Unbelievable...

Those who have been following my eyeglasses/contacts saga are going to love this...

Now I don't have either glasses or contacts.

Yeah, so last week I had my contacts follow up... I thought I was having some trouble with them, but the doctor told me I was seeing perfectly and that he just thought they were irritating me. He told me I'd either have to get try to get used to them or maybe I'm just one of those people who'll never like wearing contacts. He told me to try to wear them for another week. Meanwhile I also had a complaint about my glasses... I could see fairly well out of them, but my left eye kept getting this strained ache in it whenever I wore them. I figured that couldn't be right. So I mentioned this last week and the doctor told me to make an appointment to have it looked at this Monday, because that's when he'd be there again (I went to America's Best (ahem worst), by the way). He never mentioned once anything about having to see him for the contacts again. He said they were sitting on the eyes right and I was seeing 20/20 out of them. What else is there to say? Shouldn't the rest be up to me whether I can get used to them and want to keep wearing them?

Anyway, I went back today for the glasses problem, and had a different doctor than the last time so he didn't know anything about what went on with the contacts, and I didn't know there was any further problem so I didn't mention it. The prescription for my left lens was changed, so I handed over both my pairs of glasses to be remade, thinking that I'd be able to wear my contacts during the week that that would take. Well at least one of my contacts is a 2 week disposable (the right one for my astigmatism is a monthly one) , and it had been 2 weeks, so I approached them about buying a box, and I was told that the doctor didn't sign off on the contacts follow up so I couldn't be sold any contacts. Trying to explain that the doctor never mentioned me having to see him again for the contacts didn't do any good. The only thing that could be done was to order another trial pair (another week to go by) and then have another follow up (another week later). So I'm sure I was red faced with anger as I said fine and stormed out. I'm pretty calm most of the time, but I'm reaching my limit with this place. I've already decided that once I finally get this all sorted out, I'm never going back there again.

I guess you get what you pay for, as the saying goes. And they're not even really as cheap as they advertise anyway, not if your glasses are anything other than basic single vision lenses. Oh, my right eye has an astigmatism... no longer am I eligible for the 2 pairs for 69.99. No, then I have to pay almost $300. None of which you know, until you are being asked to pay. I didn't even know I had an astigmatism before that. Oh and they say that you can get contacts for as low as $12.49 a box (or something close to that) but what they don't tell you is that to get that price, you have to buy a year's worth of boxes at once, which ends up being at least $100 or more depending on you type/brand of contacts.

So I'll have to squint and suffer through headaches for the next week. Hopefully this will be the last time I have to see the doctor again. This is getting so ridiculous. And you see a different doctor every time you go in there, so they never know what the other did, and you end up having to explain everything 100 times.

*end of rant*

My Vision Saga Continues...

Today, I had my follow up appointment for my contacts... and I had some complaints ready. I actually liked the contacts, they were comfortable most of the the time and didn't bother me to have in my eye. I liked not having to wear glasses and the absence of reflections on the lenses. But the most important thing was lacking. I couldn't see all that much better, which was the whole point. Same thing with my new glasses too. So anyway, I told the doctor all this, and she's a different one than I had the first time. After doing some testing, it was concluded that the original prescription wasn't right (which I'd basically figured out myself) but she thinks that I have a slight astigmatism in my right eye. This would really explain a lot since sometimes I thought that the new prescription was okay, and then other times it seemed blurry or out of focus.

Unfortunately, they didn't have the new prescription in stock and had to order it. So I have to wait another week to possibly see any better. I'm just hoping that I won't get charged anything to get my glasses redone with the new prescription. I mean, it isn't my fault that it was wrong the first time. I'm quite irritated with the whole thing by now. Thankfully my eyes aren't so bad that I can't do anything without my glasses, but they do feel strained quickly and I get headaches especially if I try reading without them (one of my favorite things to do!). :( I feel bad, though, because I'm not getting a whole lot of new work done. I'm working on a commission (slowly) and I want to start a Halloween themed painting soon after I'm done. I have a neat idea for that! I even have a little concept sketch done for it. :)

I did manage to finish a necklace a couple days ago! It matches the black bracelet I made before. And this one is for SALE! :) It is available in my Etsy shop HERE! I'm planning to make another bracelet to sell too eventually. It is a fun new hobby of mine! It becomes kind of addicting!

Oh, and I have 2 poster size prints for auction on ebay! They are of "The Secret Temple" and "Darkest Night"! They only have 2 days left though. Sorry for the late notice! Check those out HERE. They start at $9.99 and have free shipping! :)

I also recently wrote a little tutorial about watercolor textures. You can view the tutorial on my website. It feature a few ways of creating texture that aren't mentioned quite as often as some others and are a little more controllable. I hope some may find it helpful!

Two Artbooks for Auction

I have two slightly cosmetically challenged copies of my artbook for auction on ebay! They each have minor flaws, that are described in detail in the auctions, and are starting at more than half their normal price! View the auctions HERE. They are the two under $40.

In other news, I got my new scanner today and it works wonderfully and is super fast! So I'm very happy with that. I got a Canon 8800F.

I also got a trial pair of contacts and one of my new pairs of glasses (the other wasn't in yet). I'm having a bit of trouble adjusting to my new prescriptions. I got a terrible headache yesterday from switching from my glasses to my contacts; the kind of headache that feels like a nail is being driven into your skull. Today has been a little better with the contacts. I think I may be starting to get used to them. I'm getting the hang of getting them in an out of my eyes too, which I only really had trouble with the first day. I have a follow up appointment on Saturday, so I hope that I've adjusted more by then. Otherwise, maybe the prescription isn't right.