Dear LPG, 

A year or two of lockdown has left so many more of us oldies knowing one of the more modern meanings of the words Zoom, WhatsApp and FaceTime.  Over the past year or so necessity has taught so many of us to learn about keeping in touch in that way,  in order simply to keep in touch at all, but the ‘staying in’ aspect of the pandemic is over for many of us now and each passing day brings the opportunity to meet up with our friends without the help of electronics.

I, for one, find that a real relief when I think of all the calls that went wrong because the internet would not play the game at the right time, but it is a skill that so many of us have learned about and it would be a shame to let that knowledge go to waste because we have stopped practising it altogether.    

I have family that I am so much closer to even though they live on the other side of the world simply because the one advantage with electronics is that it has little respect for geographical distance, and a call to the people next door is as immediate as one to Australia (time differences permitting).

There are also all those weekly visits to day centres and clubs that became virtual during that time, while some centres have opened again others are lost forever and a few continue to be virtual.    

The one thing that many of us have trouble with is what can be seen behind us as we talk.  I know that, like me, many of my friend’s find it really difficult to find a place in their homes where the background looks the way they would like it to.  My laptop is all set up in my bedroom and though there is nothing wrong with it, it is not the sight that I really want to show complete strangers or even acquaintances.  

I know I am a bit behind the times but the other day I watched that television advert where a lady is uncomfortable about what people can see behind her when on a video call and it got me taking a serious look at the internet. 

I learned all about two things you can do to make a difference and thought I should pass them on. You can set up a curtain behind you but that can be a bit inconvenient, time consuming, and quite dangerous at my age, or you can use a virtual background.  

You might need to get someone to help you set it up the first time but I have found some information about how to do this when you are using arguably the four most popular video call apps.  

I hope it helps and would encourage anyone who has mastered the art of video calling to keep practising even when you don’t have to anymore just in case you need to go back to it one day in the future…

KW, Rushey Green

KW shares  what she has learned about virtual backgrounds although the instructions might be something to experiment with while someone who knows more about video calling is helping, if you are a computer novice…  

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