Hi All from Adelaide - Australia

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aussiejohn747

Guest
Have heard a lot about Mikeys Forum from our own Australian Carpet Cleaners forum - and you have a great fan in Shorty and see that Col Nation just joined previously as well.

My name is John Kelley, from Adelaide - Australia

My previous work history from the age of 21, was employed here in Adelaide with Coca Cola for some 13.5 years started off as a truck driver ending up as an account manager - left in 1981. From there to an Insurance Co here in Australia working in Adelaide as an Insurance Agent, Financial Planner till 1991. Then moved into Carpet Cleaning as a temporary job just to get fit again - that was 20 years ago now, and am fitter that's for sure - and greyer too!!

My life as a cleaner was not all beer and skittles as they say - I worked as a sub-contractor for an Australian based carpet cleaning company learning as we went along... but only really doing a basic clean or a suck & run job for just over 4 years...

After learning how not to clean lounge suites as part of the job I decided to go outside the company and get an education in how to clean carpets properly, thoroughly, and for a profit with happy clients...

Well after initially learning how to clean carpets from a very good educator, that led to a course in upholstery cleaning, to stain removal, to water damage, to carpet repairs, then on to advanced water damamge, to fire restoration, odour control, mould removal, and ultimately to trauma cleaning. With resits every 2 or 3 years in each subject. Leather cleaning was added, and 3 years ago I sat and completed the structural drying course here in Australia/Sydney.

That covers the last 20 years of my working life except to add I left the company back at Xmas 1996 and have been on my own as my business ever since. I thoroughly enjoy what I do now, the daily challengers and the problem solving that comes my way. I have not had a real reason to advertise these past 15 or so years as no matter what I have done before I enter any new clients home or premises - the only thing that counts to me is what I achieve on the job am at right then and now! So on each job I work to keep my reputation intact and growing...

Like most am sure on this forum I have had my ups and downs, always chasing money owed, and rarely stopping for a holiday.

Speaking of which some 7 plus years ago I met a lovely lady from Atlanta on the internet and after some dialogue back and forth she came out to Australia for a visit and basically stayed... WE have now been married ever since and currently she is back in Atlanta visiting with her family for summer.

So this Friday I am flying out from Australia to visit her and her family for 2 weeks, and flying back home though Las Vegas and spending 3 days at your Connections Convention which I am looking forward to immensley. So if you hear an odd aussie accent wondering through and around the convention please say hello as I would like to meet fellow carpet cleaners from your part of the world.

I will also drop in to Mikeys board every now and then and see whats going on in your part of the world and make a contribution. I am sure I will also learn from your board and members, as I have from our forum members here in Australia. To those members who are also trained and qualified we may work alone most of the time - but forums such as these we are not alone. And as no one person knows everything, by sharing we all learn together.
 
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aussiejohn747

Guest
After my initial introduction to your forum - silence from me... My apologies to all.
Being busy does not cut it.

I did make it to Los Vegas and enjoyed my visit to Connections very much - glad I met some of you at your Mikeys get together even if I arrived after dinner and everyone was getting ready to go home. I got lost coming from the Monorail through the back way through one of your Casino Foyers - bloody hell it took me over 40 mins just to walk through the foyer to get to your main drag in Los Vegas...

You Connections event was very interesting to this Aussie from Adelaide, especially as I had heard from Shorty and others how well you guys do something and how well you network together... Anyway I did learn a lot in a very short time.. and thought I would have to do it again in the future.

On leaving connections I came back to Adelaide to an urgent black mould cleanup in 2 emergency generator rooms with 2 11,000kw generators working overhead. In 2 days we cut our 860kg of black mould infected plasterboard!!! That was September.

In December I was called in to a vandal attack on an 18 storey hotel on the 16th floor - they managed to take off the cap to the emergency fire water pipe into the building - flooded 16 floors and some 90 suites of rooms!! A hell of a mess that has closed the hotel from the 12 December to 2 weeks ago!!!

Myself and 8 other restoration techs I called in to assist me in getting the initial extraction and structural drying under way.. We were onsite for 8 days before we were moved out of the site due to mould developement between the walls - between us we had some 361 air movers intalled and 40 dehumidifyers on site working together. Adelaide has never experienced a water damage event of this size - nor was it really prepared for it. I have to say all involved have eally learnt a great deal in a very short time.. Personally I worked 109 hours that week organising and directing... I really learnt a great deal professionally.

We removed our equipment as requested on the Saturday night, I went home and crashed only to receive a phone call request from another technician and friend of mine just over 300 miles away - Rain storm and Hail hit one of our country towns the previous night and they had aready had over 15 calls for help - could I assist (They only had 2 blowers in the whole town)!!

So I asked 2 other friends/technicians to assit me and within 3 hours we left Adelaide with some 8 de-hums and 6 blowers on board arriving at 3am in the morning.. by 7am the calls for help were now over 30 and growing.... We installed all our blowers in 2 days, brought up another 40 from Adelaide by truck and had those out working same day.... I worked in town for 6 days till Xmas eve - before driving back to Adelaide..

Since that time I been back to that town another 5 times in 6 weeks finishing off the cleanups after the drying was finished and brought our combined equipment back home to Adelaide. I have completed dozens of jobs in that time and after the paperwork was completed and sent off, now just have to wait for payment of accounts...

The past 2 weeks have been quiet - sort of, just doing normal cleaning jobs now... But as result of that recent work I am having a 4 week holiday and taking my wife back home to visit with her family in Atlanta and Longview WA in May - after I visit connections in Florida also in May!! Business Trip....

Which brings me to my 2nd reason for this post - 2 boys in my wifes family are looking to start an encap carpet cleaning business in Longview WA - I have offered to help them in startup - then act as a mentor from Australia

So am looking for a 2nd hand rotary scrubber with a tank to use to Encap Carpet Clean - a good condition TASKI Scrubber would be ideal. But am open to suggestions. Also say a Nilfisk/Dyson/Windsor or Kleenmaid 2nd hand vacuum cleaner!

Next a spotting machine say a Noble or similar would be good. These could be collected if between Los Angeles and Longview as I am also doing a Furniture Van run from Hemet to Longview last week in May before heading back to Australia..
Any info suggestions or advice would be most welcome either on this post or direct to my email address :- JOHNSPROFESSIONAL@bigpond.com

Look forward to any replies and to meet anyone in Florida at Connections in May 2012

Regards & thanks in advance,

John/aka Aussiejohn747
 

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