# My First Pair of Bifocals - They SUCK



## davitk

First off I need to say STFU to all the young whippersnappers, you'll get old someday too. 

The eye doc gave me a scrip for bifocals, went to the store and got set up with "progressives", the no-line bifocal that go from distance to near with progressive magnification.

The trouble is the change from distance to magnification begins at your pupil, so that if you look level into the distance, immediately below the horizon the vision begins to blur. Apparently this is the "intermediate" range of the lenses.

So for me to see something that is three to thirty feet away I have to actually tip my head down and look through the top portion of the lens. :blink:

It doesn't seem right to me, or safe for that matter as I "work in construction" :laughing: and am continually negotiating hazards, and it would help if said hazards were not blurry. 

So a question for you old farts out there on CT, do you bother with bifocals or just say "screw it I'll squint"?


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## J F

great, I've got some progessives on the way...:wallbash:

I hope it's just a matter of giving it some time so you get used to 'em. How long ya had 'em?


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## davitk

J F said:


> great, I've got some progessives on the way...:wallbash:
> 
> I hope it's just a matter of giving it some time so you get used to 'em. How long ya had 'em?


15 hours :jester:

I did some reading on line last night - apparently there is such thing as "Soft Design" and "Hard Design" progressives.

Soft provides a larger intermediate zone which I am not in need of yet (for age 50+). Hard Design provides a larger lens area dedicated to distance viewing. I'll have to call the shop Monday but I'll bet they sold me Soft.


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## J F

I went to the vision center at wallyworld and was shocked at the prices $400-$500 for the progressives, so I just got some single lense glasses for distance.

Went here http://zennioptical.com/cart/home.php and ordered the progressives for $85 including frame and some prescrip. reading glasses for $17. :w00t:

I'd heard good things about zenni on clark howard's show (consumer advocate) for quite awhile and did some research before ordering, so I'm looking forward to getting them in 2-3 weeks to see what I think.


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## mikec

I have the no line bi focals, and hate them to.


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## J F

How long ya used 'em mike?


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## davitk

I paid 301.97, that included an 80.00 frame and polycarbonate lenses.

I love listening to Clark Howard, thanks for the link to Zennioptical. I'll have to check it out to see what the cheap bustards are wearing. :w00t:


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## J F

:laughing:


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## JonM

See, they were right...you do go half blind if you keep doing that....:laughing:


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## J F

...yeah, and I've got hairy palms for some reason too :blink:


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## neolitic

The problem is, those things are made
for people with desk jobs.
I'm near sighted, always have been,
so I'm used to looking over the top
of them to see up close.
More and more things can be "too close"
though.
Anyway, the bifocals for me were like
I was walking around in a swimming pool.
When I first got them I was doing a
framing job, and walking joist, or 
stepping off and onto ladders was a
real nightmare as everything was
a total blur down low.
I've just gone back to taking glasses off,
or wearing cheaters for really close work.
I've mentioned to folks who make glasses 
that they should offer "upside down"
lenses, but they just don't get it.


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## Ebbo

J F said:


> I went to the vision center at wallyworld and was shocked at the prices $400-$500 for the progressives, so I just got some single lense glasses for distance.
> 
> Went here and ordered the progressives for $85 including frame and some prescrip. reading glasses for $17. :w00t:
> 
> I'd heard good things about zenni on clark howard's show (consumer advocate) for quite awhile and did some research before ordering, so I'm looking forward to getting them in 2-3 weeks to see what I think.


I was just going to mention that site, saw it on Clark Howards show also.


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## J F

neolitic said:


> The problem is, those things are made
> for people with desk jobs.
> I'm near sighted, always have been,
> so I'm used to looking over the top
> of them to see up close.
> More and more things can be "too close"
> though.
> Anyway, the bifocals for me were like
> I was walking around in a swimming pool.
> When I first got them I was doing a
> framing job, and walking joist, or
> stepping off and onto ladders was a
> real nightmare as everything was
> a total blur down low.
> I've just gone back to taking glasses off,
> or wearing cheaters for really close work.
> I've mentioned to folks who make glasses
> that they should offer "upside down"
> lenses, but they just don't get it.



gotta ask...what's up with the haiku or whatever style of writing you've adopted recently? :blink:


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## J F

did you admire per's style in the festool and jlc forums?


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## neolitic

J F said:


> did you admire per's style in the festool and jlc forums?


I don't drink Green Koolaid,
and rarely look a JLC forum.


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## J F

and?


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## neolitic

J F said:


> and?


"Eye yam whut eye yam,
and that's all whut ey yam."


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## davitk

neolitic said:


> The problem is, those things are made
> for people with desk jobs.


I think you are right.


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## MALCO.New.York

Well.....................I sprung for LASIK Surgery 2 years ago.................

The "Morning After", I awoke in a NEW WORLD! One I had NEVER envisioned! Literally!!!

That is the way to go.


Went from 20/400 - 20/200 to 20/30 - 20/15!! In 12 minutes!!!


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## davitk

They still suck.

I think I'm going to return them today as there is no way to safely wear them at work.


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## NNY

When you make it to your late forty's without wearing glasses it just sucks to have to start wearing them . I tried so line bi's and I hated them . I went back to cheaters for now . Doc says he hears it all the time from guys like us . I just did a bathroom remodel for a guy who is 88 . He is still in great shape but can hardly see anymore . It's driving him nuts . For what it's worth he said it looked great , even though I am pretty sure he couldn't see much .:whistling


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## davitk

NNY said:


> When you make it to your late forty's without wearing glasses it just sucks to have to start wearing them . I tried so line bi's and I hated them . I went back to cheaters for now . Doc says he hears it all the time from guys like us . I just did a bathroom remodel for a guy who is 88 . He is still in great shape but can hardly see anymore . It's driving him nuts . For what it's worth he said it looked great , even though I am pretty sure he couldn't see much .:whistling


:laughing:


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## SC sawdaddy

You'll have to wear them a while before you get used to them davitk. I had to get some eyeball assistance about 5 years ago but I thought I could get by with readers. Since I'm hell on sunglasses anyway, I didn't want to pay $$$ for a scrip that would be too scratched up to see through in a few months.
Even found a vender at the flea market that sold readers for $1 a pair so I got ten bucks worth of x1 magnifiers. Worked pretty good for a year or two but I finally went to the eye doc and was fitted with bifocals. It took a couple of weeks to get used to them but I finally got adjusted.

The worst part was when they eventually did get a few scratches on them, I had to send the frames off to get the lens replaced and found out that the readers didn't work out so good anymore.

Its hell getting old ain't it? Guess its better than the alternative.


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## Tinstaafl

davitk said:


> They still suck.
> 
> I think I'm going to return them today as there is no way to safely wear them at work.


Yeah, they suck. But so does being [quite literally] half-blind. Your brain (well, most people's, anyway) is a wonderful machine, and it learns to compensate. Give it at least a week or two before declaring its incompetency. 

Seriously, from the BTDT faction, fairly crispy sight beats the heck out of the alternative, no matter how you get there. It sucks having to point your nose directly at anything you want to see clearly. It sucks having to bend your neck 90°+ to see something [clearly] on the ceiling.

But it *majorly* sucks to have to ask others to see for you, or to screw something up because you had a case of the fuzzies.


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## davitk

What gets me is the "intermediate" zone of the progressives, which begins just below horizon and increases until it reaches the full bifocal portion of the lens. Everything in that zone is blurry from about three feet on, and I have to tilt my head forward to see clearly.


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## J F

Is that zone good for computer work? I'm about 32-34" from my monitors and neither reading or distance glasses work, so I'm hoping the progressives (when they arrive) will help in that area.

Wonder what kind of single lens glasses would work for computer work at that distance.

I'm also considering "computer" glasses to help with the eye strain, but haven't researched 'em enough yet to make any decision.


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## davitk

J F said:


> Is that zone good for computer work? I'm about 32-34" from my monitors and neither reading or distance glasses work, so I'm hoping the progressives (when they arrive) will help in that area.
> 
> Wonder what kind of single lens glasses would work for computer work at that distance.
> 
> I'm also considering "computer" glasses to help with the eye strain, but haven't researched 'em enough yet to make any decision.


Yes, they would be perfect for a desk jockey!


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## J F

cool, 'cause that's me for a few more months.


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## rservices

I tried the progressive and hated them!
If you went to a chain type store the have a 100% satisfaction policy. Take them back Lencrafters just replaced mine no questions. From what I hear you either love them or can't stand them. 

I really only need them for reading and up close work, but I know if I didn't have them on all of the time I would loose them or break them.


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## Tinstaafl

davitk said:


> What gets me is the "intermediate" zone of the progressives, which begins just below horizon and increases until it reaches the full bifocal portion of the lens.


Well, they have to put that zone _somewhere_. 

If they put it too high, you'd be pointing your chin at the ground to see distance; too low and you'd be tipping your head back to see things "just below the horizon". It _is_ frustrating, even for me at times--and I've worn progressives for years.

If it still drives you absolutely bonkers after a week or two, it couldn't hurt to take them back where you got them and have them checked to make sure they were made right. I had a pair made wrong once, and it constantly felt like they were pulling my eyeballs right out of my head. But if you're not feeling that kind of strain, it's probably just that you need to get used to being an old fart. :thumbsup:


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## neolitic

Still say they make 'em upside down. :no:


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## Piffin

neolitic said:


> The problem is, those things are made...
> 
> I've mentioned to folks who make glasses
> that they should offer "upside down"
> lenses, but they just don't get it.



I know guy who does more ceiling work at crowns and freizes than anything else, so he had them made that way, with the close focal n the upper.

I've had ttreansitions for two years now and still can't stand them. I am due for new now and won't go that way again.

I got 80% used to them for OTJ, but when I get in my recliner at night, and lean back, I am looking at the TV 10' away through the close focal for 2-3' and it blurs out, so I take the glasses off and squint at the TV


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## Dave R

They all suck for wearing them at work. I don't know how many times I almost missed a ladder rung or missed stepping on a joist because I was looking down through the magnified section of the glasses.


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## Piffin

davitk said:


> What gets me is the "intermediate" zone of the progressives, which begins just below horizon and increases until it reaches the full bifocal portion of the lens. Everything in that zone is blurry from about three feet on, and I have to tilt my head forward to see clearly.



They may have measured you wrong.
When I got mine, and the cute girl taking measurements and notes off my face told me to hold my chin down, I figured she knew what she was talking about, so I did.

Then when I first put them on, in order to drive, I had to tuck my chin in tight againt my throat to tilt head down and see thru the very top of the lense. I went bak in with them when I figured out that cutie had been making assumptions about how God put my head on my neck and trying to make me fit her concept of how I should look. Made them remeasure and regrind them to the way I naturally hold my head.

Now, if a feller were to be gazing down at something interesting, like maybe some cleaveage while getting measured...:whistling


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## thom

Get those little readers at Walgreens, the ones that come in a cigar shaped tube. You can wear them down on your nose and look over the top for non-reading stuff. 

I buy several pairs at a time because I scathch them up a lot. 


Then go to Harbor Freight. They sell bi-focal safety glasses. Harbor Freight is the only place I've been able to find them. they are cheap throw aways, I buy a half dozen at a time.


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## neolitic

thom said:


> Then go to Harbor Freight. They sell bi-focal safety glasses. Harbor Freight is the only place I've been able to find them. they are cheap throw aways, I buy a half dozen at a time.


Good to know, I've been getting
them at Rockler.
Bet the HF ones don't get
scratched up any quicker.


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## J F

Piffin said:


> Now, if a feller were to be gazing down at something interesting, like maybe some cleaveage while getting measured...:whistling


or maybe some drywall screws...:whistling


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## Piffin

LOL, I C my reputaion precedes me


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