40 YEARS!!!!

This is my friend Carl. We were talking on Skype today about the fact that we met right around now... 40 YEARS AGO!!! And for the record: I WANT his AWESOME man-chair that you can see a little bit of in the background!!

I had just moved to Wheeling, Illinois a couple of months earlier in June 1969. My neighbor, Bob Nuenfeldt, and I were talking on walkie-talkies when all of a sudden we heard this voice cut in to our conversation...

"Who is this?"

It was Carl, who just happened to have his walkie-talkie on. See? He was even an electronic gadget guy back then!

It turned out that Bob and Carl knew each other from first grade, so Bob and I ended up walking to Carl's house which was one street over from my house. I was just shy of seven years old.

And isn't it a small world? Carl's mom is from Finland! What are the odds??

Oh, and in case you're curious... this is how we looked a couple of months later when we were well into the second grade. Carl's the guy in the fourth row/second from the right with the Colonel Sanders tie. I'm in the bottom row on the far left. If I remember correctly, I'm smiling with my mouth closed because one of my front teeth was just hanging on by a thread and I didn't fall for my dad's I-won't-pull-it-out-I-just-want-to-see-how-loose-it-is trick until the next day.

You think that's bad? A few years later, my sister actually fell for my dad's just-let-me-tie-this-piece-of-thread-around-your-tooth-and-this-doorknob-no-I-won't-do-anything...

SLAM!

God, she was a dork back then!!

Today, Carl told me that his father, Bruce (greetings to you, Bruce!), checks out my blog on a regular basis.

Who knew?

Well, certainly not me since Bruce has never left a comment. For that matter... neither has Carl.

Come on, guys. Leave a comment.

I dare ya!

Keeping Up With Technology...

I know I'm a little behind the times, but I finally got Skype. And?

I think it's great!!!

A couple of months ago, my 70-something dad asked me why I don't have Skype. I think I responded with something like: "Why? Do YOU have it?" Surprise...SURPRISE!!! He did.

So in order to climb up to my dad's rung on the technology ladder, I decided to download Skype after I bought our new MacBook. Hell, my Mac already had a camera and microphone built in, so why not?

My assessment: I think the sound quality is excellent, the video quality is good, and (best of all) it's FREE!!! Also, I think it's a great way to "stick it" to Swisscom.

Really, Swisscom's overseas calling rates aren't too bad at all. But I think their local calls and land line to mobile phone rates are ridiculous. Calling one's next-door-neighbor here in Basel costs pretty much the same as calling overseas. Calling from home to somebody's mobile phone costs MUCH more than an overseas call.

I guess that's what happens when there's no competition!

I've really been enjoying making these video calls. I've spoken with my mom and dad in Florida several times, the mass free-for-all that is talking with my nieces and nephew all at the same time, my sister during calmer times when the kids are all in school, and friends.

It's all been great, but I'll really be excited when I'm able to start making FREE video calls from my computer to mobile phones. Then I'll really "stick it" to Swisscom!