Mr. Magoo

I wear glasses. Contacts, really, but I mean to say I've had to wear corrective lenses since second grade, which, frankly, is a major bummer. I was supposed to wear them all the time, but as a kid I hated them so much (still do, really) that I took them off every chance I got and only wore them to see the board at school or when Mom yelled at me to put 'em on. I even took them off for my 3rd grade picture, which earned me a huge lecture from my mom, but by God, I got that picture without glasses...and it's the last picture of me for my entire childhood without them. I was stuck with them until I turned 18. I told Mom I wanted contact lenses for graduation, and God bless her, that's what I got. :) I started wearing contacts and never, ever looked back.

Unfortunately, about a year ago, I tore my last pair of contact lenses, and since I really didn't have the disposable income a new eye exam and contacts would cost, I've been wearing my glasses...with a prescription dating back to April of 1998 that was never right to begin with. But they were enough to get by on, so I just kept procrastinating the eye exam. Until today. I had to go today, because yesterday my right eye threw in the towel and decided it was tired of struggling with an improper 8 year old prescription, and everything in that eye just blurred, forcing me to face the fact I really had to bite the bullet, spend the money, and go. So today, armed with a coupon for a complete pair of glasses (lenses and frames) for $99, I went.

And discovered that $99 coupons are a joke, as the glasses still cost me $210. Plus an $80 exam, which was cheap, but still. That's almost $300, and ever since I spent the money, I've been wondering what the hey is up with that extra $110, since I didn't get anything fancy, and I stayed within the frames cost the coupon allowed for. I asked the guy, but he just kept saying he'd given me the discount. I don't see how, but frankly, I don't feel good today and didn't feel like arguing. The part of me that is saving for France and doesn't actually have $300 to spend is completely freaking out, though.

Big time.

I also discovered the reason I couldn't see any longer is because my old contacts were for -5 and -5.25. The new ones?

-6

Yow.

I'm *still* trying to adjust to the new lenses, and I can't see a damn thing up close to save my life. Reading is totally out of the picture. It took several hours just to be able to focus on my computer screen, and I have to be sitting about 3' away from it to do so, even now. Everything far away looks awesome, though. I hadn't realized how bad my sight had gotten with those crummy glasses in the last year. So it's nice to be able to see the leaves on trees and read street signs. But that $300 still hurts.

Jenie