I once worked at a welding and machine shop and my duties were as follows:

1. Grind large iron pipes under the hot sun on a concrete slab. I had to buy my own gloves and hearing protection, of course. The hearing protection didn't matter much. After 8 hours of that, the tenitis was hummin'.

2. Clean out this big furnace used to burn impurities off of copper wiring (also outside under the hot sun) - I felt like I had black lung at the end of everyday. And the heat, OMG. Plus, that fine powder clogs every pore in your body and makes you feel like you've been tarred and feathered.

3. Melt scrap lead over this big open flame in a large iron pot, skim off the impurities, and pour the molten goodies into bars. No one showed me how, specifically, to do this. So, I spilled my cauldron of hot lead all over the floor (and my shoes) about 3 days into the job.

Not only was I severly underpaid for this, considering the misery factor, but melting hot lead over an open flame in a large iron pot emberrasses you in sort of a medieval kind of way. How can anyone think they can have an intelligent conversation with the guy standing over the large cauldron of bubbling, liquid metal?

Used to work in a factory where they made Humvee spring seats (where the shocks connect to the framerails) for AM General. We would have to grind them and make them fit the fixture. I would stop blowing black snot about the time I went to work the next night, and it was the only time I have ever had bad acne.