Nick is a sixteen-year-old high school student who lives in New Jersey. His parents are divorced, and he currently lives with his mother, Alice. Nick is popular at school, and he is also very active in his school and his community. Most of all, he is very involved with his family, and he is particularly close to his grandfather, Fred, who lives a few towns over in Tom’s River. Not quite housebound yet, Fred still drives and can travel outside of his home. For social reasons, however, he usually goes to the supermarket through Access-A-Ride and frequents on occasional bus trips to Atlantic City with the senior group from his local church. He finds it more enjoyable to keep in the company of others as opposed to conducting his chores
When Nick was little, Fred often watched his grandson while his daughter, Alice, went to work. She would drop the baby off with Fred in the morning and head off to her office straight after. During the day, Fred and Nick would go to the park and play catch and do other outdoor activities. As Nick got older, Fred would then pick him up from school and bring him back to his house. Since Fred was older and became more fragile, he wasn’t able to do many outdoor activities anymore. As a result, he and Nick would often spend their afternoons watching TV and movies. Fred particularly liked to watch crime dramas and adored any story that had to do with the mob. Consequently, Nick also developed this appetite for mafia movies and TV shows. This was evident in several Halloween costumes, where Nick dressed as a series of famous gangsters from history.
When Nick turned sixteen, he was able to drive and no longer needed Fred to pick him up from school. Though Fred understood that he’s grown up and no longer needs a babysitter or a chauffeur, it still is a strange transition for the both of them. Soon enough, Nick expresses to Fred that he misses watching their TV shows and movies with him. Nick then promises to come visit Fred’s house every Sunday night to watch “Boardwalk Empire” on HBO, which became Fred’s favorite show this past year.
One night in January, there is a gigantic snow storm that coats all of New Jersey with 20 inches of snow. This snow storm happens to occur on a Sunday night, and gets in the way of Fred and Nick’s plans to watch their show. Nick calls up Fred to make sure that he is okay. Fred says he is fine, but he is disappointed that he will have to watch “Boardwalk Empire” alone for the first time this season. Nick feels bad about this, but he quickly remembers that the family gave Fred a MacBook laptop for Christmas. When Nick realizes this, he tells his grandfather about an online application called “Your Virtual Living Room.” A few weeks ago, Nick used it for the first time with his girlfriend, Thia, who was traveling to California to visit some family there. The application let Nick and Thia talk to one another as a movie streamed to both of their computers. It was the next-best thing to watching the movie with one another in an actual living room, so Nick suggests that he and Fred use it to watch “Boardwalk Empire” that night. Though Fred has never used an application like it before, he trusts Nick, who says it’s really easy to use, and agrees.
Nick stays on the phone with Fred as he opens his computer and opens his Internet browser. He types “www.yourvlr.com” into the address bar and hits “Enter.” Once he’s opened the application, he browses through the content on the site. Luckily, the “Your VLR” team just added HBO content to its site. He clicks on the latest episode of “Boardwalk Empire,” which is available for streaming. He selects the epsiode and is given a link to share with the people he’ll watch it with. He copies the link and pastes it in an email addressed to Fred. He sends the email and then tells Fred to look for his message. Fred opens it and clicks on the link. Nick does the same, and they are both brought to a page with a video player. They both receive a notification that one another has entered the room. They then greet one another, and Nick instructs Fred to put a pair of headphones on if he can. Nick saw this in the instructions panel the homepage of the application’s site, and he remembered how it made the sound experience better when he watched the movie with Thia. Fred finds the earphones from his iPod (he’s very techy!) and puts them in his ears. When they are ready to begin, Nick presses the “Play” button and the episode starts.
As they watch the episode, Fred and Nick remind each other about what has happened in the complex plot. It’s often hard to tell the gangsters apart, and it’s even harder to remember who’s killed who and who’s stolen from who. When a particularly lurky character comes on screen, Nick playfully makes a prediction: “Grandpa, I bet you five dollars that guy kills someone in this episode!” Fred likes that action and agrees to the bet. The banter and the betting keeps up like this throughout the episode, since this is the equivalent to a sports match for these two. As always, Fred has a pencil and notepad on the arm of his favorite recliner in the living room. He use this to keep track of the bets, and who has won and lost. By the end of the episode, he recounts the damage, and it seems he owes Nick $25 and Nick owes him $15. But, as usual, Fred adds some more money to Nick’s pile without telling him: “Guess what kid? Looks like you get $30 tonight!” Though he knows his grandfather has added some money in, he acknowledges that there is no point in fighting with the old man, and fakes excitement and surprise at the amount.
The two agree to settle their bet next Sunday. Fred then thanks Nick for setting up this virtual experience; it’s really meant a lot to him. Nick says it’s been fun, and it was no trouble at all. After all, it’s nice to know that there’s an alternative means of watching the show (and other things) together. This will come in handy, Fred thinks, when the kid goes off to college. The two disconnect from the application, and Fred is brought back to the homepage, which has some more information about the application, how it works, and its origins. He is happy to see that the project was initially made to be an entertaining and fun tool people can use to keep in touch when they cannot be physically together in the same space. Certainly, the application has fulfilled its mission this evening for Fred, and he looks forward to using it again during the next snowstorm!