You Just Gotta Love Modern Technology

This weekend my wife and I will be driving a truckload of my daughter's stuff up to her new apartment in Rohnert Park, CA.  She went up there to school in August of 2007 and returned home every Christmas and summer until this year.  Because she had a job up there and was taking summer classes she stayed in the dorm for June and July, and last weekend she moved into her very first apartment (with another girl from school).  It's a pretty exciting time for her.

It's going to be a bit more challenging for her parents, though.  Normally when we make this trip (and I think this is my 28th time since August 2007) I do all the driving and my wife rides shotgun...or perhaps it would be better described as sleeping shotgun.  However, this time she's going to have to drive the entire 475 miles northbound because I'll be driving separately in a rental truck.  The original plan called for making the entire trip starting very early on Sunday, but we've decided to break it into two more manageable pieces and after loading up this morning we'll be headed north for an overnight in Santa Nella, about 319 miles away.  That will give us a pretty easy ride on Sunday morning.

Of course, the new apartment is basically an empty box and she doesn't have any of the furniture that the school provided in the dorm, so her bed, dresser, nightstands, bookcase, piano (which is already there), and all kind of other stuff of hers will have to go up via truck.  Since she wasn't able to come down here to help us pack up or figure out what to take and what to leave, we were able to use some great modern technology to work it all out.

Thank you, Skype.

One night I set the laptop up on a bookcase in her old bedroom and started a video chat with her in her dorm room.  For about an hour or so we pulled stuff out of drawers or storage areas and were able to hold them up where the webcam could see them and she was able to decide what she wanted us to pack.  It's also been a great way to stay in touch since being able to see her is much more fun than just talking on the phone.

And, it's free.

I remember when I was a kid you'd see stories about the future that usually involved some sort of videophone where you could see the person you were talking to.  The future is here and it's a lot of fun.

Today we're packing the truck heading out.  The bedroom will really look empty without all that stuff.

The laptop is staying home this weekend so any posting will be by cellphone.  After driving 475 miles we'll still have to spend some quality time unloading the truck and helping her organize stuff.  Regular blogging should resume on Wednesday.