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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Leslie wrote:

> I was wondering why you have to get new glasses every year.

Because my eyes get progressively worse every year.  I have what is
known as progressive myopia.  Now, I am starting the presbyopia
thing as well, so I can't see near or far. :)
I've worn glasses or contacts since I was 4 1/2.  When I was 5, the
opthamologist told my mother I would be blind at 40.  As a kid,
sometimes I could go two years without needing a new prescription, and
the most I have ever gone is four years, but that doesn't mean I did not
need it, just that the kids needed glasses first.  They both have
inherited my nearsightedness and astigmatism.

 I asked him what he meant, and he said it is not
> medically necessary to have 20/20 refraction, or any refraction for 
> that matter.  He said that you only need corrective lenses for those 
> times you want to actually see better.  As blind as I am I can walk 
> around perfectly well without wearing my glasses, although I prefer 
> to wear them, and I certainly couldn't attempt to hunt a deer or 
> drive without them (although I could drive the scooter safely without
>  them, I think...)  LOL.

Sorry, but that's not blind. In my own house, I would not even think
about trying to even walk from the bedroom to the bathroom without
putting them on.  Legally blind is 20/200.  For perspective, I now see,
APPROXIMATELY 20/3000 and 20/3500.  Basically, without correction, I see
color and vague shapes, without definition.  If you were standing close
enough to me that I could put my hand on your shoulder, directly in
front of me, I would not be able to tell whether you were male or
female.  If the background color was green and you were wearing a green
shirt, I might not even be able to distinguish you.  Corrected, I only
see 20/90 or so.  It gets worse every year. That is as good as I can
get, apparently.  With contacts, I was able to see about 20/60
corrected, but not with glasses.  I'd bet that by the time I am 75 or
80, I won't be correctable under 20/200.  The good thing is that my
other senses really are kicking in.  My hearing is excellent, and my
sixth sense is well tuned.  Intuition really is improving and I am even
more sensitive to drafts and temperature changes and the like.


 I had pretty much the same Rx for 20 years,
> until I hit 45 and age started making me need longer arms....  Only 2
>  Rx changes as I went thru that period, and my eyes stabilized again,
>  at least for now.

That started for me two years ago when I was also 45.

> I've been working on designing my chicken coop this a/m, to include 
> that intensive design using worms, and maggots and sprouts.... to 
> reduce dependency on commercial feed - and in time, grow my own corn 
> and other crops for them for scratch to eliminate commercial feed. 
> I'm going to give it to my dad today (an engineer) and let him calc 
> out with the design how much supplies to buy,,,, will give him 
> something to do, even though I don't need the info.... LOL.

I think putting the whole thing on wheels makes a lot of sense.  Tractor
them.



--
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will
not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius
will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the
world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone
are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve
the problems of the human race"

~ Calvin Coolidge