Some Good News and Much Gratitude

First, let me say thanks to all who have offered support and suggestions during this relatively minor tribulation. As lucky as I am overall, kind words during this upsetting period mean a lot.

In good news, my four Dalmatian mollies are still alive, a miracle. Let’s hope the water treatment I’m planning to administer doesn’t kill them. Chemicals automatically lethal to the now extinct loaches should be delivered today.

(and the product arrived, the first of five daily doses given)

A Desolate Sight (5 Tetra Lifeguard Tabs at L and R)

I am happy that my smaller tank remains clear, despite the fact my guppies (all deceased, I am sad to report) from that same ill-fated pet store visit spent time there before being moved. You see, I thought the high speed water flow in the smaller tank overcame one of those three tiny fish right away, the reason I relocated them that very first night.

It’s a mystery if ich or something else killed off the one who survived the longest. That guppy was so small and fast I couldn’t get a good look at its scales. And I didn’t have the heart for a postmortem examination.

Their size alone should have kept me from letting the sales gal talk me into them. ~sigh~ That albino coloration was such a pretty shade of orange. And guppies always seemed so hardy in past.

Live and learn.

On the topic of ‘looking’, my eyeglasses have indeed been fixed. As last fall, the man crafted what he needed from spare parts using a tiny dental drill bit. I spent a total of two hours’ time, an entire Chevy Volt battery charge, three tenths of a gallon of gasoline (the cold weather lowered the battery’s range), and $45.15 (US) paid to Specialeyes, Inc.

It’s not like the lenses can be popped into different frames, so I consider all that well worthwhile considering the hundreds spent on filling this prescription last autumn.

On that note, both failures occurred after the lenses were inserted. So I have a new theory as to why. Those young gals working at the Sam’s Club optical department may well have never handled vintage frames. Their complex inner workings might have received undue stress.

For all I know, old aluminum could weaken over the decades, too. All I can say for sure is that long ago I took my recent eBay purchase to an optician who collected antique eyeglasses. In fact, the enthusiast refitted a newer set of very old nose pads for me back then.

Unfortunately for me, Woody retired from the business.

The only problem remaining is that while this craftsman worked great magic yesterday, he tightened the frames to the point they don’t fit my slightly asymmetric face quite right. I didn’t realize this until almost home because it was disorienting switching from a really outdated optical prescription back to new. Last night I found myself fiddling with their fit to optimize clarity.

The Specialeyes, Inc. artist doesn’t impress me as someone who knows or cares how to make an organic fit. During both visits he acted almost like I didn’t exist until showing mild enthusiasm after his success, and sharing some obscure facts in that regard and the optical business in general.

Question of the day is, do I take them to Sam’s Club Optical or somewhere else?

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