Category: Mike’s Blogs

migrated from pd

OFF THE WALL: Safety Third Conversation Continues

Shari

Is worker safety and safety training (beyond the standard OSHA handshake) under your purview? If so, can you tell us a little about that? If not, may I ask why? I appreciate your work and I am not, I must stress NOT, calling you out. I am genuinely curious of your stance. Respectfully, Bill Hayward, Ph.D. Hi Bill Worker safety is a huge issue for me, and one that I got personally involved with about halfway through the Dirty Jobs run. After several seasons of accident-free shoots, my crew and I were suddenly enduring a rash of injuries while shooting Read More

OFF THE WALL: Corporate SHILLS

Shari

Interesting conversation over on the wall. It was started by a guy called Jayson LaVictorie, who has posted a few thousand words about what’s wrong with America. He started with these observations, inspired apparently by my S.W.E.A.T. Pledge. Jayson: “The 12 points are stupid. Corporate SHILLS don’t want you to think (critically) of how the average worker of the United States are getting screwed over by the ultra rich! They don’t want you to know that you are losing your jobs to people that are working for nothing or next to nothing! Why do they get freebies on Labor Costs, Read More

OFF THE WALL: Bucking the Odds

Shari

Today’s question comes from Jenn Foit, who bucked the odds and got my attention in much the same a shiny object fascinates my dog. Hey Mike – I have a 1 in 1,443,953 chance of you writing back to me. I am a 27 year old single mom who is about to finally take the step and start in a welding program. I am nervous and would love and appreciate any words of wisdom! Posted by Jenn Foit, 2:14 pm, 7/11/2014 Hi Jenn Most friends of this page know better than to ask me for advice, primarily because I’m known Read More

OFF THE WALL: The S.W.E.A.T. Pledge and Chuck Norris’s Beard

Shari

  Many thoughtful comments after yesterdays post. This one for instance, from Steven Oklesh, rose to someplace near the top. “Fact – After reading this post, Chuck Norris’ beard abandoned him and is now en route to attach itself to Mike Rowe’s face.” Crazy thing Steve – you’re right! Chuck Norris’ beard arrived a little after 2 pm yesterday, and gave me quite a start. I kinda like it, but I’m prepared to give it back. But only if Chuck buys a SWEAT Pledge. Speaking of The S.W.E.A.T. Pledge – wow. Lots of question regarding it’s content. This one caught Read More

No Sour Grapes – Go Vote for mrW/UTI Videos

Shari

Here’s a picture of me holding a copy of The S.W.E.A.T. Pledge. (Skill and Work Ethic Aren’t Taboo.) I wrote The Pledge last year for three simple reasons: 1. I believe what it says, and felt strongly the world needs one more acronym. 2. I wanted to raise some money for the scholarship fund. (We sell them for $10, and the money goes to the foundation.) 3. I needed something declarative that everyone must sign who applies for a mikeroweWORKS Scholarship. Something that reflected my own view of work-ethic and personal responsibility. Number 3 is especially relevant to this post, Read More

SkillsUSA Torch Carrier Award – It’s a Major Award

Shari

I’ve always been ambivalent about trophies and plaques and various other tokens of accomplishment designed to live forever on walls and mantles. Unless the memento in question falls into the “major award” category – like The Leg Lamp from A Christmas Story – I prefer to display and cherish my various keepsakes in the garage. Last Friday though, I was honored by my friends at Skills USA, and received from them the rarest kind of souvenir – the kind I will actually show off. It’s called The Torch Carrier Award, and as I told the audience that watched me receive Read More

General Mills’ Generous Donation to the mikeroweWORKS Foundation

Shari

I am not a spokesman for General Mills. Neither is my mother. But here at Mom’s place, this morning’s breakfast came in the form of a mixing bowl filled with “Oven Toasted Whole Grain Gluten Free Corn Chex,” courtesy of General Mills. (I’m not sure why all of a sudden people are taking the gluten out of everything edible, but my parents are on board with the trend, and so is General Mills. So as long as I’m here, I guess I am too.) Anyway, I was enjoying the most important meal of the day and perusing last weeks unread Read More

Mike’s Experience With Travis Mills

Shari

Say hi to Retired Staff Sargent Travis Mills, formerly of the 82nd Airborne, US Army. As you can see, Travis has undergone a few structural modifications, most visibly in the leg department. Likewise, his left arm is more machine than flesh, and though his right arm appears to be around my waist, it really isn’t. Like the rest of his limbs, it’s been missing in action for some time. I met Travis a few weeks ago in DC at The Science and Engineering Festival, and spent a half hour talking, mostly about Dirty Jobs. He wanted to tell me how Read More

A Sign of the Times

Shari

David Hebermehl writes, “Hey Mike – Myself and a bunch of other golf course superintendents in and around Louisville Kentucky are having a really hard time finding employees, especially if we have to use e-verify. I’ve tried all sorts of things. Nobody wants to work or work hard. Any ideas?” Hi David – The short – and somewhat self-absorbed answer is – yes. It’s a program called mikeroweWORKS, which many here are no-doubt tired of hearing me drone on about. Here’s the short version. The primary purpose of mikeroweWORKS is to help close the countries skills gap by calling attention Read More

Happy Birthday Dani…Again

Shari

Check out a couple of Facebook friends who snuck backstage at The Science Festival. Some of you might recall Evan – a thoughtful guy who requested an original birthday song for his girlfriend, Dani. Thanks to a few beers and a generous donation to the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, I complied. That was a year ago. So, unless the custom has changed, I suppose Dani just celebrated another one. Which is the only possible justification to call your attention to this heartfelt expression of musical excess. [youtube url=”http://youtu.be/2SrKmtgMtYs” width=”400″ height=”200″] Crank it up, and Happy Birthday, Dani. (Two days late.)

America Gets a “D” in Infrastructure

Shari

Every four years, the American Society of Civil Engineers issues an “Infrastructure Report Card.” This year we got a “D.” Again. It’s been this way since 1998. (Technically, this year was a “D+” but I never saw the value in assigning pluses or minuses. When I grew up, D’s had consequences that came in the form of extra chores. And a D+ meant the same thing as a D-. But whatever.) Studies show most people don’t know or care about infrastructure grades, in part because we don’t really care about the infrastructure itself. Until the bridge collapses or the steam Read More

Hey Mike – We’re Not Qualified for Your Scholarship

Shari

Today’s “Hey Mike!” come from yesterdays post. Dallas Pierce writes… “Hey Mike – The problem is that people like me would love to take you up on your offer and learn a viable trade, but we aren’t qualified for your scholarship.” I hear you, Dallas. That is a problem. Also – many who are eligible are simply not geographically suitable for the schools that participate. Also a bummer. Happily, we have several other programs, including one that isn’t tied to a specific school. In the interest of full-disclosure though, I should tell you that all mikeroweWORKS scholarships are essentially “Work Read More

Naked Mike Unauthorized Video

Shari

The Naked Truth Question: If I were to form “The American Idol Scholarship Fund” and announce $15,000 of professional training for anyone who wished to become a pop star, how long do you think it would take to give away a million dollars? A day? An hour? A minute? What if I offered the same money to anyone who wanted to learn how to maintain and repair diesel engines? How fast would the million dollars go then? Currently, this question has no official answer. But I can tell you this – for the last month, mikeroweWORKS has been offering FULL-RIDE Read More

Mike Writes About His Time In DC

Shari

I’m typing in the back of a taxi just outside Logan Airport, headed to an event in Boston. DC was great, but I’m happy to be out of there. Lots of rain, lots of traffic, lots of gridlock – metaphorical and otherwise. The place always makes me feel 15 minutes late, even when I’m early. Congress was a kick, as always. I spoke to the House Committee on Natural Resources this time, and addressed my comments to The Honorable Doc Hastings. Prior to that, we took a selfie, at the Chairmans request. Brave new world… My message was one you’ve probably Read More

Mike Writes about DC and USASEF

Shari

Well, that was fun! Two speeches, three panels, 7 interviews, hundreds of exhibitors, one robot, a truck from the future, my very own security team, a Swiss Ambassador, and 400,000 visitors. I’m pretty sure I met them all. Far as I’m concerned, STEM now means “Spectacular Turnout Enveloping Mike.” Not that I’m complaining. The mikeroweWORKS Pavilion was a big hit, and I’m humbled by the enthusiasm that surrounded our little slice of the festival. It didn’t really hit me until I walked through it myself, but 12,000 square feet is a crap-load of space, and I can’t believe who we Read More