Skype Me Baby

I must have been living in a cave or under a rock or back in the time when dinosaurs ruled the earth because up until a week ago, I did not have a working Skype account. Years ago, I had registered and acquired a proper Skype logon but never used it.

Business associates would often ask if I used Skype or they would pass along their Skype name and I would smile, add it to their contact information and then completely ignore it. Sure Skype was all the rage but so was Beta video at one time and look how that one turned out. I was convinced that it was just another fad to add to the techno junkie list.

And now, we cannot live without it.

And I want each and every one of my far flung relatives to go down to their nearest geek outlet and get themselves a headset and a webcam because it is just too much FUN.

Video-conferencing rocks!

Just think of the possibilities.....

This Thanksgiving, I can call my mum and she can actually critique my pie crust making skills in real time instead of listening to me sob on the other end of the phone after I've gone through a big can of Crisco with nothing to show for it and guests arriving in an hour.

My kids can get to know their Kiwi cousins without us having to spend $20,000 (YES, TWENTY THOUSAND!) to fly our family down to Auckland. For that matter, all of our offspring can communicate with all of their cousins AT THE SAME TIME.

Recently, we shared the Skype love with Dallas's mum and dad and now, our phone calls are the next best thing to being there. Can you imagine how awesome it will be during Christmas to open our gifts together?

The absolutely best part about Skype is that it is free. Yes, FREE. There are no hidden fees. As long as you are using your computer to call another Skype account, it doesn't cost a plug nickel. They also have very reasonably priced options for those folks who want to call from their Skype account to landlines or mobile phones in other countries.

I love Skype.

(Just so you know, I'm not being paid for this gushing endorsement.)