Skype-Chat

I have a brand-new favorite part of my day: the time in the evening when Glen and I sync up via Skype.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, Skype is this very, very cool software application that lets you make voice and video calls over the Internet. Very high-tech. Very chic. Very now. We set up accounts some time ago in anticipation of a possible relocation to Singapore, figuring that if we moved, it'd be an easier and more economical way for us to stay in touch with the folks at home. Alas, an international, ex-pat assignment for Glen didn't come to fruition, but we kept our Skype accounts.

Since Glen's relocation to the Bay area, we've kept meaning to dust off our video-cams and headphones and try having face-to-face conversations. Finally, last night, we made this happen, but not without a few technical glitches along the way.

David and Elizabeth could not have been more enchanted by the concept of talking to Daddy via the computer. At the appointed time, I started our Skype call, and Glen's sweet face showed up on video. Voila! However, he could neither see nor hear me. I dismantled the extra web-cam, and let the built-in one on my Dell do the work for me. That worked like a charm.

But, still, no audio.

David and Elizabeth, meantime,  kept calling out to the screen, "HI, DADDY," waving and making goofy faces under the assumption that he could see and hear everything. He could see us, all right. And we looked like mimes.

After about 60 minutes of tweaking on both ends of the call, I came across a function under Skype's Tools menu, and tinkered with an audio control. Suddenly, I heard Glen say, "WHOA!!"

"I take it you can hear me now."

"Yeah! Hi there!"

And, thus, more silliness ensued. David tried to create artistic pauses within our Internet chat by waving (or flashing) pieces of his artwork directly in front of the video camera. It was reminiscent of Vaudeville signs being shown to the audience, introducing the next act. Then, David thought it would be fun to shoot Nerf gun bullets at his dad on the screen. I quickly intervened.

But, those two kids could not get enough of Skype. Man, they thought it was the best invention since sliced bread! It took a while to convince them that 1) they had to go to bed, and 2) that they needed to stop poking their faces onto the video camera for just one more "HI DADDY" for the road.

The Skype interface was a welcome friend after school and work today, as well. This morning started out a bit rough around the edges, as we all got a bit of a late start out the door. David was very worried that 7:28 a.m. had rolled around and that his clothes were STILL not laid out for him. Clearly running out of time, breakfast consisted of stops at the donut store (for David) and McDonald's (for Elizabeth and me). We were all a tad stressed.

But, after school today, while eating a nutritious dinner of  Costo pizza, the very excited Skype inquiries started in. "Mommy, are we going to see daddy on video tonight?" David asked several times, eyes wide and smile big.

"ONLY after you eat a good dinner ... finish your homework ... have a bath and brush teeth ... then maybe."

The little ones were really quite good about blowing through their evening tasks, and bounded to the computer when it was time for a little more Internet conversation. Glen was on line and ready to receive our call.

This time, though, he could hear and see us, but we couldn't hear him. It was his turn to be a mime. David and Elizabeth waved a lot; Glen waved back. We made funny faces at each other. Luckily, Glen figured out the glitch pretty quickly, and the problem was resolved.

And, once again, David and Elizabeth couldn't get close enough to the computer monitor or video portal in order to get their daddy's undivided attention. At least they were not pushing each other out of the way to get literal face time with Glen. To them, this was absolute magic. To me, it was a sign of a lasting God-send after a shaky start to the day. They get to see Daddy, live and in person, every day. Houston, we have contact!

So, our long-distance communications are now squarely in the 21st century. The only limitation with the video chat thing is that it's very difficult to hug your sweetie via the Internet. Sigh ...