Happy Picture of the Week: Zooming with Mom!

 

Mom and me on Zoom

I'm still going strong with my New Year's mojo! I've kept up with all of my New Year's resolutions and goals! One of said goals is to blog at least once a week about something that made me happy during the week.  Even better if this happy thing is a solution to something that is not-so-happy.

I was not-so-happy that I wasn't able to physically visit my 85-year-old Mom in Sacramento at all in 2020. I normally visit around the holidays and my plan (now that I'm not working full time) had been to spend the better part of December with Mom, helping her specifically with something that I love... technology.  It turns out, though, that I'm able to help her remotely without a problem!

Before Covid hit, my siblings and I chipped in to get Mom a new Chromebook for her birthday.  I setup a bookmark for ChromeRemoteDesktop on her Chromebook, which, once she generates a code, very easily gives me visibility to her machine. I can even control her machine remotely!  This makes it very easy for me to she's doing when she's unsure and to even show her, by taking control of the mouse, what she needs to do.

Mom still is a bit... what's the word... "stressed?".. about using the Chromebook, so one of the presents I gave her for Christmas this year was that I would give her little lessons to help her get more comfortable with it.

Between Zoom and ChromeRemoteDesktop, I was able to help Mom with her email and introduce her to all kinds of fun sites: YouTube, Amazon, Netflix..   We went on a little virtual shopping spree and I was able to buy her a book that was delivered to her house in two days..  she found it all amazing and acted like it was the best present I'd ever given her.

Even though I know most people are suffering a bit from Zoom fatigue, I am so grateful for the technology that is available to us these days..  most of it, free of charge and very easy to use!

Yay for Zoom, ChromeRemoteDesktop, and Mom's willingness to learn!