January 27, 2000
Dear Everyone:
Ever have one of those days when the “slings and
arrows of outrageous fortune” just get
completely out of control?
One of those days when the inanimate objects that generally nip
at your ankles suddenly become diabolically animated and go for your
jugular?
Well, “Jeannie” was having one of those days last
Saturday when I showed up at her place.
Even the cat was hiding under the desk.
(If you want gory details, talk to “Jeannie”.)
Nevertheless, she rallied her forces and accompanied me up to
“Oakley” to pick out frames for three new pairs of eyeglasses.
Three pairs because I need one pair of progressive
lenses for everyday; one pair of progressives for sunglasses; and one
pair with only the reading prescription for use when working on the
computer. If you try to use
a computer while wearing progressive lenses, you keep tilting your head
back to view the screen through the lower part of the lens.
In no time at all, you have an aching neck.
This is not ergonomically correct.
And, of course, the reason for going all the way up
to “Oakley” is because that’s where Cousin “Perry” has his
optician’s office.
By the way, for those of you have actually seen Cousin “Perry’s”
office, he’s redecorated recently.
New countertops, freshly painted walls, some new frame holders,
and the same old rubber plant that his first wife, “Darlene”, gave him
way back when he got started.
Our original plan was to pick out some frames, then
leave them with “Perry” to process while we went somewhere for brunch.
It didn’t work out quite that way because “Perry” wasn’t very
busy when we arrived (there are usually a lot of people coming and
going) and got started on my glasses as soon as we had picked out the
first frames. Then his first
wife, “Darlene”, actually stopped by the shop to show something to
“Perry”; and we ended up chatting with her until “Perry” had finished
all three pairs of glasses.
So brunch ended up being lunch instead.
As for the glasses themselves, “Jeannie” picked out
three excellent frames, especially the ones for the everyday pair that I
wear 90% of the time. The
frames for these are called “Flexon”,
and they are incredibly lightweight.
They are made with a
titanium based shape
memory alloy that is 25% lighter than conventional metals.
In fact, Flexon frames are even lighter than plastic ones.
And they’re better fitting because the metal “remembers” its
shape and doesn’t stretch and slide down your nose the way the others
do.
So what if they retail for around $438?
They’re so comfortable, they’re worth it.
(Not that I paid retail; “Perry” always gives us a break on the
price, which is another reason for travelling to “Oakley”.)
So, if you wear glasses a lot of the time, consider getting
Flexon frames. If you can’t
find any, go see Cousin “Perry”.
In other news…
Our project to identify as many boxes that are
eligible for destruction is currently sitting dead in the water.
The consulting firm hasn’t sent us any new data files since last
Friday. No new data, nothing
for me to import into the system and then extract for new reports.
Our deadline is to get everything out to the owners by January 31st.
And we’re looking at close to 200,000 boxes yet to be updated.
What this probably means is that we’ll be working
late every day and the weekend to try and meet the deadline, once we get
the necessary files. This
could eat considerably into watching the
Super Bowl this
Sunday. Not that I watch the
game; I don’t even know which teams will be playing.
But I like to watch some of the commercials.
Maybe, I could
tape
the whole thing, then fast-forward through all the football and just
slow down for the commercial breaks.
It would make a nice change from the usual, which
is the other way around, wouldn’t it?
Love, as always,
Pete
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