While still living in Brooklyn, after painting one of our bedroom walls Pigeon Gray (highly recommended), we called our mom in San Francisco via Skype. Using the video mode we were able to show her, not only our new paint job, but the other interior design changes we had made since her last visit. It was a way to show off our nifty décor choices with a loved one who was much, much too far away.

We've often logged on to video chat to share visual changes to our home, or to get advice on upcoming changes before pulling out the drop cloth or the drill. Tonight, though, we got to see video chat in action in a whole different way.

While driving our new home, now in Pacific Grove, CA, we stopped by the gas station in Santa Cruz to fill up. We ran into the accompanying Food Mart where we heard the cashier chatting with a woman, though there was no one else there. That's when we realized the cashier had his laptop with him and had hooked it up to some desktop speakers to video chat while on the clock. When we asked him about it he told us that he was catching up with his sister in Pakistan. At 9 PM in California, it was 10 AM there, the perfect time to spend some quality time together.

While we used to hate when cabbies in New York would talk on their cell phones while we were in the car, there was something so sweet and amazing about this little scene we had happened upon. Here was this guy, working one of the worst and most boring shifts, taking advantage of his almost desolate work hour and work's broadband to not only talk to, but see his sister 7,400 miles away.

Have you ever used video chat in a not so traditional manner or in a not so traditional location? Or have you used it to get home advice or to share finished home projects?

(Image: Aokettan)