Zenni Optical-first time bifocals Help!

Welcome to the threshold of seniority, Gunner!

If the tops really work well at infinity and the bottoms work really well at whatever distances you read and do close work, then the glasses are right.

One solution is trifocals for midrange. I've never tried those, but I'm quite sure I wouldn't like 'em.

Another solution is variable gradient -- no line. I have tried those and hated 'em. The region where anything is in focus (other than infinity) is small, so reading is like watching a tennis match and working under a car where mobility is misery.

You can ask your optometrist for a mid-range Rx, and have some cheap readers made to that Rx to use when working at a 'puter. I did that and I like those a lot.

I had my current bifocals made so the comfortable close range starts at about 12". That's not usual, but it's what works fer me. A good optetrist can make the Rx match whatever ranges you want (within limits of your vision capabilities) if you tell her what you want. They're then good for both reading and for use at a 'puter monitor, so I don't need the 'puter specs anymore. I use flip-up Optivisor, 3 diopter, for close work. They're on my head almost all the time in the shop.

I have 2 diopter flat plastic fresnel lenses in my welding helmet. They're cheap, less than 5 bux at a welding store. Huge help with TIG and MIG.

There's a little pinhole aperture gizmo with a suction cup that sticks on to my glasses. That helps a LOT with handgun and targets. I haven't tried it with rifle because I have scopes on my rifles but I think if anything it'd work even better with the more distant front sight. The commercial version with a little iris is pricey, but a dot of foil with a pinhole in it would work just as well if you could get it to stay put.

I plan to take a "point 'n shoot" handgun course this winter that doesn't rely on use of sights at all. I know that's been found wanting by L.E., but I think it's a matter of practice and I am more than willing to practice. Hell, I look forward to it.

Write back when you're ready for hearing aids -- and I'd bet large that you will be eventually. Just about every vet over 60 I know has some hearing impairment. Mine started being noticable about age 57 and got to be a nuisance at about age 60. Getting older is not for wimps!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Gunner is a candidate for trifocals. I wear 'em with no problem. I have considered those varifocal things, but my optometrist doesn't think they would work as well for me. They have a narrower field of vision than trifocals.

Gunner, I think part of your problem is that you put off getting bifocals when you first needed them. That's when they're easy to get used to. Then, as things get worse, you are already used to the head tilting stuff. You have now reached the age when the flexibility in your eyes does not give you much range of distance (near to far.) The part you are not covering with your new glasses will be fine with trifocals.

At distances that the badguy is a threat you don't have time to get pretty with aiming. I used to shoot our clubs version of PPC inside during the winter where one stage was unaimed d/a shooting from 7 yards or so. It got pretty easy to blast the 10 ring with my revolver after a bit of practice.

Wes

I suspect you are right..sigh. Thanks Leo

Gunner

Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

If it is service connected have you tried the VA?

Wes

On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:51:02 -0800, with neither quill nor qualm, Gunner Asch quickly quoth:

This is good/normal.

This is not good.

You definitely have the wrong prescription for your eyes today. Call your optometrist and explain it. He'll probably doublecheck your eyes (free, if he's a good man) and check the lenses against his prescription. Then you'll know who's wrong and you can act accordingly. If the opto was wrong (and doesn't say that your eyes have changed since his last checkup) he may pay for the new Zenni lenses, too.

G'luck!

----------------------------------------------------------------- When I die, I'm leaving my body to science fiction. --Steven Wright ----------------------------

As long as its not the threshold of senility.....

Hell...regular 1.25 or 1.5 reading glasses from the 99c store work ok for me for that, but I really dont need them for computer work.

Its just a pain to be wearing glasses and have to take them on and off all the time in the shop, depending on what Im doing.

I use the HF ones, with the inside flip up lens, and the external round one for ultra fine work. Optivisors..and I have several..dont fit me very well for some reason.

Ive used em before. Work good enough.

Huh?

Sigh..I actually should be wearing hearing aid(s). Ive significant loss in the right side, nearly as much on the left. High range? Huh?

Had a hearing test..audiograph looked like it had been hit with a shotgun. Huge dead spots, lots of little ones in the hearing ranges. I tend to lip read women. But fuckme hearing aids are expensive...geeeze. Beltone wanted to something like $800 for a single unit tuned for my hearing range issues. I lost both ear drums in 1973. Same time I earned my ride to Honsu Japan. And the 3rd chevron on the pfu. Shrug.

Gunner

Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

Any of you hear of "computer" glasses? Supposed to have a point of focus out about 24" to 27". That comapres to "reading" glasses focus starting at about 16"

Here's a bit of info on "computer glasses"

Too bad you don't live here in central PA. My ophthalmologist has an interest in metal working. If you had to have cataract surgery and didn't have insurance, it would probably be worth the trip to PA with some machines in the trailer, but you may find a similar doc there in CA if it came to that.

Did you wait too long. Possibly. I know that when my eyes started changing to need bifocals they changed on an annual basis. When I began to develop cataracts at a young age - I'm a couple years older than you - I couldn't read through my glasses within 6 months of a new prescription.

RWL

On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 14:24:29 -0800, with neither quill nor qualm, Gerry quickly quoth:

I have combo reading/distance glasses and reading/computer glasses these days. I sometimes use the computer glasses when working in the shop, depending on the focal length of the task.

----------------------------------------------------------------- When I die, I'm leaving my body to science fiction. --Steven Wright ----------------------------

More generally, you can ask the opthalmologist for a prescription that will work best at any specified distance. They have a test fixture where they put the eye chart at the desired distance, and then they do their tests.

Normally this is done one eye at a time. However, especially for close-up work, it is best to have a final test made with both eyes used at once, to ensure that they won't end up fighting with one another. This happened to me, and caused me to for the first time in decades reject a set of glasses.

For shop use, I have a unifocal pair tuned for ~18" (don't like to be too close to the action). The lenses are very large and close to the face, and act to deflect chips et al. They look silly, like dual windscreens, but they do serve a purpose.

Joe Gwinn

Last time I had any dealings with the VA was 1974. I swore a mighty oath Id never go back.

They say its changed. Shrug...maybe someday Ill dig out the service records and go knock on their door. Maybe not.

Gunner

Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

FWIW, I've worn contact lenses for decades due to extreme nearsightedness. I'm now using the contacts for distance, and the contacts plus non-bifocal reading glasses for close-up. I can still see medium-range with the contacts, so this is working so far...

I've tried bifocal safety glasses, and hated 'em. On the other hand, I keep a pair of very small readers in a metal tube in my pocket for when I'm away from my office, and I find that using them much like bifocals (looking at things on my desk through the readers, looking over them at people) works quite well.

Until I need trifocals, anyway...

They're just weak reading glasses. They work fine if you're straining to read the 'puter screen, and the screen is farther away than your normal reading distance.

My first bad experience was in 1973. I dropped it for 33 years. Once you get past the bureaucracy, treatment is great.

Ruptured ear drums get you zip though. Hearing loss and tinnitus are

--Andy Asberry--

------Texas-----

My shop glasses are computer glasses upgraded to safety glasses complete with side shields. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

That's why they're called "bi" focals: two focuses. You focus close, and you focus at infinity. Not in between.

You do understand this is an inevitable consequence of presbyopia, which is an inevitable consequence of surviving your fifth decade of life, correct? You do not have the accommodation power of younger eyes.

That's why I sprung for progressives.. By tipping my head slightly up or down I can get anything in focus from about 18 inches on out.

Damn...so it wasnt all that m*********on after all?

Whew....!!!!

Gunner

Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.