I was in a store the other day and discovered a rack of reading glasses. I am at the age where I will have to start reading with the aid of them and realized that I shouldn't forget that important item. I stocked up on several strengths. Other members of the family will need them too soon. I may go back and buy a few more - they are rather cheap - and use them for barter.

-- Penda Zone (PendaZ@excite.com), October 21, 1999

Answers

I think it might be a good idea to pick up some inexpensive handheld magnifying glasses too.

-- flora (***@__._), October 21, 1999.

As a rule of thumb, never throw out ANY glasses. If your prescription changes, your old glasses become your backups.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), October 21, 1999.

Sam's has a pack of three pairs of reading glasses for about $20. These "cheaters" are also available at Wal-Mart, K-Mart and most drugstores, $8-14 or so, sometimes on sale. I have tons of 'em. I'll lose a pair, start cleaning out a closet or pile of "stuff," find a pair I lost a month ago, and so on. I usually buy the 2.0 magnification and I've also bought 2.25 and 2.50, just in case. You're absolutely right about keeping the old glasses as backup--I'm wearing mine now because--yup!--I've already lost the new ones I got about three months ago. I expect I'll find 'em in a couple of weeks, right after I lose the old pair again. (Er, I got the new ones cos the old ones had been lost for about six months. After I got the new ones, I found the old ones near an iris patch on the garden. . .) And you might want to pick up a couple of those eyeglass repair kits because the cheap glasses come unscrewed all the time.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), October 22, 1999.

Eyeglass repair kits NEVER have the size screw you need. But any glasses can be repaired by threading a small safety pin through the hinge. It ain't pretty, but it works.

If you lose your glasses completely, here's a quick-and-dirty fix.

Cut a circle of heavy paper or thin cardboard, punch a hole in the center with a pin or staple, and wear it like a monocle. The pinhole focusses for you, regardless what your prescription is. It works best in bright light. To widen your field of view, punch multiple holes about 1/8 inch apart. You'll see many overlapping images, each in focus. In a REAL pinch, you can create a pinhole using your index finger bent tightly, and look through that.

Your eyes have to be fairly bad before this solution is an improvement!

-- bw (home@puget.sound), October 22, 1999.

bw, I thought you were pulling my leg about the index finger thing. I owe you an apology....it really works. Granted, I wouldn't want to read "War & Peace" that way, but it will come in handy, I'm sure. thx

-- (rcarver@inacom.com), October 22, 1999.