09x02 - Jellyballer / Epoxy Installer

[bunniefuu]

My name's Mike Rowe,
and this...

Is my job.

[Upbeat music playing]

[Narrator] On this episode
of dirty jobs...

I feel like you've been
doing it your whole life.

Yeah.

[Narrator]
Two very different families,

two very different
businesses,

each one trying to carve out
a slice of the American dream

while making civilized life
possible for the rest of us.

First, I joined
the brothers, Boone.

Don't try this at home.

[Narrator] As we embark
upon an epic quest

to capture whatever
the hell this is.

Lots of jellyfish.

[Narrator]
Call them what you want.

Here on dirty jobs,

it's the catch of the day.

One, two, three.

[Narrator] And later...

Degreasing the floor
in a restaurant.

...It's a race
against the clock.

We gotta do this whole thing
in four and a half hours?

We probably shouldn't be
standing around.

Yup.

[Narrator] As I join

an intrepid father
and son team,

determined to lay
a coating of epoxy

on the floor
of a restaurant...

Whoa.

...Before the evening rush.

Get ready to get dirty.

[Rock music playing]

Aw!

Oh.

[Singer]
♪ Yeah, it's a dirty job ♪

♪ but someone's got to do it ♪

[font color=#FF00FF]*DIRTY JOBS[/font]
[font color=#00FF00]Season 09 Episode 02[/font]

Episode Title:
[font color=#FFc30f]"Jellyballer / Epoxy Installerr"[/font]

[Narrator] And so begins
what promises to be

another filthy foray
reporting for work

in the wee small hours
of the morning.

- Brandon.
- I'm Mike.

- Brandon?
- Nice to meet you.

Good to meet you.
How are you?

- Nice to meet you. Pat Brennan.
- Pat.

[Narrator] On a darkened dock
in Darien, Georgia.

If I were a scientist
in Rome right now,

I might take this opportunity

to tell you about
stomolophus meleagris,

a spineless,
soulless creature

that strikes horror
into the hearts of men.

But I'm not a scientist
and I'm not in Rome.

I'm in Darien, Georgia.

So, I'll just let you know

that today
we're going balling.

That's right.
It's jellyfish hunt.

[Narrator] Darien, Georgia.

Population,


Down here, fishing
is the coin of the realm.

And the people here
are good at it.

Boone family seafood
is now run

by fourth generation
shrimper, Michael Boone.

When the jellyfish market
started to grow,

so too did
the Boone family business.

They reconfigured
their shrimp boats

to haul jelly ba*ls
and they never looked back.

Never ball without a buddy.

So, is this basically
how the day starts,

- checking the nets?
- Yeah. You, kind of, look.

If you see something,
you start checking even more.

But we get a few holes
just every now and then.

It's just according
on how you're fishing.

I don't feel like
I officially introduced you,

but this is
captain Michael Boone.

And right now in real time,
it's about 4:30.

We've been steaming for what,

maybe an hour,
hour and a half?

- Yeah. Yeah. But...
- How far out are we gonna go?

We've got about another
two miles is all,

before we start
really looking hard.

We just got to get outside
the three mile.

We can't drag inside of...
Inside of three miles.

- [Mike] Why?
- Season's closed.

So, you need a permit
for jellyfish?

Yeah, of course.

You need permit
for everything.

Yeah, of course.

I probably need a permit
to learn how to fix this net.

You could probably go
without it.

- I don't know, maybe.
- All right, man.

We'll just keep it
our little secret

'cause I wanna learn the art
of whatever you just did.

- Let's find another hole.
- All right. Look. Here, I got one up here.

- All right.
- We'll start small and go big.

I should have been
paying better attention.

- Yeah.
- What do you do, just...

- All right. Here. Do it.
- Well, I'll try.

- Go, make a loop around this.
- [Mike] Right through here?

[Michael] Nope,
right around this...

- Right itself.
- [Mike] Oh, like that?

[Michael]
Like that there, yup.

- Go right here?
- Under.

- [Mike] Under here?
- [Michael] Right here.

- Right here.
- [Mike] Oh, I got you.

See? Now you'll take that
tight right there

and go around both of these
and through here,

make a half hitch
around this side.

- [Mike] This side?
- [Michael] Nope, other side.

- [Mike] Other side.
- [Michael] Yup.

[Mike] I had a 50/50 shot.

Up around both of them.

Oh, wait a minute.
Up around...

[Michael] Yup. Hold that tight
and go around both of these,

your line and this one.

[Narrator] First impressions,
I like him.

Your line and...

Man, this has got to be
frustrating for you too.

- Not at all.
- Yeah, it is.

[Narrator] Most captains
I know spend their time

in the wheelhouse.

Michael Boone is out here
on the deck,

tending to his nets,
patiently showing the new guy

how to fix a thing
that needs fixing every day.

- Where?
- Go.

Oh, dammit.

Then it's through here
like this.

[Michael] Yup.
Get this knife.

- Yup.
- You cut it.

- See, I'm learning.
- Yeah.

- I'm learning.
- Oh, yeah.

So, this is the caught
in, the...

What we call a bag.
This is where all

the jelly ba*ls
are gonna end up.

So, when that thing
comes up...

[Michael] It's gonna be full.

And somebody's
gonna come over there

and grab that rope
and then it's gonna open?

You.

[Narrator]
Well, that sounds like fun.

I can't wait.

Permission to enter

whatever level
the hell this is.

[Man] Yes, sir.
Hey, watch your steps,

just count your stride.

[Narrator] If you've been
watching this show

over the years, you know

there's gonna be a hole

and you know
I'm gonna climb into it.

Some holes are deeper
than others.

Some holes are tighter

and some holes
smell like fish.

Well, I made that look easy,
didn't I?

[laughs]

I didn't meet you.

You're Chris Boone.

You're in charge.

What can I do to help?

What we're doing is just
picking these boards up.

- Yeah.
- And we're sitting

right inside of these slots.

Oh, that's...
I can do that.

It's really jibbly simple.

[laughter]

[Narrator] They're a lot
of boones on this boat.

Chris is the youngest.

Why don't you show me
the technique?

I can do that, man.

I can do that all day long.

[Chris] And what this does
is while we got jelly ba*ls

- over here and it goes sloshing around?
- Yeah.

[Chris] That keeps them
ball off of going to one side.

[Michael] Because
the last thing you want

is a sinking boat.

[Brandon] Hey,
you don't want a sinking boat.

- Nobody wants a sinking boat, man.
- No.

[Brandon] It's pretty simple.

Well, simple or not,
it works, right?

[Chris] Yes, sir.

[Mike] How does one go about
looking for these things?

- You just stare...
- [Michael] Over the side of the boat.

- [Mike] You just look over the boat?
- [Michael] You'll see... Yup.

You'll see a cannonball jelly.

You'll see it right over the
side. It shouldn't be long.

Hopefully we'll see us
one or two.

[Narrator] Captain Boone is on
the lookout for a smack.

That's what you call
a group of jelly ba*ls.

He's one of just
a few captains

who harvest this
particular delicacy.

And sometimes he'll go
a hundred miles offshore

to hunt them down.

Still checking.

We're now on the stern,
still looking for more...

For more jelly ba*ls.

The idea is, you know,
you see five, six,

seven of them at a time

and then you figure
you can put the nets in.

But we're only seeing two or
three at a time, so we'll wait.

[Narrator] They say that
getting there is half the fun.

I say that getting there
is a great time

to try and figure out
who's related to whom.

- So, you're Brandon Boone?
- Yup.

- Michael Boone is the captain?
- Yup.

How many other boones
are on the boat?

- Christopher.
- Chris, Brandon, Michael.

Yup. Yup.
So, we did the shrimpin'

with Wayne magwood,

I actually worked with him
a few years ago.

- [Mike] You know Wayne?
- [Brandon] I know Wayne.

[Mike] God, what was
the name of this boat?

- Was it the winds of fortune?
- [Brandon] Winds of fortune.

[Mike] Back in season...

I think that was season one
or two of dirty jobs.

- It was early on.
- [Brandon] Really, really early on.

[Mike] Super early.

Oh, I said if my mother's
seeing this,

she's gonna track you down
and kick your pirate a*s.

[Wayne]
I thought you were tough.

You might be tough, captain,
but if my mother sees this,

she's gonna track you down
and kick your pirate a*s.

Two months later,

I saw it on a t-shirt
in a mall somewhere.

- [Brandon] Really?
- Yeah.

That's when I knew
we were on to something.

[Narrator]
And now 15 years later,

I'm back on the same waters

to see what's new
on the menu.

What's this boat look
like with 50 tons

- of jellyfish on it?
- It's gonna be splash,

you're gonna think
we're sinking.

[laughs]

[Narrator] Remember this guy,
pat Brennan?

I met him on the dock
about an hour ago.

He's related
to the boones somehow.

Is this dangerous
what we're about to do?

It could be. But if,

you know, you stay
in the right spot

and take your time,
being careful,

it's not that bad.

I've had a few grounds
with sharks,

been bit in the hand.

I was under one guy's...

My friend's boat
getting the rope out

and his crew was
going through the drag.

And they forgot
I was even under there.

Well, they started pushing
all the buckets of bull.

The sharks started zipping
and zooming

and all I could do
is get up where

- the wheel was and just hide.
- Right.

- And I'm beating on the boat, "hey, stop."
- [Mike] To let me in.

"Stop!" [laughs]

You broke your sternum,
your neck and your back.

Neck, back, sternum,
rib, and foot.

- All like that?
- Just like that.

[Narrator]
That's a not a fish story.

Pat is pretty much
indestructible

but I'm still not sure
of who he is.

Pat Brennan
is your brother-in-law?

My father-in-law.

Your father... Right.

I've never been married,

so I never
got all that straight.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

When did the Boone family
start fishing?

Four generations ago.

And who...
That was your great, great?

- Right.
- Great?

Great.

What's his name?

- Tessie.
- Tessie Boone?

Tessie toys,
Tessie toys Boone.

My granddaddy was sankey.

My daddy's Gregory
and I'm Michael.

- I'm sorry.
- Hey, yeah.

- Sankey?
- Sankey.

Man, with one extra letter,
he could've been stankey.

Yeah. That's what...
That's what they called him.

Have you eaten jelly ba*ls?

Not per se off the deck
or anything

but they say if you ever eat
an egg roll

that you've had jelly ba*ls.

An egg roll?

It'll take the flavor of
anything that it's put with.

You have a pound
of hamburger here

and you got a pound
of processed jelly ba*ls.

You mix it together
and you'll never know

the difference
but you made that

pound of hamburger
go to two pounds.

It's a food additive.

[Narrator] Let that sink in
for a second.

A pound of jellyfish
can turn a pound of hamburger

into two pounds
of hamburger.

That's something to chew on.

Well, it looks like it's gonna
be a beautiful morning.

Sun's coming up in the east.

Food's coming up to the south.

It's so bad.

[Narrator] And we are right on
the cusp of having a ball.

- [Michael] Are you dreaming?
- I am.

[laughter]

[Narrator]
And then just like that,

indestructible pat
is getting very excited.

[Pat] We in the ba*ls.

We're in the [bleep] Big.

They're all over the water.

h*! Let's gobble down!

[Michael]
Yeah. Time is money.

Lots of jelly ba*ls.

Try and head out
and when we pull it up,

we'll see if we got us a few.

[Narrator]
First thing you wanna do

when you think
you're in the ba*ls

is make sure
you are really in the ba*ls.

This little guy
is called a trinet.

So, is that promising
or not enough?

It's close.

We're gonna run just
a little bit further.

So, that's it.

That's our guy?

[Narrator]
When we come back...

Almost there.

[Narrator]..Now that we've
got our hands on some ba*ls,

it's a race
to grab a boatload.

It's all coming back to me.

[Narrator] And believe me
when I tell you,

these ba*ls are a handful.

[Narrator] Welcome back to
somewhere off the coast of Georgia

where I'm aboard a fishing
vessel called the little man,

getting up close and personal

with my very first
jelly ball.

I mean, it's fascinating.

Diabolically simple

yet incredibly complicated.

[Narrator] Complicated to
comprehend, dangerous to harvest.

Oh [bleep] What...

[narrator] On a fish boat,
there's always something

heavy flying through the air,

hoping to crack you
in the skull.

Damn hook.

[Narrator] Speaking of danger,

what do you do
when a critical rope

slips through
a critical pulley

and needs to be
quickly rethreaded?

Oh, he's doing it.

What the heck?

[Narrator] Don't look at me.

Get indestructible pat,

the old guy
with all the broken bones.

He'll fix it.

He's now gonna try

and get over the top
of these lights.

His ultimate goal
is thread that rope

through that pulley.

Now, what's interesting is pat
fell out of a tree

about two years ago,
broke his back,

broke his neck,
broke his sternum,

broke his ribs.

And now he's gone
ahead climbing

about 25-feet in the air
on a very slippery steel.

He's not tied at all.

The man's fearless.

Can you pull me up
in that whip line right there?

Okay. I don't know
if you heard that,

but what pat just said was

pull me up
with that whip line.

Now I think that means
he's gonna come down

and then he's
gonna tie himself off

and we're gonna hoist him up.

Are you okay with me
doing this?

Don't die.

Oh, man. That does not
instill confidence.

[Pat laughs]

Brandon.

[Brandon] I got your back.

[Narrator] Mike's cousin,
Brandon, is on the crane.

Oh [bleep].

No, no, no.

[Narrator] Mike's father-in-law,
pat, he's in the rope.

[Michael] It don't
feel right, does it?

It doesn't feel right.

I'm just gonna take
a very quick moment

to say to you with all
the sincerity I can muster.

Don't try this at home.

[Michael] All right, hold it.

Hey, hold up.

[Mike] [Laughs]
You magnificent b*stard.

I can flip it.

[laughter]

[Pat]
All right. Coming down.

[Michael] Come on.

All right, here it is.

[Narrator]
Thanks, but no thanks.

This is one job
better left to pat.

Damn, pat.

I think you just
stole the show.

[laughs] -[Narrator] All
right then. Where were we?

Oh, yeah, balling for jellies.

[Mike] Oh, see. Look at that.
It's a lot of...

That's a lot of jellies
floating around.

- One right there.
- We need to this one here.

[Mike] One right there.

[Narrator] At long last,

we see enough ba*ls
to get busy.

My job do what I'm told,

try not to get in the way.

[Mike] It feels heavy.

Pull, pull,
till you can't pull no more.

All right.

[Narrator] There's a lot of
pulling on a jelly ball boat.

[Michael] Sign up
every chance you get.

[Narrator] A lot of pulling
and tugging.

Almost there.

All right.
Run it through your block.

[Narrator] Did I mention
the tugging and the pulling?

Thank you.

- You're welcome.
- [laughing]

[narrator] So, what's all that
tugging and pulling get you?

All right. Now let that thing
roll towards you.

It'd be unforgiving.

Don't let it roll towards me?

Uh-uh. All right.

There you go.
Now grab your long rope.

[Narrator] Now that,
my friends, is a heavy smack.

- [Michael] This rope right there, yup.
- [Mike] Yeah.

[Michael] Grab it, smack.

[Narrator] Seems simple right?

Just yank the rope.

How'd you do it?

[Narrator] But, of course,

nothing is simple
on a jelly ball boat.

Everything requires
a very specific technique

or maybe just
a little teamwork.

- That's it.
- Ready?

Yeah.

[Narrator] These boom
trawl nets can bring up

thousands of pounds
of ba*ls per load.

But still, it'll take
a whole lot of loads

to reach the boats


So that was a fairly
successful first run.

Yeah, it wasn't too bad.

It feels like you've been
doing it your whole life.

Yeah.

[Michael]
Give it a horse smack.

There you go.

[Narrator] Like anything else,

practice makes perfect.

And like most dirty jobs,
once the work starts,

you can see exactly
how you're doing.

It's called
immediate feedback.

And it's gratifying.

And if you like the sight
of 8,000 pounds

of jelly ba*ls slipping
and sliding into a dark

and dirty hole then this,
my friends,

is the job for you.

So not as good
as the last one,

but not terrible.

Yeah.

I saw that.

So you got the idea.

Let's go in
black sack fills up,

hoist it up, 10 feet out.

[laughs]

Okay.

Wait 20 minutes,
do it again.

After that,
what you do is you wait

about 20 minutes
and you do it again.

At which point you wait
another 20 minutes

and then do it again.

Well, you got to be happier
with that one, huh?

- No.
- No?

No, I needed twice as many
and half the time.

When's the last time you've
actually been happy cap?

Uh, that's a good question.

After that, well,

you wanna wait
another 20 minutes,

and go do it again.

And then a little later,
specifically,


you do it again.

[Narrator]
Which begs the question,

what does one do during
the 20 minutes

while you're waiting
to do it again?

Well, if you're me,
you sit down

and try and get a sense

of why Mike Boone
does what he does.

Permission to enter
the, uh, inner sanctum?

- Permission granted.
- [chuckles]

- May I sit here?
- Sure.

Well, first of all,

tell me what happened
to your chair.

Oh, I'm pretty sure
it come out of a car

and it already had
a few miles on it.

[laughs]

Why do you call it
little man?

[Michael]
Um, it's my little brother.

That's what
they always called him.

And that's what they all
wanted to name the boat.

So what's it like, man,

you're the fourth generation
of Boone

to be in these waters.

And [indistinct]

It's, kind of,
hard to describe, man,

just I guess the only thing
I've ever done,

it's all I know.

And so I've been
in the ocean my whole life.

I never really thought
of doing anything else.

You love it?

You got to, to do it.

Absolutely got to.

I'm pretty sure that's
common with any fishermen.

Hands on is about
a dying breed.

- Your first memories?
- [Michael] Yeah.

I'm sure, your dad
and your family working.

Yeah, it don't feel like
hard work to me.

But it's the only thing
I know, you know.

[Narrator] Edison
summed it up like this.

Opportunity is missed by most

because it's usually dressed
in overalls looking like work.

Point being you can make
a great living jelly balling,

but you'll learn every penny.

There's simply no shortcut.

You got to get
your hands dirty,

which brings us
back to the dock

where the story
began 24 hours ago.

There, the jelly ba*ls
enter phase two

of their journey to a stomach

on the other side
of the planet.

You remember Brandon, now
he's, uh, operating a hose.

And the hose
is sucking the jelly ba*ls

out of the hole
of the little man.

Not a sentence I thought
I'd be saying today

but that's the truth
of what's happening here.

Yes, everybody
is kind of exhausted.

But nobody seems to care
of the work, it never stops.

The jelly ba*ls make their way
up onto this conveyor belt.

But the conveyor belt,
they fall into this bin.

And then I'm guessing
they get scooped up

by a forklift or something
to take it up there.

Wanna see what's up there?

Sure you do.

[Narrator] Coming up...

Possibly slimy.

[Narrator]
...It's down the hatch.

Hmm.

[Narrator] And later,

will I beat the clock

to get a restaurant floor

installed before dinner?

Get ready to get dirty.

I believe it was Plato
who first said

that beauty was in
the eye of the beholder.

Personally,
I think that all depends

on what you're holding.

[Narrator]
The jelly ball plant is not

your typical
processing facility.

It's a rather
modest structure

where workers
carefully prepare

this most unusual menu item
for consumption

under the watchful eye
of Terry Lee.

- Terry, I'm Mike.
- Nice meeting you.

Nice to meet you.

- This is, uh, this is your facility?
- Yes.

[Narrator] Terry Lee came
to this country with nothing.

Didn't even speak
the language.

But he saw an opportunity
and reached out

to local fishermen
to help supply

a reasonably priced food
additive to the Asian market.

That was 30 years ago.

What am I looking at exactly?
What's happening?

Now is, uh, after
we unload the jelly fish.

Now, we need to separate.

- Uh-huh. Who's this?
- So, Wanda.

Wanda [speaking Spanish]
Hello?

- [Speaking Spanish]
- Is she...

- She's my mom.
- She's your mother?

Yeah.

[Narrator] How's business?

[Terry] At the beginning we,

uh, only sell to the Japan,

but in 2004 we started
selling to China.

The company just wide open.

- Really?
- Yes.

Well, that's exciting, right?

- I mean, to have a market.
- Yes. Yeah.

Why do they have
to be separated?

Because of the...
When they consume,

like, it's a different,
uh, purpose.

The top, usually
they use it for slice.

- Do you eat both?
- Both.

But this tastes
very different than this?

It's not too much different,
but the crunch.

This one actually is
more crunchy than this one.

- Now you just simply pull it apart, right?
- Yes.

So you work your way
around it like that,

and then it just
sort of just pops out.

It's just impossibly slimy.

Very good, very clean.

[Mike] Now, your mother
goes to top speed.

- I know.
- She's very, very fast.

Hello, Wanda.

I'm just gonna watch you
for a moment

to hopefully learn
a little something.

It's pretty amazing.

It's the dexterity
of a Blackjack dealer,

combined with the singular
purpose of a tradesman.

Uh, all of that
coming together

in what appears to be
a relatively simple process

of tearing a jellyfish
in half.

But it's not simple, friends,

it's about as far
from simple as it gets,

because the entire thing
is really not unlike

a giant ball of snot,

and getting
your thumb in there

and rolling it around quickly

without mangling it
unnecessarily.

Takes the average person
about five seconds

but Wanda can go through
two of these bins in one hour.

The jellyfish
with a lot of slime,

so we need to wash it.

- Wash the slime off?
- Yeah.

I like this job.

[Narrator] Terry Lee is living
proof that the American dream

is still up for grabs.

The guy comes here
three decades ago,

identifies a brand new
market based on its demand

for a food
that looks like snot,

forges an alliance
with the local fishermen

and builds
a manufacturing facility

that today employs 30 people.

People like April.

- You're April?
- Yes.

- We haven't met yet. How are you?
- Good.

- Are you the general manager?
- Yes.

[Narrator] April's been with
Terry from the beginning,

so I'm hoping she can
explain the process

whereby a slimy sphere
of mucus

is transformed
into a delicacy.

So we can't eat until we salt?

Nope, can't eat until we salt.

All right, I remember Jesus,
what's he doing?

He is pouring
our secret solution

that gives our jelly ba*ls
a crunch.

You didn't tell me there
was a proprietary secret.

- Yes. Ancient Chinese secret.
- Ancient... [laughs]

If you don't wind up
doing the solution,

you have a jellyfish that's
gonna either be really brittle.

Right.

Or floppy and wilted,

so it's kind of like getting
a soggy dill pickle.

So if you have
a bad dill pickle

you can remember
that bad dill pickle.

You got a crunchy dill pickle.
You're gonna remember.

It is disappointing
when the pickle is,

- as you said, floppy.
- [April] Floppy.

- And soft.
- [April] Yeah.

[Narrator] You know
what they say guys.

If you want your pickle hard,

you'll need some salty ba*ls.

We got you one right here.

Oh, good. Because I wanna
be able to say I did

just about everything a man
could do to a jellyfish.

There you go.

How do we know
when we're done?

Jesus, tells you you're done.

That's how you know?

- That's how you know.
- Good.

We'll let it sit
for about 10 minutes.

Okay.

So this is gonna be
the preservative

and what we're wanting to do

is we're wanting
to add enough salt

to where we can get that bath

to equal 85 to 90
degrees salinity.

No bacteria
can grow with that,

we make the dead sea
look like a mud puddle.

So what you're gonna do
is you're gonna grab a shovel.

- Yup.
- Jesus, how many shovels, uh...

- Six.
- Six.

- So three for you, three for him.
- Yeah.

It seems like good math
right there, April.

And this is just
regular table salt?

- [April] Yup.
- [Jesus] Yeah, you got to spread it on.

[April] We buy it
by the truckload.

Six truckloads a week.

You know there was
a time when salt

is worth more than gold.

You got to fill
that shovel up.

- [Mike] I'm worry.
- [April] What?

Do you not know how to shovel?
You need me to help you?

[laughs] - It's my first
day with a shovel. Sorry.

[Narrator] After the ba*ls
are salted and dehydrated,

they're packaged and sent off

to parts unknown
where I'm assured people

can't get enough of them.

But how did they go down
here on the docks of Darien?

Whole thing down the hatch,
you bite it?

- Can you demonstrate?
- If you're a betting man,

I'll go ahead and just do the
whole thing down the hatch.

One, two, three.

Hmm, hmm.

It's growing
in Michael's mouth.

- Yes, good.
- [laughs]

Hmm, hmm.

It's like swelling up.

[Narrator]
That was right, by itself,

it doesn't taste
like anything,

but it will swell up
in your mouth

as it tries
to merge with your tongue.

This salad is made
with the top not the trunk.

- [Mike] Uh-huh.
- Why didn't we start with that?

Yeah, why did we...
Yeah, that was my fault.

- I dragged you right into this.
- You did.

[Mike] That looks pretty good.

- It's a crunchy noodle.
- [Michael] That wasn't too bad.

Yeah, I'll have
another one of them.

Look at that.

Look at that
he's back for a second.

Chris, come on over here, man.

At 16-years-old
you can be dating.

My camera crew,
I'm not worried about

because these guys
often feel neglected.

[Narrator] What I'll
remember most about this day

is not the taste
of jelly ba*ls

or the fun of getting up
at 3:00 am to hunt them down,

or the unlikely partnership
between the family business

of Terry Lee
and Michael Boone.

Now, I'm gonna
remember the fact

that a pound of jelly ba*ls

added to
a pound of hamburger

equals two pounds
of hamburger.

I'm no expert but it seems
like somebody somewhere

ought to turn that
simple equation

into a cure for world hunger.

Jones, come on over
here big boy.

Are you gonna feed me?

Of course I'm gonna feed you.

- Yes.
- Don't make me look inappropriately sexy.

[laughs]

Weird enough for you.

[Narrator]
Sometimes a little weird

is just what
the doctor ordered.

And with that my work
in Darien is done.

We never really know
when these, uh,

when these shows end,
it has no clear beginning

and it has no end.

I've said goodbye
now three times,

but we're still here talking.

It's kind of...
It's, you know,

it's dirty jobs.

If you just look at
Zach's camera and say amen,

we can end the segment once
and for all.

Cut.

That works too.

[Narrator]
With a bow on the ba*ls.

We're off to Jacksonville,
Florida.

We just make a little
running start there.

[Narrator] Where another
family-owned business

is waiting for me
to help them

grind it out on the floor.

Well, we're coming in hot.

Um, and I...
And I see right now

and, uh, we're gonna put
an epoxy coating on the floor.

There's a lot of heavy gear,

and a lot of men
in blue shirts.

It's gonna be great.

This is a little bit
more of a beast.

[Narrator] Full disclosure, I
have come to the wrong spot.

This is aic's storage area.

I was supposed to meet them
at the place of work

just down the road at least,

but long as I'm here might
as well get in the way.

And I spent 92.

I got so many questions.
It's Randy baird right?

- Yes, sir.
- This is your company ai coating?

- Yes, sir.
- What's ai stands for?

Advanced industrial coatings.

- Not artificial intelligence?
- No, sir.

Good. We need real
intelligence on this show.

Ready?

I'm gonna slip into
something more blue.

When you see me next.

You won't be able to tell me
apart from these guys.

[Narrator] Advanced industrial
coatings has grown to be

one of Florida's leading
epoxy flooring companies.

Randy's an entrepreneur

who has been
in the epoxy business

for over 35 years.

The secret to his success?

A small staff
of hard working floor men,

including his son, Randy Jr.

Now, are we allowed
to say the name

of the restaurant
we're workin' in?

[Man] No, don't say [bleep]

Don't say [bleep]

How about if we just say it
and beep it each time?

- [Man] Yeah, that's better.
- Let's do that.

So we're going [bleep]

We're gonna be working
in a restaurant

whose name I can't [bleep]
It's gonna be great.

[laughs]

[Narrator] Coming up,
things spin out of control.

Whoa.

[Narrator]
And there's not a damn thing

to be done about it.

Huh?

[Randy] You look good.

[laughs]
All right, let's ride

and get to know each other.

How long you've been
in Jacksonville?

Well, I was actually born
out of nas Jacks in 1959.

The naval base.

When I got out of high school,

you know, I was
gonna join the marines

and I was getting ready to go
to boot camp in two weeks

in parris island
and I got a...

Uh, I got a brand new car

and I fell asleep and hit
a telephone pole,

so the marines
wouldn't take me

because I got a pin in my leg

and I got, like, 300 stitches.

Oh, jeez.

The front tire
came to the floorboard,

the brake pedals came up
and got me in...

Oh, where you don't
wanna get got?

Yup.

And when I was hanging out

and I remember waking up
in the emergency room

at the naval hospital
where they were sewing me up

- with metal staples.
- Are you... Oh.

Metal staples?
At your scrotum?

Yup.

[Mike] It's not the story
I was expecting to hear

at 9:00 in the morning.

It's a privilege to do this.
We're gonna have a ball today.

Oh, I appreciate it.

You know, it's gonna be
great and fun.

- Yeah.
- I mean, it's gonna be

miserable but
it's gonna be fun.

Yes, sir. [Laughs]

[Narrator] Like a lot
of these jobs,

putting a coat of epoxy
on the floor

of an undisclosed restaurant

seems pretty straightforward.

But it won't be.

I know this because nothing
is ever straightforward

on this show.

There's gonna be
a multistep process

filled with unexpected
difficulties

and probably a surprising
amount of chemistry.

All right,
this is the restaurant,

we're not allowed
to tell you it's [bleep].

So when you...
When you hear...

When you hear me bleeped

or when you hear
anybody bleeping,

it's not because
we're using bad language,

it's because we've used
the name of the restaurant,

we're not allowed to utter.

[Bleep].

Well, Mike,
this is our task for the day.

[Mike] Oh, the scene
of the crime.

We run the big grinder,

uh, through the aisle ways.

We won't be able to move
all this stuff because, uh,

they got gas lines, I guess,
going through 'em.

- Yeah.
- We're gonna have

to get on our hands and knees,
scrub the floor.

- Sure.
- And, uh,

we can only get the grinder
so far underneath this part.

When we're done,
is this floor gonna be shiny?

It's gonna be shiny
and slip resistant.

So you want seamless,
slip-resistant,

shiny floor
here at the restaurant

whose name we cannot
mention, [bleep].

[Upbeat music playing]

How much time we
have to do this?

- Uh, I think to 4:00.
- 4:00?

They wanted...
They're opening at 4:00?

They wanna open up at 5:00.

- They wanna open up at 5:00?
- So at 3:30.

- We should be done by 3:30.
- Yeah.

- Yeah, the latest.
- So it has to dry?

It has to dry. It has to cure.

You can walk on it
about a hour,

a hour and a half,
you can walk on it.

We got to do this whole thing
in four and a half hours?

We probably shouldn't be
standing around.

Mmm-hmm. Yup.

Chop-chop.

For epoxy to bond
on the surface,

the surface has to be
completely cleaned.

In other words, you must
first eliminate the dirt

from the old epoxy floor
before adding the new epoxy

to the old floor in order
to protect the new floor

from the old dirt and to keep
the new epoxy from cracking.

Now, get ready...

To get dirty.

Randy started this business
almost 40 years ago

and his son, Randy Jr.,

serves as his reliable
number two.

We found some crazy stuff

underneath the bottom
of these. [Laughs]

Yeah. What'd you found?

In some restaurants,
we'd found rotten fruit,

dead hermits.

Right.

Hey, I didn't ask you
in the truck

because you freaked me out
so bad about that story,

but did everything
heal up okay?

Do what now?

After the accident,
before the marines,

everything heal up all right?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, it still hurt, you know?

Yeah.

But I keep going.

But I mean the block
and tackle is still there?

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

- Good.
- Okay.

I got 10 grandkids
and two greats, so...

Uh, just... You see how much
more the floor

- get cleaned now?
- Oh, right, yeah.

Getting in the, uh,
nooks and the crannies.

- You wanna try this, Mike?
- I do.

- What's it called again?
- This is a swing sander.

- Swing sander?
- Uh, yeah.

Well, you, uh, you put...

- You push that in...
- Uh-huh.

...And when you're ready,
you hit this button.

Try to put against
your waist right there...

Uh-huh.

...You could hold it
just like that.

You go up, it go to that way.

You go down,
it goes the other way.

- Yes, sir.
- So that takes it right?

- Yup.
- That takes it left?

Yup.

And what turns it on?

- Ready?
- Yeah.

- [Whirring]
- [upbeat music playing]

You kind of keep it
against you.

Up.

Ah.

- And you push it forward?
- Well, you'll get used to it.

It takes a lot to get used to.

Pull it up, it goes left.

Push it down, it goes right.

Really simple.

It sounds so simple.

To the left.

- Right.
- [Randy] Well,

if you handle this,
you should have no problem

handling the big machine.

[Mike laughs]

Baby steps, junior.
Baby steps.

[Country music playing]

- [Mike] Oh.
- [Randy] Oh, all right.

- Hang on.
- [Mike] Yup, sorry. Sorry.

[laughter]

Yeah. Damn.

It should be
very simple, right?

You lift it and it goes right.

You push it, it goes left.

But it doesn't do that
all the time.

[Country music playing]

All good.

[Whirring]

[Randy] Don't.

Whoa!

It's exciting.

[Randy] Throw some
of these right here

against the back wall,
is kind of gummy

right through here
and anywhere it's soft

just kind of scrape it up.

Degreasing a floor
in a restaurant.

It's a dirty job.

A very dirty job.

But a critical step
at assuring

the new epoxy seals properly.

This should be the, uh...
This should be

the glamorous part, right?

[Randy] Yeah.

This is what happens when
you paint over the grease,

the floor comes up.

If you're keeping notes
at home,

don't paint over the grease.

Okay. So anyway,
this is the final squeegee?

The... Yeah.
We got to do the squeegee.

We got to completely
rinse it again.

- And let it dry.
- [Mike] And then

- you'll bring in the grinder?
- Yup.

[Mike] Between the swing
sander and the squeegee,

I'll take the squeegee
any day.

Right now though, it's a race
against the clock.

And once the epoxy is down,
it needs time to dry

before the restaurant
can open for dinner.

How we fix for time?



Yeah, we'll be all right.

We got to get
the big machine going

so we can start
getting it cleaned up

so we can be ready
for the coating.

If not, they're not gonna be
able to open in time

if we don't get moving
with it.

[Mike] This job is really
all about the sanding.

After the swing sander,
we go in with a hand sander.

I may rethink those knee pads.

[Gary] You wanna try
the big machine?

[Mike] Sure.

Then, we release the kraken.

It's big machine.

A massive resin grinder

that'll prepare the floor
for a new coat.

- Ready?
- Yeah.

This machine uses
a powerful motor

in grinding blocks
with diamond blades

to rip up the old epoxy.

It also has a vacuum
to minimize dust

and maximize difficulty.

There you go, Mike.

[Narrator] Sorry, Ben,
no time for pictures.

[Dramatic music playing]

[Narrator] When we come back,
there's a right way

and a wrong way
to put epoxy on a floor.

I'll demonstrate both.

[Woman] We placed
two orders that we paid for,

- for here online.
- This one?

- [Woman] Yes.
- No, this place doesn't open

till 6:00, I don't think.

[Randy] Yeah,
it'd be 6:00 today.

Yeah. I think at 6:00.

- [Randy] Yup. So...
- You sure... You sure

- it was this location?
- [woman] Yes, sir.

Huh.

[Woman]
I got the confirmation.

I mean, what is it?

She placed an order
for pick up at this location.

I hate to tell you
but they closed

to sh**t a TV show today.

[Woman] To sh**t a TV show?

That's what we're doing. Yeah.

Now, you're on...
Now, you're famous

- and everything.
- [woman laughs]

You know an episode
of dirty jobs,

we just put a new floor
in the joint.

[Woman] Oh, my god. No wonder
your voice sounds familiar.

I'm like, "why is this guy
look familiar?"

Yeah.

Well, how...
So like explain to me

how is this like a dirty job?

Are you kidding me?
We just put in a new floor.

You should look
under that fryer.

You have nightmares
for weeks.

[Woman laughs]

[Narrator] Today,
time is not on my side.

As we prep the floor
of a restaurant

whose name I can't say
in Jacksonville, Florida

for a brand new coat
of epoxy.

Now, I'm working with Gary.

We haven't seen much of Gary

because he's been busy doing
what he does best.

Here's the chemistry
I predicted before.

Epoxy is made
of petroleum-based resin.

The resin is chemically
activated by a catalyst.

Now, this right here
is the catalyst.

We are gonna come up one quart

which is gonna be
that line right there.

[Catalyst pouring]

It sounds like every morning
around 8:30 for me.

[Gary laughs]

How long have you been working
with Randy?

Off and on
since the early 2000.

Well, look,
there's job security, man.

- [Gary] Yes, sir.
- Restaurants everywhere

and I've never been in one
that didn't have a floor.

Right.

[Narrator] Just like fishing
for jelly ba*ls,

epoxy application
is all about the preparation.

So things happen fast now
because we're working

- through the epoxy basically.
- [Randy] Yup.

[Narrator]
And the preparation,

in case you're wondering,
is a ball-buster.

Like a good paint job,

we start by tackling
the edges.

- [Randy] Hey, Mike.
- [Mike] Yeah.

[Randy] I'm telling you
right now, the new generation

don't have a clue
about nothing.

They don't wanna get
their hands dirty.

You know, that's why we do
this crazy show,

there's still people out there

who are on their hands
and knees

in the back of a restaurant

doing stuff with the floors
and walls that matter.

Ben stepped it over here.

[Randy] Oh, my gosh.

Ben.

- Yup, you're the culprit.
- Yup.

[Randy] You'll have
to signature here.

[Ben] Oh, no.

[Mike] Like it never happened.

Do you think
it can teach work ethic?

Oh, yes.

- I mean, how do you do it?
- You know,

if you got to want to learn,
you know,

if you just come work
for a paycheck,

you never gonna like
what you're doing.

If you don't like what
you're doing, don't do it.

Give a damn.

[Randy] You know, yeah,
you got to care.

The spikes,
sitting right over here.

[Mike] Oh, the spikes?

That's the stuff we wear

in order to keep us
from breaking our necks.

[Randy] Yes, sir.

Feel how sharp they are.

This is a very strange mating

between a croc
and baseball cleats.

[laughter]

I look forward
to slipping into those.

A three-gallon mix
and we'll put it in the, uh,

that big 18-inch pan

and then y'all start
rolling it up.

That sounds
like a dream, Gary.

Hey, whenever we're doing this
that means it's...

We're almost done.

It's almost buzz light time.

[Randy] Getting there now.

[Narrator] Epoxy resin reacts
with the hardener

to create adorable surface.

The trick now is to get
the epoxy applied

before it hardens.

It's kind of like concrete,
once you pour it,

it doesn't work for you.

You work for it.

There's probably
a good technique

and a bad technique
for this, right?

Yeah, if you don't mind,
could you go up

to that next to one, I got...
We kind of have to move along

because, uh, we're getting
to work.

[Narrator] Those cleats,
by the way,

are not designed to keep me
from falling on my a*s.

They're designed
to let me walk around

without leaving footprints.

You got to get to the places
nobody checks.

[Upbeat music playing]

[Mike] It kind of feel like
this is gonna be it.

[Randy] Yes, sir.

- On schedule?
- On schedule.

- Yeah? You happy-ish?
- Yes, sir.

Or at least, we're close.

I mean, it's already starting
to dry, right?

Yeah. Yeah.

[Randy] We'll be able
to walk on it

a little over an hour.

[Mike] The last of the floor.

[Randy] All right.

Well...

Five minutes on the wrong side
of perfect

but not too bad.

All things considered.

Four and a half hours,

brand new floor.

A lovely parting gift.

I've never been so honored.

Hey, man,
you guys were unbelievable.

You're fantastic
working for, man,

you're a hard worker, man.

Really a pleasure, man.
You're an inspiration.

- Gary.
- Yes, sir.

Nobody mixes those
toxic things like you do.

[Gary] Okay.

- Really a pleasure.
- My pleasure, too, man.

Where's your son?

I'll get... I'll get him.

There's always one
who screws up the goodbye.

It was a...

It was a pleasure
to work with you.

Yup. It's good
working with you, too.

- It's really an honor.
- Yup.

Good luck in with all this
and, you know,

it's all gonna be yours
one day.

- Yup.
- All of it.

- Yup.
- I think.

Yeah, it is.

Might be sooner
or later. [Laughs]

[Narrator]
And so it ends another

unforgettable family affair,

from a dirty deck
on the high seas

to a filthy floor
of an identified restaurant,

from a guy
in search of edible ba*ls

to a guy who nearly
lost his ba*ls,

two unique families,

each prospering
in difficult times,

each doing whatever it takes
to get the job done,

each hoping
the next generation

will roll up
their collective sleeves

and follow their example.

Randy baird and his crew,

Mike Boone and his,

all going the extra mile

to keep a hungry planet fed.

Hmm.

When the crew and I
are out on the road

searching for our next
dirty job...

Thanks guys.

And we gonna hankering
for wings,

we like to go to [bleep] Now,

I'm not allowed to say the
name of the restaurant on TV

because I didn't get
their permission

and that was stupid of me.

But I'll tell you this,

if you have a hankering
for wings,

stop and get some.

Hmm.

You see what I did there?

- Mmm-hmm.
- I said... I said...

I almost said the name
without saying it.

- [Ben] You got to stop.
- No,

because I'm clever like that.