The Marvels of Living in the Modern Age

This will be a brief(ish)post as I get ready for a work-filled few days (though how can one as verbose as I actually embrace brevity????).

I wanted to share this image with you because, when I deconstruct it, I am really blown away by the reality of what's happening here. When our fabulous American visitors, Paul and Lisa were up for Thanksgiving, we gave them our bed because Mister Man is an early riser and it is SO much easier for us to sleep on the air mattress on the living room floor giving Mister Man access to the world when he opens his peepers at oh-dark-hour. In any event, I was in that semi-dream state on Saturday morning because I THOUGHT I heard the sound of a conference in my living room. But it couldn't be a conference because it was 6:00 IN THE FREAKIN' MORNING, so clearly I was dreaming. But wait a moment - no - those were real voices. So I pulled my earplugs out (the anti-Mister-Man-snoring device) and raised a sleepy head to see what was happening. And there was Mister Man staring at my Mac, transfixed.

"PeLmSROWEURnm?" I mumbled

"SKYPE phoned your computer", he said, mystified. "Or more precisely, your brother, Paully phoned your computer. And now, I'm watching Paully and Michele and it's like they're at a conference and don't know they've called you."

At which point I got up. Sure enough, there on the screen were my favourite (and only) brother and sister-in-law.

Mister Man and I watched them sitting there in a hotel conference room in Europe, with the sound of a someone giving a keynote droning in the background. They were in Europe for some big conference during which they were going to have dinner with a member of Royalty.

As it turns out, they HAD skyped us because they saw that my computer was online. And they were sending text messages to us from the other side of the world, while leaving their video feed on. (I guess the keynote had maybe hit a LOW note and they were reaching out to say "yo".)

Mister Man did try to make them laugh. He slid next to me in the frame, wearing the false teeth from last year's Halloween "Bubba" costume. Then he slithered up behind me, holding a dastardly big knife in his hands and raising it behind my back as if he were about to PLUNGE it into me. It worked. Paully and Michele both laughed. In fact, they had to sign off because of the laughing during the conference. After all, they didn't want to get busted or get booted out of the room for causing a disturbance....

Later, we talked to them in their hotel room before they got ready for their big dinner with the royal poo-bahs!

So this is a photograph of a computer screen featuring a telephone conversation that was taking place between Europe and Canada, in which my brother and sister in law are watching me (in the lower left hand corner) take a photograph of this event. And to think that a mere 20 years ago, we could only communicate via mail and the telephone or in person. Who would have ever thunk this was REALLY possible? I mean, surely it was only the stuff of sci-fi books and movies? I'll tell you what though - it leaves me with a true sense of awe.