Re-posting for member.

fenderbender
Junior Member
Posted 02-26-08 12:37 PM
I work at the Volvo Truck Plant in Dublin, VA. I have volunteered a few weekends helping out the paint booth cleaning crew. This is a nasty, dirty, slimy, loud job using a bunch of really cool, high-powered tools, along with hands-on, down in the muck scooping and scrubbing. (Guess what part I got to do.) Paint builds up quickly, several inches high on the floor and rails and has to be removed every week or two. Also, the drying ovens must be cleaned, and filters replaced. This is only one of the many "Dirty Jobs" that keep our assembly plant very clean.

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paleo
Junior Member
Posted 02-26-08 10:23 AM
Dear Mike,
If you are looking for a dirty job, you can come work with my dad, Dr. Alton Dooley. He is the assistant curator of paleontology at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. This is in Martinsville, VA, but the place he does most of his work is in Ashland, near Richmond, Virginia. The Carmel Church Quarry is a dig site that has a lot of fossils like whales, fish, sea turtles, sharks, dolphins, and a few land mammals. There are mostly sea creatures there and they’re 14 million years old!
You sit on your butt on wet clay and dig through 3 to 4 feet of dirt. When you find a whale, you can call my dad, Dr. Alton Dooley, over and he will take a look. If it is a whale you have to start digging with a dental pick instead of a screwdriver or trowel.
When the whale is uncovered you dig a trench around it and put aluminum foil on it. Then you make a plaster cast (called a jacket) around it, which is a gooey mess.
Once the plaster on the top is dry, he gets a suspension bar that was once a part of a truck to flip it over. When it is flipped, you do the same thing you’d done on the top of the whale. When the bottom is dry, He puts in a truck and takes it back to the museum.
This is hard, dirty work. You get muddy, plaster-caked, and cut up from the shark’s teeth in the clay. I think it’s right up your alley.
Sincerely,
Timothy

Well I have an Idea that kitty has touched on about Gwaltney Food a.k.a. Smithfield Hams / Smithfield Packing Located in Smithfield, Virginia 23430. The Job Specifics include by far the dirtiest and most disgusting job I have ever seen is working in the "Rendering Department" were all the odds and ends are not only disposed but used in some of the other products we eat, i.e. Hot dogs. The smell alone is enough to gag a maggot and the sight is enough to make a horror movie look rated G. So if you want dirt, nasty, and down right torturous then this place is a must. To get the full effect you need to work with the clean out crew at the end of the shifts during the day time.

Hey Mike,
Come to Lyon Shipyards in Norfolk and be a machinist for a day. you get to work in tug boats taking the broken things out in tight small spaces that make the simplest tasks near impossible and for the most part everything is covered in grease, grime, or some sort of oil. then after yyou get everything out of the boat you get to take it on land rip it apart and rebuild it all, and then get the priveledge of putting the fixed item , be it a pump, a shaft, hydraulic ram, or something to do with a sanitary system back into the space that you could barely fit into when trying to take the equipment out. then at the end of the day you go home knowing that you are going to take a nice hot long shower, because it takes a while to get everything off of your hair, face, hands, arms, and other places. so if you think you will enjoy a beautiful day on the waters end in historic Norfolk, dirty as anything, come check us out at http://www.lyonshipyard.com/ hope to see you soon

Hi, here at Riverside Campground in Abingdon, VA we have plenty of dirty jobs. The title is simply campground worker since most everyone that works here has to do just about everything that needs to be done. There is everything from cleaning the bathhouse to maintenance on the sewage pump. Because we are a seasonal business and only open April 1st to Nov. 1st and travelers are our business we tend to have more dirty jobs during the summer holiday season which last from July to Sept. Many people don’t realize just how dirty working at a campground can be. Not only can the business of working at a campground be dirty we tend to have dirty after work activities such as cooter (snapping turtle) fishing and preparation. We would love for Mike to come down and give us a hand.

Jenn
Riverside Campground
Office/Store Manager

My fiance and I volunteer on a monthly basis to help neuter feral cats in Centerville, VA through Alley Cat Allies.

The feral cats are trapped the night before and anesthetized before we begin handling them. The vet techs must empty the cat bladders first, but the cats like to ooze poo and pee in their sleep anyhow. Then they are shaven and prepped for surgery. The vets are then tasked with the enormous task of neutering and spaying 70+ feral cats in a 5-hour period. Lastly, the cats are "groomed" by having their gunky ears cleaned out, checked for fleas and ticks (they have plenty), etc.

The fun part is when the feral cats start waking up in the midst of the process.

I recall at one event, some folks were joking that you should come to do your show here. They laughed and shook their heads, saying that this wouldn't be dirty enough. I stared at them - with blood and testicle bits stuck on their hair - and said, "Are you guys mad?!"

Dear Mike,

I know of a great job in Virginia. My boyfriend and his dad own a Farm in Lynchburg VA and they are regular customers of Lynchburg Livestock Market. This would be the perfect job. This the sorting and selling of cows and is the biggest in the area! You will be able to haul, unload, sort, sticker, weigh and sort again about 1000 or more head of cattle in 12 hrs...this place is a cameras best friend!!! Its loacted in the city of lynchburg and the owners are nice a friendly but very hard working.

Address is:
Lynchburg Livestock Market Inc
Wards Rd, Lynchburg, VA
434-821-5956

You can ask for Dwayne Gilliam or Matt Farris

I believe that Dirty Jobs would love this place!!

Loyal fan,
Stephanie

It might not sound like a dirty job but our rental manager at Cloud 9 Parties and Amusements in Culpeper Virginia defintely has a dirty job. We would love to have Mike come out and help us set up, pick up and clean some moonbounces, our waterslide and some concession machines one day. We promise that he won't stay clean for long! You might even have to deal with poo! :-)

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KV1guy
Junior Member
Posted 02-27-08 01:10 PM
This job really could be in just about any of the 50 states...but Id try the hardest in a state with mountains like Virginia or West Virginia. Mike should try working a job with a company that provides rail grinding services to railroads. Try companies like Loram or Pandrol Jackson. Its a very labor oriented profession and dirty as hell to begin with!! Large grinding discs have to be replaced all the time as well as other dirty stuff. Long hours too.

Oil and Anti-freeze Recycling.

There is a company in Roanoke, Virginia, Pesco-Beam, who manufactures Recycling systems for motor oil, solvents, methenol and glycerine.
I'm sure they have many installations that would provide excess dirt:
http://www.pescova.com/?src=overture

Hull Technician

Hey Mike and all the Dirty Jobs crew,

I don't know if you've heard of this job yet (I haven't the time to read thru all these postings), but there's an especially dirty job I've had experience with. I'm in the Navy, currently stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana. My job (aviation structural mechanic) is moderately dirty, but when I've deployed onboard aircraft carriers I've heard tell of a truly filthy vocation: that of the Hull Technician, or HT. Now, the job description posted by the Navy (and the one I'm sure gets people to sign on for this job) paints a picture of professionals scuba-diving underneath the hull of a massive ship, repairing the exterior of the hull. This, I'm told, is only a very small portion of the job, and is left to the very experienced. The run-of-the-mill HT, on the other hand, is affectionately known throughout the carrier as the "turd-chaser". Their day-to-day job is maintaining and repairing the water and waste systems onboard Naval vessels. Now, as you can imagine, on a ship like, say, the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75, moored at Pier 14 at Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, VA), an aircraft carrier with over 3,000 personnel onboard while deployed, there's bound to be some stopped-up toilets somewhere on the ship at all times. I'm told that the HT's also have to (from time to time) actually climb bodily inside giant septic tanks for cleaning, unclogging, etc. I've been watching Dirty Jobs since the first season, so I know you've already done pieces with the Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard... but where's the love for the Navy? Ever since I first saw this show, I've thought that the HT's would make a perfect segment on Dirty Jobs. Throughout my 6 years of service to our country I have yet to find a dirtier job in all the Navy. So drop a line to the Truman ([757]444-2176), or any other aircraft carrier. I'm sure you'll find the HT's to be a bunch of dirty, dirty sailors ready to make your acquaintance. Until then, stay dirty.

Aviation Structural Mechanic Second Class (AM2)
James A. Trott
United States Navy

This Quarry sounds so cool, sure hope Mike picks this job from Va. Virginia Loves Mike Rowe

Mike,
My wife and I enjoy your show every week and look forward to your latest adventure.

Here's my dirty job for you.
I'm the owner of a company who supplies guitar makers and guitar manufacturers with wood to make acoustic guitars. Doesn't sound like much at first until you see where I get the raw lumber. I'm very close friends with an 88 year old retired woodworker who has literally barns full of very old lumber. Most of his lumber dates from the 1950's but there are quite a few boards that date to the 1930's. Still doesn't sound like a dirty job until you realize that I creep and crawl in his barns looking for the best instrument grade wood. If you like breathing in years of dust, fighting off mosquitos, spiders and the occasional snake, this dirty job is for you.

Once I've selected the boards that I can use, I load my truck and head back to the shop where I start the milling process. Milling involves cleaning up the wood to find any defects and cutting the boards into dimensional pieces for resawing.
Still may not sound like a lot but when you do it all by yourself you really get dirty from all the wood dust.
I've done a lot of work over the years and trust me when I say, if you're looking to get dirty and dog tired stop by my shop in Barhamsville Virginia.

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wva_bby_grl08
Junior Member
Posted 03-04-08 10:07 PM
There is a plant in Harrisonburg,VA that takes cow and chicken parts and sends it off to make dog/cat food and other stuff. My brother works there and I am not sure exactly what his job title is. It is called, Valley Protiens,
Posts: 1 | Registered: 03-04-08

Why not stop by Busch Gardens Europe and do a Theme Park host job. The bathrooms a dirty and the rides as just as dirty. If you do, stop by Griffon and say hi.

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nax968
Junior Member
Posted 03-06-08 10:49 PM
Read the article for some added context around the job. It's not only a hard job, but a hard life.

Pioneer Coal No.1
P O Box 768
Grundy, VA 24614
Noah Vandyke
276-597-2109

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/251620/36/

Compared with the large, corporate-owned mines that use the latest technology and enforce tighter safety codes, Pioneer No. 1, the company's only mine, is a mom-and-pop affair, run by a single operator and a 10-man crew. It extends horizontally into the mountain through a maze-like network of wide, low tunnels, and a red plastic sign along the access road outside reads "AMBULANCE ENTRANCE."

With narrower profit margins, small-scale outfits such as Pioneer, often known as "dog holes," typically pay less and don't offer benefits such as health insurance. But for miners who have been fired from corporate mines for drug violations or other infractions, smaller mines, which must still meet state safety standards, are a good fallback.

As a navy man myself, I would love to see you do a piece on one of the ships out there. Just ask for an HT shop and that would be loaded with poo. You have done the army and the air force, now try the navy.

i have a dirty job for you, you can do a clean down on a metro escalator in northern va. you can do the one in springfield. you need to contact the iuec local ten, you can get the info at (www.iuec.org.... find local union, and click va.) to find out who has the contract for that unit. i think it is kone. but its not fun i have done it before. i would send you to my job but i am in new construction building elevators... its not as dirty. good luck.

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tbengland
Junior Member
Posted 03-12-08 01:50 PM
I have a job as a "Powdercoater", with Amelon Powder Coating, in Amherst, VA. My family owns it's own business here in Amherst. This type of painting is very messy. The paint is in the form of a powder that gets sprayed on to the parts, and then is baked for 20-40 min between 350 - 400 degrees. When my dad paints parts that are Aegean blue he comes out of the booth looking like a giant smurf!! If you are looking for a dirty job in virginia powdercoating is a dirty one.

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snhooker
Junior Member
Posted 03-17-08 10:25 PM
Come to wintergreen Ski Resort in Nelson county VA. We have lots of greasy dusty dirty jobs that we durring the summer to get ready for the winter. However the best part of the job is that you are in the air 90% of the time. You will need a harness for this one

Scott
Lift Maintenance
Wintergreen Resort
Nellysford,VA
434-325-8203