"We don't clean chimneys; we sweep 'em." That seems to be the sentence that got host Mike Rowe's eyebrows raised the most in this segment that featured him learning the chimney "cleaning" business, as well as an "underwater logger" and working with scrap iron.
The first of these three jobs was the chimney one, and it wasn't easy finding where to train. He knew he had to go to the "Chimney Safety Institute of America" for training but finding the place wasn't easy. It was supposed to be in Indianapolis, Ind., but nobody he asked knew where it was. Finally, Rowe discovered it was in a nearby town called Plainfield and even there, it wasn't well-known by the locals.
Anyway, we learn that a chimney cleaning and inspection takes anywhere from 30-60 minutes and costs about $100. The job is needed about once a year.
Mike travels north to Ontario, Canada, for his next "dirty job." This is both underwater and on land. It's the unusual job of hauling up logs that have been lying in murky waters for 150 years or so. For some reason (I forgot the detailed explanation) these logs do not deteriorate and are very valuable once brought up to shore and worked on at the mill. We see the whole process from grabbing the 1,000-pounds logs to them being shaved into many sheets and then glued on to other wood making the whole piece of furniture expensive. Along the way, Rowe makes a lot of sexual innuendos that the workers at the mill find funny.
Rowe gets into the heavy equipment on the next job, magnetically hauling thousands of pounds on a huge magnet lifted by a powerful crane. Yes, this is the biggest magnet you've ever seen! He's grabbing on to masses of scrap iron and dumping them into railroad cars for transport out of the scrap iron junkyard. At Cash's Scrap Iron in St. Louis, we see how workers divide metals from ordinary discarded objects and then outside, later, Mike tackles the really heavy material.
The first of these three jobs was the chimney one, and it wasn't easy finding where to train. He knew he had to go to the "Chimney Safety Institute of America" for training but finding the place wasn't easy. It was supposed to be in Indianapolis, Ind., but nobody he asked knew where it was. Finally, Rowe discovered it was in a nearby town called Plainfield and even there, it wasn't well-known by the locals.
Anyway, we learn that a chimney cleaning and inspection takes anywhere from 30-60 minutes and costs about $100. The job is needed about once a year.
Mike travels north to Ontario, Canada, for his next "dirty job." This is both underwater and on land. It's the unusual job of hauling up logs that have been lying in murky waters for 150 years or so. For some reason (I forgot the detailed explanation) these logs do not deteriorate and are very valuable once brought up to shore and worked on at the mill. We see the whole process from grabbing the 1,000-pounds logs to them being shaved into many sheets and then glued on to other wood making the whole piece of furniture expensive. Along the way, Rowe makes a lot of sexual innuendos that the workers at the mill find funny.
Rowe gets into the heavy equipment on the next job, magnetically hauling thousands of pounds on a huge magnet lifted by a powerful crane. Yes, this is the biggest magnet you've ever seen! He's grabbing on to masses of scrap iron and dumping them into railroad cars for transport out of the scrap iron junkyard. At Cash's Scrap Iron in St. Louis, we see how workers divide metals from ordinary discarded objects and then outside, later, Mike tackles the really heavy material.
