Harry Potter and the Goofy Glasses.

In my previous life, when I was a rake and a young man, I was a bench and field service technician. I did component level repair of electronics used in the cable and satellite TV industry. I did the troubleshooting and replacement of very small components – transistors, integrated circuits, resistors, capacitors, etc. I had very keen eyesight – I could place circuit boards a few inches from my face and solder without any trouble.

My partner in the business, who was older than me, would hand me the jobs that required threading magnet wire through ferrite toroid cores multiple times to build matching transformers. I would thread them with the precision of a surgeon. I wouldn’t brag about it, but I probably exuded a smug confidence with my ability.

Over these years people would say to me, “That will all change when you hit forty.” I did not realize how true that statement would become. Within months of my 40th birthday, I noticed that I was starting to place things farther away from me on the workbench. Later on, when my now ex-wife and I made one of our forays down to Pigeon Forge, Tn, to visit the outlet malls, I picked up a cheap set of reading glasses, and noticed that they made reading a much more pleasant activity (I do a lot of reading). I hadn’t realized how much my eyesight had changed until I put those glasses on. Still later, I found a little higher quality (but still inexpensive) pair.

The whole process seemed to take around 7-9 months before it stabilized at where it’s at now. I’m probably kidding myself – since the life events that occurred to me in 2005 (business/job of 20 years closed it’s doors, divorce after a 20 year marriage, and involvement in a horrific traffic accident that I was saved from only by the grace of God), my eyesight has degraded a little more, but not much. I can open a typical type sized hardback book (like the Harry Potter book 6 that my niece has graciously invited me to read while she’s at summer camp), and I have to hold it 16-18 inches from my face to clearly read it without glasses. After an hour or so of reading, I can move it in a little closer, to around 12 inches. I do this thinking that I can exercise my eyesight back into shape, but it’s just not going to work, according to others I’ve consulted with who have worn glasses for many years.

I find that nice bright light helps. That sounds obvious, I know, but I have become a big fan of lumens. I find the florescent curly-cue bulbs with the equivalent luminosity of a 100 watt incandescent are great to read by. They tend to “yellow out” a bit when they get older (and no, I don’t smoke), so I change my reading lamps out every 6 months or so, and use the older bulbs for other things. Not to mention that they use much less electricity, and seem to last forever. Direct sunlight is the best to read by, as I did this past weekend reading Ralph Keyes “The Courage to Write” outside while the youngest niece devoured her new Harry Potter Book.

Huge LCD computer monitors are great. Unfortunately, for now I am relegated to using an older 17″ CRT unit, but hey, it’s better than those 14 inch tortures I used to sit in front of. Tiger Direct has occasional deals on 19 to 21 inch widescreen LCDs, and I’ll probably order one of those as soon as I can swing it. I find myself spending more time these days in front of the monitor, writing this blog, as well as other projects. I think it would be a worthwhile investment. And Fritz would look awesome on one of those, too!

So what’s my point? There are many others who suffer much poorer eyesight than mine. I’m not complaining about it. I know it’s part of getting older. It’s just something I wanted to document. I’m so thankful for the eyesight that I still have. And if you are reading this without glasses, you have sharp vision, and you’re about to hit the 40 mark, don’t freak out. It may not even happen to you. If it already has, and you’re reading this, then you will probably agree that this font is way too tiny. So here’s my geek hint for you – assuming you’re using Firefox as your web browser, hold down Ctrl while spinning your mouse wheel. This will increase/decrease the text size to your liking. Might even work with internet explorer too… but I’m not sure.

But I guess my point is that we’re all getting older, and we change. Some of us go through huge changes in mid-life. Some changes we won’t like. But I’m a firm believer that we’re not given any challenge that He doesn’t feel is too great. So we learn, we adapt, and transform into something better than we were the day before. Some of us write about it.

It’s all a part of coming out of the ether.

The Other N8UX Page.

Guess I should link back to my “original” web pages. Since 1996 – or as my niece would say, “Back in the old days”.

The N8UX Web.