New Old Glasses

[rowyn]

I last bought glasses in 2000. At the time, I got a new anti-reflective coating on them, which was really cool for around eight months, and then started to go downhill from there. The coating was very scratch-prone, and didn't protect the lenses well, either. At the beginning of 2003, I put money into my medical savings account to replace them, because they were pretty scratched up. And then never got around to doing so.

Last weekend, Lut was complaining about his glasses, too. At this point, I'd been half-tempted to limp along with my current pair until 2005, then put more money into my MSA for Lasik and get the whole business behind me permanently. (Or at least until my eyes start to degrade again as I get older). But I decided another five months was too long to suffer with these things

So last night we trundled off to the same glasses shop we hit in 2000. I got an eye exam (they haven't changed much, if at all) and the medical diagnostic tests for glaucoma and whatnot (whee, air puffs in the eyeballs. Nothing wrong there, either, assuming you don't count having a field of vision that only focuses within 3 inches of my face).

And then went to look at new frames. "What kind do you want?" one of the attendants asked.

I took mine off. "I want these. But I'm betting I can't have them."

"Can you live without them for seven days?" a man behind the counter said. He'd seen my prescription. This was a rhetorical question.

I wandered the racks of frames, looking at men's, women's, and kids' alike. My current pair of frames had been a children's pair, but the lens size on glasses has plummeted in the last few years. And long, narrow lenses are in. Very in. Very, very in. I hate shopping for new frames. It's like having to buy a whole new face when you've just gotten used to your current one.

I dug through the samples and came back to Lut. "What do you think of these?"

"Ooo, granny glasses."

"These?"

"Ah, the modern granny glasses."

"This one?"

"The librarian look."

I went back to the counter and put my old glasses on the counter. "How much would it be to put new lenses in these?"

I had my old pair of glasses at home. (They're what I'm wearing in this user icon; fairly similar to my current glasses, but with larger lenses and plastic earpieces.) The prescription isn't quite the same, and I may come to regret my vanity; it's hard to focus on text on the screen with them. But my old glasses (which had also been worn continuously for at least three years) are much less scratched up than the ones I just turned over to the shop. The slight distortion effects at the periphery of my vision I've gotten used to, but apart from the focusing-on-text issue (maybe I'll just change the resolution on my monitor) it's actually better. Everything else looks cleaner and crisper now.

They offered me the anti-reflective coating again.

I declined.

Comments

Anti-reflective coating

[howardtayler.livejournal.com]

The anti-reflective coating has a cool feature -- it's hydrophobic. It repels water. I NEVER (never never never never never) wipe my glasses with anything. I wash them with soap and water, and then rinse them, and the water runs right off. It's a little tedious at times (for instance: running to the restroom before a movie in order to wash my glasses), but I've had the same scratch-free, anti-reflective-coating lenses for four years now.

--Howard

Surgery

[garyamort.livejournal.com]

I want laser eye surgery. I want to wake up in the morning and not fumble for my glasses. I want to go swimming and be able to see underwater. I want...

Too bad it is too expensive and the potential side affects(which affect almost no one, but I'm too afraid to risk it) put me off.

Why are all the nice frames for people who don't need heavy duty prescriptions?

Re: Surgery

[rowyn]

The side effects worry me a bit, too, but it's gotten awfully safe over the years, and the most common side effect (dry eyes) isn't serious. I figure I risk various bad things just by living, so it's probably worth a try. I'll look into it more closely at the end of the year and make sure it's what I want.

And I couldn't find ANY nice frames, period. The ultra-thin (ultra-expensive) lenses are lightweight enough that they go in pretty much any frame, and most of the frames were very small anyway. But that long narrow shape is just not flattering to me, and practically everything they had was like that. Bleah.

Weird

[rowyn]

I wonder if it's a different coating with the same name? Water droplets would streak on my glasses, if I didn't wipe them off. I mostly used the microfiber cloth & solution the glasses shop handed out to clean them. For all I know, THAT'S what caused them to scratch, though that seems counter-intuitive. ;)

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

You'll like the results of Lasik if you're anything like me. It's nice not having to be blind whenever it rains.

Re: Weird

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

Heh. Makes me think of the glass coatings my dad just about swears by. He has one type of coating that he puts on the inside of a windshield, and another on the outside: one is to make water roll off the surface (on the outside), and the other is to keep glass from fogging (on the inside). Works pretty well ... except when the windshield fogs on the outside. I wonder if he uses any of that Rain-Shield or such on his glasses at all? Wouldn't be surprised. =)

Re: Weird

[jamesb]

You're talking about Rain-X ... Yellow bottle with a water beading compound for the outside and black bottle with an anti-fog compound for the inside. I wouldn't use them on glasses or any fine optical equipment.

I have a friend in the bay area that makes a specialty optical cleaner that's so good on anti-reflective coatings that one of the major US photographic optics suppliers sells it under their own brand name for use on very high end camera lenses and filters. It's the only stuff that NASA uses on astronaut helmets and is currently under test at Boeing for use on the view ports on the International Space Station.

Re: Surgery

[garyamort.livejournal.com]

the most common side effect (dry eyes) isn't serious

Oddly enough, this is the side effect that worries me.

Dry eyes did not sound too serious when I first heard it. But then I think back and I have had, once or twice, eyes so painfully dry I just couldn't stand to focus on the monitor. And considering that is what I do all day, for me that would be serious.

And the people who get it get a range of it. Some it is a minor inconvenience, some it is a major problem.

I'm just paranoid that I'll be on the major problem end of it.

I figure I'll give contacts a try again, now they have an extended wear disposable that you can sleep in and toss at the end of the week. Cleaning them was such a pain, so I want disposable. But daily wears defeats the whole point that I want to not fumble around when I wake up in the morning.

If contacts don't make me happy, than maybe I can save up the money for laser surgery in a few years.

Re: Surgery

[sandratayler.livejournal.com]

Supposedly 80's styles are coming back in, which will eventually mean that glasses return to being round. Unfortunately it didn't happen in time for this pair and hopefully you'll have marvelous Lasik and never need to worry about it again.

[minor-architect.livejournal.com]

It's funny you should mention glasses-shopping because I just did that last week! (I won't get them until next week, however; my right lens wasn't in stock at the time.) I feel your pain on the current, popular style of frames - long, thin, and angular. It doesn't suit me, either, any more than the "rimless" style does. I ended up going with a somewhat classic-looking hybrid: light bronze rims only on the upper part of the frame, rounded instead of angular. And with my AAA discount, (can you believe that a large eyeglasses retailer would accept AAA??) the price tag was only $66 more than what I paid for my last pair of frames...as opposed to $182 more. Good thing they asked if I was a member!

I got the anti-reflective coating on this pair of glasses, since they are somewhat "rimless," but now I'm hoping that wasn't the wrong thing to do! Ah well. I guess only time will tell.

[lady-anne.livejournal.com]

Good Morning, my friend.

I had RK almost 7 years - Level_Head had Lasik around the same time.

I've been very satisfied with my experience. I had both eyes done at the same time, deliberately opting for monocular vision (one eye for sharp close vision, the other for distance).

If anyone's interested I'll talk more about it in my own journal.

Here's to looking good and good looking - The Lady, Anne

[kelloggs2066.livejournal.com]

Ha! I was going to mention that Level Head had it done.

It's my understanding that many or most of the problems experienced with the early uses of it have been fixed.

It's my further understanding that some people have emerged from laser surgery with *Better* than 20/20 vision. And THAT'S for ME! :)

On the other hand, I have to say, I should say that the Librarian Look works for some people. And if anyone can make it work, it would be Lady Rowyn. :)

New eyes

[openheartsoftly.livejournal.com]

I don't wear glasses --- yet.

I do wear sun glasses - the cheapest pairs I can find.

Usually that means WalMart.

A few summers ago I had a pair with Tigger on one eye.

Yippeee!

A few weeks ago a pair that had lasted two summers finally died off and I went right back to WalMart and for 3 dollars I got a new pair.

I didn't even look at myself in them - I don't much care how I look in them.

I much care that I'm not blinded by the sun.

They were three dollars - can't argue three dollars.

Yippeee!

I've a friend or two who have switched to contacts and one that did that surgery thing.

All are satisfied with their "new eyes."

Hope your new eyes turn out just the way you want them.

Have the best

[zaimoni.livejournal.com]

That's one solution for presbyopia :)

I haven't made up my mind about how to handle that yet. (It's the one thing about aging that looks like non-professional intervention can't handle...there's probably a good reason why the lens doesn't want to shut down growing.)

What I'm not doing are:
* Contacts. [I had enough problems giving myself allergy shots. Contacts...*cringe*]
* Varilux (or similar infinitely-adjustable focals). I got bad technical reviews from both of my parents. The no-lines is worth it for both of them, but I don't have the circumstances to justify it.

Re: Weird

[howardtayler.livejournal.com]

anytime you WIPE you run the risk of scratching.

When I wash my glasses I run them under a non-turbulent (non-aerated) steam, and that stream does not deposit droplets. If I go out in the rain, I'll still end up with water streaks unless I blow the water off my glasses before it can dry.

--Howard

Nice frames exist -- they are just pricey

[telnar.livejournal.com]

Rimless frames, for example, are available for 5 diopter perscriptions (and perhaps higher) and look fine if you like the long and narrow style. They aren't cheap (I've heard quotes from $200 to $500), but they wouldn't be cheap in a weaker prescription either.

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

It's so hard to find nice frames! I'm not fond of my current set of frames, but they are bendy, meaning they'll flex if you twist them around a bit instead of snapping like the last set I had. I had to replace them after a car accident. Ouch.

Re: Surgery

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

Hey, I don't think I saw this photo before. Is this a new one, or an earlier one?

Re: Surgery

[rowyn]

I decided I didn't like the one I'd been using for the last couple of weeks (when I announced the new icon) and got rid ot it. So I uploaded four new icons, including a new default one, a couple of days ago. The new default one is a very recent picture -- it's one of the ones Lut took of me two weeks ago, when I was getting a photo to use for my passport. :)

Re: Nice frames exist -- they are just pricey

[rowyn]

if you like the long and narrow style

That's the thing: I don't. Can't speak for Gary. :) Reflecting back, there were a couple of kiosks of frames that I didn't poke through, so maybe they had something like mine hidden away somewhere.

But the frames I had were cheap when I got them four years ago. It's not that they were an expensive model; they'r just not "in style" any more.

Re: Weird

[rowyn]

Ah. It's possible I just didn't notice the effect, then.

In any case, I have owned many pairs of glasses, wiped all of them, and never had the problem with scratching that those lenses did. So while they may be great if you never touch them with anything but water, something about them or the cloth) made them more susceptible to scratching.

Would've been a good touch on the part of the salespeople to say something about that, too. As opposed to handing me a microfiber cloth to clean it. Not bright from a future-sales perspective :)

[narile.livejournal.com]

Yeah, finding nice frames is a major pain. And thin glasses don't work for me, I have enough of a pain dealing with the blind spot around my lenses as it is.

As for Lasic, well....I'm waiting for when they can just replace the eye with a vat grown one. :)

[level-head.livejournal.com]

You'll ... look interesting for a few months. ];-)

===|==============/ Level Head

[krud42.livejournal.com]

They didn't go downhill until eight months later? You're lucky. My anti-glare, "scratch-resistant" glasses went downhill eight hours later.

There's some minimal scratching on mine, but mostly I get fingerprints and other debris on them (in fact, I wrote about this not long after I'd gotten my new ones.) The anti-glare was very cool the last time I flew in a plane, though. I could see through clouds and haze and stuff!

I don't understand the tiny-glasses trend. I mean, in order to maximize your "clear viewing area", you have to have your glasses smashed up close against your face. I bought some of the hugest frames they had in the store, and they're still smaller than what I previously owned. And those were considered really small when I'd gotten them (in the early 90's).

Re: Surgery

[krud42.livejournal.com]

How long has livejournal had this new-fangled note-leaving system? (Probably shows just how long I've been AWOL, huh?)

Anyway, my biggest fear of the surgery is the highly unlikely possibility that the doctor screws up so badly, that I see worse than before, or go blind or something.

This is also why I can't wear contacts; I don't trust myself to put anything in my eyes. (Also they didn't have contacts for my type of vision problems until recently.)

The risks of wiping

[krud42.livejournal.com]

That must be why bidets are so popular...

Engineering Commentary on Glasses

[telnar.livejournal.com]

One thing that I like about the new smaller lens style is that the change in materials and size means that they are getting a lot lighter. I weighed my last 3 pairs of glasses and in chronological order, they weighed: 1 3/8 oz, 5/8 oz, and 1/4 oz. Style considerations aside, that weight difference is large enough to make a real difference in how they feel.