martin g., 19 Feb, 2009 10:02, Views: 854

Last weekend my friend Bruce, whom I haven't seen for 28 years, came to visit me.  He has been in Japan since the second week of January, staying in Yokohama. He works for the US Navy, working for a few months at Yokosuka.  We had a great time catching up, and I was surprised how close we could be, after such a long time with very little communication.

Since he has been in Japan, we have wanted to talk, but he has not been so free to travel, as his work schedule is heavy.  However we found that Skype with a webcam works real well for that.  I have been using Skype for years, and before that Yahoo or other Internet phone systems, but I had never used the webcam very much.  Last time I tried it, it was jerky, and a bit frustrating.  However, I found that if you set up a microphone, and use the computer speakers for the voice communication, and make the cam picture fill up the whole screen, it is very pleasant, almost like having him in the room.  Before I had been using a headset for Internet phone, but I found that if you leave off the headset and use speakers and microphone, others in the room can join in the conversation.  Very easy and natural.  Of course, if the other folks in the room don't want to be in the conversation, then that puts you back with the headset!

Comments

admin  (09 Jul, 2009 09:19)

Bruce is a shipwright. He calls it the world's second oldest profession. At one point we were discussing an aircraft carrier by e-mail, and he called it a boat. In my reply I referred to it as a ship. His response mail challenged me if I knew the difference between a boat and a ship. I said that I would guess that a ship is bigger than a boat. In his next message he included the following: "Boat - any waterborne craft that can be transported on a another waterborne craft.A ship cannot so the definition grows w/ shipbuilding technology. (shipwright lore...)"

cudaibah  (21 Feb, 2009 06:09)

From the time I arrived and spotted Mayumi peeking thru the train windows looking for me, 'til three days later when she and Martin, my friend of some 42 years, ushered me safely back to Matsumoto station, my spirit felt refreshed. The loving spirit of that home, expressed so spontaneously from the youngest child up, can come from only one source, Thank You Jesus ! I'll always be grateful to each one of you for the little part of yourself you shared with me. You are precious to me. The Lord willing, I will return there before my stay in Japan comes to an end. Your brother, Bruce