THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 4, 1996 TAG: 9607310043
SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: MY JOB
SOURCE: BY KRYS STEFANSKY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 71 lines
He doesn't look like a daredevil. Brown hair, blue eyes, trim build.
The kind of guy who might be sitting one seat over at the lunch counter, laying into nothing more exciting than a ham and cheese sandwich.
Clark Kent-ish.
Forget it. This is a guy who got a thrill out of free-fall parachuting, who thinks being a fireman is a hoot.
A guy who thinks being suspended 26 floors above the ground cleaning the windows at Old Dominion Tower is a neat way to earn a few extra bucks.
Clay, a full-time Virginia Beach firefighter, apparently can't get enough danger in his life. He's one of the few window cleaners in the area.
``I enjoy risk and challenges. I do,'' said Clay, who works for Independent Services of Virginia. ``Not many people want to hang from a building.''
He's right.
Years ago, while he was a Navy SEAL, Clay learned all about heights when he learned how to rappel.
Which is good, because we're not talking windows that take a ladder, a hose and a brush with that extend-o pole. We're talking windows that are way, way up there.
From the top floor of Norfolk's Old Dominion Tower, people on the ground look like mice.
So today isn't much of a challenge. Clay is swinging four floors off the ground this morning, dangling from a rope and sitting on a board no bigger than a child's tree swing. In a bucket hanging from the side, he's got soapy water with a splash of ammonia, a mop brush, a squeegee and a natural sponge.
That's it. The sparkling results come from elbow grease.
Forget Dominion Tower; this little ol' building that houses the Chartway Federal Credit Union on Newtown Road is a piece of cake.
Oh sure, he's harnessed and buckled and roped and tied and belted. He even has a giant suction cup he plants every few feet to give himself more leverage. But an unexpected wind gust can still make things exciting.
``You can fall. I've fallen about two floors before. The rope catches me after about six to eight feet. But I was upside down, so it was a little further,'' he recalls. It happened on Dominion Tower when the winds were pretty strong on the lower floors, blowing in a circular motion. Clay was about 18 floors up.
The father of three, Clay is 39. He says he has an understanding wife.
``She knows I know what I'm doing,'' he says.
It's other people she ought to worry about.
Jokesters who holler up at him that he missed a spot.
``I always tell them to do me a favor and get it for me,'' he says.
Or people who don't know total concentration when they see it. The glass on the Chartway building is mirrored, so Clay can't easily see in. Even when he's washing clear glass, he rarely looks past the surface he's working on.
``People will wave or get right in front of me and yell. But I don't
see them and I can't hear them. So then they'll bang on the glass. And that's like, whoa!,'' he says, leaning back in mock surprise.
But smart alecks don't bother him as much as some buildings. Like the shiny piece of work beside the YMCA near Mount Trashmore in Virginia Beach, Search & Recruit International.
``I hate that building,'' Clay says, shaking his head. ``It's all glass and has several different roof levels on two different sides. It's hard to keep track of what section you've done. It's a window cleaner's nightmare. It really is.''
Even then, he likes the job. It's fun sitting on that swing, having people look up and wonder who would want to do that.
``It's good money and it keeps life from being boring,'' says Clay. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/The Virginian-Pilot by CNB