In the continuing saga of "things at Cornerstones which are wearing out or falling to bits", the latest casualty - my glasses. Wearing them to read in bed, I fell asleep and bent them out of shape. Repeatedly! And on Sunday the 'arm' snapped off completely.
The guy at Vision Express could not have been more helpful. He said that for £25 the [rather expensive varifocal] lenses could be put into new frames. It should be less than a fortnight before I get them back. I'm very grateful for his help.
My older black framed glasses are OK for distance, so I can drive in them - but I really struggle to read. I splashed out a further £5 on a pair of cheap reading glasses with blue plastic frames. I can wear these in bed without worrying too much. And will go on doing so even after I get my others back. 
I started wearing glasses when I was 30, what about you?
I suffered from short sight at school, couldn't read the blackboard without my horrid NHS issue children's glasses. Now, though, 60 years on, I am long sighted, like my father was in old age, and need quite strong reading glasses, but can happily drive with no glasses. And now I qualify for free eye tests as an OAP....
ReplyDeleteThey have made great improvements to children's glasses now, and one hopes children are not bullied anymore and called four-eyes or other nasty names. And yes, free eye tests for OAPS are a blessing.
DeleteMy optometrist always insists that I need to equip myself properly so I have a special pair for my embroidery and another for reading in bed too. My eyesight is very poor and I’ve had spectacles since I was 5 years old.
ReplyDeleteMargaret from New Zealand
I'm usually ok with my varifocals for embroidery, but sit with my magnifying work lamp if it is very complex work (or unpicking machine stitching)
DeleteI only had to start wearing reading glasses aged 48 and I still don't have to wear glasses for driving or any long vision requirement. I count myself very lucky. My husband has had to wear glasses ever since he was a young child and sadly both our sons have inherited his poor eye sight. However they look very handsome in their glasses and treat them like fashion accessories. Regards Sue H
ReplyDeletePoor eyesight in both our families. But only one of our daughters needs specs
DeleteI qualify for a home visit! Hooray! Last time I went to s***s****rs some years ago the optician casually mentioned her husband had covid and was staying in the spare room... that really was the Last time I went there! Sitting in that stuffy unventilated room while she finished was not pleasant.
ReplyDeleteI knew I needed glasses when I started borrowing husband's half glasses for driving so I could read the dials on dashboard. And teaching to read my note and peer over them at the children.
So many people are so casual about COVID. I think it is just thoughtlessness, but it's not helpful for those with underlying health issues
DeleteI started wearing them for at 17 when I failed my first driving test! After cataract surgery I now have a cheap pair for driving even though I don’t legally need them as I felt insecure without them. Silly Inknow but the optician was very helpful. The also have a clip on frame with sunglasses. Catriona
ReplyDeleteSo glad you cataract surgery went well. But I guess after all these years you must feel "undressed" without them! 👀
DeleteI started with reading glasses c30 years old and the prescription stayed the same until I got Shingles in my left eye. Since then the prescription has climbed steadily. I used to have varifocals at work to move more easily between looking at the screen and looking at form/documents - allegedly. It was like being in a perpetual fog and I haven't bothered with them since I retired. Primark is a good place to find off-the-peg specs and I always keep a pair of theirs in my bag.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember when I went from one lens to varifocals. In my 50s I think. I have found them good, but I know others like you who find them impossible 😊👀
ReplyDeleteI was prescribed glasses when I was 10. I hated them horrible pink National Health glasses. I never wore them and struggled on without. I gave in as an adult and had my John Lennon round specs for years. Then contacts. Hitting 50 meant
ReplyDeleteI had. School friends who loathed their pink NHS specs. The John Lennon round ones wouldn't accommodate my lenses
ReplyDeleteMy first patient when I got my varifocals, was an optician, and she helped me to cope with them, and how to avoid tripping over things. I felt like a toy nodding dog in a car at first.
ReplyDeleteOut of focus price labels on supermarket bottom shelves are a real nuisance, a good way to hide the budget items.
I was advised to practise walking up and down stairs
DeleteI was thirty five and pregnant for the first time when I found I needed glasses. I remember asking the doctor if there could possibly be a connection! JanF
ReplyDeleteMost mothers do have to learn to "turn a blind eye" occasionally,!!👀
DeleteI was 3 when I got those horrible pink NHS specs and also had to wear a patch over my good eye to make my 'lazy' eye work. It didn't! I ended up long sighted and had ordinary lenses until the last 15 years and now have varifocal. My bad left eye has got worse and now I have macular degeneration (slight so far), so I'm being very good and wearing sunglasses when its bright or outside, gardening. Xx
ReplyDeleteMy friends child had a Lazy Eye patch. He used to pull it off and stick it in random places (under the loo seat, behind the door, onto the bedclothes...)
DeleteI got to my late 40's/early 50's before I needed spectacles for reading - quite amazing since I have always been a bookworm and enjoy detailed embroidery. My long sight is fine. My husband is the opposite. He needed his at 18 when his romantic girlfriend (me!) mentioned what a wonderful starry night it was and he couldn't see a single one. It rather killed the moment!
ReplyDeleteI have long since realised it is no good laying in bed saying "that's a huge spider on the ceiling" because my beloved can't see it unless it's the size of a kitten!
DeleteWell done in getting those thrifty reading glasses! Gotta love Steve with the two or more glasses perched on his head!
ReplyDeleteWe're in a frozen landscape after Storm Fern (silly name for a winter storm, IMHO!) and no warmth for thawing in the forecast. Sigh!
Hugs!
Keep warm, keep safe. We are ok, but mBy parts of UK are really suffering with the weather right now
DeleteI've been wearing glasses since I was in my late 50s I believe, and they are the hardest thing to keep clean! Mine are progressive as I didn't get on too well with bi-focals.
ReplyDeleteMine are always in need of a clean, even seconds after I just polished them
DeleteI've had it all since age 5. Astigmatism, eye patches, NHS pink circular frames (long before John Lennon made them popular), guinea pig for a trial of eye drops from Boots which replaced the wearing of glasses for a while but was stopped
ReplyDelete**pressed publish too quickly!
ReplyDelete...stopped when Boots couldn't obtain a patent for said eye drops. Then trialled first contact lenses made from hard plastic (gas permeables were a long way off) but by the time I got on the bus home, I had to get off 20minutes later and run to the nearest public loo (Jenners, Princes Street) to take them out because my eyes were almost closed shut and streaming!! Back to wearing spectacles then the suggestion of varifocals which I resisted but eventually gave in and have never looked back! Said varifocals at my excellent local independent optometrist coming in at £570 for lenses alone because I need maximum slimmed down lenses otherwise I'd be wearing beer bottle bottoms a la Olive from On the Buses! Last year, I bought prescrip sunglasses from Specsavers and received a 50% off voucher so used that to buy my newest varifocals which helped tremendously with the cost.I also have the start of cataracts but so far, so good. Here endeth my speccy four eyes story!
What a saga! I've always been wary of contacts. We had a teacher back in 1966 who used to sit at her desk in class and take them out when they were hurting. I found it quite gross and it put me off for life! Like you, its the lenses that are the expensive bit, so i usually have the cheapest frames
Delete