I am Now Officially OLD

I want to read the notes on my Google Phone, or the mintage on a coin, even the ingredients on the bottle of juice. But in order to do that, I need to remove my glasses. What a pain. There were times when I was building the deck that I cut and drilled without glasses because it was the only way I could see what I was doing. Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!!

The eye doctor's perfectly typed, high-contrast note cards under optimum lighting conditions are barely readable. And he says I am borderline for needing bifocals, but I know better. There is no escaping it any more. I need bifocals. I am now officially OLD.

[BTW: This was the same guy who, when I showed him my Pinguecula on my iris due to extended contact wearing, his response was to not worry about it because it was not yet affecting my vision. Wait...what?!? Wait until my eyes are screwed before doing something about it?! I threw away my contacts that evening. Thank you very much.]

So after our exams, we trotted down to the eye glass shop, prescriptions and insurance in hand...only to encounter maximum sticker shock. Two years ago, with insurance, we both bought premium anti-scratch , anti-glare glasses (hers were progressive bifocals) for $350 total. This year, just her glasses alone were $400. Well, that sucked. So we packed out bags and when to China (we weren't overreacting, we were going anyway).

My wife's brother-in-law took us to a shop they use all the time with a great reputation. The optometrist looked at our prescriptions and sets them aside. Instead, he sat us in front of a machine that we look into, one eye at a time, at a scene of a house on a hill. Its a lot like the ones used here for talking pictures of your retina. The machine hums and clicks as the picture goes in and our of focus. Then it spits out your prescription. None of this flipping of lenses in front of your face and endless "Which is better, A or B? Now, 1 or 2?". Ugh.

He opens his box of lenses and loads up a test set of glasses with your prescription and lets you test it out - near and far. Wow! I could count the zits on a teenager's face a block away! And the near vision prescription allowed me to see better than without glasses. I was impressed, as was my wife.

We went a bit overboard, but it was worth it. We both got progressive bifocals in ultralight, no-scratch, anti-glare lenses and then we both bought regular far-vision prescription sunglasses. The total price was not as low as I was expecting: ¥3000 (about $440). But still, four for the price of one in the US and without insurance. Hard to complain.

A week later they were done and ready. It took me a couple of days to adjust to bifocals, the ground looked farther away that it actually was, so I was walking drunk for a couple of days. But other than that, it was perfect from day one. My wife had issues, though. Near-vision was fine, as was medium distances. But far-away objects were giving her double vision. We went back a few days later and had him look things over. He retested her and he checked her old glasses. The new prescription was a bit too strong and her eyes were unable to adjust. So he backed down the strength and sent them back to be remade - no extra charge. A few days later, her sunglasses where done and no more double-vision. The bifocals took longer and would not be ready before we left, so our son will bring them back with him when he returns later this month.

Mr. Mouse is standing in for the fourth pair our son will bring back with him.

All in all, we have no reason to buy eye glasses in the US again. Our insurance coverage is terrible. We have also noticed that the prices in those shops that take our insurance is proportionally higher to the amount covered as those places that don't take it. So its the same as not having any insurance at all.

And to end this post, as further proof of my aged-ness, there was an AARP application waiting for me in the mail upon our return to the US...