From the keyboard of Dr Jan

From the The Cassell Dictionary of Slang by Jonathon Green:

bins/binns n.¹ [1930s+] 1 glasses, spectacles. 2 binoculars. 3 the eyes. [abbr. SE binoculars]

I’m pleased to report that I’m the proud owner of a new pair of spectacles.

I booked an appointment at the shiny new Harefield Opticians. This is a business run by a husband and wife team, and from my experiences, the emphasis is firmly on customer service. Excuse me if I start sounding like a press release, but I was very impressed

David performed the eye test with an extremely well equipped and high-tech setup. For the first time ever I had the back of my eyes photographed, which was fascinating.

Normally the one thing I hate about eye tests is when a jet of air is blasted in to your eye to ‘test the pressure’ (I’m not entirely sure exactly what that phrase means in this context), but David has a nifty gadget which means he doesn’t need to do that. Instead the only sensation I had was of my eye lashes being brushed, which is far more pleasant

Historically, I’ve been short-sighted, which means my eye muscles are working too hard and over-focussing. The result of this is that I can see things close to me very clearly, but the further away things are, the less clear they are.

As most people age, their eye muscles become weaker, which means they can’t focus as well as they used to. This is long-sightedness, which means things far away are clear, it’s close-up viewing which is difficult. Hence people of a certain age holding books and magazines at arm’s length in a effort to read them.

So, predictably, my eye muscles are weakening with age which means that my sight is actually getting better. My previous glasses had too strong a prescription for the current condition of my eyes, which made my eyes tired more quickly and which meant that often I was looking over or under the lenses because it was more comfortable.

My new glasses are somewhat more high-tech than the previous pair. They have what are known as ‘anti-fatigue’ lenses, which, as far as I can work out, means they are very slightly vari-focal. Looking through the main part of the lenses is perfect for most things, but looking through the bottom of the lenses makes focussing on reading material much easier.

So now I can tilt my head until I get a clear view To be honest, it just happens automatically most of the time.

The other advantage of my new glasses is that they are frameless and the arms are made of very lightweight titanium. They are so light and comfortable that it’s quite difficult to know that you’re wearing them most of the time.

Everything about my experience with Harefield Opticians was excellent, from the first friendly greeting, to the final fitting of the finished glasses.

During my visit, I noticed that they had this very blog showing on one of the computers! That was unexpected!

All in all heartily recommended for anyone either in the area, or likely to visit at least once a year