Fulltime and Grandchildren.

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ceemike said:
We used Skype to talk to our grandsons last winter & it worked well.  I installed my Verizon air card in my laptop & walked around showing them the campground. 

One question about Skype:  does anyone know why the screen image is reversed?
Click to expand...

There is a setting under options called (mirror)
I purposely reverse the image in SKYPE so my rather vein co-pilot sees herself as she would in a mirror. aka reverse image. Also a good trick when photographing her. The fairer sex (for some reason) are usually more comfortable looking at a picture of themselves the same way they see themselves in a mirror.
Hope this helps

Dave
 
In a hotel suite for Thanksgiving. The grandkids showed us how to Skype yesterday. Tried to skype this morning and the Comcast wifi in the hotel posted a note skype not compatible?? Have any of you found Campground wifi that do not allow skype?
Is this common?
Jim
 
Yes, the campground/hotel may, or their ISP, may block VOIP with or without video to conserve bandwidth.  If they use a satellite connection, those generally won't support VOIP either for technical reasons.
 
    We have found that at times we had to turn off the video and just have a conversation.  This was usually due to band width limitations.  As for satellite connections, what I was told by framily is that since satellite wifi is sent in bursts, it does not handle the video well, in those instances, we try audio only, or use the chat feature.

Ed
 
wannabfree said:
There is a setting under options called (mirror)

Dave
Click to expand...

Ed & Dave,  Thanks for the help.  I found it & fixed it.  When I first noticed it on a book cover my grandson was showing me I thought my eyes were going buggy. 

Mike
 
The Grandkid conundrum...  First be sure to make them buy a home with room to park there, then get them to install electric service, then a sewer fitting.  This will help in putting off constant visits.  ;-)

Our gkids are in VA, we are now in AZ and WY.  Quick visits are out, although we did visit for 3 weeks last spring.  I am hoping that next fall we will have a big gap between seasons and can fly out to see them.  In the meantime, the distance is just too much to visit often. 

We are sort of used to it, as Jolenes family lived in Utah, we btought up our family in RI.  There were not that many visits. 

Of course none of this advice heklps your situation, the Skype, (we use it too), occasional cards and phone calls keep us up to date.

Above it all, it is YOUR TURN, get out, enjoy and make the contacts special.
 
Ed, the problem with satellite is not that it's sent in bursts, but that the round trip time is long (>700ms typically) making for awkward conversation, and the actual time delay is quite variable.  This causes lost packets of both audio and video, making for choppy talk and picture.
 
Who says RV'ers always have to travel to see their kids?

I recently heard of one older RV couple, wintering in Arizona, who phoned their daughter who lives in New York just before Thanksgiving.

"Daughter", the old man stated, "I just called to let you know that your mother in I have decided to get a divorce." We will be signing the papers in the lawyer's office the day after Thanksgiving."

"Dad, you can't do that! You and mother have been married over 50 years. Please reconsider. I won't let it happen. In fact I will call my Brother in Chicago right now and we will be on a plane tonight to get to Arizona. We can't let this happen. Let's talk this over before Thanksgiving."

"Well Daughter, I was intending to call our son in Chicago after I let you know. But since you are going to call him I will wait."

As soon as the phone was hung up, the old man turned to his wife and smiled, "This year they are comming for Thanksgiving again, but this year they are paying their own way."
 
First one has to decide whether the connection to family is unbreakable. I know people that want to RV fulltime but they just can not stand to leave house behind and/or be separated from family.

Keep in mind, if you put it off until the grandkids have grown up or older, if you want to wait until you retire, etc.  - that time may never come. We have been told by other RVers to not wait so we set when my husband turned 55 to do it. He was 57 when we made it, took a year before we started Workamping, then in 2008 he was diagnosed with EArly Onset Alzheimer's Disease. We are probably on what my be our last trip fulfilling a dream of going south for the winter and 'do Quartzsite' in January.

If it is a dream and you can leave family and stick home behind, do it as soon as you can because there is no guarantee on the future.
 
We spent Christmas Skyping with all the Grands, great experience. One Grand said" Papa this is much better than I thought It feels like you are here with me. Looks like they will get used to us traveling and skyping.
Good Holiday all the way around.
Jim
 
We Skyped also, next best thing to being there, but with g-kids carrying the colds and all that, might be even better than being there!

 
I forgot about that until Christmas morning our one grandson had a fever and was sick. Today it is all I can do to keep the snow off the side walks and patio. I will do the drive way tonight after coffee and Advil.
 
Thank you rvgrandma for some VERY sage advice.  Too many times grandkids interfere in what should be the best years of the grandparents elder years.  Time to spend with each other, ALONE.  My take on this is that the good Lord gave us 20 years to do our job to teach our children the golden rules and how to be good people.  If we haven't done that in 20 years, then they are REALLY poor learners, or we were poor teachers.  So there's no way are we going to set good examples for our grandkids.  :D  [Meaning, don't expect us to raise them too.]

When we retired we told the kids we were "divorcing" them, and that they would now be on their own; use the skills we taught you or seek help elsewhere, since we will not be there to guide you any longer.  Let us know if you are in dire need, but only then.  Believe it our not, they all became just what we expected of them, happy, well-adjusted adults and excellent parents, all without our help..... ;D ;D

In the meantime their father and I have been having the best times of our lives, and living the good life, seeing them all on our terms.

Daisy
 
Thank You for that! My wife told them we love the kids but we are not full time babysitters. My daughter is my dearest person to me I was mad and left and I was all alone.  she took her dog. I miss the dog now. I could not wait until my son got married. I have the best son in the world but he needed his own life. He took the xBox360 when he got married! Grandchildren are special and when we live in Florida we told them we will take you to Disney and when you come I will take you fishing. It it not the amount of time you spend with them it is the quality of time.
 
We ended up with my 88 year old folks in Florida and our 3 and 6 year old granddaughrers in Hawaii on a Skype conference video call. Not sure who was more at home. :D

Haven't figured out how to go straight to the grand kids and skip the first gen. ;D
 
My prayers are with the both of you. I go on the 28th of this month to my Dr. my cancer levels have gone up fast and high. I retired in 2005 and was put on permanent disability for a year after colon cancer.  This was worse than death. I started painting on the side to keep from giving up. After about 6 months I took a job working on lawn mowers. I have worked there for two years and never missed a day or have been called out of work. I gave up the stay at home pay and went against the Dr that told me I would not be able to work again. I did it. Some days it is tough but I am alive to see my grandchildren is wonderful.
In 4 more years I will have my second retirement at the place I work now. I will have my retirement of my first job. If there still is SS I will get that. We will sell the house we live in now and keep the condo we own for my wife later. If I can make it we are going to full time it. If not she will sell the house move into the condo.
We have always talked about full timing it and that is what has kept me going.
My wife and I purchased a 5th wheel and we are very happy in it and we went to Florida this fall and had the best time ever. We found a resort we like very much and we are going back to find out more. The wheels are turning but I have one big obstacle to get over. 
 
Skirk hope things work out for you healthwise.  Grandchildren are the best.  We talked to all three of ours yesterday and will see two of them on Tuesday and be with them till the 8th of January when we go back to Blaine for a month.  We will see the granddaughter then!  Love my grammy time!
 
I send you, skirk55 and you rvgrandma, the best the future holds for you both.  May your demons be conquered as best they can be.  If nothing else, both your stories should be a loud and clear message to others, to hurry and fulfill your desires since the rest of their lives will pass in a flash.  Don't have any regrets that you wish you would have at least accomplished them, or at the very least, had done it sooner.  There are many, many ways to share with your grandchildren.  As skirk55 has said, it is not the amount of time you spend with your grandchildren, but the quality of it when you are with them.

Daisy
 
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