Whew. It's been a long time since I'd been to an ophthalmologist
(intsead of an optometrist) for a full eye exam. Fortunately, all
turned out well and there wasn't anything amiss. Nothing that's out of
the ordinary, anyway -- I have nearsightedness, astigmatism, and some
floaters, but I knew that already.

The only aggravating thing is that I need to make ANOTHER appointment
to get the actual prescription updated. I'm not sure why there was some
sort of mixup with our appointment, but we couldn't see Dr. H
yesterday. He was already gone by the time we got there.

So, since Mark needs a complex prescription, the doc that did examine
him and me said he was going to let Dr K, who is in a different office,
set up an appointment to do the refraction (by which I presume he meant
"tinker with lenses until we figure out what the best prescription
is"). for both of us.

That kinda ticks me off, because it takes for-freaking-ever for me to
get through that part of the visit now. With the astigmatism, I need a
whole lot of iterations of "Is this clearer or is this?" before I
narrow it down to the ideal vision correction. From previous
optometrist visits, I have gathered that I'm perceiving differences
down to the smallest possible change in refraction that they have to
offer.

Well, heck, if I notice a difference, I'm telling the doctor. With the
price of glasses these days, I'm not walking out that door with
anything less than the most accurate prescription they can give me.
Hence, that part of the exam takes eons.

At least I won't have to mess with those darn eyedrops next time
around. It's been a few years since I had those drops: the ones that
dilate the pupils, the yellow dye to test for glaucoma, and another
drop that I'm not sure what it did. But the upshot was that I couldn't
focus my eyes properly for a few hours, and BOY was that ever annoying
as all heck. I realize the drops are a necessary evil, but somehow that
doesn't make their after-effects any less irksome for the next few
hours until they wear off.

I have news for you: if I can't get an evening or Saturday appointment
with Dr. K, I'm not going to him. Now that I've had the regular medical
exam of my eyes, and all has checked out well, there's no particular
need for me to go to another opthalmalogist. I can go to an optometrist
if I like. I'm not missing more freakin' work time for this. I already
missed a half day yesterday, and then didn't get as much of an exam as
I was expecting after I'd set aside the afternoon for it.

Oh, and one more thing. Who here thinks it's borderline rude to play
games on one's cell phone WITH THE SOUND GOING when one is in a
doctor's waiting room? I think they were short-staffed yesterday,
because the wait was interminable (well over an hour for both Mark and
me). One of the other people in the room took out her cell phone and
started playing games on it. First she played bowling, from the sound
of it. (That would be the bowling-ball-hitting-pins noise, which was
repeated approximately every 5 seconds as she continued to play the
game.) Then she changed over to playing Pac-Man. I know because I'd
recognize that opening tune anywhere, as well as the noise when the
energized Pac-Man "eats" one of the monsters, and the sound of the
Pac-Man expiring after the monster catches it. It sounds exactly like
the arcade game. (Fortunately, the phone version of the game does NOT
emit that "wakka wakka wakka" noise when the Pac-Man consumes dots.)

Maybe I was just grumpy due to the lonnnnnnng wait, but I found it
inconsiderate for said person to be playing those games on her phone
without turning off the SOUND first. I was actually tired enough to
nap, and I did doze off in the waiting room chair for a while until the
Cell Phone Game Serenade started. That pretty well put an end to dozing
off. The games would have worked just fine with the phone in silent
mode. I should know: I have Pac-Man on MY phone, also, and I *only*
play it in silent mode.

But what do I know? A distressing number of people conduct themselves
as if it's their world and the rest of us just live on it.

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