Glasses ?

[Sleeping Menace]

..needing to get glasses, putting it off for no legitimate reason. I'm just not happy accepting that I'm at the age where I begin attending to my inevitable deterioration..
However, as much as I put it off, I know I'll be joining the ranks of glasses/contacts wearers quite soon.

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http://anotherdooratthe.endoftheinternet.org

Cycle related blog entries, including a few 5 minute reviews:
http://anotherdooratthe.endoftheinternet.org/category/cycling/

 

[redjedi]

I've had to wear glasses since I was 12 and probably should have been earlier.

At least you've missed the cruel teasing you'd get from school children.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Been wearing glasses for reading for a long time, since my mid forties. Had to get them when I found that my arms were getting too short, I couldn't hold stuff far enough away to read it.

 

[BikeCurious]

Isn't £350 a bit steep for a pair of ladders you barely need? Mine cost £70 for 2 pairs and I wear them all the time.

 

[asterix]

This year I bought some reading glasses as I can't read in dull light easily, sunlight no problem. £3: it's like using a magnifying glass! Everything far away is blurred and when I take 'em off I can feel a bit dizzy. I'm fine with long distance.

 

[guitarpete247]

I've been wearing them for distance since 28. I only need them for distance and have to take them off to read. They are often found in strange places around the house. I have to work out what I was trying to read when I took them off.

As a teacher I end up leaving them all over the room and have to spend time wandering round checking desks for my specs. When doing the register I have to hear the kids answer to mark them present as from the front I struggle to recognise them. Kids today don't see the need to answer and can't understand my problem.

I sometimes ponder the idea of laser surgery but too frightened of it going wrong or needing to be done again. I've not had to change my prescription for 6 years now so they have probably settled down now.

 

[tyred]

Glasses used to be made of glass. But nowadays they are made of plastic with an optional hard coat.
Even with the hardcoat the lenses will scratch more readily than glass. But plastic does not shatter into
nasty splinters like glass. Airbags in cars and glass spx are to be avoided!

Some tips for cleaning plastic lenses... don't use any paper based tissue - it scratches over time - very
abrasive to the plastic. Best to use pure cotton cloth or alternately microfibre. Wash with ordinary clean
water and a little liquid soap first. Also watch hairspray if its been sprayed in the room as it reacts with
the coatings and quickly ruins the lens.

All good information gained from time spent working as a dispenser in an opticians!

Gordon

Ta for that. It probably explains why mine keep getting scratched even though I thought I was taking good care of them.


I've had then since about 7. Horrible for schoolchildren as you have to listen all sorts of "jokes." Think how much the OP has saved by only needing them in his 50s!

I would struggle just to walk around without bumping into things without mine. Wonderful things really but damned expensive (I pay extra for an anti-glare coating which is supposed to make night time driving easier on the eyes, I have terrible problems with being dazzled) and a nightmare on the bike, in the dark, in the rain.

 

[fimm]

I got my first pair of glasses when I was 3!! I win! ;-)

I've had contact lenses for over 20 years. I'm now in my late 30s and wondering what will happen when age gets to my eyes. Hopefully it won't be for a few years yet.

 

[gbb]

Isn't £350 a bit steep for a pair of ladders you barely need? Mine cost £70 for 2 pairs and I wear them all the time.

Yes it is
I've always been particular about sunglasses..i prefer the sports style. Just couldn't find glasses frames i felt happy with (probably being too self conscious).
Settled for a pair of Oakley frames and a pair of more standard frames for driving.
Gotta say, driving's a revelation with them. You put up with less than perfect vision for so long, then realise how clear everything is with them. Driving at night's a pleasure now.
Right now, driving and maybe watching some TV is the only time i'm wearing them, visions acceptable for the rest of the time.

 

[gbb]

As a side note, it's worth remembering how important your eyes are.
If you do get an eye test, its worth having the photograph image of the back of your eyes, it gives the optician a reference point for future inspections.
Important because they can look for Glaucoma and particually of interest for me..Macular Degeneration. My nan went blind in her old age, then my dad lost his sight to MD 20 years ago. So sad to see an independant, proud, outdoor loving man become virtually housebound because of it.
It was nice to get the all clear for me...no signs of anything impending. Its a scary thing to see two generations before you go blind.

 

[krushavik]

I'm at the point where I need glasses to ride my bike. I came to the conclusion when I had to keep stopping to read the road signs in the country lanes. Trying to get a decent pair of sports glasses is nigh on impossible. The only good pair is aset of Oakleys priced about £300. I got a pair from Tesco £35 but they keep steaming up. I hate getting old.

 

[phantasmagoriana]

I've worn glasses for a few years and just got contact lenses. It's great to be able to cycle in the rain and see where I'm going!

 

[Night Train]

I've had glasses since I was 7.

At school I was told off often and the head called my folks in because I was 'lazy and refused to do the work set out on the board'.
It transpired that I wasn't lazy, I knew more about the subjects then the teacher was teaching and I was blind as a bat and so didn't even see the board never mind the work set out on it.

So began a life long relationship with glasses.

From 7 to 12 the opticians feared that at the rate of change of vision I would be completely bind by the time I reached adulthood.
Fortunately my eyesight stabilised during my teenage years and I have had minimal change now over the last 10 years (now mid forties).

The biggest problem with glasses has been wet weather, sun glasses and eye protection.
However, cost is also an issue.

My lenses are very thick at the edges and so I have to use small fashionable frames that cost more. Also to make the lenses thin enough even for the small frames I have to have high refractive index plastic lenses that also cost more. Then because I work in abrasive conditions and with machines I also need the scratch protection and reduced reflectivity.
All that before I even get to think about photochomic for summer use.

I can't even take advantage of the 2 for 1 deals as the main pair is as above requirements and very costly but the second pair, though 'free' still has to have the additional costs for the plastic lenses and coatings but those don't fit in the 'free' frames and so I would have to pay a premium for the frames I can use. That makes the 2 for 1 deal a 2 for 2 price!

I am on the same lenses for the last 6 years and the same frame for the last 12 years. I desperately need a new pair before the frame breaks. My previous frames were also well used and repaired many times over with soldered joints reinforced with copper wire.

I do have contacts but I save them for stage use.

 

[Over The Hill]

Somehow I am both long sighted and short sighted.

Long Sighted all my life and now the short sighted has come along at 51. Not bad as i spent 20 years working repairing jewellery and then 11 years peering at legal documents plus lots of computer screens just for good measure.

 

[darth vadar]

I went to the opticians last year thinking I was a bit short sighted.

The optician took me outside and pointed at the sky. "Whats that"? he said.

I said "Its the sun"

"Well how far do you want to see" ? said the optician.