I’ve set Skype up on Vickie’s PC, but we seem to be having some problems with her sound setup; even on full volume her voice comes out muffled at my end. I’m hoping the issue only occurs because our PCs are in close proximity and that it won’t happen when Vickie tries to chat with Lauren or someone else. Otherwise, it might need some fiddling with Skype’s settings or even (gasp!) buying a new sound card (Vickie’s audio is driven by an on-the-motherboard processor).

I must say, though, that if you’ve got a broadband connection and would like to talk with us sometime without running up a huge phone bill, install Skype on your PC. It doesn’t cost a thing unless you want to get voicemail or the ability to dial actual phones.

[UPDATE 12:41 PM:] Aha! Success, I think! It turns out that you need to adjust the sound settings on Skype so that it's using your actual audio device, not your "Windows default device". I changed Vickie's Skype sound settings to "Realtek AC97 audio", and it sounded much better coming out of my speakers!