Off Balance

Three years ago, I paid several hundred dollars for high-tech eyeglasses - the most comfortable glasses I've ever worn. I have horrible vision, and really can't get along well without them. Along with the ultra-light polycarbonate lenses with their tri-focal progressive prescription, anti-glare coating and no-scratch finish came a lifetime guarantee that the lenses would be replaced for free if they ever did get scratched. Hey, leave it to me! I can do it!

I had an eye exam before Christmas, and the eye doctor said he would send my glasses in to have the lenses replaced, but I would have to get along with my old ones for a couple of weeks. I searched for them high and low, finally found them the other day, and turned my prized high-tech glasses over to my optometrist on Tuesday for repair......

Big mistake. My old clunkers are a different prescription with bi-focals instead of tri-focals. I cannot see my computer screen with these old glasses. I tried moving the monitor across to the other side of my desk. No good. So here I sit, with the monitor directly on top of my keyboard, wearing no glasses at all, and still struggling to see what I type. The old glasses are heavy and I end up with redness and pain across the bridge of my nose by the end of the day. I try to watch television and struggle to find just the right angle to tip my head so I can see the screen without too much bluriness. This leads to a crick in my neck, stiffness in my shoulders, and general crankiness on my part, all after 1 1/2 days. How will I survive 2 weeks?????????

So, here I sit, generally off balance with the world, and I fully expect to be walking crooked before I get my uber-glasses back. I will never take them for granted again. I love my high-tech miracle specs. "My precious..........."

Shown above from October 1963: A little black dress with matching coat by Italian designer Jole Veneziani. A wide band of black mink fur adorns the hem of the dress and peeks through slits in the coat. The model must have been asked to take off her glasses for the photo shoot.