Getting old is full of joys.   One of them is failing eyesight.   I have battled on with cheap reading glasses for maybe five years but then I noticed I was struggling to read the small print on the TV about 12 feet away!

[whohit]Varifocals[/whohit]

I remembered I had bought a pair of cheap +1 readers that were probably nearer +0.5 magnification,  putting these on, I could then read the football scores in the top left of the screen ( that over the years has become smaller anyway).

The Goggle Dance

So good I could now read my tablet/phone and see what was on TV.  Only problem was it meant changing glasses every time I looked up and then down, or vice-versa.  I then tried balancing the TV glasses on top of the readers.  While that worked in a fashion it hardly did anything for my looks and my nose got sore!   Ok so the answer is a pair of cheap glasses with +0.5 in the top half and +2 in the bottom for reading, simples.

Onto the internet. I searched and searched but nothing. What I was after isn’t made (unless you know better).  So I had to face up to it.  It was time to give in to the optician.  I will have to have some glasses made to fit my needs.

Varifocals – here I come

So how much are these things going to cost?  A damn sight more than £1 readers.  Specsavers advertised varifocals from £49 for two pairs.  That got me tempted to find out more.

I told the nice assistant what I wanted glasses for, to be able to read my tablet at arms length and look up to the TV.  No problem she said but the £49 ‘Standard’ varifocal would not be any good, nor would the ‘Premium’ at £79.  I would need at least the ‘Elite’ varifocal at £119!  Eh?   The cheaper varifocals, I am informed,  will not give you a wide enough viewing angle to read at arms length.

In a flash we have gone from £1…………. to £49……….. to £119!!!

Cripes!  So I went back home.  Carried on stacking two pairs of glasses on my nose, and after much deep thought (and a very sore nose) I succumbed.  I was reassured by the nice lady if I was not happy with the ‘Elite’ glasses then I could down grade to Bifocals.

But here starts the mystery.  I asked how wide an area would these glasses give me for reading?  The average tablet is about 8 inches across.  But they could not give me an answer, saying that everyone’s eyes are a bit different.  So it was in for a penny.

Satisfied – eventually

After two weeks my specs were ready and immediately the clarity was there. Took some getting used to, but now I cannot be without them.