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!