When The Zoom Call...Gets Scary

 I guess it was appropriate, to have my computer camera go blitz-o this week of all weeks. And, the Halloween jack-o-lanterns as my background photo just added to the atmosphere.

Let's be clear--my usually normal monthly one-on-one zoom call I had earlier this week with my supervisor was not "scary." For him, it was more funny than scary, and for me it was frustrating. The problem was my webcam and it would not stop flashing. I thought I had figured out the problem. It had to do with the lighting in the room. The flashing picture was not a new issue and in the past, I could turn on my office light or open/close the blinds. Whenever the flashing started I was able to fix it by manipulating the light in the room.

Not this time. No matter what I did, the flashing continued. I even tried shining a LED penlight directly into the webcam and it fixed the problem, but only temporarily. Then, the flashing returned.

I tried everything to stop the flashing--nothing worked. My boss kept commenting on how funny it was. Maybe from his point of view (because his screen was the large one...) it was--if not scary--very appropriate for the season.

I had another meeting today. This time, no flashing, nothing funny or scary (except maybe my monthly evaluation numbers...). Who knows...perhaps it was connected to Halloween in some way.

And that's a little scary.

Experiencing Technology...Through The Generations

 Over the years of writing a blog, certain topics seem to rise to the top. Stuff like family, sunsets, VWs, thrift-store shopping always find their way into a blog post. Another one is technology.

I just sit back and am amazed at the incredible time in which we live.

This afternoon my mother-in-law dropped in so we could participate in a zoom call. The purpose of the call was to introduce to everyone to my mom-in-law's newest great-grandbaby. Thanks to 2020 Zoom and teleconference calls are so everyday, we hardly think about what we're actually able to do. So much so, some of the younger great-grandbabies complained because of all the Zoom meetings they've had, and they're just kids.

During a lull in the video call, I brought up how wonderful it is to be able to watch multiple families spread across the country communicate in real time. I said to my mom-in-law that we used to call people and have a conversation--audible only when we needed to share information like this. She reminded me that for her generation, a phone call was an advancement. In her day, it wasn't being able to watch everyone on TV, or even over the phone, she said they used to read a letter with a photograph of a new family edition.

Times have changed, indeed.

When I think about what we can do today, I am reminded of my father. 2024 will be one-hundred years since my father was born. He only lived to see just under half of those years. I sometimes try and think of the way we live now and see it through his eyes...what would he think about our modern life?

Today, we were joined by four generations, three in our front room. And the miracle of technology allowed us to share the experience together. 

Amazing.

Incredible.