Cow of a day

On Saturday night Floyd did one of his flying-body-slam hellos to me while I was leaning down to his food bowl. I think I was filling it up.

My glasses flew off, as they usually do, and I realised that something was wrong. I had glasses in two pieces. An arm amputated! Snapped off at the frame. Bugger. Naughty boy, Floyd!

This is what I had:

(Now I'd love to have this image lengthwise on the page, but Blogger won't let me. I can't turn it.)

So, the small picture was that I had busted glasses which are bifocals but they're graduated or whatever they call it when you don't have the granny line in the middle of the glasses. I don't have any spare glasses, except my old previous script, and they are scratched to blazes, and a pair of reading glasses for when I'm in bed reading which are no use at all for reading SBE and working at a desk, etc.

Dilemma.

It's also very annoying when cleaning out dog's water buckets and so on that when you get a bit, er, hot and perspire a little on the face the one-armed glasses slide off your face and into the bucket, or whatever it is that you're working on.

Yesterday I emailed work to tell them that I'd be getting the glasses sorted today so wouldn't be in.

I phoned the major optometrist (MO) where I buy my glasses and have done for almost 20 years. I'm due for an eye test, and my glasses were bought in late 2009, so I'm probably due for a new pair. I make an appointment for the early afternoon, and think I should be out poisoning the grass, but the weather is sunny and quite warm and I'm sure I'll keep losing my armless glasses, so I don't do any of those chores.

At the appointed time I set off, ensuring I have my old, scratched glasses, my armless glasses' arm, and a script which is $16 locally and only $6 at the discount chemist. When I am twenty minutes from home I realise that I've left my mobile phone at home beside my lounge chair. Damn. Nevermind, I shouldn't need it anyway.

When I arrive at MO they ask me for my medicare card - oh-ho... my wallet is beside the mobile phone, I'd paid a bill in the morning and thought "Must remember to put the wallet into my handbag..." and obviously promptly forgot.

Bugger again.

They can get the glasses fixed, but they'll have to be sent away and it will take about a week. A week.

Test the eyes, the astigmatism is pretty much what it's always been, the distance has improved so he does all the tests to make sure there's nothing sinister about the change in the distance vision. Nothing sinister, nothing at all. Eye pressure is fine. All OK.

So, I look at their spectacles, thinking about whether to just get new ones. The glasses I prefer are the ones with the polarising lenses which attach with little magnets where the arms join the frame. The have four pairs like that, and only two of them suit my prescription. The frames only are $389. Then the lenses are about $250, then any "extras" I might want like special coatings or whatever... As I'm a longstanding customer I'm able to order them without a deposit (never had to pay a deposit before, this is new!), and they'll get them underway if I choose a frame I like. I explain that they are way too expensive and I'll see if I can get the old frames fixed. They need soldering.

I recall there's a financial institution (FI) I have dealings with which is in this shopping centre and so I go there to plead for money (I thought I'd get some nice fruit and veg while at the shopping centre where the MO is). The FI are wonderful and give me some money "It's fine, signatures are on file now so that will be fine.. tell me your account details." (Later I realise I had my passport in my handbag from the Norfolk Island trip!) Armed with a modest amount of cash I hit the big supermarket (when I found something excellent to enhance the big picture), and then the fruit shop. "You sure you don't want six punnets of strawberries for $2?" says the checkout chick. "Oh, Okay then." Then I realise that she's left my carefully selected strawberries out and put six from a box beside her in the bag. I looked closely at them. They're mouldy and soggy and off. I said I didn't want them. I'd have the ones I selected, thank you! Then I set off for the big town centre to find another optometrist.

After visiting three other optometrists in the area I discover they all send these repairs away. It needs to be soldered and there's no frame at the bottom so it's held together with fishing line and this needs to be removed first and then replaced. Aiiieeee.

The last optometrist I visit doesn't repair glasses, they send them away. I look at their glasses and I can get two for one (the glasses are wildly overpriced everywhere it seems). I explain to the person serving me that I have no wallet or money when she says they need a deposit of 50% of the balance after health fund rebate. Okay. I decide to get one pair for about $260. Then I look at frames. I find a few I like, and I think about getting two for one. The frames I like are not the quoted $250 ones, but $299 ones. I choose two and then say "But that will be an extra $50?" She says "No. I'll let you have them for the discount price of that $50 off."

Yippee, I have a win. I think.

The deposit is $240. No card. No money. Hmmm. To save me a trip I can phone tomorrow with the card details. Hurrah, another win. They'll be ready to be picked up within 14 days.

It's after 5pm by this time and I'm weary. I need to get home, but I'll just nick up and grab a coffee from Gloria Jeans - oh wait, my coffee syrup is getting low, I've just got enough and I'll have 10 cents left over, so I buy that instead.

Now I'm home and looking at the big picture it's not all bad: