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00:00My name's Mike Rowe, and this is my job.
00:07I explore the country looking for people who aren't afraid to get dirty.
00:11Oh dear.
00:12Hard-working men and women.
00:14I think sometimes he's aiming for me.
00:15Who earn an honest living.
00:16The idea now is to make sure we've found the clog.
00:19Doing the kinds of jobs that make civilized life possible for the rest of us.
00:24Now, get ready to get dirty.
00:29Coming up on Dirty Jobs.
00:31In Oklahoma, 240 feet tall wind turbine generators aren't just dirty, they're also pretty scary.
00:38Oh yeah, that's high.
00:40Then, I descend into a filthy sinkhole full of garbage from filthy people.
00:45People are pigs.
00:46And haul it out in a dangerous maneuver.
00:51And later, at the San Francisco Printing Company.
00:54This is the guy who's responsible for putting my face on the front page of The Guardian.
00:58A dirty boy helps me keep my fingers.
00:59I'll put the safety on so nobody can turn the press.
01:02As I shove them into dangerous places.
01:05You realize I don't know what I'm doing, right?
01:06Yes.
01:07All right.
01:08All right.
01:10Oh god.
01:12Today I've come to Carnegie, Oklahoma, a little outside of Lawton, where, according to my research, the wind still does come sweeping down the plain.
01:33And for the record, the wave and wheat still smells sweet.
01:36Today, though, when the wind comes right behind the rain, it does more than blow my hair this way and that.
01:42It turns those things, windmills or turbines.
01:47To tell you the truth, I'm not exactly sure what the proper name is.
01:50I do know, though, that they harness the power of the wind to create electricity, and that's very cool.
01:56On the downside, however, they look kind of clean.
02:00If these guys don't run smoothly, the electricity doesn't flow smoothly.
02:08The people at Barnard Crane and Rigging assemble and service these monsters at locations all over the country.
02:15These guys keep the lights on in your house.
02:19So are they windmills or are they turbines?
02:21Wind turbine generators.
02:23A little bit of both.
02:24You got it.
02:24Sounds good. You're Chuck, right?
02:26Chuck, yes, sir.
02:27What do you prefer, Charles?
02:28No, sir, Chuck.
02:29Chuck it is, then.
02:30And obviously it's windy.
02:31Is it this windy all the time?
02:32That's why they put wind farms here.
02:34I guess so.
02:34How big?
02:36I get the sense it's bigger than I thought it was.
02:37These things seem to be everywhere.
02:39About five miles from one end to the other.
02:41How many units?
02:44129 on this farm.
02:45And is that the right nomenclature?
02:46These are units?
02:48Yep, wind farms and units.
02:49All right.
02:50I notice this unit on the wind farm in question doesn't seem to be turning.
02:53We've got it stalled right now, so we can enter it and actually do some service work on the inside.
02:59Why don't we go climb a windmills?
02:59Let's get it.
03:01You guys should come.
03:01It's going to be great.
03:03So what is the actual job that we're going to be doing?
03:06We're performing routine maintenance on it today, similar to your car, just like the oil filters.
03:10We'll be changing those 241 feet up there.
03:13Well, it's beautiful.
03:20This is all going?
03:21Yeah, I still don't really understand what the work is, but the job is getting a dozen guys straight up a ladder.
03:29That's going to be a big part of it.
03:30Obviously, we climb up on the far side of the ladder.
03:33That we do, just like Matt is right now.
03:35Uh-huh.
03:35Now, do we start from platform to platform?
03:38I'd like to do it that way, if at all possible.
03:39All right.
03:40So we go up and we basically meet on that first platform.
03:42Sure will.
03:4280 feet above us.
03:4380 feet up.
03:44All right.
03:45So Matt goes first then?
03:46Yep.
03:48Now, what's Matt in such a hurry about?
03:52It's easier to get out of breath.
03:54You get up there, you get more time to recover than you get to the platform.
03:58Where's the fire, Matt?
03:59Right underneath me.
04:02I agree.
04:04Matt climbs quite a few of these a day.
04:07He's in pretty good shape.
04:08Yeah, he'd have to be.
04:09All right.
04:14Who wants to go next?
04:15Are you rolling, Doug?
04:16Yeah.
04:17We'll take any shot we can get at this point.
04:19It's actually some of Doug's best work.
04:21How much is all this way?
04:22That's about 30 pounds at least.
04:27Let's just test this first a little bit.
04:30Don't tell me what to do, Doug.
04:32Is it 30 jobs with Doug Glover?
04:34No.
04:34He's doing good.
04:40Good pace.
04:40You're making about 80 feet.
04:43Can't hear a dang-gone thing.
04:46It's like a big old echo chamber.
04:47Chamber, chamber, chamber.
04:49Flipped in right here.
04:53Huh.
04:56Sometimes getting set up for the job could be worse than the job itself.
05:00What's in this box, Doug?
05:01Batteries.
05:01Batteries.
05:02Take it up.
05:03Take it up.
05:04Only 160 feet to go.
05:06I'm going all the way to the top.
05:07I won't be stopping.
05:09I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard somebody say they were going straight up without stopping.
05:13Yeah, buddy.
05:14These times are getting tougher and tougher.
05:15I thought you weren't going to stop.
05:18Well, I had to stop for Doug.
05:19He had a problem with his focus.
05:21How's that focus looking, Doug?
05:23Get you in the legs, calves, through the hips.
05:27Get you in the quads as well, and the calves.
05:30Did I mention the calves?
05:31Yeah.
05:31Well, I got two of them, so it got me there twice.
05:33Get you in the feet as well.
05:36Also works your core.
05:38Shoulders, of course, fully involved.
05:41Biceps and the triceps.
05:43Deltoids get a pretty good workout.
05:45Your lats, definitely.
05:47Even your intercostals.
05:49Pretty much a full-body workout.
05:53Oh.
05:56I can't talk.
05:59Here comes Chuck.
06:01This is the top of this thing.
06:03That would be the cell right there, I suppose.
06:05Am I right?
06:06You got it.
06:07It's a French word, nacelle.
06:09N-A-C-E-L-L-E.
06:10Nacelle.
06:11Oh, I thought they were just saying, the cell.
06:14Nope.
06:14But it's a nacelle.
06:15It's very French.
06:16All right, there's oil all over the place here.
06:18How come?
06:20Some of these fittings, the brake calipers will leak a little bit of grease out of them and
06:28fluids wear out just like it breaks on a car.
06:31And what this does, it holds this nacelle in position in relation to the wind.
06:35All computer control is far as the direction that it's in.
06:39Great.
06:39So, we can go into the nacelle.
06:41Great.
06:42And do the no work.
06:43Actually, we're going to climb through it and head on to the top first and inspect the
06:47top.
06:48Maybe I'll follow you this time.
06:49You sure?
06:49Yeah, because I don't know where I'm going.
06:57So, this represents the height of French engineering.
07:00What we're seeing right here, this exit.
07:04French.
07:08Oh, dear.
07:14Might have to lay on your stomach.
07:16Yeah, I've been in tighter places.
07:18I didn't have my whole crew with me.
07:24It's in flowing out there.
07:25Yeah.
07:25Yeah, we're getting gusts up to about 30, 32 miles an hour right now.
07:28Your safety lanyard will follow you around.
07:30If you ever have to change handrails, leave one attached until you get the other one
07:36attached.
07:36You've got to be tied off 100% of the time while you're up here.
07:39Got you.
07:40All right, then.
07:42Coming up.
07:43Now will be a good time to start swapping your safety lanyard.
07:45When you're standing on the edge of oblivion, one strong breeze can ruin your whole day.
07:50Better blow it harder and harder from the second we got up here.
07:53It's about time we get in, you think?
07:54I'll take my cue from that, yeah.
07:56And later, it's an old bathtub.
07:58A rancid bathtub contains some disgusting surprises.
08:02There's no body under here, is there?
08:03No, there's...
08:03It's going to totally kill our show.
08:05Oh, yeah, that's high.
08:26Now will be a good time to start swapping your safety lanyard.
08:28Actually, what we're going to do is start at the very back.
08:38We're going to check all the bolts, make sure everything's tight.
08:41We're going to check wind speed indicator, anemometer stand.
08:45Gotcha.
08:47Tell me again, in terms of energy and power, what's the whole farm produce?
08:51What you see on this wind farm is enough power to power 83,000 houses.
08:56That's pretty incredible.
08:57It is.
08:58That's the what?
08:59Anemometer.
09:00This part right here?
09:02Yep.
09:02And that tells us it's blowing 20, 30 miles an hour?
09:04You got it.
09:05And the white thing?
09:06Wind direction indicator tells us what direction the wind's blowing.
09:10Both of these send signals back to the computers that are inside.
09:12All right.
09:13And this is just a big old FAA light?
09:15Big FAA light.
09:16And basically, what we're going to do is just make sure that the caulking's around everything.
09:19We're going to make sure it's attached.
09:21We're going to make sure that the bolts, that the bolts are loose.
09:23Now, how often do they get loose?
09:24I guess with the wind howling like this, it can work on it after a while.
09:27It can.
09:28And you'll notice this bolt is loose.
09:32But it does have a nylock nut on it.
09:34Right.
09:35So it's not a situation where we have to worry about it.
09:39These bolts hold this fiberglass cover on.
09:42These bolts are about air.
09:44Snow, ice, hail, even wind can damage the instruments and the fiberglass surface of the nacelle, which is only a quarter of an inch thick.
09:55So our job right now is not to fix anything.
09:59It's just to inspect.
10:00You got it.
10:00You got it.
10:00It really is a heck of a view.
10:10Best office in the world.
10:11It's not bad.
10:13They pay us to work here.
10:14I wish I could say the same.
10:15By the way, let's hear for Troy Paff.
10:19Look at you.
10:20Outside of the safety zone.
10:22Oh, let's hear for Doug Glover.
10:24Look at him squatting over there like a dirty gargoyle.
10:27Let's hear for Dave Barsky down there with his whole head outside the hole.
10:32You guys are all right.
10:36When a crew is working outside the nacelle, the wind speed is constantly being monitored.
10:41Safety, always in the top three.
10:43Big gusts are coming up.
10:44I just got a call on the radio.
10:45We got to get out.
10:47It's not time we get in.
10:48I'll take my cue from that, yeah.
10:54Well, that was pretty close to terrifying.
10:56What's next?
10:57You'll be going to the bottom part of that nacelle.
11:00Under the shaft?
11:01Under the shaft.
11:03It's what I call the hole.
11:04The hole?
11:05The hole.
11:06Well, yeah, it certainly seems to live up to your description.
11:08Will you be going with me, Steve?
11:10No, I'm not going to make that trip with you.
11:11Why are you scared of the hole, Steve?
11:13We've had an experience down there.
11:15An encounter of a snake, rattlesnake.
11:19A rattlesnake greeted me down there.
11:20Oh, yeah, it did.
11:21A couple holes in the hand still.
11:24Down there?
11:24Yeah.
11:25How the heck did a snake get 250 feet up in the air?
11:29It decided to fly up within the cell when we were erecting it.
11:31And I came up to do the inspections, and he was a little upset.
11:35Did your hand go black or purple?
11:38Yeah, it turned purple.
11:39Purple.
11:39By the time I got to the bottom, it was up to the elbow.
11:42And by the time I reached the hospital, it was up to the shoulder.
11:45Wow.
11:45So it was a near thing.
11:46Yeah.
11:47It was pretty close.
11:47Did you come back and kill the snake later?
11:50No, actually, they found the snake dead at the base of the tower the next day.
11:54What killed it?
11:56Not too sure.
11:58So wait a minute.
11:59The one minute you're in the middle of an erection, the next minute you're getting bit by a snake.
12:03If that's what you're telling me.
12:04That's exactly what I'm telling you.
12:06I don't think I've put it like that.
12:07I'm just saying, it's every man's worst horror.
12:11At least it bit you in the hand.
12:12Yes, correct.
12:13There is movement down there.
12:15That's Mike Hampton down there.
12:17He's our smaller guy we've got working on our crew, so we've set him down there for you.
12:21Uh-huh.
12:22To give you some assistance.
12:23Mike, can you hear me?
12:24Yeah, I can hear you.
12:25See any snakes down there?
12:27Well, I don't see any as of right now.
12:29Okay.
12:29Almost there.
12:33Uh-oh, wait a minute.
12:35Mike, can you see my feet?
12:38Yeah.
12:39Are they near anything that might support my weight?
12:43Hold up.
12:45Hold up.
12:47Oh, yeah.
12:53What a guy.
12:54Look at that.
12:55Champ.
12:56Like a pro.
12:57Yeah, like one.
12:58Not one.
12:59Shoot, we'll have you on payroll for the end of the day.
13:03Mike, is that the floor my feet are on?
13:05Yep.
13:06Sure is.
13:08Are you Mike?
13:08There you are.
13:09Yeah, I'm Mike.
13:10Oh, it's always your feet, man.
13:13Yeet.
13:15Watch it, it's kindly slick.
13:17Oh.
13:17Come on.
13:18Well, this is, uh, this is kind of hellish.
13:24Coming up, cleaning the inside of a wind turbine generator.
13:27You might find some weird combinations.
13:30Grease and dead wasps.
13:32That is hot.
13:33That is fresh.
13:35Then, Thor the cave cleaner has some dicey advice for me.
13:38You want to get to wrap that one around your body so it could yank me with it.
13:41Right.
13:42And things go just as expected.
13:44Very slow haul, please.
13:45Very slow.
13:46And later, the dirty boy unwisely lets me loose on a very powerful machine.
13:54How do I just hit everything at once?
13:55That all works.
13:56And the results are disappointing.
13:58We have some adjustments to make.
13:59Yeah.
14:00This is terrible.
14:01What, uh, what are the tools of your, of your trade here?
14:13How often you do this?
14:15At least twice a week, maybe.
14:17How does it get so greasy so fast?
14:20Burying grease from the shaft.
14:22That's the shaft.
14:24Yeah.
14:24Most of the machinery in the nacelle is huge, but fragile.
14:28Any dust in the inner workings could lead to a catastrophic failure.
14:32Oil and grease attract dust.
14:34Therefore, the oil and grease have got to go.
14:38How important is it to get all the way back in there?
14:41Really important.
14:43You've got to crawl on your belly.
14:45Yeah.
14:45I believe this could kill you, Mike.
14:52It'd sure make you choke right good, won't it?
14:54I've seen a lot of combinations of a lot of things, but grease and dead wasps.
14:59I mean, you know, that's good, man.
15:01That's new.
15:02Yeah.
15:02That is hot.
15:03That is fresh.
15:05I bet you didn't know that Oklahoma cricket's the only cricket that can jump 200 feet high.
15:10Shut up.
15:11There you go.
15:11Really?
15:12You see it.
15:13That's a cricket.
15:14You know what?
15:15I'm delirious, and I don't believe anything right now.
15:21We can't leave this.
15:23No.
15:23This is not going to pass inspection.
15:25Best thing for that is carburetor cleaner.
15:28Oh, yeah.
15:29That's what I like to see.
15:31I'd like to see you back down in the hole, snake boy.
15:36Oh, yeah.
15:37That's looking good.
15:38Oh, yeah.
15:39Perfect.
15:40Better than what we found.
15:41Yep.
15:42All right.
15:42Next, we need to change a fluid filter in the gearbox.
15:46Where are all my fabulous cameramen?
15:49Dave's there.
15:51Troy's looking good.
15:53Doug, you got a decent shot of my ass?
15:55Is it okay?
15:55Yeah.
15:55Does that give you a little more room?
15:58Come in there.
16:00Slide that bucket.
16:01What am I going to be doing?
16:02Trying to pull this thing out?
16:03What we're going to be doing is we're going to be breaking this bolt loose on the bottom
16:07and draining the oil out into the bucket.
16:11You want to probably get the wrench to the side.
16:12Like this?
16:13I guess I just simply don't understand how this is possible.
16:17I mean, to turn the wrench, you got to be like this.
16:19Yeah.
16:20But you can't get like that.
16:21You can get it.
16:22Happens daily.
16:23Give me your camera, Doug.
16:24I'm putting it on auto.
16:25You have to get under there.
16:28There it is.
16:29This is a good shot.
16:31This is a better shot than Doug could ever get.
16:34You want that thing in the middle.
16:38He's upside down.
16:39The man's upside down.
16:40They gave me the wrong wrench, Mike.
16:42Yeah, you gave me the wrong wrench.
16:44You know what, man?
16:45You are some crazy windmill pranksters.
16:48This must be a newer model.
16:50There you go.
16:52There you go.
16:52If you haven't noticed, I'm lighting the show and shooting it.
16:55There's nothing I can do now.
16:57What happens when it opens?
16:58The oil's going to start coming out.
16:59How long?
17:00Oh, there you go.
17:01Yeah, I like that.
17:02Now what happens?
17:03I want to let it drain out for a little bit.
17:05Man, it's going to start taking that housing off and pop a new filter in there.
17:08Oh, look at that.
17:09Now, look at that.
17:10That's a wrench.
17:10Now we're going to take off that housing.
17:16It's not working out too well, Mike.
17:17It really isn't.
17:18It's very disappointing.
17:22Where are you, Mike Hampton?
17:25You're small.
17:25I need you to come up underneath.
17:29Where Jeremy is.
17:31All right, come on.
17:32I am having problems, man.
17:40Come at me.
17:41Come on.
17:44It seems like...
17:46Oh, yeah.
17:50Look at this.
17:50It's pretty heavy.
17:51Just let it slide.
17:52Let it slide.
17:53There you go.
17:55You boy.
17:56Oh, jeez.
17:57But I've changed my machine.
17:59Ready?
18:02How often do you do this, Mike?
18:08I don't get to do it a whole lot.
18:10Because we get to do it.
18:13Not as much as I laughed, Ted.
18:15No.
18:16Well, I'm sorry for you.
18:17Maybe one day your ship will come in, and you can come down here and do this every day.
18:21You're all right, man.
18:22Now, that's a nasty, nasty, nasty little job.
18:26It's pretty nasty, isn't it?
18:28Yeah, it is, man.
18:29It's a little crap to it.
18:30Cramps.
18:31Man, you were upside down at one point, Jeremy.
18:34Steve, you were there supervising from a fairly upright position.
18:37It was very impressive.
18:43Well, there it is.
18:46My day in an Oklahoma windmill.
18:49Around these parts, they like to say that white is the new green.
18:54Maybe so, but take a walk around it before too long.
18:58You'll find a little bit of brown, a little bit of black, and there's nothing wrong with that.
19:04After all, if you want to get clean or green, you've got to get dirty first.
19:16Coming up, we put a wash through the spin cycle the old-fashioned way.
19:20For a nominal fee, Thor will come by your house, help you move the appliances.
19:24And almost get hung out to dry in the process.
19:28And later, I think we can do that better.
19:30No matter how carefully I handle the delicate printing plates, the results are still disappointing.
19:36You did a terrible job putting the plates on.
19:37And it's back to the drawing board.
19:39Watch your fingers.
19:40Just a few miles outside of Sulphur Wells, Kentucky, there's a huge sinkhole that's been used as a garbage dump for years.
19:54So, here I find myself, descending into a virtual litter bug hell.
19:59I'm in a sinkhole.
20:03And I'm sinking.
20:04And this is Thor.
20:08Hi, brother.
20:09Welcome down.
20:10Nice to see you.
20:11It's good to see you, too.
20:12Where am I exactly?
20:13You're in the bottom of a sinkhole, which is, unfortunately, a pretty dirty sinkhole.
20:18All right, so we're down here in a sinkhole.
20:19Does this sinkhole have an actual name?
20:21It probably does, and I wish I could tell it to you.
20:24That's a long, slow way of telling me you have no idea.
20:26That's right.
20:27All right.
20:28How many sinkholes like this would you say are in the county?
20:31There are countless sinkholes in the county.
20:33In this area where we are, sinkholes open up all the time.
20:35If I give you a number now, it'll be different.
20:38Give it a couple of months.
20:39The sinkhole that we're cleaning today is over 100 feet wide and 75 feet deep.
20:44Thor is among volunteers working with the American Cave Conservation Association.
20:49It's been responsible for cleaning 25 of these dumps since 1987.
20:54All right.
20:54So the short version is you are literally hauling this stuff out with a cable, pulley.
20:59What is that, block and tackle type system?
21:01Sort of.
21:02It's a Tyrolean is what it is.
21:04A Tyrolean?
21:04Yeah.
21:04We've got the rope stretched between two points, and the rope itself actually holds another rope,
21:10which is the haul line that goes up.
21:12Gotcha.
21:13All right.
21:13So if we don't do that, obviously, then we're just lumbering around, picking this stuff up barehanded and humping it up there, and that's no way to go.
21:20Man, people throw out all sorts of stuff, don't they?
21:23Is a realistic goal today to get everything down here out?
21:28You know, I don't think we could ever get everything out, but we want to make a huge dent in it.
21:33We want to get the larger things out, because that's what we've got the haul line set up for.
21:37We have tires.
21:38We have plastics.
21:39We have unidentifiable electronics.
21:42I think that's a bathtub up there.
21:45A washing machine.
21:46And a giant stump.
21:47It's almost like you're ready to move in down here, huh?
21:51Well, except for the stump.
21:52Except for the stump.
21:53Depending, of course, on your decorating taste, not being one to judge, what the heck do I know?
21:58Should this be in here, or do you want to deal with this thing?
21:59Yeah, let's go ahead and put that in here.
22:01Whatever it is.
22:04Once the poly-woven bags are filled up and secured,
22:07we'll let the guys at the top know that it's ready.
22:10Yeah, can we get a little tension down here on the haul line, please?
22:14Give me a minute.
22:16Give me a minute.
22:18We got tension.
22:19All right.
22:19Okay, stop, stop, stop.
22:21Now that we have, uh, we've got tension on the haul line.
22:24Yes.
22:25Now we need to get out of here.
22:26If it falls, it's going that way.
22:27So if it falls, it'll either fall here or somewhere along this line.
22:30So if we go up here.
22:31Let's go up there.
22:32It'll be safe.
22:34We're going up here where it's safe.
22:37You should come, too.
22:42The trash bag's pulled up to the top,
22:44where it'll be hauled by a waiting bobcat to a garbage bin.
22:47Metal and plastics are separated from the trash to recycle,
22:51and then the rope is sent back to pick up more stuff.
22:54All right.
22:55I should have paid better attention on the first one.
22:58This comes off.
22:59Down this guy.
22:59That comes off.
22:59And, yeah, put it on.
23:00Put it on right here, onto that one.
23:03You, too.
23:06All right.
23:06And before we haul, pull it up, and we take a look at it.
23:12And does it look good?
23:14Looks pretty good to me.
23:15How about you?
23:16Well, sure.
23:17Okay.
23:17I mean, at a glance, it appears to be somewhat tangled,
23:19but I'm sure it'll be fine.
23:24You ever go up in a bag?
23:25Not yet.
23:27I've wanted to.
23:29Who wouldn't?
23:30Our objective is this.
23:37It's an old bathtub.
23:39Antique, this is Diane.
23:40How you doing?
23:41Good.
23:41How are you?
23:41I'm all right, thanks.
23:43So, I guess we rig it.
23:46I don't know who you are.
23:46What's your name?
23:47Micah.
23:47Micah.
23:48Micah.
23:48How are you, bud?
23:48Doing pretty well.
23:49Good.
23:49What's the plan?
23:50Sometimes when you have heavy items, you have to poke a hole in them.
23:53In this case, we've got a drain.
23:55We've got a drain.
23:56Hole already made.
23:56So, what we're going to do here is we're going to hopefully get this webbing threaded
24:02through the hole here, and then hopefully we'll be able to then haul it out.
24:06All right.
24:08Chopsticks.
24:09I didn't know.
24:09Yeah, exactly.
24:10You could use chopsticks silver.
24:12Oh, I can't.
24:13Let's see.
24:14Can you see it?
24:15Okay.
24:15There you got it.
24:16Oh.
24:16Oh, crap.
24:18Okay.
24:27There we go.
24:28Voila.
24:28Look at that.
24:29Nice.
24:30Okay.
24:31Now, before you throw that...
24:32Away.
24:33Away.
24:34Yes.
24:35We need to at least wrap it around one more time.
24:38Oh.
24:39Thanks, Micah.
24:40No problem.
24:41Okay.
24:41Oh, that was great.
24:42Oh, yeah.
24:43For sure.
24:43Like a surgeon.
24:45All right.
24:46I'm going to tie a type of knot here.
24:48A type of knot?
24:49Called a follow-through.
24:50Oh, the old follow-through.
24:51The old follow-through.
24:54Are you buying this?
24:55Honestly, Thor, what are you doing?
25:00I have no idea.
25:03We're all going to learn something when an 800-pound tub comes flying down in the sinkhole like a porcelain dart.
25:10We can stop back.
25:13Is that going to be pretty?
25:15It's all right.
25:15I'm sure a bunch of my caver friends are going to be making complaints, but I really don't care at this point.
25:19Don't worry.
25:19We'll never use any of this.
25:20Now, see how pretty that is?
25:27Look at that.
25:28It's a beautiful...
25:29It's a beautiful knot.
25:30It's a beautiful knot.
25:31It really is.
25:32Now, this is ready to go.
25:34Now, let's get this to shove.
25:35And keep in mind that it might come toward you.
25:38Well, we're pulling it toward us, right?
25:39It might come toward you.
25:40So confidence is high.
25:41Confidence is high.
25:43All right.
25:43And there's all...
25:44What a surprise.
25:46There's not like a...
25:47There's no body under here, is there?
25:48No, there's...
25:49We totally kill our show.
25:52Holding on tight with this one.
25:53You're holding on to that one.
25:53Let me get a piece of all of this.
25:54Why don't you even wrap that one around your body so that...
25:56Just around the other side.
25:58So it could yank me with it into oblivion.
26:01Not all the way around your body.
26:02Just stick that end around the back.
26:04That's good.
26:05All right.
26:05Very slow haul, please.
26:07Very slow.
26:08Very slow.
26:08Very slow.
26:09Oh, my God.
26:09Oh, my God.
26:13I can't remember the last time I had this much fun in a tub.
26:19When it gets near the end, give it a sharp whip.
26:23I will yank my rope with alacrity upon your signal.
26:27Get it.
26:27There you go.
26:28Good job.
26:28Good job.
26:30All right.
26:31So we got a tub.
26:32We're going to go get a washing machine and a dryer.
26:34By the end of the day, we'll have ourselves a whole kitchen, bathroom.
26:38It'll be great.
26:39Coming up, I take a crash course in repelling.
26:42Is there anything you'd like to share with me now that might scare the hell out of me?
26:45Falling.
26:45Poison ivy.
26:46Rocks could potentially fall.
26:48I am allergic to rocks hitting me in the face.
26:50Then, I assume the crash position.
26:52Oh, gee.
26:53I am absolutely crap in my pants.
26:55I don't mind telling you.
26:56Absolutely horrifying.
26:58Head later.
26:58All right.
26:59Let's see how we are now.
27:00I think we're pretty much there.
27:01My pickiness with the print quality.
27:03I'd rather it be darker than redder.
27:05Test the dirty boy's patience.
27:07Yes, it's charcoal.
27:08That was a very bad day for me.
27:09People are pigs.
27:20What's the matter with people?
27:21Our next job was to get this washing machine out.
27:24Only problem, we didn't have rope long enough to reach it.
27:28But that didn't stop us.
27:30Fish.
27:34For a nominal fee, Thor will come by your house.
27:36Help you move the appliances.
27:37Got them?
27:44I've got them.
27:44Okay, slow haul.
27:49Okay, now let's get out of the way here.
27:51Right.
27:52Well, yeah, behind me there.
27:54Uh, Thor?
27:55Yeah.
27:55Watch your back.
27:56Watch your back.
27:56Watch your back.
27:57Yeah.
27:59Mike, that over there is going to be the sacred place.
28:02When this actually clears this, we'll want to be over there.
28:06Why is it safer over there than here?
28:08Because if there was a rock that was dislodged from where they're going to pull that over,
28:11it's going to fall right where you are.
28:18Rock.
28:19Chris Whitenack, it's been a pleasure working with you.
28:26So our washing machine is making its way topside, where it will be thrown into a truck and taken off to a proper dump.
28:35The work here, meanwhile, will continue this dirty job.
28:45Well, there's my crew, as you can see from my fancy point-of-view camera, currently attached to the side of my head, rigged to my backpack, 65 pounds of what I believe to be largely unnecessary weight.
28:58Jerry, how are you?
28:59I'm doing good today.
29:00Lovely to see you again.
29:01Apparently, and correct me if you don't share this sentiment, but the only thing I hate worse than a litter bug is a lazy, incompetent litter bug.
29:10And it just seems like a lot of people who have come here over the years to dump their crap in the sinkhole haven't even made it.
29:16Some of it's stuck to the side.
29:18Yep.
29:18When people can't even competently litter anymore, I really feel as though as a society we've come into a weird place.
29:24I would agree with that.
29:25Jerry and I are going to rappel down the side to pick up the litter that the inconsiderate pigs have left here over the decades.
29:33And then what are we going to do with it?
29:34We're going to throw it down to the bottom of the pit so it can be picked up into the bags later on and hauled out.
29:40Don't ever throw anything in a cave, all right?
29:44Safety, obviously, is a key concern here.
29:47Is there anything you'd like to share with me now that might scare the hell out of me?
29:49First off, are you allergic to poison ivy?
29:52I don't know.
29:53We'll find out.
29:54All right, too.
29:55Second is the rocks.
29:57As we're going over the edge, we're going to have a rope up above us.
30:00And as we're swinging around trying to get to this trash while we're locked off on the rope, rocks could potentially fall.
30:07I am allergic to rocks hitting me in the face.
30:09I think we all are.
30:09This I'm sure of.
30:11All right.
30:11Anything else?
30:12Falling.
30:13Okay.
30:14Poison ivy, rocks in the face, falling.
30:17Actually, the falling will hurt you.
30:19You're going to say it's a sudden stop at the bottom.
30:21Yeah.
30:24All right, Jared.
30:25Let's go do a rim job.
30:26Let's do it.
30:32We are now good to go.
30:34All right.
30:36Knees shaking yet?
30:37No, I'm good.
30:37But this is my shooting hand.
30:42All right, Mike.
30:43Yeah.
30:43I guess you can go down over there.
30:46I'm going to go right through here.
30:47You've got a fence to untie and some metal.
30:50And I'm going to untie or undo all this stuff right here and throw it down the pit.
30:54Okay.
30:58Yeah, that's poison ivy.
30:59There's poison ivy everywhere up here.
31:01It's perfect.
31:03You want me to go around these trees this far away?
31:07Yes.
31:07All right.
31:08Oh, man.
31:10This backpack is so convenient.
31:12You may actually have to get down on your knees to get under that one.
31:15I just might have to say a prayer while I'm down here.
31:21All right.
31:21Now I'm looking for any trash I see of any kind.
31:23Any trash you see.
31:25A bottle?
31:28Rock.
31:38Rock.
31:42Stupid litter bugs.
31:44Damn rotten dirty pigs.
31:47Jeez.
31:48God.
31:50How high are we, by the way?
31:52Oh, what is it?
31:5320 feet?
31:55Yeah.
31:55Maybe twice?
31:56I'm still not to the point where I completely trust the rope, am I?
31:59Never.
32:00You look pretty damn trusting right there, I got to tell you.
32:03Oh.
32:05It's all for show.
32:07I am absolutely crapping my pants.
32:09I don't mind telling you.
32:11This is terrible.
32:12Horrifying.
32:18Absolutely horrifying.
32:21Oh.
32:22Oh, gee.
32:29Like I said, rocks are going to come from everywhere on this.
32:32All right, Mike, when we get down, when we've got all the garbage off of here, let's go ahead
32:37and lock our racks off.
32:38Yeah.
32:39And they're going to feed rope down to us that we can lower all the way to the bottom.
32:42Great.
32:42We just did all this for five pieces of trash?
32:46We got to get it all.
32:48God.
32:50Okay.
32:53Get where you can get comfortable.
32:55I haven't been comfortable since I met you, Jerry.
32:57Coming right under the fall zone.
33:00Oh, all right.
33:00I won't move too much.
33:01Oh, man, that fence is still there.
33:03There's more fence.
33:04Oh, I got to get that.
33:05I thought you got it all.
33:06I thought I did, too.
33:07Oh, man.
33:08Can I go after it?
33:09Go after it.
33:10Okay, Mike, I've got you on belay.
33:12Promise?
33:13Absolutely.
33:14All right, I got to get over there, Thor.
33:16All right.
33:16A little slack.
33:17Slack.
33:18Rock.
33:24Rock.
33:25God.
33:26Bless America, Thor.
33:28Get the hell out of there.
33:31Jeez.
33:33I think we missed the boy by half an inch.
33:36You all right, Thor?
33:37All good.
33:39Man, you move well for a Norse god.
33:44Thor, you got me?
33:45I'm going for this fence.
33:46I just need a little slack.
33:47I got you.
33:53Well, our job on this slope's done.
33:55We're ready to go on down.
33:56All right.
33:57Going on down, Sykes, sounds like a great idea.
34:00I'm having a hard time standing up straight.
34:02Well, it's all downhill from here.
34:04Great.
34:05Want to race?
34:08I'm kidding.
34:11Good job.
34:12I think you've landed in all the trash you threw down.
34:16I think you're right.
34:17I'm just going to lay on this really expensive camera gear in the hope that I somehow smash
34:26it so badly, it can never be used again.
34:37That was exciting.
34:41Very exciting stuff.
34:44Thanks.
34:44man, we are out of here.
34:47All across the country are caves and sinkholes that once upon a time were pure and pristine.
34:54Now people have turned them into sewers and dumps.
34:59Fortunately, other people are coming together to clean them up.
35:01And that's kind of a happy ending to a dirty job.
35:10Coming up, after countless failed printing runs, it's hard to keep seeing yourself in the
35:14garbage can.
35:15My nose is still crooked.
35:16But in the end, there's only so much you can do with me.
35:26Well, my day started off normal enough.
35:28I woke up, had breakfast, made some coffee, walked down to the corner, grabbed the local
35:33paper.
35:34Had a look at the headlines and what do you know?
35:36Well, I'm on the front page.
35:39First time for everything.
35:41Today, I've decided to find out who's responsible for this and then see if I can get some extra
35:47copies.
35:49At the San Francisco Printing Company, I searched for the guilty party.
35:53He was easy to catch.
35:55In fact, I caught him red-handed, so to speak.
35:58Well, as near as I can figure it, this is the guy who's responsible for putting my face
36:03on the front page of the Guardian.
36:05David?
36:05Yes.
36:06I'll be David as well.
36:08He's hooked me up with a shirt and a hat.
36:10And what's the, uh, what's that sound mean?
36:12That's our other printing press, getting ready to start up another job.
36:15How many printing presses do you actually have going here?
36:18We have three of them in here.
36:19And how many different newspapers do you actually print?
36:22We do about 50 or 60 a month.
36:24Really?
36:24And we do the Examiner and other commercial jobs, such as the Guardian.
36:29Well, can you show me today, in a fairly brief and efficacious fashion, how it is that
36:35this happens?
36:36Sure I can.
36:37As a matter of fact, we're setting up the job right now.
36:39All right.
36:39Let's move over here.
36:40What should I do with this?
36:41Let's hang this up over here.
36:43Right here?
36:46There you go.
36:46That's going to be the proof that we're going to print today.
36:49This is called a proof?
36:50We're going to proof it.
36:50The proof is a single copy of the newspaper created by the pre-press department, and it
36:55shows a printer exactly what the newspaper should look like when it comes off the press.
37:00This is called a what?
37:02A printing plate.
37:03And how many printing plates do we need to do this?
37:04We're going to need eight plates for this job.
37:06All right.
37:08There you go.
37:09Okay.
37:09Take this wrench.
37:10Yes.
37:10And lift it upward.
37:12There.
37:13All right.
37:14Take this off.
37:15All the way across.
37:16There you go.
37:22That's the old job.
37:23That's the old job, yeah.
37:25We're going to put yours on now.
37:26Spot down here.
37:28Okay, good.
37:29Don't let go.
37:30Until the very end.
37:33Pull it down for me.
37:34There you go.
37:34Close the guard.
37:37And we'll go to the next step.
37:39Next step.
37:40On each page of newspaper, four different plates lay down four different colors.
37:44Blue, red, yellow, and black.
37:46Same way.
37:51You're making that bell ring, right?
37:52Yes.
37:53I'm turning it.
37:54So in general, when you hear a bell in a printing press...
37:57Watch your fingers.
37:58It means watch your fingers.
38:01Let's get to black now.
38:03The four-plate process allows the newspaper to publish color photographs and bright, eye-catching graphics.
38:09Big pluses for any periodical.
38:10Now, we're not printing yet.
38:16We're going to print right now.
38:17What, are we going to run them?
38:18Are we going to look at them?
38:19We're going to...
38:19We're going to run it up and see what we have first.
38:21Okay.
38:22And then we'll set it back down.
38:23Okay.
38:24So go ahead and...
38:24Did you hit everything at once?
38:26Is that how it works?
38:26You can try.
38:27Why don't you go ahead and push this button here?
38:29This one?
38:29This one.
38:30Hold it in.
38:32Starting to print.
38:33Go ahead and set it down now.
38:40Turn that blue knob back to the middle.
38:43Push the black button.
38:44It'll slow down.
38:47Here's what we have for the first copies.
38:51Oh, it's perfect.
38:53We have some adjustments to make right now.
38:55Yeah.
38:55Before we keep them.
38:57Since we did a terrible job putting the plates on, we're going to move it over to the left.
39:01The plate?
39:01To the right.
39:02The plate.
39:03The whole plate.
39:03The whole plate.
39:04Correct.
39:06There you go.
39:09The printing plates are made of thin, flexible aluminum, and they're recycled after every job.
39:15An image of the newspaper page is chemically etched onto each aluminum plate.
39:20That's it.
39:21Let's try it again.
39:21It may seem wasteful, but printing a test run is the only practical way to make sure
39:30all four plates are lined up correctly on the presses.
39:33But when I'm not here, something tells me they don't need so many test runs.
39:39All right.
39:39Let's see how we are now.
39:40We're getting closer.
39:42Let's go see how it looks to the color proof.
39:44All right.
39:45I think we're pretty much there.
39:48Yeah, I'd rather it be darker than redder.
39:50Yeah, see, that's charcoal.
39:52That was a very bad day for me.
39:54Let's turn the red down.
39:55We'll tell Jesus to make that happen.
39:57He's doing the color right now.
39:59All right.
40:00I think we're ready for the last startup, and we're going to start keeping them.
40:11Go faster, Mike.
40:12Let's go faster.
40:12Let's go faster during a run.
40:23My nose is still crooked.
40:28Oh, yeah.
40:31About 15 years ago, I was running a printing press in Sacramento, and my hand got stuck in
40:35a trimmer and sliced off the tip of my thumb.
40:40I got to think, you're not the only pressman in the country that lost a little bit of...
40:48A lot of pressmen around...
40:49A lot of pressmen have missing digits, and I'm not the only one.
40:54People should think of that when they're reading their newspaper in the morning.
40:59Missing fingers.
41:01Dangerous pisses.
41:02I think we're almost done, Mike.
41:04Slow it down?
41:05No, slow it down, yeah.
41:07Turn the clock off.
41:09And the water.
41:12And the clock.
41:13Wow.
41:14Let's switch down and then put a space here.
41:15That's it.
41:23It's been turned off.
41:23That's all.
41:24We're done now.
41:25So we have just printed approximately 2,000.
41:282,000 copies.
41:29And that's very cool, man.
41:32Yep.
41:32I like your job a lot.
41:33Are we done?
41:34No, we're not done yet.
41:35We have to clean up still.
41:38Well, sure, there's the clean up.
41:41Basically, it's just, you know, finger painting for grown-ups at this point.
41:44Basically, this is the clean up process.
41:47Does the clean up process really ever stop?
41:50It never ends.
41:51The pressman's job is basically either you're setting up a job, then you run it, and then
41:56you set up for the next job.
41:58Well, I want to thank you for having me by and letting me slow you down to the point
42:02where I'm sure I've become a liability to your business, but...
42:05Yeah, we have people waiting outside right now.
42:07So, thanks for coming by.
42:10I will turn this over to you.
42:12All right.
42:12Thank you, my friend.
42:13Thank you, Mike.
42:14Well, I'll wrap up my day as a pressman.
42:17Not as glamorous, maybe, as a writer or an editor, but just as important.
42:23Without these guys, the papers don't go.
42:26And I don't get to leave black and white and red all over.
42:33Well, now, let's see.
42:34On a scale of one to ten, I'd have to say today's Dirty Jobs kicked my bass.
42:39And that's no carp.
42:40But unless you want to see me cast off my perch, I need your help.
42:45Seriously.
42:46Drop me a line.
42:46Discovery.com forward slash Dirty Jobs and suggest a brand new Dirty Jobs idea.
42:52I'd be grateful.
42:53I'm not baiting you.
42:54Seriously.
42:55Hurry.
42:55Don't fillet.
42:56I'll see you.
42:57You'll shishy me.
42:59I know.
43:00That was terrible.
43:02Damn, you look like some sort of hideous pin-up girl.
43:09Fell from purgatory and landed in a windmill like a wayward lawn dart.
43:14Pass it, please.
43:16Pass it?
43:16I could barely swallow it.
43:20I'll be here all evening.
43:23Oh, jeez.
43:24Awkward.
43:26Now I'll pick it up on the way.
43:27You weren't rolling on that, were you?
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