department for reforestation purposes in the affected neighborhoods.

City Attorney David Feldman stated he was hopeful that the cost to those involved in this case would serve as a deterrent to others, adding that the city would continue to aggressively pursue recovery if other infractions occur.

Read the rest here:
Developer settles suit over tree removal