No, this will not be nearly as exciting as band camp, but I thought I'd share. This weekend I had to stop at Walmart. I was by myself and when I noticed the eye care center was pretty empty, I figured it was a good idea to do the eye exam that I've been trying to find time for over the past year or so. A quick review on myself and my eyes. Growing up I had a weak left eye. I was patched for a while and wore glasses. Late in high school I was told I didn't need them anymore, but being a typical high schooler, was more than glad to get rid of the glasses.

About 8 years or so ago I noticed things were getting a bit fuzzy for me. Not everything, mainly just text on my TV. (To be honest, I should have just gotten an even bigger TV!) I went in, got tested, and got a pair of glasses. I remember the doctor saying there wasn't much he could do for my eyes (more on that) but that the prescription should help a bit.

Anyway I go into the eye exam honestly curious about what he would find. I suffer from headaches, but more from stress/weather/not drinking enough water than eye strain. I'm sitting in the chair, doing the 'read a line' thing when I mess up a letter. Let's say I guessed C. The doctor said I was wrong, but that I had obviously seen the letter shape, so to please try again. I did O. No. G. No. Now while I'm guessing the doctor is getting pretty short with me. I'm responding like I'm on trial and accidentally repeat the C and he just about laid into me for repeating a letter I had said before. I almost walked out the guy was getting so short! It got even worse during the A/B testing. (That's where he asks you to compare one lens to another.) My left eye is pretty darn weak, and from time to time I'd so A was stronger, than B, even on the same comparisons. I was being as honest as I could, but the doctor was going nuts.

At this point though I could tell it was more frustration over him not being able to find a solution for me. Eventually he suggested a retina specialist. At this point I was beginning to panic a bit. He did some additional checks on my eyes, however, and didn't see anything wrong. He said that he felt my left eye had always been this bad, and that my right eye was slipping a bit and he wanted to be sure my eyes didn't get any worse.

So now I have a new script for glasses with slightly stronger vision on the right side, and... get this... slightly weaker on the left. I don't quite get it. I'll be picking new frames next time we go to Walmart as a family (personally I want frames like HRG) and can't wait to have the ever-so-cool auto shade glasses I've wanted for years.