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Saturday, October 17th, 2026 11:03 pm
Saturday, October 17th, 2026 10:08 pm
Got a text Thursday afternoon that my new prescription lenses were ready, so I left early Friday morning to get to the optometrists just after opening at 9 am. After some initial confusion about how many sets I was getting--the single vision computer/glazing lenses were out front, but the bifocals were still in the back being inspected--the tech took my frames back to install the new lenses.
Got the single vision back first, and immediately knew something wasn't right. Couldn't focus on anything, near or far. Had a book with me, couldn't read the back text at all, and you know that stuff is in at least 14 point type. Told her when she brought back the bifocals, so she took them away again.
Came back a little later, embarrassed, to tell me that the lens makers had labeled them wrong, they'd been reversed, left for right. Once she swapped them around, they worked perfectly.
So I put on my bifocals, and they were... okay, but not great? Didn't seem like they were focusing properly, though that might just be adjusting to a new prescription? Going to the door, I looked at the poster across the waiting area. With my left eye closed, it looked awfully blurry, right eye closed, perfectly sharp. So I asked the tech about it. Oh no, that's perfectly normal, she told me. Our eyes don't always have the same correction individually, but together they cooperate to give us proper vision. So I shrug, go out to the car, and drive over to Club Mud. Vision still seems a little weird, but I've got my scuffed up clip-on sunglasses, so that might be the problem.
Once at the co-op, I change into my new glazing glasses and go to work decorating plates. The more I think about it, though, the more I'm bothered by the bi-focal issue. Could they have reversed the lenses there as well?
So around 11 am, I drive back across town to the optic shop, go up to the counter and tell them there's something wrong with my new prescription. The other tech is behind the desk, so he takes me aside, hears my story, and takes the glasses away. Comes back holding a loose lens in the left frame, asks me to take a look. These lenses aren't symmetrical, they don't fit in the frames swapped left for right, so it's hard for me to tell. He logs into the computer, prints out my prescription, takes it and the glasses away again.
Comes back a few minutes later to say, they're not reversed. In fact, the left lens is fine. But the right lens has been ground to an incorrect prescription, it's no wonder I can't see. He'd order a new set. Could I leave the frames behind? No, I'm legally blind without them. Did I have the original lenses? No, I'd given them to other tech to recycle. Fortunately, I'd only done so that morning, so they were able to dig through the bin to find my old lenses. He took away the frames to trace, spent a bit of time on the computer ordering the replacement lenses, and finally brought my old glasses out for me to take away. Once again, they seemed a little blurry on the drive back, but upon examination at Club Mud I found he just hadn't cleaned off all the fingerprints from the lenses.
And of course, I got the follow-up email asking how I would rate their business. Do they really want to know?
Got the single vision back first, and immediately knew something wasn't right. Couldn't focus on anything, near or far. Had a book with me, couldn't read the back text at all, and you know that stuff is in at least 14 point type. Told her when she brought back the bifocals, so she took them away again.
Came back a little later, embarrassed, to tell me that the lens makers had labeled them wrong, they'd been reversed, left for right. Once she swapped them around, they worked perfectly.
So I put on my bifocals, and they were... okay, but not great? Didn't seem like they were focusing properly, though that might just be adjusting to a new prescription? Going to the door, I looked at the poster across the waiting area. With my left eye closed, it looked awfully blurry, right eye closed, perfectly sharp. So I asked the tech about it. Oh no, that's perfectly normal, she told me. Our eyes don't always have the same correction individually, but together they cooperate to give us proper vision. So I shrug, go out to the car, and drive over to Club Mud. Vision still seems a little weird, but I've got my scuffed up clip-on sunglasses, so that might be the problem.
Once at the co-op, I change into my new glazing glasses and go to work decorating plates. The more I think about it, though, the more I'm bothered by the bi-focal issue. Could they have reversed the lenses there as well?
So around 11 am, I drive back across town to the optic shop, go up to the counter and tell them there's something wrong with my new prescription. The other tech is behind the desk, so he takes me aside, hears my story, and takes the glasses away. Comes back holding a loose lens in the left frame, asks me to take a look. These lenses aren't symmetrical, they don't fit in the frames swapped left for right, so it's hard for me to tell. He logs into the computer, prints out my prescription, takes it and the glasses away again.
Comes back a few minutes later to say, they're not reversed. In fact, the left lens is fine. But the right lens has been ground to an incorrect prescription, it's no wonder I can't see. He'd order a new set. Could I leave the frames behind? No, I'm legally blind without them. Did I have the original lenses? No, I'd given them to other tech to recycle. Fortunately, I'd only done so that morning, so they were able to dig through the bin to find my old lenses. He took away the frames to trace, spent a bit of time on the computer ordering the replacement lenses, and finally brought my old glasses out for me to take away. Once again, they seemed a little blurry on the drive back, but upon examination at Club Mud I found he just hadn't cleaned off all the fingerprints from the lenses.
And of course, I got the follow-up email asking how I would rate their business. Do they really want to know?
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Saturday, October 17th, 2026 10:07 pm
I did do a capybara!Now we'll see if anyone ever asks for it again.
Saturday, October 17th, 2026 11:08 pm
Dear Eric: What might one say (or not say) to our 28-year-old son (and brother) who is in a relationship with a 27-year-old woman about whom we (his siblings and parents) see all kinds of "red flags" with her?
After almost every interaction with her, we come away with a heavy heart. They live together, but their relationship remains undefined. She is extremely ambitious and career driven. Any talk of marriage is off limits because that would imply she wants to "settle down and have babies," which is the last thing she wants to do. This is because she wants to go back to school, earn a Ph.D, and eventually become a college professor. Which is fine and admirable, of course, but her self-centeredness and self-serving habits always override our son's plans or desires.
He plans to just "hang in there" with her in the hopes that someday she'll be ready to commit to marriage. Our son is handsome, funny, intelligent and hardworking, but he doesn't seem to realize his own self-worth. We feel like he could do so much better in a life partner. I believe if we tell him we see red flags with her, he will say to us, "Oh, you don't know her the way I know her; she's a wonderful person."
But I've lived long enough to know she would be trouble for him; it's obvious to us. Do we speak up, or just let him live his life as he has currently chosen (with a strong hunch that this will not end well for him)?
– Flagging Family
( Read more... )
After almost every interaction with her, we come away with a heavy heart. They live together, but their relationship remains undefined. She is extremely ambitious and career driven. Any talk of marriage is off limits because that would imply she wants to "settle down and have babies," which is the last thing she wants to do. This is because she wants to go back to school, earn a Ph.D, and eventually become a college professor. Which is fine and admirable, of course, but her self-centeredness and self-serving habits always override our son's plans or desires.
He plans to just "hang in there" with her in the hopes that someday she'll be ready to commit to marriage. Our son is handsome, funny, intelligent and hardworking, but he doesn't seem to realize his own self-worth. We feel like he could do so much better in a life partner. I believe if we tell him we see red flags with her, he will say to us, "Oh, you don't know her the way I know her; she's a wonderful person."
But I've lived long enough to know she would be trouble for him; it's obvious to us. Do we speak up, or just let him live his life as he has currently chosen (with a strong hunch that this will not end well for him)?
– Flagging Family
( Read more... )
Saturday, October 17th, 2026 11:04 pm
Dear Annie: This might seem a little weird for a 78-year-old man, but this really bothers me. When I was in elementary and high school, I wasn't liked by many of my fellow students. I was shy, a bit awkward and the target of bullying. I never fit in, and I thought high school would never end. Things were better in college. I graduated and went on to stand out in my profession, receiving honors and positive attention from my peers. It was the opposite of my high school experience.
I've only attended one high school class reunion, and that evening was the longest three hours of my life. I was again left out of conversations, and some memories centered around times I was bullied. Needless to say, I never went back. Now a group of my old high school classmates get together informally from time to time for breakfast, lunch, etc. I keep getting invited via email, but I haven't been able to bring myself to go.
In retirement, I've become friends with an old classmate who I never interacted with in high school. We were in different circles, but he was always friendly to me. He personally invited me to one of these gatherings. I gave in after many requests. The minute I entered the room and saw those faces, I was overwhelmed by the past. I made it through the event even though one classmate told a story about a bullying incident where I was the victim. Everyone laughed. I cried inside. The classmate who pushed me to go apologized after the gathering and said he had no idea that would happen. I'll never go back, but that awful experience is in my head every day.
I've talked with my pastor, which was helpful, but I'm still unhappy. I've never thought of hurting myself, but I've become somewhat of a recluse, afraid to leave my home or go anywhere I might run into an old classmate. My years are numbered, and I want them to be happy, but they're anything but. My wife is very supportive and understands my plight. She encourages me but doesn't push.
How can I get over this? I've thought of moving to another city where I won't run into anyone from high school, but that would mean taking my wife from her friends and family. -- Still Hurting
( Read more... )
I've only attended one high school class reunion, and that evening was the longest three hours of my life. I was again left out of conversations, and some memories centered around times I was bullied. Needless to say, I never went back. Now a group of my old high school classmates get together informally from time to time for breakfast, lunch, etc. I keep getting invited via email, but I haven't been able to bring myself to go.
In retirement, I've become friends with an old classmate who I never interacted with in high school. We were in different circles, but he was always friendly to me. He personally invited me to one of these gatherings. I gave in after many requests. The minute I entered the room and saw those faces, I was overwhelmed by the past. I made it through the event even though one classmate told a story about a bullying incident where I was the victim. Everyone laughed. I cried inside. The classmate who pushed me to go apologized after the gathering and said he had no idea that would happen. I'll never go back, but that awful experience is in my head every day.
I've talked with my pastor, which was helpful, but I'm still unhappy. I've never thought of hurting myself, but I've become somewhat of a recluse, afraid to leave my home or go anywhere I might run into an old classmate. My years are numbered, and I want them to be happy, but they're anything but. My wife is very supportive and understands my plight. She encourages me but doesn't push.
How can I get over this? I've thought of moving to another city where I won't run into anyone from high school, but that would mean taking my wife from her friends and family. -- Still Hurting
( Read more... )
Saturday, October 17th, 2026 04:43 pm
Challenge #1112 is upholstery.
The rules:
The rules:
- All stories must be 100 words long.
- Please place your story behind a cut if it contains spoilers for the current season.
- Remember, you don't have to use the challenge word or phrase in your story; it's just there for inspiration.
- Please include the challenge word or phrase in the subject line of your post.
- Please use the challenge tag 1112: upholstery on any story posted to this challenge.
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Saturday, October 17th, 2026 11:43 pm
- Greek lemon potatoes: still excellent! And enough for at least another day.
- Bike lost an (Imperial, unknown size) nut and bolt on my way down the hill (one of the stays for the rear mudguard and pannier rack, which was loaded). This was NOT a disaster, and also A managed to dig out a good-enough-to-get-back-up-the-hill-on-wheels substitute, and brought it down to me.
- We picked up Strange Horticulture and, having just reached day 4, it's something I am finding pleasant and soothing!
- Picked things up and put them down again, and even managed my entire intended workout despite only getting actually into the gym about 45 minutes before it closed. (I have thus determined that I can in fact shorten the rests between dead hangs to 45 seconds from 60 seconds...)
- Cake. I continue to really enjoy the cake. I have decided that the cakier base on the smitten kitchen version is not actually what I want out of Apfelstreuselkuchen, but for the next batch I might use her crumb recipe...
Saturday, October 17th, 2026 04:14 pm
I am hoping some of you Warner Bros. cartoon fans can help me out here:
I have a strong mental image of Bugs Bunny (or some other cartoon rabbit) singing and dancing to the '50s tune "Let's Go To The Hop!" Was that ever in a cartoon? Did it happen or did I just imagine it?
If it did happen, I really want to see it.
I have a strong mental image of Bugs Bunny (or some other cartoon rabbit) singing and dancing to the '50s tune "Let's Go To The Hop!" Was that ever in a cartoon? Did it happen or did I just imagine it?
If it did happen, I really want to see it.
Sunday, October 18th, 2026 12:27 am
Title: Drawtober 17th Moon
Artist: leecetheartist
Rating: G
Fandom: Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer
Characters/Pairings: n/a
Content Notes:
In The Freeze, Ross MacDonald (the pseudonym for Ken Millar) introduces us to this poem. My dad was a big fan of gumshoe novels, and I read anything I could get my hands on, including the 87th Precinct novels, Travis McGee, Lew Archer and Spencer for Hire, and MacDonald was amongst them. I would have read this poem in my early teens, and it stayed with me up until now, decades later.
So when I looked it up I was surprised to find that Jim Steinman had used it in one of his early works and not attributed it, and that hardly anyone appears to have known that it was MacDonald. I guess readers of hard-bitten detective stories from the 60's and listeners to popular music interested in the musician's early works don't often crossover!
Anyways, the poem's always stayed with me and I thought I'd use it as inspiration for the 17th - a little late, been busy for![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rdm 's birthday.
Rotring art pen and wash.
Here's the text if you can't read my writing.
In The Freeze, Ross MacDonald (the pseudonym for Ken Millar) introduces us to this poem. My dad was a big fan of gumshoe novels, and I read anything I could get my hands on, including the 87th Precinct novels, Travis McGee, Lew Archer and Spencer for Hire, and MacDonald was amongst them. I would have read this poem in my early teens, and it stayed with me up until now, decades later.
So when I looked it up I was surprised to find that Jim Steinman had used it in one of his early works and not attributed it, and that hardly anyone appears to have known that it was MacDonald. I guess readers of hard-bitten detective stories from the 60's and listeners to popular music interested in the musician's early works don't often crossover!
Anyways, the poem's always stayed with me and I thought I'd use it as inspiration for the 17th - a little late, been busy for
rdm 's birthday.Rotring art pen and wash.
Here's the text if you can't read my writing.
If light were dark and dark were light
The Moon a black hole in the blaze of night
A raven's wing as bright as tin
then you, my love
would be darker than sin
The Moon a black hole in the blaze of night
A raven's wing as bright as tin
then you, my love
would be darker than sin
Saturday, October 17th, 2026 11:39 am
1. DEAR ABBY: My siblings and I have a niece and nephew, our late sister's children, both in their 40s. The niece is grounded, level-headed, and emotionally and intellectually strong. The nephew used to be like that but now can be a lot more sensitive and overly emotional and has a somewhat controlling wife.
Our problem is that months and months, sometimes years, go by without hearing anything from them. Our nephew doesn't return phone calls in general, but if we reach out when there's a death or a hospitalization in the family, the niece processes things normally. Our nephew turns into a bowl of emotional jelly. He cries and is emotionally draining when we all need to pull together for someone else. When we explain that we can make time for him but that he needs to answer our calls or return them, he promises to do so but never follows through. His mental health is not good (and perhaps his wife isolates him), but we are at our wits' end. How do we deal with this behavior? -- EXASPERATED UNCLE IN OHIO
( Read more... )
****
2. DEAR ABBY: I lost my brother last year to a brain aneurysm. We were very close, and I am still struggling with it. His birthday was this month, and I spent the day honoring him. However, other family members are telling me I should be "over it" by now. Am I wrong for still experiencing grief? I wasn't aware there is a time limit. -- PROCESSING IT IN ALASKA
( Read more... )
Our problem is that months and months, sometimes years, go by without hearing anything from them. Our nephew doesn't return phone calls in general, but if we reach out when there's a death or a hospitalization in the family, the niece processes things normally. Our nephew turns into a bowl of emotional jelly. He cries and is emotionally draining when we all need to pull together for someone else. When we explain that we can make time for him but that he needs to answer our calls or return them, he promises to do so but never follows through. His mental health is not good (and perhaps his wife isolates him), but we are at our wits' end. How do we deal with this behavior? -- EXASPERATED UNCLE IN OHIO
( Read more... )
2. DEAR ABBY: I lost my brother last year to a brain aneurysm. We were very close, and I am still struggling with it. His birthday was this month, and I spent the day honoring him. However, other family members are telling me I should be "over it" by now. Am I wrong for still experiencing grief? I wasn't aware there is a time limit. -- PROCESSING IT IN ALASKA
( Read more... )
Saturday, October 17th, 2026 10:46 am
DEAR HARRIETTE: My teenage daughter recently fell down the stairs and became paralyzed from the waist down. The adjustment has been difficult on her and the rest of our family. She used to be a very active girl who loved to play sports, and now she can't, which has caused her to become depressed. She has to watch from the sidelines, and I can tell she feels she is missing out on her adolescence.
I feel so guilty because she tripped on my shoes when she fell down the stairs, and now I worry she blames me. I know that the accident was not something I ever intended to happen, but I can't stop replaying that moment in my head and wondering whether I could have prevented it.
My daughter has become much quieter since the accident, and sometimes she gets angry when I try to encourage her to stay positive. As her mother, I want to be there for her without constantly reminding her of everything she has lost or making her feel like I am expecting her to be OK before she is ready. My husband tells me that I need to stop blaming myself, but it is difficult when I feel responsible for what happened. How can I support my daughter through this while also learning to forgive myself for what happened? -- The Fall
( Read more... )
I feel so guilty because she tripped on my shoes when she fell down the stairs, and now I worry she blames me. I know that the accident was not something I ever intended to happen, but I can't stop replaying that moment in my head and wondering whether I could have prevented it.
My daughter has become much quieter since the accident, and sometimes she gets angry when I try to encourage her to stay positive. As her mother, I want to be there for her without constantly reminding her of everything she has lost or making her feel like I am expecting her to be OK before she is ready. My husband tells me that I need to stop blaming myself, but it is difficult when I feel responsible for what happened. How can I support my daughter through this while also learning to forgive myself for what happened? -- The Fall
( Read more... )
Saturday, October 17th, 2026 10:07 am
Friday, October 16th, 2026 09:08 pm
1. What’s most important to you right now?
2. What do you need most right now?
3. What’s been your biggest challenge in life and how did you overcome it?
4. Who is someone you wish was still around?
5. What’s a moment you will cherish forever?
Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.
If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!
2. What do you need most right now?
3. What’s been your biggest challenge in life and how did you overcome it?
4. Who is someone you wish was still around?
5. What’s a moment you will cherish forever?
Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.
If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!
Friday, October 16th, 2026 10:35 pm
it somehow took me until yesterday evening to work out that probably the way I've been noticing my hands hurting more when doing things like "squeezing citrus" and "rubbing fat into flour" might have something to do with the part where.......... I'm deliberately challenging my grip strength, sometimes to failure, multiple times a week, every week. Just MAYBE.
like, I should still be solemnly squishing my hand physio sponge much more than I am, but. Perhaps. Perhaps my hands are getting tired because I am asking them to do really quite a lot of things.
Friday, October 16th, 2026 05:18 pm
Machu Picchu
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Friday, October 16th, 2026 01:31 pm
I skipped a couple of weeks of swimming at Milton while fending off a cold, but managed to go last Saturday and plan to go tomorrow. I'm still enjoying it very much, and still very much staying within my limits exercise-wise while I figure out where they lie temperature-wise.
I got my cold+flu vaccination at the GP middle of last week too. I pre-gamed with antihistamines again, and had almost no reaction, again, which I think makes me four-for-four on that data collection: Apr 25, Oct 25, Apr 26, Oct 26. (The arm that got the covid vaccination got a bit sore around the injection site, but I had no fever or other reaction.)
It's been a week of taster session and tryouts for the uni club; taster session was made all too memorable for one poor fresher who I took to A&E with a suspected broken ankle. I insisted he had a friend meet us there because I know Saturday night A&E and I badly needed sleep so wasn't prepared to stay myself; they got out at 4am and the ankle was indeed broken. What a start to your Cambridge degree!
Last Sunday I had an adventure driving O2 across London after we saw Y play for Vampires and was still back home for my bedtime. When did I become someone who drives in London? And Kara is still getting at least partially solar-charged. (The panels on my house produce max 3.2kW, the charging point draws 7kW, Octopus has been scheduling a lot of 1-hour-near-noon charging this week. I asked it to top the battery up by 20% a day, so it'll be full for tomorrow, when I have to go to both Peterborough and Oxford. The latter will be Kara's seventh ice rink.)
I've been continuing my Greek myths reading, currently on Stephen Fry's Mythos (he reads his own audiobook!). I was very amused by Mr Fry namechecking Percy Jackson among the human heroes fathered by Poseidon.
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Friday, October 16th, 2026 03:58 pm
Title: Drawtober 16th Candle
Artist: leecetheartist
Rating: G
Fandom: n/a
Characters/Pairings: n/a
Content Notes: It's the 16th of Drawtober, and today's prompt is 'candle'
What with the fire danger warnings starting to crank up we don't want to be lighting any fires around here, so as it's #Kambarang (you might call it a second spring, or Sprummer) in the #NoongarSeasons calendar the Candlestick Banksias are giving us a show with their bright lemony yellow flower spikes.
Also known as Biara by some Nyoongar people.
Thursday, October 15th, 2026 11:06 pm
- The RIDICULOUS Discord bubblewrap meme. (Uses spoilertext. Goes pop.)
- Lurked resentfully AND GOT MY FAVOURITE RACK OUT OF THE DEAL this morning.
- Squatting felt pretty good! That certainly felt like the best form I can remember maintaining at that weight.
- Sneaky 100lb bench press single Just Because after my actual working weight sets (I am currently slowly working back up to 1kg lighter than that in an attempt to sort my wrist out; it seems to be working so far).
- I have managed to wash my hair for the first time in [mumble] (I think possibly sixish weeks?). Cleen.
- The Child drew me a pumpkin!
- Went on a bit of an amble this evening. Tried incline press-ups at a much smaller angle than I have previously. It....... worked? I'm.......... stronger?????
- Oh right I managed to make Acceptable protein-enriched hot chocolate. It was a faff but I did it.
- Post-therapy treat: more apple crumb cake. At this point I start to see what Deb's getting at with the sour cream but I think I do nonetheless prefer the ridiculous shortcrust.
- Amazing dramatic sunset while driving to visit The Child, with bonus singing along to Vienna Teng. V pleasant.
- Ridiculously #aesthetic bread achieved this morning. It did not puddle. I am perplexed and delighted.
Thursday, October 15th, 2026 11:06 pm
Our Edinburgh office is one of those glassy tower blocks. I think the layout of each floor is about the same. There's an obvious men's toilet on each.
Sometimes, when I head to the restroom, I find it to be closed for cleaning, then ascend the stairs to the next floor, use the identical restroom, and forget I climbed the stairs. I come out to a vacant office where I expect mine to be (it's below), with strange symbols marked on the glass.
The abstract symbols run in a row across the glass and I presume are there to help people not walk straight into the glass pane. I walked into a pane of glass in a baptist church in Truro once and I don't recommend it.
Still, in the course of one's regular day, unexpectedly seeing all the humans gone, and a surprise run of strange symbols, is not the best experience for somebody like me who has dreamed many times of alien invasion and sometimes of infiltrating the aliens' facilities on Earth.
Sometimes, when I head to the restroom, I find it to be closed for cleaning, then ascend the stairs to the next floor, use the identical restroom, and forget I climbed the stairs. I come out to a vacant office where I expect mine to be (it's below), with strange symbols marked on the glass.
The abstract symbols run in a row across the glass and I presume are there to help people not walk straight into the glass pane. I walked into a pane of glass in a baptist church in Truro once and I don't recommend it.
Still, in the course of one's regular day, unexpectedly seeing all the humans gone, and a surprise run of strange symbols, is not the best experience for somebody like me who has dreamed many times of alien invasion and sometimes of infiltrating the aliens' facilities on Earth.
Tags: