Mike Rowe

by Mike Rowe Mike Rowe was a stuttering 9th-grader when he met the most outrageous and inspirational choral teacher ever to wear fake teeth. Mike’s life changed for good the day he stole an “Oriole Four” record from the teacher’s office… When strangers would ask me how I wound up with my name in the title of a hit show, I would never tell them the whole truth. That level of disclosure would require a mention of SPEBSQSA, and I’ve learned that long and unpronounceable acronyms make people anxious. So for the purpose of expediency, I would usually limit my Read More

From the MRW Water Cooler Q: Mike, It has just come to light that you are in People Magazine’s ‘Sexiest Men Alive’ issue (yeah…crazy, I know. That’s what I thought.) . Do you have any concerns that this may reflect in a negative way on what you are trying to accomplish here or is all publicity good right now? I really would hate for a brief mention in a magazine that is in essence only cotton candy for the brain, to make a negative impression on the people that you have been spending so much of your time discussing the Read More

From the MRW Water Cooler: Q: Where’d the pride go in a job well done? What happened to the personal satisfaction one takes in them when they can look over the day and actually see something accomplished? When did we turn into this “quickest, easiest, cheapest way” society that takes virtually everything for granted? Those questions were rhetorical, here’s the real question and I think, one of the many purposes of this site, how do we fix it? Mike was on the Adam Carolla show not too long ago, and though Adam tends to be quite chauvinistic as he is Read More

From the MRW Water Cooler Q: How does Discovery feel about your endeavor here? Specifically that you have a message board, and many fans have come over to post. Are they supportive? Have you had to “talk” to them? Kristi Hi Kristi, DCI is a big company, and I can’t presume to speak for them. I can tell you that my contacts there have been very supportive. Beyond that, no one has discouraged me from moving forward, or asked me to curtail my efforts here. On the other hand, I can’t be in two places at once, and I’m sure Read More

From the MRW Water Cooler Q: Hi Mike, Ok, first of all I have to clarify that I don’t work at Starbucks or any coffeeshop around. The reason I asked this question is because I have seen a few pictures of you holding a large cup of coffee. So I assumed you’re quite a coffee drinker. With all of those flavours to choose from (I can’t even name one…personally not a coffee fan) how do you decide which one to order. Do you have a particularly favourite one? -Cynthia Cynthia, My relationship with coffee is one of dependence and ambiguity. Read More

From the MRW Water Cooler Q: Today I read few articles about the threat of a strike. While I’m reading these articles, the only thing I could say is Are They Kidding? -Maria No Maria, they are not. Unions form for different reasons. Unions strike for different reasons. Not all union action reflects the will of many of its members. In fact, not all unions consist of members who actually wanted to join. It’s complicated. But no, SAG is not kidding. They will most certainly strike. At this time, in this country, with the amount of people losing their jobs, Read More

From the MRW Water Cooler Q: Hi Mike, Nice place you have here. You’ve been doing some remodeling I see. Now that I understand where I really am and that construction has not quite finished (if ever), I was wondering how expensive it is to run a piece of real estate like mikeroweWORKS? -kelby It ain’t cheap. How does owning real estate in cyberspace work? Still figuring that out. The short answer involves giving money to smart people. The longer version includes domain names, copyrights, trademarks, insurance, content providers, technical experts, and several pages tiny print that you try to Read More

From the MRW Water Cooler Q: Mike, will this be the best place to ask questions about Dirty Jobs? It seems weird to ask it over here rather than over at DJMB, but if you’re going to be spending more time here, then it seems to me a waste of time posting questions over on the DJMB. I realize you don’t have a lot of time to spare and any you do spend on the boards is great, however I’m wondering if you’re getting ready to say goodbye to the Mud Room since splitting time between here and the Mud Read More

From the mrW Water Cooler Q: This is my first post ever on a website with my name on it. Hope it works. – Belinda Hi Belinda, First of all, you appear to have a pulse and a computer, which makes you part of the “target audience.” Congratulations. Secondly, I don’t plan to “glorify” work. I only mean to suggest that defining it as drudgery is screwing up the country, and wrecking lives. In light of his recent post, it’s clear that his extemporaneous speech has provoked real action (characterized as both mercenary and missionary), evidencing that citizenship ideals do, Read More

From Mike’s Mud Room on Discovery.com Q: Mike: It seems to me like you absolutely disdain anything Hollywood, or Star Quality, etc. I got that impression from past comments you have made. So what are you gonna do now that you are basically “in it”? I’ve read the following passage that you wrote: “With Dirty Jobs, I simply miscalculated. I didn’t really think a simple show, done primarily as a tribute to my grandfather and Dad, would turn into a rallying cry for many of the virtues once associated with making an honest living. I’m gratified, but overwhelmed, and trying Read More

From Mike’s Mud Room on Discovery.com Q: It was suggested to me that I make a new thread on this subject. I was puzzled by the first “habit” of never following your passion. Why not? Would you do me the favor of expounding on that and the other six? Thank you. -FruityNut Fruity, Regarding work, careers, and happiness – I think the pat advice to “Follow Your Passion,” has led to more disappointment than virtually any other platitude I’ve seen. We hear it from our youth – “Follow your passion, and you’ll be rewarded.” Well, I’m not so sure. Passion Read More

From Mike’s Mud Room on Discovery.com Q: Hi, Mike – You have offered the following advice: Consider quitting. Makes sense. However, having read your bio, various interviews, and your self-authored articles & MB missives, I haven’t found an example of you quitting an ongoing job. There is definitely a lot written about you intentionally taking jobs with questionable futures and, of course, being repeatedly fired. From these instances, it seems the message inferred would be don’t be afraid of failure rather a message of empowerment to quit. Could you give us an example of when you’ve quit a job? Quit Read More