...You can't see squat anymore without reading glasses.
Meet my good friend, my +3.25 magnification readers. They're my very, very best friend when I'm wire wrapping jewelry. These and my Opti-Visor combine for a pretty powerful magnification when wire wrapping! It also comes in handy when trying to get a splinter out of your finger or for seeing the flaws in those beads we all know and love.
I also have another pair of readers that are not as strong. They're maybe +1.5. I use them a lot too in combination with my visor so I can get up close and personal with the jewelry. If it wasn't for this, I wouldn't be making *anything* except a big mess! But thank goodness there are friends like this so I can see what the heck I'm doing.
I never wore glasses until college when I noticed I couldn't read the words on the blackboard very clearly or the signs above the interstate quite as well. And after I got them I never wore them for anything but driving for at least 15 years, not even reading. But then I had to start wearing them more and more often if I wanted to see far away clearly. Then I got pregnant and my eyesight really started to go. Coincidentally, I hit 40 at the same time, and we all know what they say about aging and the eyes: they are the first things to go. Well, I can attest to that fact!
An updated prescription of glasses and I could see the signs above the aisles in the grocery store! Wow! This seeing thing was really cool! Then I gave birth. The eyes deteriorated some more. Now I was wearing them a little bit more often. And then POW! I hit 45! And buddy, I can't see squat! Now it's bifocals, baby! (But bifocals aren't the best things to work on jewelry in.)
I now only wear my glasses/bifocals when I'm driving or watching a movie in the theater, or out somewhere that I really want to see clearly, like looking at the stars. At home, I don't wear my glasses at all except for my readers to make jewelry. Otherwise, I'm lens free. I just don't like my looks in glasses. (I sure look groovy in an Opti-Visor though!) And I can't get used to them. I tried contacts but my eyes were too sensitive for them, even the soft, flexible, wear them for three days and throw them away kind. So I just don't wear any until I have to.
The thing about readers is that the more I wear them, the more I need them. Sometimes I make jewelry for hours. When I do, I find that my eyes can't adjust back to normal viewing after being in them and the Opti-Visor. I think I'm killing my eyes even more so. I'm now in a quandary. What to do? Lasik? But as I understand it, you still need readers even with Lasik.
I miss being able to see well, like Kevin can. He can spot a fly on the wall at 50 paces! Once upon a time I could too. It feels like it was yesterday. And at the same time it feels like a lifetime ago. For now, it will be readers when I'm working and perhaps reading to Kevin, but for the most part I will remain lens free. I do ok without them. Can't read the road signs until I'm right up on them, but I can read a book and see the TV. It's not like I can't see. I just can't see as well anymore.
You know you're gettin' old when you can't see squat when it's right in front of you! Anyone else?
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
You Know You're Gettin' Old When....
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7 comments:
Hey Ginger, I hear you! I wore readers for jewelry making up until about 2 years ago. But they made me dizzy and nauseated (because I would make jewelry while watching TV - switching back and forth triggered dizziness). So I got my eyes checked and they prescribed bifocals. So I go from nothing to bifocals in a day. It was wierd. I would wear the glasses just for reading or close up stuff (computer, jewelry) but not for driving. I have gotten more dependent on them and rarely take them off. I agree, I think your eyes get lazy, but what to do? It's definitely important to see. My biggest problem is keeping track of the glasses (I try to keep them on top of my head when not wearing them) because my little terrierist, Gracie likes to eat them. I've been through 2 pair so far.
I am so overdue for an eye exam - but I have been wearing bottle thick glasses since 2nd grade.
I was sooooo pretty in 10th grade in my gigantic red Sally-Jesse glasses. Oh yes I was.
I don't think you need Lasik... it only corrects myopia and not presbyopia, which can happen to anyone due to aging of the eye. I'm certainly not looking forward to it but hopefully, as I've had Lasik done earlier this year, I'll only need reading glasses and not the troublesome (according to my mum) bifocals? I think you can become dependent on glasses though, definitely when you first take them off you feel more disoriented than say, when you wake up in the morning. As for doing close-up work, I guess that can't be helped. In Singapore we have a very high rate of early myopia because kids get more reading/homework, computer and TV usage these days, plus, in this highly urbanised place, there's hardly any wide open spaces to go out and play in. I hope Kevin's vision stays good! :)
just got my progressive lens a few months ago...much better...I so understand your pain!
My eyes are starting to turn on me too.
Just stopped in to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.
It started to happen as I approached my 40th birthday. I swear, getting reading glasses is like a rite of passage for the middle aged (well, maybe not *middle* aged -- 40's the new 30, right? Right????).
*sigh*
I was having a world of trouble trying to read the label on my daughter's mascara, last week. I needed to know if she wore the waterproof or not. She left her make-up here, when she was down for the holiday, and I needed to mail it up to her.. I checked to see if anything was breakable and found old mascara and empty foundation bottles. I can't ship that back! So I went to Walgreen's on my way to the post office.
AMAZING WHAT HAPPENS when you are reading labels and you remember your glasses are in the purse on your shoulder!
I should wear mine more. I don't mind the way I look in them. My problem is my OCD makes me think they need to be cleaned about 85,000 times a day. Its like trying to sew with a thimble on my finger!
And yes, 40 is the new 30!
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