Astigmatism - A Revelation

I have recently discovered that I have astigmatism and there is nothing really revelational about that except to reveal that my local optician could not fully explain its impact to the patient (me).  Leaving the patient to discover for himself.

It was, as a teenager and electronics student, that I discovered that I was colour-blind (Discrete electronic components use colour to distinguish their value) and, unfortunately, it could have been a career-changing event if I had not seriously adapted to it (I say unfortunately, because my chosen career was a significant error). 

A decade later, a blood vessel ruptured behind the retina causing a visit to the local Emergency Room, and the additional diagnosis of macular degeneration … being a teaching hospital I immediately became the centre of study for a long time, even though, today, I remain curious that the ruptured blood vessel was responsible for the ARMD.  But I digress.  After all, later in life I earned a pilot license that required special eye tests.

Later, in my middle age, a routine medical examination caused my GP to mention the signs of cataracts, but that I was not to worry as it would be a long time before it was serious … so I took him at his word … and forgot about it ... until I met my favourite opthalmologist in China.

About five years ago, my new GP, as a result of testing poorly with the standard eye chart, advised me to visit an optician.  This produced a prescription for glasses and no verbal consultation.  There was no mention of cataracts or anything else, just the advice to buy prescription glasses.  I was already buying off-the-shelf reading glasses and, thus, assumed that the complicated magnification formulae that was written down was intended to simply assist my ability to read … so I bought a new pair of reading glasses … and continued with my life (as they say).

Last year, to cut a long story short, I had cataract surgery, which required a follow-up examination.  It is here that the word ‘astigmatism’ was first mentioned, with a strong warning that I should not drive a car.

You may. now, understand why I use the word revelation.  Apparently, I was, slightly, but legally blind and had been for some time !

I collected my new prescription glasses last week, and with the benefit of Wikipedia studies, I realized that opticians, who were personally unaffected with astigmatism, were at an important disadvantage in describing the effects to a patient.

You see, just as my brain had adjusted to colour-blindness in being able to see correctly the traffic lights or, more importantly, the difference at night between the main runway and taxiway lights, my brain had adjusted the astigmatic field of view.  My brain was telling me that everything that it could see was perfect and normal when in fact, it was not, and needed prescription lenses to show the brain the correct signals from the retina. 

	Sphere	Cylinder	Axis	Prism	Base	Add	PD
OD	0.00	-1.50	90			2.25
OS	0.00	-1.75	84			2.25

Theoretically, all objects in my field of view, for one reason or another, were slightly distorted and, therefore, each letter on the standard eye chart (for example) had left and right fuzziness, especially when I moved my head around, because both the cylinder and axis is different in both eyes.

Now, for the first time in decades, my field of view is not only wider but clearer, and my brain is still trying to adjust … when I remember to wear the glasses.   Hopefully, dear readers, this essay will create some thoughtful attention regarding visits to a skilled optician. 

Environment 2 - Waste Management

Initially, I had titled this post, ‘Garbage’, but then I decided that the word meant worthless.  The question must be, ‘Is the material that we discard really worthless or, just, waste that we seem unable to convert into something useful?’

I doubt if there is anyone who does not believe that we must manage our waste more diligently, but are we?

Recently, a local NGO distributed blue, intelligently illustrated, collection bags to every household to encourage people to set aside recyclable items, i.e., paper, plastic, glass, and metal.  This was a good idea, but I do not belief that it is sufficient to change bad habits.  Perhaps, people creep stealthily to the communal garbage containers in the middle of the night ... I don’t know, because I never see them (Then, I guess that they never see me, either).  I did notice one person at the local supermarket the other day who considered it a useful shopping bag.

What else can we do?  A recent TV programme about poorly packaged goods, discussed waste disposal, and mentioned something that I must convey to you (The idea for this post).  An interview with the supervisor of a waste-sorting facility stated, with examples, that although they are quite capable of sorting glass from metal, etc.,  if any of these individual materials are stuck together, e.g., paper to glass, or plastic to metal, they can not separate and, therefore (and here’s the revelation), all these items are sent to the main waste-disposal dump.  During the TV interview, cameras showed that the majority of the items appeared not to be destined for recycling.

Good intentions, badly managed ... at what cost?