[url]http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=571047[/url]

[img]http://www.aftenposten.no/multimedia/archive/00127/null_127770a.jpg[/img]

Svein Tore Hauge rushes his pan into position, aiming for a perfect collection.

PHOTO: Elin Stueland, Jærbladet



Summer job with a difference

Teenager Svein Tore Hauge must have one of Norway's strangest summer jobs. The 14-year-old will be earning money following cattle around with a pan, collecting cow flop for research.  Newspaper VG is collecting odd summer jobs, but this one will be tough to top.

The job appears simple, but there are hidden difficulties. The teen doesn't just have to fill the containers with dung. The samples, to be used by Saerheim Plant Research, need to be in pristine condition - so Svein Tore has to get them before they hit the ground.

This part of the job adds an element of risk, as getting the goods when Bossy is busy is not so easy. Hauge has had to pay attention to detail and learn fast.

"You can see from the tail that something is coming," Hauge tells newspaper Jaerbladet when he sees it start to wave a bit to the side.

There are plenty of challenges. If Hauge is too early the annoyed cow can bolt, if late then he loses much of the sample to the ground. And even when he gets it right, the pan doesn't get it all, sometimes his arm gets it, sometimes his face.

The samples will chart milk production to grass intake, and also map the effect of white clover as fertilizer. Each cow gets a pill and its own pan.

Hauge tells Jaerbladet that there is no way to rush nature.

"I just have to wait until they do it. Once I sat an hour and a half with one, waiting. But there are 21 cows in the project, so I can go to the one that's ready to crap," Hauge said.

"Sometimes it just sprays in all directions. The consistency varies from cow to cow. It's important to note things like this, so that I can run away if I need to," Hauge explained to VG.

The teenager is satisfied with working on a farm, and has other chores as well.

"Working outdoors is right for me, because I like fresh air. Not everyone could do this. It's not for city folks," Hauge told Jaerbladet.

Hauge's unusual summer job pays NOK 72 (USD 10) per hour.

You asshole!

[?] I know it was a bad joke, but give me a break here. . .[B)]

I guess that would make two of us..

He better get a bigger plate to catch the crap with, especially the content of the story! It's getting mighty deep around here.

At least he gets to have a pan.  All I get to use are my hands.

At least you had hands! Little "Handless" Timmy has to use a straw!

I would want a long handle.