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10/19/2001 Entry: "I can see !"
I went for my first eye exam in over 14 years, and I almost ended up getting killed by it. Near the end of the exam, the doc pops some drops in my eyes for a glycoma test He gives me some goofy cardboard sun glasses and tells me my eyes are going to be really sensitve to the light. Yeh right. I live across the street. I immediately put them to use them as a bookmark for the book I'd been reading. He says it'll take about an hour for my eyes to get back to normal.
So after the exam is over, I stop for some coffee and see I can't make out the denomination of the bills. I probably ended up spending $20 for a mocha. I notice I can't really read anything, but it's only two blocks to my apartment, so I should be OK. There aren't any cars around so I start to cross the street. Halfway across the street I walk out of the shade from the high rises around me and into the sun. Bamm - My eyes clamp shut, and I nearly fall down, and I stop in the middle of the street. Eventually I get to the medium and am able to squint enough to make out the wallk/don't walk sign. When it switches to walk, I make it across the street. The rest of the trip seems extremely long, with my vision cut down to one squinting eye, and my hand over my eyes to block out the sun. I duck into the shade at every oppurtunity. I feel like Gollum. Once I get in the apartment, I remember the stupid cardboard sunglasses, oh well.
But by that time, I can't read anything. I try to call the office to tell them I'm going to be out until the drops wear off, but I can't see the digits on the phone, much less the display. I try to send an e-mail, but I can't see the keys or the display. So I start freaking out, wondering if I burned out my eyes by not wearing the stupid glasses. Eventually my vision clears up enough so I can see the keyboard but not the display, so I send out a e-mail to folks at work. I'm sure they're having a good chuckle over my situation. It's chock full of typos.
So I spend an hour or so basically not going anything because I can't read or use the computer or even make out anything on TV. I put on a CD and listen to some music. I do some laundry and the dishes. I stop doing the dishes when I almost topple them all over the floor.
Things are almost back to normal now. I can see the monitor, but it's still sort of fuzzy. It's good enough so I can type this entry at least. I can probably drive now without killing myself or anyone. Hopefully by the time I get in the office everything will be back to normal.
Lessons for today is "schedule eye exams for late in the day", and "wear the %#^@%^# goofy glasses !"
Oh yeh, by the way, I failed the exam - I'm getting my glasses next week.
