Skype - FREE Video Phone and Cheap International Phone Calls

Keeping in touch FREE video conferencing via Skype and cheap international phone calls.

MA Bell (AT&T) introduced videophones at the 1939 World’s Fair and also the one in 1964, both of which let you view a series of images of the person on the other end of the call.

In 1939 Germany actually build a videophone system.

All those and other attempts to sell people on using a videophone were complete flops. The technology was expensive, the pictures weren’t very good, and people just didn’t see the need.

Now we have Skype, a program that almost everyone already has on a laptop or desktop computer.

But you may not know you have it, or don't understand how useful it is.

Skype comes pre-loaded on many computers, especially laptops with WiFi, cameras and microphones (BTW, be careful of those,hackers can turn on your camera and mike remotely so put a piece of opaque tape over the camera lens, probably a dot above the top center of your screen.)

If your didn’t come with Skype, fear not, it is a free download from (wait for it) yes, www.skype.com.

You install it and if your computer is not already equipped, buy a camera, headphone, and microphone which can cost about $10 too and they work well.

The just plug into a USB port and once connected Skype will walk you through configuration.

Right then you could place a videophone call to anyone in the world who also has Skype.

But if you add a bit of money (just a few dollars or equivalent) to your account which was set up when you picked your Skype name, and you can also call regular phones either for a few dollars a month, or at a low per-minute cost, you just don’t have video.

There are other added features but if you only want to virtually attend a baby shower (Beth is doing so next month and did so for Thanksgiving last year) or direct a worker, friend, or family member with a remote task where they have a portable Skype capable device such as an Amazon Kindle HD and you use your account to monitor and direct their actions.

I do this with some helpers because I am mostly confined to a wheelchair.

Money Saving Home

Many seniors opt for apartment living but if you just can't bring yourself to accept all those sacrifices such as space, choosing your neighbors, a garden, etc., there is an alternative to staying in that nice expensive home.

We lived on a beautiful ranch, 30 acres, modern brick ranch house, pool, outbuildings galore, but when we no longer wanted the daily grind of caring for all the animals it just didn't make sense.

We didn't want an apartment and didn't want the upkeep costs of maintaining what was actually an estate.

But we had planned ahead and also owned a tiny very old farm house on 2 acres right next door, we had rented it to a reliable older man who reconditioned the house in exchange for free rent and who was conveniently ready to move on (to take care of his elderly parents in fact) a year before we sold the ranch.

Inexpensive Older Home just off a major highway.

My point is that either by relocating to a reasonably prosperous but inexpensive area such as central PA or many other places, you can buy a livable old home for less than $50k and NOT feel you had to spend a lot of money on upkeep because it just wasn't cost effective.

Around Punxsutawney (only mentioned because I am familiar with the area) there are many senior services such as free transportation and a decent health care system but you can buy a ready-to-move-in home for as little as $30K with taxes running in the low hundreds.

Just think what that cost savings could mean especially if you are snowbirds or want to travel extensively yet have a home base for what the great George Carlin termed "all your stuff."

This wouldn't have been practical for many people just a decade ago because they would miss the convenience of city shopping but now online stores are bigger than any shopping center and delivery is often free - combine that with wireless or satellite internet and having a rural or semi-rural home base is much more attractive than previously.

And, do you really want to spend a lot of time and money keeping up with suburban neighbors because your house is so valuable?

Some people do. We didn't.

Critical medical news for anyone who is the care giver for a hospital patient

New Test Helps Predict if Relative will Awake from Vegetative State.

One of the biggest challenges facing doctors and patient relatives in hospitals is when or if you should remove life support from a comatose patient.

It turns out that an already common tool, positron emission tomography or a PET scan can be interpreted to determine which unconscious patients are actually brain dead (vegetative state) or merely unconscious but with minimal brain activity as shown by the traditional measure, an EKG.

For details see my medical blog.

Free Shipping Saves Time, Money, and Your Aching Back

Back in the good old days GoD for short, things were very different, families were usually much closer geographically than they are today and in the 1950’s stores still regularly delivered groceries right to your door. There was even a milkman, eliminating the need for a trip to the store and the difficulty of lugging your purchases home. As a senior will progressively find while growing older in your own home that it is not as easy as it would have been in the 50’s.

I had an aunt who was a bit senile but even before she got bad and we (the family) intervened, she had no way to shop other than by relying on friends who were just as elderly as she was. For decades she relied on the trolley in Pittsburgh but the city finally removed that wonderful convenience, making things just that much harder for the poor and elderly.

When we learned she had asked a neighbor just how long they thought someone could live just on potatoes we stepped in - actually I would have done so earlier but others in the family objected.

But moving into this decade things have turned around completely if you know how to take full advantage of various little known services.

For example, did you know that for a small yearly fee Amazon offers free shipping on a vast number of items from car parts to packaged foods along with tens of thousands of free books and movies? Or that Walmart will ship many orders over $50 for free (including the 50 lb. dog food bags for our two large service dogs)?

Another terrific advantage of online shopping at sites such as overstock.com or especially Amazon.com is that you can usually find a lot of useful feedback in the reviews and even ask questions before ordering.

It is a common fear that online shopping is dangerous but we've never had the slightest problem with Amazon or any other big, long-established online firm.

Using credit cards or getting the Amazon.com card makes it even safer.

Amazon also lets you sell things, even used items at a very reasonable fee which is only deductible from sold items.

But let's not forget Walmart.

We have a good superstore here in Punxsutawney but searching the store for just what we need, especially when I can't walk and have to send Beth in to find some obscure electronic item is rough on both of us.

(BTW, if you want to learn more about small town life here in Groundhog Central, check out my book "The View from Highland Ranch" which is a collection of some of my columns from the local daily newspaper. It was co-authored by my lead donkey, Jack who told me he could always spot another jacka$$. Note, I'm a member of the National Press Club and used to write for Post-Newsweek.)

A newborn son of Jack's with his mother.

Also, even the largest superstore doesn't carry everything Walmart sells and the online ordering system takes care of both problems.

Some Walmart stores have begun a grocery shopping service where you order items and they bring them out to your car.

It isn't here yet so I can't say just how it works but it is probably free and another very nice option for disabled shoppers.

Technology is more than just that damn blinking time on your VCR.

A lot has been happening in my life so we had to let this blog rest but it seems like a good time to restart it. The old postings are at Frugal Senior but I couldn't update that to the new format so I've moved the blog to this location.

One update will be to make postings available on smart phones and tablets.

One thing is that both of my service dogs passed.

The problem with Great Danes and other large breeds is that they have short lives - as you can see mine were as tall as our full grown miniature horses.

My new service dogs in training are a mixed breed you can see in my other blog Puppybyday

I am working on my next Amazon Kindle book, "Zen and the Art of Graceful Aging" and this blog will have some excerpts.

If you love animals you might want to check out our story of an animal sanctuary we had for a decade, Sheep in the Rafters. Free if you have Amazon Prime which I'll discuss in the next posting.

I also publish a highly selective medical blog with only the most critical medical news.

A recent story tells of a new discovery which makes it much easier to tell if a person in a coma might wake up.

There are many bargains on the Web from reconditioned computers to exotic spices which you can't find except by searching diligently in big cities.

You can get not only free long distance phone service to most countries, but even free videocalls to your friends and relatives. My Beth does this all the time to attend her relative's distant events such as Thanksgiving and birthdays - I talk with my editor in Australia all the time face to face - for free.

Want to share some news with relatives or fellow hobbyists, dog lovers, horse lovers, cat lovers, knitters? Also free.

And lots, lots more.

First we will be looking at companies which offer free shipping even of food in small quantities or which will deliver a grocery order to your car.

The free shipping is great because shopping can be difficult for many and it saves the gasoline needed to drive there. Sure free bus service even here in Punxsutawney (Groundhog Day if the name seems familiar) makes it free to go to a store but how many bags of groceries and pet food can you carry?

Did you realize Walmart offers free shipping for tens of thousands of items if your order is over $50?

Amazon charges about $100 per year for Prime but for that you get free 2 day shipping on about a hundred thousand items and much more such as free movies, TV shows, music, and more.

That's just a teaser and I'll go into the details in the next posting.