New vision

For the first time in a few years I can see clearly.  No more blurry, out of focus and hazy world, it is back to 20/20 vision thanks to a new pair of glasses.  I could not believe the difference they have made which is a little worrying.  It just goes to show that one’s eyesight can degenerate very slowly.  I certainly think that if it were not for my photography, especially when editing images, I would not have noticed or be bothered by it.  Yet for a while I have been frustrated at the lack of sharpness and detail especially towards the end of the day.  It is going to be interesting to see how my newly restored vision will affect my fieldwork, hopefully it will be of benefit.  It has meant that I have had to put up with a headache all day but that is a small price to pay.

So I am now the proud owner of two pairs of glasses, one for distance the other reading.  What has surprised me is where one stops and the other takes over from with regard to distance.  I was expecting my reading glasses to be of more benefit for working at my computer but it turns out the distance glasses are slightly better.  The good thing about my reading glasses is that I can now read a book more easily and do not have to take my glasses off as before.  It is time to dig my Kindle out as I love reading and I am behind, I should be on at least the second book in the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy series by now.  As it stands I am staring at the front cover of the first book, sorry Douglas I promise to complete my annual pilgrimage this year without fail.

Douglas Adams is one of my hero’s who I will never have the pleasure of meeting.  The guy is or was a creative genius that gave us Arther Dent, Zaphod and the Babel fish and we cannot forget the Ban Galatic Gargle Blaster.  My year would be incomplete without reading HHGTTG, it gives one such a fresh perspective on Life, The Universe & Everything.  Sorry I could not resist that one.  I’d love to be Arthur Dent but without all the hang-ups and go and adventure around the universe with an alien from the planet Beetletjuice.  Mind you Arthur Dent was all about hang-ups so it might not be the same.  I guess that is were my photography comes in, exploring this colourful world that surrounds me, have not spotted any aliens yet though!

I would have also liked to meet Charlie Chaplin, Sir Winston Churchill and Ayrton Senna to name three.  Each one for different reasons with a host of questions to ask after I had greeted them with a warm hearty handshake and a nod of respect.  Yes I know it is all well and good admiring famous people who you have never meet or never will and there are a few people with whom I have had the pleasure to share my life with who I do.  This is not a complete list by the way but in one way or another I owe the following people a huge debt of gratitude.  The first is my Dad, for a long time a distant and silent partner in my life as he worked all the hours to provide for his family.  Something he did with determination, respect and values that I now hold true.  Then there are two people without which I would not have been where I am today, two work colleagues who shared the same values as my father and who had a passion for fun and mischief unlike a lot of people I knew.  The two people are Jim West and Alan Williams who gave me an opportunity to develop and grow as an individual.  Who taught me that fun and mischief in the work place are just as important as rules and regulations!  I have sadly lost touch with both of them but this is something I wish to fix shortly.  Then there is possibly the person whom I gave the most trouble to and pushed the emotional boundaries the hardest, my mum.  It was an honour to be part of her life especially the last few months.  Naturally there are a lot more to add to this list but I just felt they deserve a mention now as they are in my thoughts.

So on to tomorrow, Sunday is my last day off and judging by reports may be for sometime so I think I might take my new glasses out with the camera and see how the pair gets on.  It means recalibrating my cameras viewfinder but that should be the work of a moment.  Not sure where to go yet it all depends on what time I get up!

Well that is all for now, until the next time take care.

Si x