I figured since I broke my glasses (ok, technically, since NICK broke my glasses, the dirty bastard) I may as well get my eyes checked before I replace them.
Good news: I have healthy eyeballs. Sure, they can’t see shit, but more importantly, they can’t see shit any worse or better than they could a few years ago. Bonus. I continue to have one eye that is almost twice as bad as the other eye. But it seems that my bad eye has ceased improving, and my good eye has ceased deteriorating. For now. Give me another 15 years, and I’ll probably need bifocals. Yay me.
I’m tempted to pick up some cheap one-day-use contacts for the occasional party night. It’s been ten years since I last wore contacts, I’m told there have been a lot of advancements. The Marmot claims it’s like a nice soft water blanket for my eye. Uh.. right then. (For the record, I stopped wearing contacts when I was 17 after I scratched my cornea and it hurt like hell to wear contacts. I was told to stop wearing them for 6 months. I went a year and a half, tried them again, and they still hurt like hell, so I never bothered again. And, aside from the occasional mask or fake eyelashes that I’d like to wear, it hasn’t bothered me much.
On the other hand, it would be nice to be able to wear a mask or fake eyelashes (without the eyelashes driving me nuts by brushing against my glasses) once in a while. Or to be able to see when I leap to my death off large cliffs.
You get the idea.
So I’m thinking of picking up a cheap set of dailies from Clearly Contacts, since I see their ads on the bus all the time and anyone who spends zillions of dollars to advertise on transit can’t be bad, right? Right? hello? Anybody?
Anyway, figuring that my two-year-old frames would be out of style and therefore not made anymore, I dragged Nick to my discount glasses shop (that’s On Time Optical, at Broadway & Willow for those playing at home — $70 for a pair of cheap glasses, including lenses. $100 for the same thing with a sunglass tint. Score.) I brought him along as I have the fashion sense of a muskrat and figured it’d be good to have a second opinion.
To my surprise, I saw what looked like my exact glasses on the shelf. Gee, I’ll take those. No new lenses required, they just popped my old lenses into the new frames, and voila. I have brand new-ish glasses. Better yet, they even fit better — these ones are a bit tighter around the ears than my old ones. And for only $30. Well, a wasted trip for Nick, but infinitely cheaper than I was expecting. And y’know, after Christmas, that’s a good thing. Especially while I’m trying to cut down this stupid debt of mine.
So I can see. And if I hadn’t told you all, NOBODY WOULD KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.
This is why I have a blog. Because you’d feel cheated if you thought they were the same glasses, right?
In other news, Nick’s computer seems to have died. This isn’t good. He’s become a bit of a grumbly bear since then, so I’m thinking I’ll just try to avoid aggravating him. Like, say, not referring to him as a grumbly bear. (I can do it here because his computer is broken, so how’s he going to read it?)
Ooh. Wait, there’s a flaw to my plan. He has an iPhone. I’m boned.
So, is Nick the type to fix his own system (depending on what has died)?
oh, of course. I’m assuming he’s either doing that now, or still sleeping. Either way, I’m conveniently at work, away from the grumbly bear. :D
Contacts are better than they were a decade ago, it’s true. So much more comfortable.
I recommend going to your optometrist and asking for a trial pair rather than order them online.
I bought glasses at On Time for years and years. Excellent prices, excellent services and they have the one-hour service if you really need it.
I wore contacts for years and years as well and they’ve come a long way, baby. Try going to your optometrist and see if they’ll give you some samples – they often do.
(Past tense because I had laser surgery – best money I ever spent)
I’ve been buying contacts from Clearly Contacts for a few years and am happy with their service. However, you’ll need a different script for them (I think they measure your eyeballs to see how googly-round they are, or something). I also second Rog’s recommendation of asking your optometrist for some trials – preferably a variety so you can see which contact brand is best for you. Last time I mentioned to my optometrist I needed new contacts, he gave me samples of four different kinds, and some definitely were better than others in terms of fit and snuggly eye-blanket comfort.
I love my glasses (hey, they’re similar to your style so they have to be way cool, right?) but I also like to wear masks/fake eyelashes/snorkel/have sex and still be able to see.
I go to the optometrist and, though it costs $75 for the exam, they give me a week of trial contacts for free. I do this once every year or two and I’m golden. I’ve done it for about five years now and no one has bitched at me yet.
I have tried the dailies…and I find them incredibly comfortable, in fact, after the initial adjustment period of about 15 mins, I’m completely unaware that I’m wearing them…except that I can see! But they are so frickin’ hard to GET OUT.
I prefer the weeklies because they are just as comfy, come out more easily, I can wear them several times and the box lasts over a year.