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Things that go bump in the night

Image: © Flexflex | Dreamstime.com

Image: © Flexflex | Dreamstime.com

It has been a windy start to 2012 and that had nothing whatsoever to do with menopause or festive over-indulgence. No indeed. Rather it was a case of strengthening south-westerlies celebrating the New Year by seeking to raise the roof. The force was enough to wake me and send me scuttling around the house to close banging doors at some unearthly hour of the morning.

Scarcely was I back in slumberland when a loud crash woke me yet again. After the initial shock of the second coming, I figured what ever had fallen was now on the floor somewhere about the house and there was nothing to be gained by getting out of bed to investigate before morning.

Curiously, dawn’s early light revealed the source of the crash – a pile of law books, property of a certain solicitor of my acquaintance somehow found their way from the centre of a good mahogany table to the middle of the floor in the hall. It’s the kind of event you wouldn’t want to dwell on too much on a night when you’re alone in the house.

Still, it seems I wasn’t the only one to experience unusual nocturnal events on said evening although in the other case the moving objects were silent balloons that navigated a complex course through someone’s house to settle in the early hours on the ceiling of the master en suite.

Clearly, if this continues, it augurs for winds of change in 2012.

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Things ain’t what they used to be

These past few weeks I have had to take a break from blogging to catch up with some research for another project. But, as you know, skincare products are never too far from my mind so you won’t be surprised to hear that I found myself curiously drawn to ads for exotic products of yesteryear. Take this one for example, which I found advertised, in our national newspaper of record circa 1923. The product in question is Budden’s S.R. Skin Ointment which the advertiser claims:

“will cure itching after one application; destroys every form of eczema; heals all wounds and sores; acts like a charm on bad legs; is infallible for piles; prevents cuts from festering; will cure ringworm in a few days; removes the most obstinate eruption, and scurvy.”

The question I have, dear reader, is why is this product no longer available? Perhaps it’s the lack of anti-aging ingredients? Or maybe it IS still available. According to the ad it was stocked in Dublin by Mr Corcoran on Talbot Street and by Hayes Conyngham Robinson on Grafton Street.  Personally speaking, I’d trade a wrinkle for something that would act like a charm on my bad legs. Well, wouldn’t you?

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Varifocals – One Week On

Well, I got them – the varifocals I blogged about the other day – and they proved surprisingly easy to get used to. The only problems I encountered were in the first hour of wearing them when viewing anything in the distance was fine, but a mix of distance and close – in shops, for example – gave me the sensation of vertigo. It was a temporary blip: after an hour of wearing the varifocals, I adjusted  and have not had any problems since.

Reading, however, is slightly weird. Mostly, books are fine but I’ve had some odd sensations reading  iPhone and Kindle screens both of which take on a parallelogram shape. Apparently this is a common experience that I should be able to rectify by moving my head so that my nose is pointed straight at what I am reading. Sounds easy, but I am still struggling. And I’m definitely reading the computer screen using the distance part of the lens because I can’t read anything online with the reading part – even though my plain old reading glasses seemed to work fine. Distance up and down the nose may be involved here but the mechanics of that are beyond me.

Anyway, there I am – chanelled from ear to nose – and with a definite fiftysomething air.

One comment   Eyes, Menopause

Vision and Vanity – Midlife Sight Dilemmas

Midlife definitely caught up with me yesterday. I’ve just been prescribed my first pair of varifocals. What started out as an annual checkup because of a family history of glaucoma ended up with a prescription for new specs.

I didn’t see it coming, if you’ll pardon the pun. I also didn’t expect that varifocal lenses would be so expensive. And, I’m confused.

Apparently there’s no change in my regular distance prescription but I was shocked to realise that my regular specs – which I wear all the time – have been making it significantly more difficult to read text –  a problem because I read a lot. Perhaps it explains why I’ve been getting so tired reading recently.

In fact, I discovered that taking my glasses off makes text marginally clearer. But, sadly, according to my optician, that doesn’t mean I don’t need specs for reading, it just means I need different ones.

So, new specs must be purchased. But should they be reading specs? Or should they be varifocals?

And then there’s the sunglasses dilemma. I love to read outdoors and own several pairs of prescription sunglasses so these, too, will need to be upgraded. Should I convert a pair of sunnies to reading sunnies and keep another pair for distance? Or should I convert to varifocals?

Potentially I could have 4 different pairs of specs going on here – and that’s on top of my exisiting ‘distance’ specs which are perfectly fine except that I shouldn’t be using them for reading.

As if all that weren’t enough to think about,  I could also opt for ‘transitions – that’s those lenses that adjust to the light butI tried these before and didn’t like them so I’m not going there again despite what I’m told about the technology having moved on a bit in the last twenty years or so.

In the end, I put down a deposit on new varifocals  and am hoping I can learn to live with them.  I also hope I won’t fall down the stairs while wearing them. If I survive, and save enough to be able to afford them, I’ll also upgrade the sunnies in due course.

Meanwhile, I’m getting the new varifocals next week.

Wish me luck with them.

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Peri-Menopause and the Ten-Minute Period

Image: istockphoto.com © matka_Wariatka

Yes. Really. Periods are definitely getting shorter. The last two lasted only a day and I’d have scarcely noticed them at all if it hadn’t been for the odd twinge in the day or two prior to the main event. There are obvious benefits to this new state of affairs – not least the money I am saving on supplies. It makes a pleasant change to no longer attract strange looks in the supermarket when purchasing every conceivable size of tampon and towel. Better still, moods are stabilising and it’s surprising how good it feels not to suffer the highs and lows. Anxiety levels are lower. Tears forgotten. Life is for living in the moment. You catch my drift. The only downside is that joints are creaking and, for that, I’m going back to Pilates which means the cash I’m saving can be spent with abandon on the mid-life wardrobe. Of which more, next time.

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