PainterWoman

I can see clearly now

Monday, 31. August 2009, 19:17:58

Johnny Nash, life, seventies, music, Bi-focals

Now that I have my new glasses, I can truly see clearly now. Who knows what I've missed.

To go along with Allan's post on the seventies, here's one of my favorite songs from that time sung by Johnny Nash:

Another test I had had last month was of my eyes. I knew they were changing as things in the distance were becoming hazy. After much searching for the best price, I decided to get single vision lenses instead of bi-focals. I got two pair at EyeMasters for $156. It would have been $7 cheaper but I bought a lense cleaning kit too which I probably could have done without.

I can still buy my reading glasses for $20 at the drugstore. I just couldn't see spending a few hundred for bi-focals. The price would have been for just one pair.

One down and ten to goA Spontaneous Collaboration

Comments

Angeliki # 31. August 2009, 19:24

"I can still buy my reading glasses for $20 at the drugstore. I just couldn't see spending a few hundred for bi-focals. The price would have been for just one pair.'

it is my first year using readers ... combine the two can be sooooooo expensive!!!

thanks for the video and I am so glad you can see "the colors brighter"

PainterWoman # 31. August 2009, 19:27

The first time I bought readers was the year I turned 40! They were $9.99 then. Now, $24.99, but still cheaper than combining them.

Linda # 31. August 2009, 19:40

Everytime I get new glasses, it's like seeing a new world---I can read signs that I couldn't before. Then after awhile, that sharpness seems to fade and my eyes settle back into a "seeing less sharply than at first" mode. Never have understood that.

PainterWoman # 31. August 2009, 19:48

I think it's our eyes adjusting to the new glasses but then still getting progressively weaker. I know in a year or two, I'll probably need stronger ones, that's why I didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for these.

Allan # 31. August 2009, 20:22

I've been using glasses from when I was a kid. How nice it was to know that I wasn't downright stupid - I just couldn't see what was happening on the blackboard.

Darko # 31. August 2009, 20:39

I was reminded of that nice song by a movie Break-Up
It is in the end of a movie

As for glasses, I stated to wear them 3 years after my return from army - suddenly world around me became blurry and it was a great relief when I put them on my nose the first time

Carol # 31. August 2009, 22:26

Hi Pam, I'm glad you can see clearly now.

deborah # 31. August 2009, 22:41

being a sight-challenged person most of my life, i can relate to the costs of having a clear view.

i'm couldn't manage to handle two sets of glasses (one around my neck for close range - the other on my face to see most anything), therefore; i pay the price. i have dealt with eyemasters for over twenty years now. this company is consistent and worth my money, imo.

i can usually see clearly for about four years before i have to break down and pay the price of renewed vision. this being my fourth or fifth year with bi-focals, i do hate the bobbing my head up and down for my daily chores. last visit to the doctor, he wanted me to get tri-focals -- NOT! (i don't think my neck muscles could handle a three-way bob!)

PainterWoman # 31. August 2009, 22:47

Allan, I know exactly what you mean. My youngest started wearing glasses when she was about 6 or 7. One of her teachers had asked if I'd ever had her evaluated for ....I forget what...and said she sometimes didn't seem to know what was going on. Shortly thereafter, I noticed how close she'd sit to the TV and still be squinting. Took her to the eye doctor the next day.

Darko, that movie just aired on tv this weekend and I finally got to see it. Love it. Funny, I didn't remember the song in the movie but it must have been why I kept humming it the last couple of days.

PainterWoman # 31. August 2009, 23:01

Carol, thank you. Yes, I couldn't believe how crystal clear the lights, streets and signs were when I first wore the glasses while driving.

Deb: Yes, all the different glasses are sort of a pain. I have several different levels of reading glasses. The older, weaker ones, I keep by my computer and I have a stronger pair by my bed for actual close reading. Then a really old beat up pair in my purse for reading menus and such.

I just have to remember to NEVER leave these new ones for distance in my car, which was what I was going to do. The optician said not to do that because the lenses are made of plastic.

Carol # 1. September 2009, 00:47

You are welcome.

Léazz # 1. September 2009, 01:22

scott cumming # 1. September 2009, 01:46

glad to hear you can see clearly.
i tried bifocals once. i found them downright dangerous with stairs. i just didn't get the right automatic information.
my eyes aren't that bad since i read without glasses and i passed the drivers eye test without glasses. so not worth it. just for reading signs ahead when i'm driving.

Phantom2 # 1. September 2009, 07:17

Glad to hear your world is a bit sharper then yesterday. You don't really notice things changing, do you?

I've been wearing reading glasses for years and single vision lookers just to drive. But when I work I refuse to wear glasses so I can't see past the edge of the stage. Just makes it a whole lot easier!

Weatherlawyer # 1. September 2009, 10:30

Reading glasses are less than a fiver here is anyone want' me to send them some.

You look at the prescription on the inside of one of the arms. It should be a number usually in white ink. Mine are 1.25s for normal use but I go up to twice that for reading.

They are cheap though, look crap and scratch easily. Apart from the latter defect, I don't mind the rest as I am on the inside of them looking out.

Big fat bloke with a beard and bits of teeth missing. Whose going to laugh?

Seriously; if anyone want some, send me what width between the hinges and the prescription required.

Huong Lan # 1. September 2009, 13:40

Hi Pam, how have you been? ^_^ I have been so busy recently. Tomorrow is our National Day so i have a day off. Thinking what to do tomorrow. heehehe

PainterWoman # 1. September 2009, 20:32

Lea, I can see the smilies very clearly.

Scott: I also heard that about the problem with bi-focals and stairs. Many people are getting the progressive lenses which have no line but I've heard they are hard to get used to as well. They are even more expensive.

P2, you know that's good thinking about not wearing the glasses on stage so as not to see who, what and how many beyond the end of the stage. While going to ASU, I had to give several presentations which always gave me the heebie jeebies. If it was my art presentation, I had no problem at all talking about it, but anything else, I pretended the class was naked. I got that idea from a nude model who said she would pretend the drawing class and the teacher were nude also to get rid of any nervousness on her part.

WL: I can hardly believe how cheap the readers are there. Sheesh, twenty years ago when I bought my first pair of 1.25s they were $9.99. Now I am up to 3.50 strength. Went to a couple of drugstores and they only went up to 3.25. I went ahead and got them for $24.99 and they are fine for right now. Hopefully, if I need stronger ones in the future, they will be available.

Lan: I've been fine. I bet your day off means a new post from you. It's always fun seeing your picture series.

daxonmacs # 1. September 2009, 23:57

Great song Pam. Bet you looked at the video a couple of times, eh?
Co,grats with your purchase, bad eyesight is a bummer.

Edward Piercy # 2. September 2009, 00:21

Congrats on your new glasses!

I bought a new pair of reading glasses in July over at the grocery for $16. I had the things a couple of days. One night I put the glasses on my bed and went off to do something and when I came back Sasha had chewed the hell out them -- metal frames and yet now they were all twisted like they had been through some nuclear blast. I got a pair of needle-nose pliars and tried to bend them back into shape -- but broke them. And so it was back to the store and another $16 for glasses.

I really don't know whether I am raising a dachshund or an alligator sometimes.

PainterWoman # 2. September 2009, 00:22

Yup, I've listened to it a few times.

I'm just thankful my eyes are not as bad as the eyes of other people I know.

tunfan hoffman # 2. September 2009, 12:49

My eyesights still good ! Those energy shaving lightbulbs are miserable bastards aren't they?Painter woman keep painting it's good for you

PainterWoman # 2. September 2009, 15:25

Thanks Graham. I'd been humming the song all weekend not realizing it was in the movie Break Up that Darko mentioned. It had just been on tv.

tugfan: So far I've not bought any of those 'curly' lightbulbs as I call them. Some of my lamps are from the fifties and the shades will not fit on the new bulbs. We shall see if I can find ones that will work.

Definitely, I will keep painting.

Suntana # 3. September 2009, 16:54

I guess your comment is correct, Pam. You know me and it sounds like your eyes might conceivably be better than mine.

From what I immediately saw back when I got them around 2001 or so, mine are really Trifocals. The paperwork says they're Bifocals. But, back when my eyes first had to get used to using glasses for the 1st time ever, I could definitely see 3 distinctly different levels of lens correction going on. I asked the girl at the time, "Is it my imagination, or are there 3 different levels there? Aren't these supposed to be Bifocals?" She just gave me some vague explanation, "Yeah, there ARE 3 levels there. But, they're Bifocals because ..." Blah Blah Blah. FINE! Whatever. As long as I can see better.

I hear you're NOT supposed to use those cheap Reading Glasses for too long because everyone has different eyesight in each eye.

PainterWoman # 3. September 2009, 17:18

Carlos I've heard that too about the cheap reading glasses and asked the optometrist about it. He said I was lucky that both my eyes are the same so I could still use them. Thank goodness for that because $400 for bi-focals was something I couldn't have afforded.

It almost sounds like you have the new progressive lenses where there are no lines, just different levels of vision as it progresses down the lense.

Darko # 3. September 2009, 17:38

$400 is too much

PainterWoman # 3. September 2009, 17:45

Waaaay too much. My insurance doesn't cover it so it's out of pocket.

Linda # 3. September 2009, 17:46

Pam, you probably need to stay away from the progressive lenses. Eye doctor told me that they are hard to get used to, and that to use peripheral vision, you have to turn your head whereever you want to look---you can't see by cutting your eyes. Advised me not to get them.

PainterWoman # 3. September 2009, 17:54

I decided not to get them because I'd asked several people (family and neighbors) their experiences and what kind they had, etc. Some had progressives and others had bi-focals. All the ones who had progressives didn't like them. I'm really glad I went with the single vision distance and finding the deal I did.

Ricardo # 3. September 2009, 18:40

Hello Pam, I'm so glad you can see better now. I don't use glasses but I have a problem in my eyes; I need to protect my eyes from the sun and almost any light. I use sunglasses all the time, even indoors, ha ha ha.

$400 for bi-focals is too much but I think my insurance will cover them... I don't know!!!

My favorite songs from the seventies are:
I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor
American Woman by The Guess Who

Suntana # 3. September 2009, 21:07

THAT's it, Pam! That's what I have ... Progressive Lens.
As to be hard to get used to? Well, there WAS definitely a period of adjustment. But, I don't know if that was an adjustment, which my eyes had to go through PERIOD regardless of whether I had gotten regular Bifocals with Lines or the Progressive Lenses that I got.

I do remember freaking out when I first got my glasses. I was inquiring of different people who wore glasses, "OMG! What's THIS? This Sucks! I have 3 distinct different levels of sight correction and every time I simply move my line of sight to something different, things are way out of focus and I'm all confused. I'm having to constantly be bobbing my head to find out which friggin' level on my Glasses I'm supposed to use! I'm ruined! Game Over! Life is gonna Suck!"

I kept getting assured by people that it was just a normal period of adjustment that everyone has to go through when going from never having worn glasses to suddenly wearing glasses. They assured me that the confused, out of focus nightmare in which I found myself, would eventually subside as my eyes would get used to the glasses. I didn't believe them. The experience just seemed to Fugged Up. But, they were right. My eyes did adjust. And now there is neither confusion nor Out of Focus Fest confusion. And yes, that's with Progressive Lenses. Frankly, I'd have to say I wouldn't have it any other way. I think the Lines in the Bifocals and sudden drastic change from one level to the other, would bug the Crap out of me. A simple little micro speck, droplette or smudge on my lenses bugs me. Consequently, big ole Bifocal lines on glasses would seem to me the size of yard lines on a Football Field.

PainterWoman # 3. September 2009, 22:10

Ricardo, I should probably be wearing sunglasses too being that Arizona is so sunny all the time.

I remember those songs too. They are good ones.

Carlos:

Originally posted by Suntana:

big ole Bifocal lines on glasses would seem to me the size of yard lines on a Football Field

I'm kinda the same way. I have what's called a 'floater' in my left eye...or is it the right...can't remember. It's like a speck of something stuck permanently in my eye. I only see it every once in a while and it'll slowly float across my vision. When the doctor took a picture of my eyes, that speck showed up and he pointed it out.

I don't think I would have liked the getting used to part of either the progressives OR the bi-focals. I'm pretty happy with my decision.

Linda # 3. September 2009, 22:19

It gets to be an automatic action and one sees without seeing the bifocal demarkation. I can't stand anything on my lenses, either, Chuck. I clean them a lot.

Suntana # 4. September 2009, 21:40

A Floater in your eye, Pam? Only one?
I have certainly more than one. Well, maybe there are different types of Floaters. I think the ones I have are NOT anything that can actually be caught in a Pic. I usually see them when I move my vision to either side and then return back to center. But, you know what? The funny thing is they seem to only be prominent when I THINK about them. Like when somebody brings up the subject about them.

I'm SERIOUS! I was doing fine until I read your mention of them in your comment. Then Ohhhhh! Suddenly there they were.

I remember the first time I ever went for an eye exam and the form I was filling out asked if I had Floaters. I knew I did. I was like, "Oh shit! I'm gonna have some serious problem." I was very relieved when I was told that only on very rare occasions was there a serious problem and I was OK.

I HATE that test where the Doc shines a Gazillion GigaWatt light deadsmack into your eye and you can't shut your eye. And they tell us we're NOT supposed to look at the Sun.

Uhh Hmm. Yeah Right. That light is brighter!

Linda # 4. September 2009, 21:44

I have several floaters, most in my right eye, that cannot be seen in tests, but I see the buggers. One looks exactly like a squashed mosquito. They bug me sometimes, but usually do not notice them. Guess I have just got used to looking through or around them!

slackwrdave # 13. September 2009, 15:20

When I was a child, I had a floater that looked like a giant prehistoric bird. I looked forward to it coming by.

As for glasses, the last time I went, they tried to sell me several profit-padding services that I had to repeatedly decline against their dire warnings. Then the optometrist failed to explain one of the tests to me and got angry at me for not doing it correctly. Then after about 10 months they start to ride my ass by mail and telephone to come in for new glasses or else I'll be ruining my eyes.

In spite of all the above, they are the only ones that make glasses so light and nice that I don't notice that I have them on, so I keep going back.