I had the initial eye exam in June. I got my contact lenses at CostCo last month. I knew I had better get the prescription in for my bifocals so I could get used to them before October. I’ll probably wear those to the parks instead of the contacts, and if I do, I don’t want to be falling down steps or walking into people because I’m still getting used to the glasses.
I looked at some frames at CostCo and I gotta tell ya. I don’t like these little itty bitty glasses they have now. They do not look good on me. Of all of the frames they had available, I was most interested in the men’s styles. More like it.
Now, I’ve gotten my eyes checked four times in my life. The first time was in my mid twenties and I got regular glasses and sunglasses. I still have the glasses. Two pair. Sunglasses eventually died. Then I got contacts which I wore for a year or so. I also bought new sunglasses, but with no prescription in the lenses. I couldn’t find sunglasses of this quality on any rack. Those sunglasses eventually just wore out.
Then I had some sort of floatie thing in one of my eyes and I saw an opthamologist. Turned out to be nothing. But I also got a new prescription for glasses. I got a regular pair and a pair of Transistions. The new frames were getting smaller and lighter. I like the lightness, I did not like the smallness. I was surprised the Transistions didn’t get any darker. I was glad I still had my old prescription sunglasses, which still worked just fine. My eyesight hadn’t gotten worse.
Well, a decade plus later, my near sight is getting worse. I need reading glasses. I was tired of having two sets of glasses, but I could live with it. Brian’s vision has gotten worse and he’s wanted to get his eyes checked for a couple of years now. I blogged about all of that back in June.
So, I went to Wal-Mart yesterday, prescription in hand. I spent a half hour or so looking at what was available. I went to Wal-Mart because I knew they had a bigger selection of lenses than CostCo. I knew I’d want two pair. I knew I didn’t want itty-bitty glasses. I found one frame I thought looked nice on me, metal, lightweight. Not round, not rectangular, but a nice shape. I found another pair of dark metal frames that were rectangular. I figured this would do it.
I ended up not getting the rectangular pair since they didn’t look as good on me as the others. We found a frame similar to the first one I picked out, but darker. One set of the glasses will have Transistions, the other will be sunglasses. At home, I can wear the glasses that I’ve already got, I just wanted something practical for away from home.
She puts the frames on me, has me look at her finger, then she marks the lens. Because these lenses will be progressive bifocals, they have to mark how my eyes will be seeing out just right. She explained how they’re made and how I’d look through them. We picked out a darkness for the sunglasses and then we were done. I asked how much of a deposit they needed and she told me since they were custom items, they’d need to be paid in full.
So, she figured out the cost and told me. I hope I didn’t flinch. It was $585.00. *koff*
I put it on my credit card and called Brian from the parking lot. He said “hey, I thought they did the same type of thing Dr. Levanthal does, I thought you could get two pair for a hundred bucks!” I laughed at that. When we figure that it will probably be a long time before I need new ones, this really isn’t that bad. And like I told him “it’s like when you go to the dentist”. That dentist always finds something wrong that costs a bunch of toonas. You get your teeth cleaned, he pokes his head in, asks “how ya doin’ today?”, then charges you extra because you saw the dentist. And, gee whiz, what’s this, an old filling that really should be replaced…. cha-ching cha-ching cha-ching…
The glasses should be in by the twelfth of September. That will give me plenty of time to learn how to see out of them.
