I is also an engineer (if you look at my academic qualifications) but I never practiced, preferring computers, systems and business organisation.
Re eye sight problems, in my view if one has a cataract forming ie the degrading of the lens such that it discolours the image, reduces clear vision such that it becomes frustrating to read captions in art galleries, that frequently changing the lens prescription in the glasses for little or short lived benefit.
In my view if I had known of the capabilities of cataract surgery when I was about 40 years old when accomodation of focussing started to become reduced I would have opted for a cataract op. I would go for a single focal length insert which would correct any astigmatism problems. I would then be able to have a relatively simple vario focus lens providing the correction for long, medium and close up viewing in a pair of glasses that would require changing primarily for wear of the frames.
I found that if one is very myopic you can be become very picky in getting things in focus and also in other things in life (eg hifi cameras etc). Once the eyes have been corrected you do not become less picky or more tolerant, you still have the same attitudes.
However I have adopted some habits of the long sighted in that I can tolerate dirty glasses as I can focus way outside the position of the len. When I was a genuine myop it was all to easy to focus on the dirt on the lens. Hence always having clean lenses.
Interesting points. I am long sighted with major astigmatism. Since I turned 55 I have used varifocal spectacles. I see no need for laser surgery, but it is good to know that if I ever develop cataracts then lens replacement looks like s good option.
I agree that the long sighted are tolerant of dirty lenses!
I notice that itās getting a pain to select albums on the NDXā¦ squint from about 4ft away and I can JUST make things out. I need a significantly bigger display. This might end up the biggest single reason forcing me to start using the NAIM app
btwā¦ humorous asideā¦ so, a few weeks ago, I thought Iād give the app a try, I mean with the new generation products I might have to go that way. I mean I was sat on the settee just a few yards away from the NDX but I thought letās give it a try anyway. I already had it installed on a suitable tablet so I started the app, detected the NDX and weāre off. So I selected an album and it starts playing fine. Emulating being a typical lazy table/phone user I was using the buttons on the app to play with the volume level. Allās working fine. I then decide to turn the volume up a bit higher at the start of a particular track and then the volume suddenly goes out of control bonkers!! It wonāt stop getting louder and louder!! Panic all round. I lunged across the floor and hit Mute on the SN2 whilst trying to get the volume down on the app. Everytime I push it down on the app the darn knob carries on turning it louder. In the end I had to turn the tablet off before I could get control of the volume knob. Iāve now gone back to walking the few yards across the room to manually change album/alter the volume.
Today I received from my company pension fund, the āHey you old ***, you hit 65 in Juneā¦wotcha gonna do, keep working or take the money and run?ā letter.
Money!! You mean youāre going to actually have some money when you retire? Iāve started warning SWMBO that we need to plan for the worse. No more shopping at Waitrose
We have a very nice Waitrose 5 minutes walk away. However my Dearly Beloved wants to move when she finally retires. I have already pointed out that one of her chosen locations is 40 miles from Waitrose and 60 from the Mercedes dealerā¦her retort was at least thereās a good Air Ambulance service for when I pop my clogs!
Great posts, thanks - which Iāll have to come back to digest as I donāt have time to read in detail right now.
@Annalogg, you were indeed the catalyst because it was my responding to you in the other thread that gave me the idea of raising here.
@mikehughescq, I am interested in cataract surgery because in terms of replacement lenses it is the same as what I am contemplating, and I believe that even if I donāt elect for anything now I likely will end up sooner or later. Also, you suggest that anecdotal evidence will be skewed towards success stories. If that was as presented by the purveyors of eye surgery services I would agree, but on a forum such as this, with a pseudo-random cross-section of people, perhaps slewed towards those with more disposable income than the average population, and therefore perhaps with greater resources to have considered having expensive elective surgery, wouldnāt it be just as likely to bring out bad experiences and tales of woe? What I am seeking is whatever information I can get, hard facts and anecdotal, to provide balance. Anecdotal is fine as long as first hand, whether the individual or someone with close and direct personal knowledge of someoneās experience (e.g. a partner or parent/child, rather than a friend of a friend.
@Innocent_Bystander there will always be a bias in this area given that various cases which have gone horribly wrong get settled for a fair old amount of money and a non-disclosure agreement.
Bear in mind that most people who have surgery which fails donāt sue. Malcolm Gladwell observed in Blink that patients file lawsuits because theyāve been harmed by shoddy medical care and something else happens to them.
A few without NDAs have made the press but theyāre equally unrepresentative to be fair. Horror stories rather than the more representative ājust didnāt workā or similar.
Consequently, thereās literally only one anecdote to be heard. People who had a bad experience but didnāt sue are of course not bound by NDAs but nor do they tend to come online and talk about it.
Iāve just been corrected by two eye researchers by the way. They estimate the success rate is closer to 65% not 70% as I said earlier. At least another 5 years to go before conclusions can definitively be drawn though. Thatās based on those cases which come into the NHS with an eye issue within 25 years of such surgery where people donāt immediately make an association (but one is subsequently made) and those where there is an immediate association.
Nevertheless youāll do well to find anyone claiming less than 95% success rate and equally well to square that with the āimprovementā claim.
I was pleased to see that you fully understand that 20/20 vision is nothing to shout out about. Itās just average vision.
