Dominic Rosales

Eric Girouard  0:00  

This is bucket top, a weekly podcast where people who work in the trades and construction that aren't just trying to survive, but have the ambition and desire to thrive. The opportunity to trade and construction is absolutely ridiculous right now. So if you're hungry, it's time to eat. We discuss what it takes to rise from the bottom to the top with people who are well on their way and roll up their sleeves every single day.

Jeremy Perkins  0:28  

All right, welcome to this episode of bucket talk. We have Dominic Marsalis goes by the Instagram handle poor pupper society, and he does everything sewage and septic welcome, Dominic.

Dominic Rosales  0:41  

What's up, man? Thanks for having me.

Jeremy Perkins  0:42  

Today. This is this is the shit I want to get into. I am so definitely right. Well, it's, it's very, we've covered a lot of big trades over the over the seasons that I've done this, and it's really awesome to like, get into the shit but like getting getting deep on on some of the stuff that like, I mean, I got a septic system up here in Maine and, and it gets pumped and we pump it yearly. Because we we have it for the barn. So but, you know, I never never stopped to ask, Hey, how'd you get into it? Like, what do you do to start? How much money do you make? Is it good? Do you enjoy doing it? So that's why we have Dominic here today. Dominic, thank you for joining us. Now. Thanks

Dominic Rosales  1:27  

for having me, Jeremy. Yeah, so it's kind of a funny story. So my dad, he worked at Kohler, since I was born, so they had me right when my dad was 18. So pretty much got the call that I was about to be born. So he's like, Oh, shit, I got to make money for my kid, right. So he gets hired on at Kohler. And at the time, that's like a really good paying job, get benefits. So he had been working there ever since I was born. And he finally got a bigger break and went to a rock quarry where he became a foreman. And then after that, he was on the side, pumping out carwash pits. So for those of you that are unaware, every time you go wash your car, you see a pit in the middle of that carwash, that's where all the dirt and sediment gets washed into, those have to be pumped out. I mean, they don't just disappear. So he would go in after work. So he'd worked his full shift and then rent a trailer and go back in those out. And he did that for a long time. And eventually, he got to the point to where he started getting all these contracts and got his own truck and started moving towards septic. So the carwash pit was kind of his introduction into the septic industry.

Jeremy Perkins  2:46  

That's, that's interesting, because we, we had Safety Clean come out. So what I would end up doing was, so in the shop, we'd have the trenches that were full of sludge and an oil, you know, all the grease traps and stuff. So you're not, you know, polluting groundwater with, you know, transmission fluid and everything, but we Safety Clean, wouldn't come out and do the trenches, where we'd end up doing is we'd go in there and scrape it all out all the speedy dry everything, and then put it in a 55 gallon drum, and then Safety Clean would come and suck it out. So okay, I trust me I've been in, in some nasty situations myself, but how did you get involved with with with what you do today.

Dominic Rosales  3:30  

So my dad who does first truck after he's running it for a while, and business started picking up and at the time, I was actually working in an office. So I was sitting at a desk all day processing, Medicare and retirement, health insurance claims if you can believe that. So I was doing that. And he reached out to me said, you know, I'm really starting to grow and I kind of need help. So if you ever get the itch, like come help your old man move on down, you got a job. So I did that. I put in my two weeks right when he told me that actually. So I went from the office to pumping liberal shit. Yeah.

Jeremy Perkins  4:10  

So So what's cool about you, though, is is it's not only just pumping ship, but you have an intimate knowledge of different styles of septic systems and cesspits and, and what have you versus just actually going in there and pumping it out. Like I've seen your videos. And I didn't realize like I just thought it was a hole in the ground like a chamber in the ground. You know, the cover the cover that I always uncovered is the wrong one for my but then you got a leach field obviously, right then. And then the basic knowledge for me is it's like no feminine napkins, no like wipes, no nothing other than that. I know nothing about a septic system. So I mean, how did you gain all that knowledge? I mean, you're you're you're behind the desk and all of a sudden you're like, boom, two weeks. I'm gonna pack it up, and I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go make a living doing this

Dominic Rosales  5:04  

trial and error. So most of these people I feel to get into the trade as soon as they get into it, most of them are leaving a traditional job and starting their own business. So I mean, it's, it's my dad's business. So of course, I want to learn as much as I can to be informed on the topic I'm working on. So to be honest with you, when I left that job I had, I didn't even know what septic tank was. To start off with. I mean, I had lived in the city my whole life. I mean, it's a small town, but we were still on city sewer, the people on the outskirts are on septic. So then I started getting into and I was like, Okay, first job, I had to locate myself, kind of get a rhythm of that. And now, after about five years of doing that, I kind of have a general idea of basic systems. But even now, there's more and more technology coming out into the industry to pretty much the point where you have your own mini wastewater treatment plant at your house. Yeah, that's these aerobic systems with the spray units and the drip, drip units. It's really progressing quick.

Jeremy Perkins  6:09  

That's, I mean, that's crazy. And I mean, you never know what you're gonna get. I mean, some of these old houses still have, like wood. I'm sure most of them are gone now. But the wood septic systems, I know, I think mine is concrete. But now they're putting in these big PVC units just dropping it in. And I mean, there's a there's a, there's a ton of technology out there. And it's cool, because there's a science behind it. Like people think that you just, you know, you poop and then it gets sucked out. And some of it drains out into your yard and whatever. But like, now, I mean, there's so many different bacterias. And, and I mean, it's almost like yeah, like you said, a mini ecosystem that, that if you screw it up, you're gonna be pumping more frequently. But if you if you if you get it right, and you take care of it, it'll last you a long time. Is that correct?

Dominic Rosales  6:59  

Right. So a bunch of these kind of what you were talking about earlier, like assessments, so the test pits, what they would do, is they would dig a hole. Some of these soils here in Central Texas, it's rock. Yeah, so a lot of times they couldn't even dig. So they just blast with dynamite. So they pop a hole open in the ground. And he says pits, they just stack up concrete rings. So these concrete rings, they didn't have a concrete bottom. So that waste is just soaking through the bottom of that. So you gotta imagine a bunch of these houses around the country that got wells, there's groundwater, not necessarily the best thing you want going into your groundwater. So now here in Texas says pits, they're outlawed. The main thing with septic systems is you're trying to protect the groundwater and you're trying to protect all your natural water resources. So these aerobic systems are coming into play now where the the effluent or the sewage is being treated inside of the septic system. And then by the time it's sprayed out into the yard. I mean, you can't drink it, but it's treated enough to where it's not going to cause harm to anybody in the area.

Jeremy Perkins  8:10  

No, actually when you say spray, you actually mean literally sprayed because now spraying Yep. Irrigation systems that are using that or is it is it like an early morning combination, I didn't understand that. I didn't know if like the kids are running through the sprinkler. And you're like what?

Dominic Rosales  8:25  

You know, so like, in my videos, I always post like, I joke about the kids like playing in sprinklers. You don't want to do that in Texas, I mean, it's not gonna get them sick, but it's not necessarily the best idea. So these aerobic systems, they do a really good job. So what they introduce, or in the name aerobic is they have a chamber in the system that is aerated. So it's pushing in air and creating this aerobic bacteria. So whenever people in the city flush a toilet, it runs through the sewer system and gets to a water treatment plant. Yeah, now, in that water treatment plant, they there's a long process where the solids are taken out, the liquid is treated, and then it's dropped back into a natural water source, which is usually a creek or a river. And most people in the comments that I've been saying they're grossed out they're like, what, why are they doing that? And I mean, water is a vital resource and you can't just instantly make more of it. So we're recycling it the best we can and actually some of these water wastewater treatment plants the water that comes out of there after treated is sometimes better than the river or the creek it's being emptied into

Jeremy Perkins  9:36  

Yeah, I mean, it doesn't gross me out because I guess I have a little bit more of a of a of an intimate understanding of this stuff. But I mean, right down to like the gray water systems. So when you look at when you look at like brushing your teeth right now they have you brush your teeth, you wash your face, and now they have sinks that could go into the tank your toilet, and now you could actually flush with that secondary, that gray water. Right. And then after that, then it becomes wastewater. I mean, some can argue that brushing your teeth and stuff, saliva and what have you could be considered wastewater, but generally speaking, you know, just runoff or what have you is usually gray water. And then you have your wastewater which is, you know, shit, and whatever. Right. Yeah, exactly is. I mean, we were on we were on a ship. And that's what we did is we, we, we pumped sewage out, I mean, right out in the ocean, and, but we were miles out, and then the, the ecosystem would take care of those solids. And, you know, it's not like, everybody's out there swimming in a ocean full of poop. You know what I mean? So yeah, but yeah, exactly. It's, it's pretty cool. But the sprinkler sprinkler thing kind of got me to, like, that's interesting. That's, that's a new one for me.

Dominic Rosales  11:02  

Right. And I mean, here in Texas, when you have an aerobic system, they have to be inspected. So you got these maintenance providers that are going around and checking the solids level, and these tanks, because the fact that you're spraying potentially hazardous waste out into the ecosystem is something you do want to get inspected. I mean, I always get tons of comments saying, like, Oh, I thought you were all about freedom, and this and that. I was like, Yes, I get that. But at the same time, you don't want sludge and stuff being sprayed out, especially when you got neighbors and stuff like that. So,

Jeremy Perkins  11:36  

so so, you know, and I don't want to blow up your spot. But what is your what is your thought on that system? Do you think that? Do you think that it's really good? And we should get behind it? Or is it something that you think it could be flawed in the future that that it could potentially cause problems? If systems aren't operating properly? Are there enough safety features in place that you're not going to go out to like wastewater just being sprayed on your yard, you know what I mean,

Dominic Rosales  12:04  

right. So when you get an aerobic system, installed in your home, they do have a junction box. So there's several alarms in place. So there's an alarm, if the air Raider isn't functioning properly, that will sound it's very annoying and loud, and then you've got a bright red light. So the air raider is the main part of the system that is going to treat the wastewater. That way, when it's grayed out, it doesn't smell and it doesn't have that harmful bacteria come in the pump is the piece that actually sprays it out. So if the pump isn't working, that's going to sound the alarm as well, there's actually a high water alarm float in that compartment of the tank. So if it if the water level ever gets above that, it's going to sound the alarm and tell you like, hey, you need to call somebody come check that cools. Where it is flawed is that some people will just mute it, and just carry on. So it's kinda like when you're driving a car, and you've got all these check or check engine oil, or there's a mat, just ignore it,

Jeremy Perkins  13:08  

just until piece of electrical tape. Yeah.

Dominic Rosales  13:11  

Out of sight out of mind. But then when you got to whole lake of sewage in your yard, then it becomes an issue. So that's the biggest issue I've seen is people will put it off and put it off. Until it's a major issue. But I will say that pros of the aerobic system is the the main types of soil they're installed in is a soil that doesn't absorb the effluent the way it's supposed to. So I'm sure at your home, you probably got good soil if you got like a traditional drainfield. Yeah, here in Central Texas, some of the soils it's mainly clay, you got a lot of rock. So if you're running a traditional trying to run a traditional drainfield, that effluent is coming out of the septic tank is not going to drain the way it should. Yeah. So then what will happen is, since that water has nowhere to go from that leaching system, it's just going to fill up the tank and then backed up in the home. So that's where these aerobic systems come into play, since it can't leach through the soil through a conventional system, then you spray it out, or you have a drip system. And those drip systems. They're mainly in play for homes that are kind of limited on space. So you got the spray system. So if you don't get a lot of room for that sprinkler to spray, then you just do a drip system. So that's a subsurface application. So it goes through its treated, then it goes through the pump and it comes out of like these little irrigation tubes right below the soil.

Jeremy Perkins  14:43  

Alright, so I feel like this was more for my my mental knowledge I feel like we went super in depth on on septic system, so Let's lighten it up a little bit. So if anybody's watched your videos, you pop the cover Have a septic system, right? It's just poop there. And you have, I mean, from where I'm from, it's almost like an ice auger. But you got this pool masquerader that you see. And you whip up a poo smoothie? I mean, tell us a little bit about, like the day to day like, how, how much do you define in septic systems? How often should somebody pump? Just some basic high level stuff?

Dominic Rosales  15:29  

Right. So here in Texas, they recommend every three years you want to pump it out. Now, this is always a hot topic, because you've got everybody telling you Well, I've lived in my house, 20 years I've lived here 15 years, I've never had it pumped out, and I haven't had an issue. Well, the thing is, solids will build up in your tank, and eventually make it onto your drain. So now, if you have a conventional drain field, you want to keep that lasting as long as possible. And the best way to do that is keeping the solids out of it. And the best way to prevent that is pumping it. Now when these people wait that long to pump it out, the solids are going to build up in the tank, and get to the point to where it actually starts backing up in the home. So most of these calls we get I've got literal sewage backing up in my bathtub, how fast can you get out? So most of the time, we already have a full schedule. So we'll try and get in these emergency calls. So yeah, we show up to the house nine times out of 10. They don't even know where it's at. So then I got to kind of do some exploratory digging and probing. And then

Jeremy Perkins  16:40  

I want to stop, I want to stop. Okay, because that's actually so I was fortunate enough to have the plans for my house. Yep. When I bought it. So I kind of knew the general vicinity was like oak tree like this. But do you gotta like crawl in the cellar and you're looking at like outlet pipes. And you're like, it's got to be, you know, x distance from this house projected that way, like how you're not out there in a shovel just like trying to poke around figuring out where this thing is

Dominic Rosales  17:06  

no. So luckily here in Texas, most of the tanks are pretty shallow. So the deepest we've had today was maybe like three feet. Usually you can see a dead spot in the grass, that's where I usually check first. They're supposed to have a sewer clean out. So we'll go from the sewer clean out. We do have locating equipment. So if worst comes to worst, I'll run that sewer camera and then locate where the inlet is on the septic tank. But if it's backing up, that becomes an issue because if I pop open i cap sewage is going to come up. So we've kind of got a rhythm down where if we can't find the septic tank and backing up, I'll pop open that lid, pull vacuum clear line, and then run my sewer camera out. But I've gotten pretty good to where I can locate most of the septic tanks just with a soil probe.

Jeremy Perkins  18:00  

Yeah, that's cool. That's cool. So what's what's what's the coolest thing that you found in a septic system that somebody shouldn't have flushed? I've seen the great where you guys pump it out and there's that there's all sorts of like cars and toys and what have you but you've had to find something friggin crazy

Dominic Rosales  18:22  

so I found a Dr. Pepper truck like a little model Dr. Pepper truck and it was so big. There's no way they could have flushed it down the toilet. Somebody had to pop the lid open to that step and take and throw it in there. But we're able to pull it out and we actually rents it off and gave it back to the customer they left it outside they didn't take it inside but there's a little Dr. Pepper model truck and then Lightning McQueen Dude I don't know if you've seen my videos that when I'm emptying the truck but Lightning Lightning McQueen is the most drop toy down the toilet. I found

Jeremy Perkins  19:02  

that's crazy. That's good, but nothing like nothing creepy. Nothing like weird just just straight. Um, oh kid stuff.

Dominic Rosales  19:11  

So you find I mean, I hate to say it but like you go into some of these trailer parks where you don't know who who is coming from,

Jeremy Perkins  19:22  

you know, key thing is Yeah, you get

Dominic Rosales  19:25  

those rubber bands. And I mean, I don't think there's a lot of diabetics and a trailer park. You catch my drift Yeah. Yeah, stuff like that.

Jeremy Perkins  19:41  

Does that does that does that worry you or are you super protected? And like it's not a it's not a big deal. You got it down to a science you got a tool to take it out in a way to dispose of it properly or is it like, I mean, I would hate to like go into a hole blindly and then all of a sudden pull my hand out and I got right there Magneto stabbing my hand and you're like All

Dominic Rosales  20:01  

right, yeah, no. So this particular job where we saw like a bulk of the needle, so, of course, we pop open the lids were able to see kind of like a general idea of what's going on with paint. But this one was so bad. We just denied service. I mean, it was a rental property. So we will call the property owner, we told them in central pictures like, look, I mean, this is a risk to us. We're not even sure if the disposal the treatment plant, we take this to or even accept this. So I think that that tank actually had to be kind of like pulled out or decommissioned. Because nobody would pump it out.

Jeremy Perkins  20:41  

So how do you decommission a tank? Do you just kill it? And let it just sit there? Or? Yeah, so maybe, maybe I'm asking a trade secret? I shouldn't?

Dominic Rosales  20:52  

No, no, no, you're fine. So like, you have to talk to your disposal plant. So yeah, if we're about to maybe pump something out that we're not sure of, we'll call them first. We're like, Hey, we're pumping this out. This is what's in it. We're pretty sure this is what's in it. Like, will you accept this? And then if they say yes, then we'll go ahead, pump it out and dispose of it. But I'm not sure who took that over. But I'm, I'm pretty sure they had to, like, kind of jump through hoops to get rid of that. And then put in a new system. It was rough. And I mean, it sucks for the property owner. But then again, if you have so many properties, you don't know what your tenants are dropping in. Wipes. That's the biggest thing twos been dropped in.

Jeremy Perkins  21:36  

Alright, so flushable wipes. Are they flushable on septic systems? Okay, see, see, because I had this debate at my own barn. I have people that use my so I have a barn that we have people in and out riding horses and what have you. Yeah, so it's not just my family. So I can't just instill like, Hey, don't do this. But we've had a debate within the barn. flushable wipes are not flushable in a septic system. I don't want to run the risk. But you're the expert. Right?

Dominic Rosales  22:12  

So here's what I'm gonna tell you. I've pumped out probably three or four separate tanks a day for the past five years. And I always ask the customer like, what do you put down the toilet? Like, because I'm genuinely curious. I'm like, I want to know what's causing it to get to this point. So I had, in particular anaerobic septic system, I pumped it out. And then I got a call from the same customer a year later, and they're backing up. So I show up. And I'm talking to him, like, Dude, I was just here. Like, this is a big system, like, why am I here a year later? Like, how are y'all backing up. And when I popped open the caps, it was so thick, you could probably stand on it. And then he he told me what he'd been using flushable wipes. And then his wife, they've been pushing them down. And I don't know if he went and checked the labels out on them lately. But if you look at the flushable wipes, when you turn it over, they now have a label on there that says they're flushable under these conditions, like the septic system is inspected and pumped out frequently. Yada, yada, yada. But I feel like that was added recently because everybody's having these issues. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's absolutely so much leading to the point to where they're just like so comfortable throwing all these down the septic system, but you're gonna ruin your septic system. And then we come in and we tell them, it's like, Look, you got all these wipes in the tank, and then they tell us like, yes, flushable. And then we tell them, Well, we have to charge you this much more because we have to manually remove these instead of just pumping out a system for maintenance. They're there hell on all these wastewater treatment plants. I don't know if you've seen that side of it. But they're no, they're dealing with it as well. I mean, they clog up the sewer lines, and clog up the treatment plants. It's a nightmare. They they break these pumps. And

Jeremy Perkins  24:08  

so so don't tell us masqueraders before they get to the treatment plants, they just like grind up all as much solids as they can.

Dominic Rosales  24:17  

Right. And even those get clogged up with those wipes.

Jeremy Perkins  24:23  

No shit. Yeah. So for people who are listening masquerader is just like a whole bunch of teeth that grinds up all these solids. So

Dominic Rosales  24:31  

it's like a muffin monster. I think that's one of the brands that has these. There's a specific brand called muffin monster and yeah, that's what it is. It just grinds up everything as much as it can but

Jeremy Perkins  24:41  

so before hits the pump, because these pumps are actually even though even though they're industrial and what have you they're still they're still subject to punishment. And you know, a lot of these pumps can't take the the sheer volume of solids coming through it so the smaller the particles, the better off the pump will be

Dominic Rosales  24:59  

right Yeah, I mean, I follow a couple of them on tick tock. It's it's really cool with social media how you can kind of see because I'm strictly with the septic pumping. So it's cool seeing like the other side where we dispose of it in all these people having to deal with this. All these flushable wipes.

Jeremy Perkins  25:19  

You don't want you don't watch like pizza making videos or something, you just you just continue the cycle.

Dominic Rosales  25:26  

No, I didn't, you know, of course barstool. The one bite. They Portnoy's the pizza. Yeah.

Jeremy Perkins  25:35  

I was gonna say I was like, Yeah, you gotta, you gotta at least wash your hands before you do the one bite challenge, right?

Dominic Rosales  25:41  

Yeah, for sure. I got I got a little hand washing kit. I mean, it Oh, no, it's just, I mean, when you work in this industry like this, I mean, everybody that I've talked to, or everybody I've seen, it's like, we're so desensitized to it. And I feel like, we're actually kind of immune to a lot of this stuff. I mean, it's probably dumb to say, but I mean, I'm out working with it every day. And of course, I wash my hands. If anything, I'm probably more conscious of hygiene than just the normal person. I mean, I've gone into the restroom several times, like, after work. If I'm going to sit down to eat, I'll wash my hands. And I'll see. I mean, out of the corner of my eyes, somebody go use the bathroom, come out and just walk right past me. I'm like, Are you serious, man? Like, what the hell? Like I pump out septic tanks, and you're not even in the mortar hands. So it's crazy.

Jeremy Perkins  26:27  

I'll bet I'll back you up a little bit. Because, you know, as a mechanic, I mean, these hands never got clean. And right. Like, pristine clean. Right? My, my, my, my nemesis was that white bread sandwich because you never want it to like regrip. Because when you regrip that sandwich, you saw your fingerprints on the, on the last grip that you had, like, I mean, oil sandwich, and you know, I don't give a shit at this. All right? I'm pretty sure. Either I'm gonna die early, or I'm gonna have the most robust immune system ever.

Dominic Rosales  27:03  

I'm telling you, I feel like my immune system is like on steroids because I don't get I don't get sick. I mean, everybody that I know, in the industry does not get sick. I mean, if if I ever see like a post or something, because we're in all the groups, if I see somebody in the industry gets sick, I'm like, really concerned because it's got to be something like, life threatening. Yeah. Because we don't get sick. I mean, we're outdoors all day, I get plenty of vitamins. I mean, I try and stay healthy myself just with my diet and exercise. But I mean, I'm working outside all day and taking in the sunlight. And I feel like that's helped me out. Health wise. So

Jeremy Perkins  27:39  

it was was this was this a good life change for me for you? I mean, you're one of the few people I've had on that have gone from a desk job to go out in the field. Right? So is this you know, and not, not every path or every whatever you you have every journey is? is for everybody. But for you was? Was it? Was it worth it or you sit there go, Hey, maybe the grass wasn't greener.

Dominic Rosales  28:09  

So I'll tell you, man, like, when I first left high school, I was going to college. And I was going to college full time and I was looking at a truck wash. So I've been doing manual labor since I was a kid. So eventually, I left that and started working in office, and then just sitting at a desk all day, man. It's like, you're constantly being micromanaged by people. And me, it's like I was I will always find a way to get the job done the fastest and most efficient. So it's like, I'm sitting there, that desk all day. I feel like I could have got all my work done in a few hours, but I'm still stuck there, like kind of just trying to stay busy. And then it caused a lot of back pain sitting at a desk all day. Like, I don't know, if you've ever experienced that. But to me, it's like I'd rather be outside on my feet all day than sitting down because it just doesn't feel natural. So I had like really severe back pain and then that got fixed from working outside.

Jeremy Perkins  29:08  

Yeah, I mean, I've done I've done both and, and summer. It's crazy because, you know, now my aches and pains from my knees and my feet back from from climbing in and out of trucks and, and doing all this stuff are gone. But on the flip side, I mean, supposedly, a desk job is the new smoking. So it's like, oh, okay, I read a few articles. Okay. And so, I mean, that worries me because yeah, for eight hours, you're sitting there, you know, grinding away doing your job. And then you realize you haven't gotten up you haven't walked? You know, so it. It there is a lot of pros and cons of things. You know, a lot of people in the trades, or a lot of parents that were in the trades that were talking to their sons and daughters were like, you know, Know, you're gonna have back issues, you're gonna have shoulder issues, you're gonna be hurt, you know, arthritis, I mean, hands and all that stuff. But then on the flip side, like we go from one extreme to the other, to where I Oh, you're, you're immobile for eight to 12 hours a day. Right? And then you get up, and now you have high blood pressure, you know, risk of diabetes and what have you. So it's, it's almost like, we need to meld the two. It's a little bit of a break, and a little bit of work and a little bit of a break. I don't know. I don't know what that what the happy medium is there. But it's somewhere in the middle.

Dominic Rosales  30:39  

Yeah, I mean, I, I work a very physical job, I'm constantly having to dig drag hoses. And then of course, I'm sitting down driving, from job to job. But I still, I try and make time the best I can to kind of stretch and do exercise outside of work. Just because I understand it's a very physical job, and it's probably going to really have an impact on my body. So I want to, I want to keep this solid as I can for as long as I can. And not really try and stress it too hard. Just keep it really strong.

Jeremy Perkins  31:13  

All right, last technical question. Okay. Has there been a job that's grossed you out? Are you immune to? Okay, like, that's like, just like, yeah.

Dominic Rosales  31:23  

Yeah, so I mean, you know, I always say it smells like money. Because usually the worst and smells like the more we're getting paid. So like grease, we do a lot of grease traps. And that's a terrible way worse than human human waste. Believe it or not restaurant grease traps, they smell terrible. So RVs the tanks on the Arby's. Those are the number one worst smelling thing. So we had this particular job. I'm not going to mention any names or location. So we get a call this home. I mean, this property owner says, Hey, I've got an RV. It's backing up on me. I don't know what's going on. So we showed up and this guy had been living in this RV, and he'd been dumping that tank into storage tanks. For several years. You can imagine one guy living alone, several storage tanks of this stuff, sit down the sun contain no oxygen coming into these tanks. So we're we're set the pump all of them. So I got the vacuum running and I pop open the lid to the first storage Sankey head. And I'm telling you like that was the first time I had ever dry heat. And I felt like I was about to pee. Like, it never happens. I mean, septic tanks, grease traps all day. But these RV storage tanks they've been sitting out. I mean, I'm still scarred like I I'm only in sick just thinking about it. Like that's how much of an impact it had on me.

Jeremy Perkins  32:57  

Just just to make you feel better. My worst story, my worst smell as an auto mechanic was an RV. I'm telling you, dude. Oh, man, I don't know what it is. Yeah, but my mind was mine was a little bit different. We had we had one come in on a wrecker. Supposedly they were on base, we had an Air Force Base near us. So it was a big to do. Because, because the wife was upset and everything. So we had police there and all this stuff. I don't know what happened with that side of things. But my boss said, fix the brakes. And, and we'll get the hell out of here. Right. So I had to get into it on the street and drive it into my Bay. I got into this. I opened up the door. And I instantly started throwing up throwing up. It was the whole place. I have video of it somewhere. But it was it was a hoarders RV. Oh, no. I mean, there was eggshells on the ground and there was just like, and I don't I still to this day, it baffles me why I even did what I did, but I went I grabbed a Tyvek suit, and I grabbed the respirator. And I drove it. I did did the whole thing. And then they wanted us to deliver it. And I'm like, I'm gonna fucking deliver in this. I go not to mention you want me to drive it through the gate? I go on on an Air Force Base. I go, I don't care. The minute I roll down that window and say, Hey, I'm here. Like, they're gonna think this is like some terrorist activity. Yeah. Oh, I mean, it was something from it was something from like a Walter White meth video. It was. It was awful. I never. And it was it was the funniest thing because you know how it is in the trades. It's like, right. It's like guys, like you won't do it. And I'm like, I'll do it and you're like throwing up as you're trying to get into this It was it was the worst thing I've ever been a part of. But we got it done. I mean, we got it done. Always. Yeah, you got to you can't give up. No, you can't give up. And then now you got that badge. Now you've got that story. Oh, yeah. So, all right, outside of work, what do you like to do?

Dominic Rosales  35:20  

So, believe it or not, I like to play Pokemon Go. Me, my girl. That's what I like to do my free time. My free time was kind of taken up a lot by just like making videos now because I mean, I'm, I'm working my full time job, trying to grow the company. And then I'm doing the whole social media video editing thing right after. So it's like I work a full day and then edit right after that. And then try and live my life as much of it as I can.

Jeremy Perkins  35:52  

So your job is now correct me if I'm being naive here. Because I have a couple of kids. I'm not huge enough. Pokeyman. But I'm trying it. It is your job like suitable for PokemonGo is like you're supposed to catch things in all different areas of your area.

Dominic Rosales  36:12  

Yeah, so what's cool about it is I have an auto catcher. So I mean, I, everybody always plans me because I have an Apple Watch on the job. It's like, dude, take that watch off while you're working with it. But I take calls and stuff when when I'm out in the field, I try to be as hands free as possible. But the whole thing is movement. So like Pokemon Go, it's like trying to get people to be active. So you actually benefit from walking a lot. So on average, I probably walked like seven miles a day with my job. So that really helps out in the game. And then afterwards, of course, I'm trying to be as active as possible. So we're just out walking in the park and stuff. And it

Jeremy Perkins  36:51  

kind of Piedmont out in people's backyards. Right, yeah.

Dominic Rosales  36:54  

We really try to stay in public areas. We travel a lot here. And I mean, the cool thing about this industry is I mean, everybody is keeping up with me. And they're like, if you're ever in this area hit me up. So I mean, I've met septic pumpers. And installers from Washington, Tucson, anytime I'm passing through the area, they're like, Come on, man, like let's hit, let's have a drink, let's grab some food. So, I mean, it's, it's just really cool, man. It's like I like traveling and meeting up with all these people. Because I'm wanting to like where I always want to learn more. So even though we may not be in the same terrain, or I can always take something from them and learn and put it to use in my day to day job.

Jeremy Perkins  37:37  

Awesome. Awesome. So we're at the end of the show, if anybody dares to want to join the pumping society, the brotherhood of pumpers out there, where can they reach you? Where can they you know, we talked about your Instagram handle, which is for comfort society. But if they wanted to know more, and they were genuinely genuinely interested in, in a career in your field, how could they get a hold of us your questions, and anything else you want to plug?

Dominic Rosales  38:08  

So Facebook is poor Computer Society as well tick tock, they banned my first account. So I'm on my second account. Yeah. And the crazy thing I will tell you, which really pissed me off, is they shared, they made a compilation of all my most viral tick tock videos and shared it on their personal the official tic tock Facebook page. Okay, and then they banned me right after that with no explanation. They just took down my account. So like, okay, whatever you

Jeremy Perkins  38:35  

read in the competition,

Dominic Rosales  38:37  

I don't know what happened, man. But yeah, it's poor pumper society to on tick tock. And then I've got a YouTube channel. It's poor, punker society. And then just comment, I go through my comments as best I can. I try to make videos to answer questions. But if you really want to get in this industry, just look in your area. I mean, people don't realize that this is actually a necessity in society. They think that everything just disappears when you flush the toilet. That's not the case. I can tell you here in Texas, from 2021 to 2022, we saw a 1 million increase in septic systems. So you gotta imagine that there's a lot of business, and a lot of money to be made in this industry right now. So if you're really serious about getting into it, contact your county, see what licenses you need, where you can dispose of it. And just just start asking around. I mean, that's the best thing I can tell you is, uh, my dad didn't know anything. When he first started. He was just asking questions. And if, if you're not afraid to get out and ask people in this industry are more than willing to help you out. That's one thing I will say about this industry is that there's some of the best people I mean, they don't see you as competition want to send you out. They want to help because I mean, there's more than enough work to go around.

Jeremy Perkins  39:56  

Awesome. Awesome. So your sign off is smells like Money.

Dominic Rosales  40:00  

Smells like money. Oh yeah.

Jeremy Perkins  40:04  

And as a special thanks to our loyal listeners, we're giving $10 off your next purchase of $60 or more at brunch workwear.com Use Discount Code bucket talk. That's bucket talk. 10