I know that we’re all waiting for 2020 to fade into a distant memory, but it’s worth pointing out that it could be a while before that happens. Still, the up coming year should be different than last. I’m not going to promise better, but it won’t be the same. As a planet, nation, families and as individuals business as usual will be different.
Yeah, there’s the vaccine and a new president. I got a new house, a new state and city. Heck I even got new glasses last week.
That was almost fun. I saw the eye doc on December 1st and on the 29th I got my new glasses. It’s my first true pair of progressive lenses and they only had problems with the order twice before delivering. I only had to have one major hissy fit with them on the phone to get them to deliver – basically I just pointed out that they’d called me each week with a new story on why the glasses weren’t ready and if they couldn’t produce them they should give me my money back. Magically, ten minutes later the pair was perfect and ready for pick up. Seriously, ten minutes – you can check my cell phone records.
Since last week I’ve been trying to get used to these glasses. It’s the first time I’ve had glasses I could wear all the time as this is the first time I needed correction for distance. My last prescription was just for reading and computer work so I was used to taking the glasses off when I stood up to walk anywhere. It’s nice to not have to do that anymore and I’m happy that the world isn’t as out of focus any more.
My world, not the rest of the world – that world still has issues.
I’d be ecstatic about my new glasses, but they don’t work so well with the computer or reading as the focal area for near objects isn’t as big as I’d like. Honestly, I’m a bit afraid to complain too much about that because they might send these glasses back to the lab and who knows how long that would be before I got them back.
Another thing that will be different this year is my workshop. Currently I’m setting up the garage and last week got my dust collector and air filter installed and working. There’s a lot more setup to do there. On Monday the landscaping crew starts working and one of the things they’re going to do is to level an area where I’ll be putting a shed for part of my workshop.
As it happens, I mentioned that I was a woodworker at the eye doctor way back in the beginning of December and they suggested that I might consider getting prescription safety glasses. Now, I’ve had that thought before and now seemed like a good time to go ahead and order a pair. You know, now that I’ll have more time for woodworking, it seemed like having proper shop eyewear was is order.
Yes, I still don’t have the safety glasses. Ordered two pairs, got a small discount, and the whole thing was sent to a lab with quality problems. When I was getting my walking around the house glasses I made a few choice comments about the safety glasses and the promised that they were to be delivered on Thursday. That made me happy that on New Year’s Eve I’d finally have all the glasses I ordered.
You didn’t think it would be that easy …
Yup, on New Year’s Eve the lab called the optical shop who then made a trembling call to me – their favorite client. I will admit that from time to time I lose my sense of humor about paying for things I don’t receive.
I did feel bad for the person selected to call me. Personally I think she upset the boss over something and was being punished. When I heard that I wasn’t getting my fancy shop glasses, I took the opportunity to complain about not liking looking at the computer with the pair they had delivered, but not before they had offered to give me a free pair of glasses.
Clever tactic on their part – screw up and then do something nice to make up for the inconvenience. Interesting business practice. Maybe it will catch on.
So I went back to the optical shop to select my free pair and can happily report that they agreed to provide me with a nice frame and the computer/reading glasses I’d like to have.
I just have to wait two more weeks. sigh …
And that friends is where we are with the world. New president in three weeks, vaccines in three months and maybe by summer we can feel like the world is finally moving on.
Maybe, let’s just pray that the lab doesn’t screw up again.
