Random Stuff

I got my replacement glasses  Friday.  The store said the lens on the previous pair had been ground just a bit too small, so that is why the lens popped out.  Well, that explains whyI couldn't seem to tighten the frame screws.  They were already as tight as possible.  

And I was fussier than usual about how the new glasses fit.  It took them 4 tries to get the ear-piece to keep them snug but not too tight.  I ended up with the best fit I've ever had.  Two days later and I haven't had to push them back up on my nose a single time.

Renewed my small trailer registration online.  It wasn't completing correctly and sent me back a page several times.  I finally noticed a small print saying I hadn't checked a box about agreeing to "terms and conditions".  So I did and they sent me a temporary registration by email.

Speaking of the trailer, some jerk pushed the front off the support block last Winter.  The ground was muddy from heavy rain so the metal pipe that raises and lowers the front snk into the ground.  And then the soil froze!  I couldn't pull it out.

Now that the soil is thawed, I still can't.  But I have a scissor-jack.  I'll have to put a cinder block under the jack to lift the front of the trailer to pull the support post out of the soil.  And another to rest the freed support on.  Just a real pain.  I already have too many things I need to do.

I'm so far behind everything.  I haven't planted a single veggie or flower seed yet.  My basement gardening bench area is a complete mess!  I actually bought some heirloom tomato plants from Amazon.  And I think I will go to the local DIY stores to buy 6-packs of flowers in a few days.  This is not going to be my DIY growing season.

I had planned to build a new planting box around the mailbox (the old one finally rotted after 25 years) and fill it with better soil.  But my Stella D' Oro lilies have already emerged. So I can't cover them in deeper soil.  I can still build a box around them, but I'll have to wait til Winter to fill it with new rich soil.

The Washington Nationals baseball team bragged all Winter about the improvements they had made on the team.  But they are currently 1-6.  It doesn't seem like it will be even an average season.

My Ryobi self-propelled electric mower got recalled.  Something about a potential fire hazard in the battery connection.  They will send me a replacement.  But I have to cut out 6" of a wire cluster, take pictures of that and the serial number and model plate, email the pictures to them, and wait 6 weeks for delivery of the new one.

At least I just use it for trim work.  My main mower is a John Deere riding mower.  I love it, but there are places it can't get to.  I've gotten it stuck in a couple of places where I needed the car to pull it out.  And one place where I needed my 6' metal bar to wedge it backwards a foot at a time.  

The Mews are doing well.  Lori is calmer about Taz and Binq (shelter cats I adopted late 2023).  She still isn't perfect around them and resents their presence in her house, but "Bad" has become "OK".  I appreciate that.

Eyeglasses - Good News

 I brought the frame and newly-popped lenses to the For Eyes store yesterday and explained why to them.  I said the situation had gotten ridiculous and they probably owed me a replacement.  To my astonishment, both people at the order/repair desk immediately agreed.  No fuss, no debate, no fight...  😌

I asked if I needed to consider plastic frames, but they said no.  And one said they (the lens-makers) probably ground the lenses slightly too small, so they didn't entirely fill up the space.  I asked what made them think that.

Well, apparently it does happen often enough that they notice it.  And 2nd, the screws in the frame were still tight.  The lens shouldn't have been able to just pop out.  The replacement will be free.  The bad news is that it will take up to 2 weeks.  I'm glad I keep my old glasses!

But it means this problem may go away.  😄

Eyeglasses

The new glasses keep dropping a lens out.  I had to visit the store again Friday.  The other lens fell out the next day.  I'll visit again tomorrow.  But this is 5 times in 4 months.  I think it is time they simply replace them.  

I would accept plastic frames.  They aren't as adjustable over the ears, but the lenses stay in better as there is no screw to come loose.

I would use a toothpick to put a small dab of superglue in a couple of spots in the frame and on the frame screws.  But my fingers are too uncertain these days.  The store refuses to do that.

The store tried to suggest it is because my lenses are thick.  C'mon, my uncorrected vision is 20/40.  That's not exactly "coke bottle" lenses.  I can read the computer monitor even without them.  The newspaper is harder though.

One of the maddening parts about this is that I kept my glasses from 2014.  And it was nearly the same prescription.  I only got new ones because 2014 lenses had become abraded/cloudy due to a decade of going in and out of shirt pockets!  And I wanted some recommended features like U/V protections, anti-blue reduction, and scratch-resistance.  

ARGGGHHH!

Glasses Lens Loose Again

The right lens popped out again.  Fourth time in the four months since I bought them.  It's maddening.  There's no logic to it.  Last time, the technician said the frame screw wasn't loose, the lens just didn't fit the frames well.  This time a different technician said she added "screw-lock" to the screw hole.  Screw lock is tiny metal scrapings in oil that get crushed around a screw when it tightens to help hold it into place better.  Apologies if you knew that, but I never know who knows what.

I can't decide which to do if the lens comes out again.  I could fuss with the store about a free replacement (maybe in a plastic frame).  Or I could put on some latex gloves, grab a toothpick, and carefully superglue the damn lens in place!

My 2014 eyeglasses lens seldom fell out.  About once a year when the frame screw became loose.  And when one did, it was a simple matter to use my magnifying headstrap and jeweler's screwdriver to replace and retighten it.  

But I can't seem to tighten the screw on the new frame.  Even my magnifying headstrap isn't clear.  Maybe it is a hex-head or square-inset type.  I'll have to get out my jeweler's loupe to see it better.  Yeah, I have some weird stuff, LOL!

I'm glad my prescription hasn't changed much since 2014.  The old glasse are about the same as the new ones, but the old ones are a bit abrded from years of being kept in my shirt posket.  But I can still read a newspaper or the computer monitor with them.  They function when the lens of the new one pops out...

  

Lost My New Reading Glasses

 I have to keep my reading glasses in a shirt pocket.  And they are forever falling out onto the floor.  I have never found a holder that worked well.  Of the 2 I've tried, one was too large too large to fit in most shirt pockets and the other fits but is too hard to get out the glasses out easily (the ear-ends catch on the inside seams).

I need to keep them with all the time.  If they were just for reading the newspaper or extended computer time, I could just keep them somewhere convenient (like I do with my camera, keys and wallet).  But I need them briefly for a few seconds so often, I need them "at hand" all the time.  

I remember "old folks" with their glasses on lanyards that hung around their necks.  I used to laugh.  I don't anymore.  As odd as it seems, I had the hardest time finding the kind long enough to both hang around my neck and reach my shirt pocket.  

Found them today at Amazon.  It was really just a matter of figuring out the right keywords.  Ordered a pair today.  And even that wasn't easy!  Most seem to be made of braided leather.  Some buyers complained that they got too stiff after only a month.  Others complained about the type that attaches to the middle of the ear side frame (they annoy your ears).  And some were too short.

I finally found some made of silicon and vinyl, 27" long, attach to the ends of the ear-holder, and have a length adjustment.  Most came in packs of 6 (who needs 6?) but a found a 2-pack.  Not much cheaper than a 6-pack, but I hate waste.

So, why did I need them?  Well, as I said, they keep falling out of my shirt pocket, usually onto a hard floor.  I usually notice that, at least, and pick them back up.  But I can't find them now.  Which probably means they fell out outside while I was doing yardwork.  

Well, I had done a lot of brush trimming about the time I lost them.  So I spent an hour today raking up the trimmings and looking around each time. No luck!  Maybe they are in some corner of the basement or under some furniture I haven't checked yet.  Or some future archeologist may find them...

The problem is they were only a month old and cost $300!  I am using my old ones, but there was a reason I replaced them.  The prescription is about the same but they are scuffed from years of shirt pockets.  It is slightly like reading through plastic wrap.  

But they have been lost for a month.  Time to give up and buy a replacement pair.  At least the eyeglass place has the prescription and frame type, so can hopefully make a new set cheaper than the lost ones.

Someday, I may find them by stepping on them, mowing over them, or just (happily finding them) the way I sometimes come across pulled-off cat collars.  If after buying new ones and I find the lost ones, having 2 pairs would be convenient sometimes.

New Eyeglasses

 I finally got new eyeglasses Monday.  One for reading, one for driving.  I needed new reading glasses.  My previous ones were very abraded so I was using the 2014 ones.  My close-in vision hasn't changed much, but those were abraded too.  

I went to the optometrist only to pass the driver's license requirement (I passed) but I'm glad I had to.  The new reading glasses are better.  I mean, I could only read the 3rd line of a chart and with the new ones, I could read the smallest line.  

It's funny how you don't notice vision problems.  It is so gradual.  And the new ones fit better!  I guess your head changes slightly over time, too.

I'm not required to wear glasses driving.  But I put them on in the eyeglass store and looked at some distant store signs.  There was some slight improvement.  I can see clearly-enough 1/4 mile away but I can see better with them. So I will wear them when driving to unfamiliar places, in the rain, at night.  Anyplace where they seem to help.  

Maybe I should have chosen 2 different frames.  Even the person who fitted them to me got confused.  She put the "reading" glasses on me and my camo hat looked a bit fuzzy!  So I said there was something wrong with the prescription.  

Well, it was the identical frames that confused things.  When she checked some code on the frames (or maybe the holders) she came back and said "right glasses, wrong protective containers".  When she put the right reading glasses on me, my camo hat was "very defined".  I can't wait to read tomorrow's newspaper...

What they didn't have were soft shirt-pocket glass protectors.  The hard ones won't fit.  And abrasion is the curse of glasses for me.  They get in and out of my shirt-pocket too often.  5 minutes on the computer "in and out".  Check a recipe card "in and out".  Read a pill or food can label "in and out".  The reading glasses are probably "in and out" 50 times a day.  

I did go for the full "protection" options on the lenses.  Anti-scratch, anti-blue, anti U/V, etc, etc.  Well, why not?  I read an article in Consumer Reports magazine and couldn't find anything I thought was useless.

I do want to find polarized clip-on fold-down sunglasses for the driving glasses, though.  Something to search for tomorrow...

Added to edit:  Darn, placed an order with Amazon.  Ordered a non-abrasive shirt-pocket glasses-holder, rechargeable AA and AAA batteries (they do wear out eventually, and some of mine are very old), but forgot about the polarized flip-down sunglasses for the driving glasses!

Uh Oh! And More Saplings

 Felt a hair move on my wrist.  Black spot.  Then it jumped away.  Danm, a flea!  Not after me, but it means it is time to change the 8-month flea collars again.  I thought they were good for another month, but I suppose their effectiveness diminishes toward the end.  

Brought a trailerload of cut saplings to the Mulch Center, but there are many more to go.  I cut down a dozen but haven't dragged them to the trailer yet.  My neighbors are probably tired of seeing the trailer full of them.  So I'll leave them in the back yard until I have a full load.

Need to get the brush-mower fixed.  I left gas in it 2 years ago and I can't start it.  Thought I had drained the gas then but I didn't.  I tried to clean the gas lines, but gas engines aren't my best skill.  On a scale of 10; maybe a 2.

My eyeglasses went weird lately.  One lens keeps dropping out.  I keep screwing the tiny screw tight, but it won't stay tight.  I need to dab it with a toothpick drop of cement.  But to see it well enough enough I need the funny on-head magnifier and I can't seem to find it right now.   

And the frame suddenly didn't sit on my ears properly.  I had do to twist the nose rests, bend the ear holders, even twist the frame a bit.  Why it changed, I haven't a clue.  It's not like I sat on them or something.

Well, I need new ones anyway.  A weird thing (to me) is that my vision is actually getting more normal.  I've lived most of my life far-sighted.  Could see a hummingbird 150' away but couldn't focus on a book without reading glasses.  

Now I actually need less close up help.  I can still see the hummers but can't see the colors well enough to tell males from females.  A few more years and I will probably see the car dashboard better!  

Maybe I'll die with 20/20 vision, LOL!