Thank God for Technology... Today's edition: SKYPE!

Ok, I've already been talking about the technology that is going to help me through these two months missing my friends and family... well, I was fortunate enough to learn about Skype before leaving the US. I'll admit I was a bit intimidated about downloading this new thing... and another admition - I didn't think it would work worth a dang even for a few pennies/min. Well - I was wrong on all accounts.

Not only is this thing very easy to download and setup, but if the people you are talking to have downloaded Skype and set up an account, you can talk for free through your computer! Chris and I ran this little experiment this morning (well, my early morning Friday and his mid-afternoon Thursday). We both downloaded Skype, went through the very few required setup steps, and voila! He punched in my name in the "Search Contacts" field, found me and called me. We were talking with very clear sound quality through our computers within 10 minutes! We talked for 8 minutes before he had to run - and it was AWESOME! I have a call scheduled with the kiddos at 11:30 AM my time and 8:30 PM their time today.

So calling all friends and family that want to actually talk voice-to-voice. Set up an account on Skype here: http://www.skype.com/intl/en/download/skype/windows/ , create a Skype name for yourself... mine is nicki_j_rich, and then find me (or whomever else you want to talk to on the planet for free!). It is really great and helps me feel more connected to home.