5/11/12

Our Secret Life as Mythbusters Volunteers

Last week, Steve and I did something amazingly cool.  We were volunteers for a Mythbusters experiment.  But I can't talk about it.

 
Seriously.  We had to sign forms saying we wouldn't discuss anything that happened until the episode airs.  Which will be in 3-5 months.  It is torture not being able to tell everyone about it.  So I'm going to tell you everything that I'm allowed to tell.  

Steve and I have been Mythbusters fans from the start.  Trevor has been a huge fan for the past year or so.  When the Mythbusters announced their live "Behind the Myths" tour last fall, we immediately got tickets for the three of us to go to the Sacramento show in January.  We had a blast.


For those who don't know, Mythbusters is based in San Francisco.  They conduct many of their experiments in Alameda County (where I grew up), Vallejo (where I used to teach), and other Bay Area locations that are an easy drive from here.    

When I started compiling my 40 Things list, I added "Be a Mythbusters volunteer" as one of the possibilities.  I'm a Facebook fan, which is where they post their calls for volunteers.  There was a call for volunteers in San Francisco recently, but the dates didn't work for us.  But when a call for Vallejo came, I decided to MAKE it work.  Steve and I both filled out online forms, which asked questions like our height/weight, where we live, whether we could lift items above our heads, and whether or not we were claustrophobic.  A day or two passed.... and then Steve was notified that he was selected.  

I won't lie.  I was really jealous.  I was the one who had the idea, I was the one who had been stalking the Facebook page, I was the one who applied and forwarded the link to Steve.  And he was the one who was chosen.  Still, I was happy for him and very excited.

But I was even more excited a few days later when they contacted me!  They would only need me for one day, while Steve would be doing both days of the experiment.  We were sent waivers to sign, which we needed to submit with a full body photo of ourselves.  Only after this was done would we be told where to go and what to do.    

The day before the experiment, we learned that we needed to report to a building on Mare Island at 8:00 AM.  We needed to bring an item, which I can't disclose.  We were told that absolutely NO photography of any kind would be allowed.  This was torture for a scrapbooker like me.  But I am a rules follower, so I did not take any pictures once we were inside the building.  The one and only picture I took the entire day was this one: 



After the episode airs, I will give you all the details about what we did.  We saw a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff.  And yes, we did get to meet the Mythbusters themselves.  But no pictures.  :(  

At the end of the day, those of us who were only doing one day were given t-shirts.  (Steve and the other two-day folks got theirs the following day.)  The t-shirts give a good clue about the nature of the experiment we participated in.  We are allowed to wear our t-shirts, so I took a picture to share with you:

Any guesses?!  

Goal #22 accomplished!  

17 comments:

  1. That is soooooooooo AWESOME!! But bummer to the divas about no pics!! Don't they REALIZE what WE do for a hobby??!?!?!?! GEEZ!!!!

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  2. WOW!!! That is AWESOME!!! :) You will have to post when the episode will be on, so we can all watch! :)

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  3. Cindy! this is so cool! Congrats to you both :) and I can hardly wait to see what you did! hmmmmm, what did you do? something with an airplane, flying....

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  4. Oh fun and I would have been miffed if my hubby was chosen before me also. I have no guess as to what was done... will be fun to see it though so will be watching for more information. Have a good weekend.

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  5. Goodness! You try out the coolest things!!!!

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  6. You are going to let us know when this airs, right? I can't wait to see it!!!!!! You are so amazing and I am very happy that you have all of these goals accomplished! WOOHOO!!!!!!

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  7. I absolutely can't wait! I'm with Sharon, you totally have to tell us when it's going to air. I want to see!

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  8. I missed this when you first posted it. We are big fans at our house too. I am hoping you will post on the Fiskateer mb when it is getting close to time to air. Then I can't wait to hear all of the details. Maybe you will be able to take good enough pictures of the T.V. that you can still scrap a page. How exciting for both of you!

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  9. We are huge fans too! Looking forward to learning more, as I can't come up with any ideas based on the photo.

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  10. Add me to the list of people that need to know when it will air. I want to record the episode!! I don't want to miss it!!! Can't wait!! This is such a cool thing to say you have done!

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  11. Sooooo what happened ? tell us more, this is just awesome !!

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    1. It still doesn't have a scheduled air time! It's so hard waiting! I'll let you all know as soon as I know.

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  12. WOW CINDY! I was there! so awesome! it totally blows u cant spill any information or take pix but i bet this episode will release sometime this month already!! And i was contacted to go volunteer again! :) so stoked! great article i totally enjoyed it!

    -Shelly

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  13. Cindy, I missed this when you posted it but I was in China so that will be my excuse. :) Hubby and I LOVE this show. I just told him and he is soooo jelous. Had no idea you could be a volunteer. I will have to follow MB of FB. Why don't I think of those things like they would have a FB page. We are going to Los Vegas in March and we are going to the Pawn Stars shop. Anyway, back to the rest of your email telling me the rest of the story. I just always go to your links as I am reading your email.

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  14. I know what kind of volunteer you were.... I was one too :)

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  15. wait... Never mind... I'm sorry, I thought this was for 2013. Not 2012. My mistake. But I was a different volunteer for a recent episode as well :)

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