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Cooper. A cooper is apparently a name for a barrel maker. I don't know if it applies to any barrel maker or just a maker of barrels for wine, but regardless, that's what Mike is doing this week. Yes, Mike is actually making wooden barrels that they will use to age fine wines to perfection. I couldn't see it either. Maybe they aren't planning to use his barrel to actually put real wine in. Perhaps it will sit in a gift shop. Or maybe he'll get to take it home with him, like he often does the things he uses during the show. But nonetheless, that's what he was doing on the show.

The first step is to get the various wooden plans arranged in a roughly circular fashion. The trick here is that they don't use any sort of compound to make them stick together, so you have to get a large one, then a small one, then another large one, and perhaps a medium one every now and again. All the way around the loop you go, until there is a tight fit along the bottom.

Next, the pressure can be applied at the next hoop to gradually work the wood into the traditional barrel shape. This is a combination of water (which softens the wood) and heat, to make the wood more pliant. Eventually, the combined pieces of the puzzle work together to get a barrel that is actually water-tight. Or thereabouts.

After the barrel is made, the inside must be charred to a particular consistency, and this is what will determine the flavor of whatever it is that will go inside - in this case the wine. Mike decides to go for something rather smoky, so he gets quite the fire going. You have to remember to turn the barrel, Mike. Remember Struemph Charcoal, from the Charcoal Factory Worker segment of Micro-Algae Man? We're just charring the wood, not burning it.

Once the barrel is made and charred to the proper level, into this must go two ends, and this is where our intrepid host gets to show his skills - or lack thereof - in doing something that actually involves skill - or lack thereof. The first step is to cut a groove along the inside of the barrel, and Mike does okay at that. But the lid needs to be seated into this "lip". And Mike has a real problem getting this to work. So he gets some help.

After both ends are sealed, in goes the bung (yes, for the bung-hole), and the testing can begin. Mike's barrel is okay, but in the end it needs a new lid on one end, so rather than trying his luck, he lets the professionals redo it, and what do you know - it turns out okay. The final step is to buff the outside of the barrel to a shine, and put on a Dirty Jobs logo. Sweet!

Mule Logger. This is another old-fashioned job, to be sure. Instead of taking in a large piece of equipment, where the tractor might tear up the field and the forest and everything else, the loggers instead cut down the trees and use a small team of mules to haul the trees out for them.

To be sure, about the only thing dirty about this job is what those mules leave behind. But it is one of the more fun segments to watch - controlling mules can't be an easy job, and they sure do appear to be strong, able to easily pull a gigantic tree trunk out of the forest quite easily. They're also rather cheap to operate, rather than having to worry about fuel and other maintenance costs. But it's probably not the dirtiest job I've seen on the show.