Tuesday, July 14, 2009

These eyes

It's been a couple of busy post concert days where the overwhelming majority are still buzzing about the event and thinking of the next one. The weather has been nice for those who are on vacation or better yet...retired. Makes it tough to focus if you look out the window. Plans to take in a BBQ on Sunday which usually brings the showers but times with good friends make the precipitation a minor inconvenience.

Today the optometrist was back in the office so I arranged for a recheck visit and he grudgingly admitted that my glasses were not the correct prescription. This was after I plainly spelled out that the opthamologist (who trumps him) had clearly said the prescription was wrong. But he did this by telling me that my eyes had changed and asking if I'd had my blood sugar checked lately? The gloves were off then as I questioned why hyperglycemia would affect basically the vision in one eye and furthermore the opthamologist had checked my eyes out completely - retinas and all - just last week and pronounced them fine and the bifocals the problem! Not to mention the fact that I had never been able to see with the glasses since I got them and it was a good thing I didn't have two floors in my house or I might have broken something. To this he responds that sometimes it takes a while to get used to bifocals. So I remind him that it's been over six months, that I can't see properly and feel like I'm legally blind in all directions, my eyes pull, my head aches and I want to take them off all the time. He checks the glasses to make sure they are the proper Rx and then reluctantly pulls out the prescription pad.

The real problems start when I disclose that I took my prescription to a dispensary. "Oh, if we'd filled them here we'd replace the lenses, I'm not sure what they'll do". So the options are pay more to have them filled here in case you make a mistake and you'll replace them? I think to myself as I reach for the prescription. When I call the eye glass store she asks if I had the eye exam there and then "we usually replace them in a shorter time" so I explain that I had to wait until now to have the two extra appointments to see that I don't have eye problems but spectacle issues. I ask about the cost of the lenses and am told "about $240" So this is what I'll be out of pocket if the manager doesn't feel sorry for me tomorrow when I call. There are obvious reasons why he may not feel the need to replace lenses he filled correctly which were incorrectly prescribed. The facts are that I need to have glasses that I can see with and if I have to pay I will but I'll ensure that I broadcast where I had my incorrect eye exam!

Had an email from a Boston cousin saying my aunt had passed away in her sleep, which is something we could all hope for but this was Dad's last sibling so always sad when it's the end of the line. I hadn't seen her for some time but she was a character and I remember her fondly from childhood visits here and Stateside. My Mom told a story where she was trying to decide if George was 'the one' and sent him out to walk the dog (female dog in heat in East Boston) and poor George was forced in the end to pick the dog up and make a run for it - good thing he was a fireman and in great shape! She had found that part especially funny but also decided he was a keeper and he certainly was for about 60 years.

Off to make some progress on one of the library books.