The Ultimate Trade Item - Wife Swap

[+Snoogans]

PEPPER! Try to keep HER indoors.

 

We had the same idea on our local forum.

 

We hope that if a local does it that they will take their unsuspecting swapee on Four Cache Loop which is a 10+ mile hike with 30+ water crossings.

 

Edited November 30, 2007 by Snoogans

[Neos2]

Just showed this to Mrs. Team Cotati and we both think that this would be great fun. And besides having someone pay us $20,000 to essentially go on vacation sounds pretty sweet. Email on the way.

 

I don't know why, but I thought that Mrs. Team Cotati wasn't really much into caching (or at least not as much as the Mr. half of the team) and you guys didn't have young children still at home. Funny how you get the wrong mental picture of people.

[+Shop99er]

must....not....post....initial....thoughts

 

You have to take yours back at the end of the two weeks, SQ. Sorry.

 

Ya know...I think we BOTH know a couple that'd be PERFECT for this! Dontcha think TTUMS would be a HOOT on TV?

 

I'd even loan them the required brats darling offspring.

 

Well, thanks for the thought.... I think...

 

Other than the not having kids.... it is Mr. Shop99er who is the rabid cacher. Not I. I am the party planner. I just take the Mr. to the edge of the woods and let him get after it. And anyway, we'd make bad TV. Mr. Shop99er isn't the chatty type, as some of you know, and I swear like a one eyed carpenter.

 

OH! But there are many other aspects that would make for VERY intresting TV! OF course, it would probably have to be on cable. Maybe even pay-per-view!

 

I have seen her embarrass Chief Bosuns and Marines!

[WashoeZephyr]

I have been wondering what type of "opposite values" you would be put in the house of a caching hubby and kids? Couch potatoes?

They must be pairing them up with couch potatoes! I've only ever seen the commercials, to me the show just seems like it would be watching an hour of un-neccessary stress. I don't get it??

It seems like they usually pair up slobs vs. clean freaks. In the geocaching world, I know both. And I've never really met a stressed out cacher (while caching anyways! )

[Uberquandary]

One time they had a good 'ol Christian from Iowa swap with a Wiccan from Georgia. That one made me cry.

[WashoeZephyr]

One time they had a good 'ol Christian from Iowa swap with a Wiccan from Georgia. That one made me cry.

I actually remember the commercials from that one. Now that would have been the one episode I might have watched! But it still is just creating a bunch of un-neccessary stress for these people. I don't know if I would need $20K that badly and I am by no means wealthy. It reminds me of Jerry Springer. If you've been invited to be on Jerry Springer, you know it aint a good thing!

[Team Misguided]

The best one I saw was the Pirate family from Oregon with the uptight So Cal Suburban neat freak housewife. That was some funny tv.

[+The4Syms]

My kids and I have enjoyed watching this show! (OK, please, refrain from the floggings!) But I think that even though its strictly entertainment, its shown my kids that there are ALL KINDS of people in the world, and even though you might not agree with everyone on everything, its interesting to be thrown into a mix that you normally wouldn't be in and see how you'd adapt.

 

I think being on this show would be fun. But I know that I'd never be the wife they picked to swap, as much as PapaSyms might want to get rid of me for a couple of weeks! I have thoroughly enjoyed caching for the past year that we've been doing it. (We're still quite new to it with just a bit over 200 finds our first year..) I don't mind getting dirty or muddy, and as a few know from my forum postings, I've been known to say stupid things just for a reaction at times, which might make for some good TV! Again, I love to cache, I love my job, I am a neat freak, I totally love a great manicure and pedicure, but I don't freak out if I break a nail, I love to go shopping, I love to run, I love nature....so for them to "generalize" who a cacher is, is sort of the turning point.

 

I hope that whoever they pick shows the world that cachers are just regular people who have regular lives....and just like in the norm of the world, some take it to higher extremes than others, some to lower extremes, but hopefully they find someone who is tolerant, and accepting, and has fun with whatever situation they are put in...and also, whoever is the host family of the "MUGGLE", I hope they're not brutal to her, and show the "MUGGLE" the finer points of caching, along with showing others watching the show what caching is all about..and that cachers aren't mean spirited people.

 

But then again, do we want all these muggles out there knowing what we're doing??? Seriously.....

[+huskerrich2000]

let jeremy do this one and the the 20k

[+OzGuff]

I saw this on the NCGO forums and, on the spur of the moment, ripped off a quick email and let it fly. Here is what I wrote:

 

My name is XXXXXXXXXX and I live in Asheville, NC. I am married to XXXXXXXX and we have two kids -- XXXXXXXX (13) and XXXXXXXXX (10). I am 43 and XXXXXXX is 42. I am an avid geocacher with over 5000 finds and over 900 hides. (The finds number puts me in the top hundred geocachers in the world but my hides number has me at #2 in the world.) My kids enjoy geocaching and each have 600+ finds. My wife is an outdoor enthusiast and participates as a geocacher when the entire family is out hiking.

 

XXXXXXXX and I have been married since 1990; for both of us this is our first marriage. We met at the University of Illinois where XXXXXXXXX got her BSc in Biology, and her MSc and PhD in Microbiology and I got my BSc in Psychology and an MBA. XXXXXXXX now works as a sixth-grade Math/Science teacher at a private school while I am a Financial Advisor for a large investment firm. We are both politically and socially liberal.

 

We both swam during our early years and continued on to the collegiate level. Our kids are active in soccer, lacrosse, and swimming. XXXXXXXXXX is probably the same weight she was in college but I have gained forty (or so) pounds. We all enjoy physical activity and love living in the mountains of western NC.

 

We live in a development of middle- to middle-upper class families. Religion is not an important part of our lives though it is to most of our neighbors.

 

Our family geocaching adventures have taken us to some pretty interesting spots! The most recent was to a spot called The Narrows. This is a well-known kayaking spot that requires a 300 foot climb down an incredibly steep hillside using tree branches and roots to halt your downward progress. But the views at the bottom -- both natural and of the kayakers zipping by -- were worth the effort!

 

I have completed some of the most extreme caches in the southeast, being co-first to find on Tube Torcher 2. This took a friend and I 11 hours to complete over a weekend; most of that 11 hours was actually spent underground in various culverts and water outlet pipes.

 

I weigh about 240 and am 6 foot tall. XXXXXXXX is 5' 9" and about 130. Both of the kids are incredibly smart [Really! Ask their teachers!] and not afraid to express their own opinions.

 

The photo titled "LittleBradleyFalls" shows the whole family at the end of a geocache that took us on a 2 mile hike, much of it not on a trail but more of a bushwhack. The falls, of course, made it worth it!

 

The photo titled "DSCF0062" shows us and another family crossing a creek the only way possible; we were on our way to a geocache.

 

The photo titled "EWFW07" shows me at the top of a 70 foot chimney stack; I was in the middle of an extreme geocache called "XXXXXXXXXX" in XXXXXXXXX NC.

 

The photo titled "TT254" shows a friend and I (I am on the right of the photo) at the end of Tube Torcher 2. We are standing under an Interstate.

 

Sorry that the above isn't in a more coherent form! If there is some interest -- even though you have already used a couple from Asheville -- please get back to me!

 

Thanks for reading this far!!

 

XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

P.S. If you want to check my geocaching stats, my pseudonym is OzGuff. (The kids go by OzMeg and Tahu; my wife uses SWMBO.)

 

That same day I got a reply from Julia:

 

Hey XXXXXXXXX,

 

WOW! You guys sound awesome! I would love to speak with you. Please email me your contact numbers and I will be in touch today. Thanks!

 

JULIA

 

The only downside is that I did NOT run this whole "Wife Swap" thing by my wife first, and she is violently opposed to the prospect. (Sounds like she may have actually watched an episode or two...) The kids and I are definitely all for it!

 

Assuming the faux wife comes from an inactive family, think about it from my perspective: One week of guilt-free geocaching followed by one-week of being a couch potato! Sounds like a win-win to me!!

 

Oh well... Better start working on that Amazing Race application for when they do a second family season!

 

Edited to add: And wouldn't an appropriate alternate title for "Wife Swap" be "Tube Torture"?

Edited December 6, 2007 by OzGuff

[+Snoogans]

I saw this on the NCGO forums and, on the spur of the moment, ripped off a quick email and let it fly. Here is what I wrote:

 

My name is XXXXXXXXXX and I live in Asheville, NC. I am married to XXXXXXXX and we have two kids -- XXXXXXXX (13) and XXXXXXXXX (10). I am 43 and XXXXXXX is 42. I am an avid geocacher with over 5000 finds and over 900 hides. (The finds number puts me in the top hundred geocachers in the world but my hides number has me at #2 in the world.) My kids enjoy geocaching and each have 600+ finds. My wife is an outdoor enthusiast and participates as a geocacher when the entire family is out hiking.

 

XXXXXXXX and I have been married since 1990; for both of us this is our first marriage. We met at the University of Illinois where XXXXXXXXX got her BSc in Biology, and her MSc and PhD in Microbiology and I got my BSc in Psychology and an MBA. XXXXXXXX now works as a sixth-grade Math/Science teacher at a private school while I am a Financial Advisor for a large investment firm. We are both politically and socially liberal.

 

We both swam during our early years and continued on to the collegiate level. Our kids are active in soccer, lacrosse, and swimming. XXXXXXXXXX is probably the same weight she was in college but I have gained forty (or so) pounds. We all enjoy physical activity and love living in the mountains of western NC.

 

We live in a development of middle- to middle-upper class families. Religion is not an important part of our lives though it is to most of our neighbors.

 

Our family geocaching adventures have taken us to some pretty interesting spots! The most recent was to a spot called The Narrows. This is a well-known kayaking spot that requires a 300 foot climb down an incredibly steep hillside using tree branches and roots to halt your downward progress. But the views at the bottom -- both natural and of the kayakers zipping by -- were worth the effort!

 

I have completed some of the most extreme caches in the southeast, being co-first to find on Tube Torcher 2. This took a friend and I 11 hours to complete over a weekend; most of that 11 hours was actually spent underground in various culverts and water outlet pipes.

 

I weigh about 240 and am 6 foot tall. XXXXXXXX is 5' 9" and about 130. Both of the kids are incredibly smart [Really! Ask their teachers!] and not afraid to express their own opinions.

 

The photo titled "LittleBradleyFalls" shows the whole family at the end of a geocache that took us on a 2 mile hike, much of it not on a trail but more of a bushwhack. The falls, of course, made it worth it!

 

The photo titled "DSCF0062" shows us and another family crossing a creek the only way possible; we were on our way to a geocache.

 

The photo titled "EWFW07" shows me at the top of a 70 foot chimney stack; I was in the middle of an extreme geocache called "XXXXXXXXXX" in XXXXXXXXX NC.

 

The photo titled "TT254" shows a friend and I (I am on the right of the photo) at the end of Tube Torcher 2. We are standing under an Interstate.

 

Sorry that the above isn't in a more coherent form! If there is some interest -- even though you have already used a couple from Asheville -- please get back to me!

 

Thanks for reading this far!!

 

XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

P.S. If you want to check my geocaching stats, my pseudonym is OzGuff. (The kids go by OzMeg and Tahu; my wife uses SWMBO.)

 

That same day I got a reply from Julia:

 

Hey XXXXXXXXX,

 

WOW! You guys sound awesome! I would love to speak with you. Please email me your contact numbers and I will be in touch today. Thanks!

 

JULIA

 

The only downside is that I did NOT run this whole "Wife Swap" thing by my wife first, and she is violently opposed to the prospect. (Sounds like she may have actually watched an episode or two...) The kids and I are definitely all for it!

 

Assuming the faux wife comes from an inactive family, think about it from my perspective: One week of guilt-free geocaching followed by one-week of being a couch potato! Sounds like a win-win to me!!

 

Oh well... Better start working on that Amazing Race application for when they do a second family season!

 

Edited to add: And wouldn't an appropriate alternate title for "Wife Swap" be "Tube Torture"?

 

Mannnnn that would have been a GREAT show.

 

Promise her diamonds outta the money you get from the show and bug the heck outta her until she gives in. And since she's violently opposed.... Dude, duck what she throws at ya and dodge them punches.

[sakko]

When I first saw this topic I thought one of you crazy people had stuffed your wife in to an ammo can.

[+Snoogans]

When I first saw this topic I thought one of you crazy people had stuffed your wife in to an ammo can.

 

It has been tried in the past.

 

 

I believe one would need to bring along a saw and at least one more cache.

[+michigansnorkelers]

OK fellow geocachers; the problem with all of this just dawned on me!

 

True, it will be a hoot to watch what happens as the non-geocaching family is introduced to the obsession. But what happens to the GEOCACHING FAMILY???

 

Will they still be "allowed" to head out in the middle of a rainy night to get that FTF? Will they actually have to go a day WITHOUT geocaching? Or, God forbid, will they be stuck in the house by a couch potato wife???

 

Oh, the horror, the horror!