I hope you all enjoyed some time away from work and had a blast with friends and family over the last week. Dirty Jobs is back with an all-new episode tonight at 9pm EST. Mike Rowe travels to Moorhead, Minnesota, to work as a water softener technician. Then he heads to the Westin St. Francis hotel in San Francisco where he takes on the job of a coin washer. It really looks like Mike has his hands full tonight.

Tune in to Discovery tonight at 9pm EST for this all-new episode of Dirty Jobs, entitled “Water Softener Technician”.

The new year is just an hour and a half away here in the midwest so I want to wish everyone a happy and safe New Year. Let’s all hope for an even better year than last!

My television’s very generic naming standard, Dirty Jobs is considered a reality TV program because it’s frankly not scripted. Anything not scripted seems to get lumped into the enormous “reality TV” genre which consists of all kinds of shows like Survivor, American Idol, and MythBusters.

TVGrapeVine.com waded through all of the stars of that enormous genre and named Mike Rowe as one of it’s “Top 10 Reality Stars of 2011″. He came in at #3 on their list, a pretty impressive number considering the other famous people on that list.

They had this to say of Mike: “Not only does Mike star in his own reality TV show, he is also the official spokesman for Ford. Add to that Mike Rowe’s voice can be heard in the narration of many shows on Discovery and History channels.”

Congratulations, Mike!

Discovery Channel has a pair of new Dirty Jobs episodes slated for air in the next two weeks, along with several repeats. Let’s look at what Discovery has on tap for us all, shall we?

• Rocky Reach Dam – 12/27 at 5pm EST
• Worm Grunter – 12/27 at 6pm EST
• Pinsetter Mechanic – 12/27 at 7pm EST
• Doomsday Seed Banker (NEW) – 12/27 at 9pm and 11pm EST
• Rum Distiller – 12/31 at 9am EST
• Snake Researcher – 1/3 at 3pm EST
• Dirty Chip Maker – 1/3 at 4pm EST
• Dairy Cow Midwife – 1/3 at 5pm EST
• Wetland Warrior – 1/3 at 6pm EST
• Fish Squeezer – 1/3 at 7pm EST
• Fossil Hunter – 1/3 at 8pm and 1am EST
• Water Softener Technician (NEW) – 1/3 at 9pm and 11pm EST
• Gourd Maker – 1/7 at 9am EST
• Maggot Farmer – 1/7 at 10am EST
• Animal Control Specialist – 1/7 at 11am EST

As we embark on our Christmas rituals, I wanted to give Peggy Rowe, mother to Dirty Jobs’ host, Mike Rowe, a mention as she’s penned another excellent story about her family’s Christmas past. Not only does Peggy touch on the sentimental memories surrounding Christmas, but she throws in a couple of funny ones as well. Give Peggy’s story a quick read before you all head out.

Merry Christmas.

On Tuesday night, as we sober up from our overindulging in eggnog, Mike Rowe and the crew have a new episode ready to go. Mike’s helping prepare for the worst case scenario: the apocalypse. If you know what hits the fan, we may need to find a way to bring back certain species of plants if we’re to survive.

Mike’s helping out the Chicago Botanic Garden scientists preserve and restore native plants and their seeds on Tuesday night.

Tune in to Discovery Channel on Tuesday, December 27th at 9pm EST.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Regular readers of this website and fans of Mike Rowe know he’s pulled no punches when it comes to how he feels about the way our society tends to look down on vocational jobs that just might mean you have to take a shower when you get home. “Clean” jobs have become much more favorable, but as he explains to Fortune, it’s time to change that attitude.

I thought the article was a very nice read. It also promotes Dirty Jobs without being over the top.

Tonight at 9pm EST, Mike Rowe travels to a remote area near Moab, Utah, to take on the job of being a paleontologist.

Don’t forget about tonight’s all-new episode of Dirty Jobs, ladies and gentlemen.  Mike Rowe returns with new episodes beginning tonight, Tuesday, December 13th, at 9pm EST on Discovery.

In tonight’s episode, Mike travels to New Mexico to work as a Fish Squeezer with the Department of Game and Fish. Then he heads to Virginia to practice the ancient art of pet acupuncture on a goat named Lilly.

Dirty Jobs fans may recall seeing a company in Hawaii that began selling shirts that are actually colored by washing them in dirt featured on the show back in December of 2009. I recall seeing a few comments on the site from viewers asking about how to purchase official Dirty Jobs apparel. At the time, the Dirty Jobs Dirt Shirts weren’t available. Only shirts promoting Mike’s company were available.

Well everything has changed as of today. According to this video, we now have official Dirty Jobs merchandise courtesy of the Dirt Shirt folks. In the video, Mike talks about some of the products which can be purchased here. Various shirts, hats, and a bag can be found for reasonable prices.

I highly recommend ordering something immediately if you want to get it before Christmas. There isn’t a whole lot of time left.