Talk about a boring job... Thomas Curwen watches paint dry for a living.

 

The Dulux scientist from Twyford, Berks, 34, checks how the colour of matt（无光泽，衬边） and emulsion（乳剂） changes over time on walls and under microscopes.

 

If you think that sounds a bit dry, just wait. We've found there a many worse ways to earn a living around the world...

 

Armpit sniffer

 

Getting a whiff of BO may sound like the pits, but it's all in a day's work for Peta Jones.

 

She works as a deodorant⁴（除臭的） producer for Unilever in Australia, developing the Dove, Lynx and Impulse brands.

 

A big part of her job is sniffing⁵ strangers' armpits（腋窝） to check her products' work.

 

Peta said: "It was strange at first, but in a week it was fine."

 

 

CSI may be a morbid⁶ hit with TV viewers, but there is nothing entertaining about cleaning up a crime scene after a death.

 

Married couple Mike Nestved and Carmen Velazquez, above, clear up after bodies in Orlando, Florida - the worst being one in a hot caravan⁷. Carmen said: "There are some things you can‘t just Febreze."

 

 

We've all worked with snappy colleagues, but putting your head in a crocodile's mouth should attract danger money.

 

Yet trainers at Pattaya Crocodile Farm, Thailand, get just £4 per day for their work. Another stunt⁸ involves kissing a giant croc on its nose. Ian Maclean, who filmed the show during a trip to the zoo, said: "One of the performers had his head crushed while locked in the jaws⁹ of a croc."

 

 

Helge Zieler has a job that really sucks - letting himself get bitten by mosquitoes. Working in the Brazilian rainforest, he offered himself as bait so he could study the bugs¹⁰' behaviour.

 

But despite once suffering a debilitating¹¹ bout³ of malaria¹², he says: "The beauty of the rainforest far outweighs¹³ the thousands of mosquito bites."

 

 

This is not just pet food - this is the ultimate in Marks & Spencer dog and cat cuisine¹⁴（烹饪）.

 

Every dish in the store's luxury range has been tested by Simon Allison, above.

 

He said: "I love my job - but draw the line at swallowing."

 

Simon chews gum after sittings to stop, er, dog breath.

 

 

We all think our job stinks¹⁵ from time to time, but it really does for Julio Cu Camara.

 

He swims through sewers¹⁶ in Mexico City to clear blockages¹⁷ and repair pipes by hand.

 

Julio, below, has notched¹⁸ up（完成） 1,400 dives in 30 years - each one lasting¹⁹ up to six hours in 7,500 miles of tunnels.

 

He has to wear a 6.4 stone helmet and suit to protect him from the human, chemical and animal waste - and its stench.

 

Julio has found horses, pigs, guns and "cigarette butts²⁰ to car parts, furniture and fridges. You ask how it got there."

 

But of one thing he is certain: "The worst thing of all to find is a human."

 

 

If watching paint dry sounds too exhilarating, you could take a leaf out of Helen Southall's book.

 

The grass expert works at British Seed Houses in Lincoln, where her daily duties include counting out and planting 400 seed samples.

 

Later, she goes through them blade by blade to monitor growth.

 

Helen said: "People think that it's strange when I tell them my job is to watch grass grow.

 

"But it’s fascinating. I wouldn't do anything else. It's so rewarding to see a stretch of perfect grass."

 

 

"There she blows" may be the traditional cry for whale spotters but marine biologist Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse gives it a new meaning.

 

She flies a remote-controlled helicopter fitted with a culture dish through the billows of mucus whales eject from their blowhole, above, then analyses it for viruses and bacteria.

 

Karina, from the Zoological Society of London, says: "It can be quite dangerous."

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