Weird thing – eyes

Evolution?

Something equally weird: I have 2 hearing aids, fitted over 12 months ago. I used to have to keep them turned up, but over the last few months I have found the volume going up. I put them in and turn both down two steps, discovering that I can hear perfectly well. The only problem, is that they are set up with a high treble bias, which has completely ruined music for me, unless I take them out and increase the volume, which is not appreciated by passengers. The other day I stepped out of the car and left the music playing. Loud. Stones early blues. A neighbour eventually made me understand what he was saying: “Are you fekin deaf?” To which I replied, “Actually, yes.”

Some of my neighbours do not appreciate good music. Or me.

Yeah my prescription went up and down a few times and then settled down in my late 40s (52 now). I was short sighted (-1.25) and asked about laser surgery. Optician recommended that as I didn’t need reading glasses I just get one eye fixed leading to something they call monovision where distance is great (not as good as 2 fixed eyes) and close up is OK (not as good as no fixed eyes). Will probably need reading glasses eventually at which point will get the other eye fixed. For now though no bins at all – happy days. My prescription went from -1.0 right down to -2.0 before creeping back to -1.25 (the unfixed eye is still -1.25).

PM wrote:

” Now have my eyes checked yearly. Always have had a bad left eye, since birth. Right eye is super strong, not enough to get a HGV or PSV licence though. ”

T’other way round for me, Nolan. Right eye weak, left eye perfect. (when younger) When I joined the AAC, I went for Airframes & Engines Tech, plus Air Gunner and/or Observer. The AAC had smaller numbers of personnel and aircraft then: we had to duplicate trades and fields. There is an art to Air Gunnery, called Deflection Fire: basically the weapon has to be aimed at where the target will arrive, allowing for different velocities and direction of flights. The Gunner has to track that perceived flight and open fire at the right moment, ‘walking’ the target into the stream of fire*. This calls for absolute balance of both eyes: not necessarily 20/20 vision in each eye, but equal balance in both eyes, providing that there is no short- or long-sight. Mine were tested by an RAMC Ophthalmologist and he found that one of the tiny focussing muscles was paralysed, probably from birth, and gave poor focus, unbalancing my vision and losing me 2 further trades. (And more money!) I had already discovered there was a problem in basic training on the Ranges, when I could not hit a target accurately firing right handed, so switched to left and found that I was eventually a 1,000 yard shot. I became good at this and went to Bisley 3 times, with some success.

In the last 3 years, successive eye tests have reported that my cataracts are growing only very slowly. I stopped going to Specsavers 4 years ago when they decided to extend all kinds of expensive “offers”. I went to a local independent Optician and Ophthalmologist, who told me that I have no serious problem and should wait until it gets bad enough to A-restrict vision and B- the NHS can do what is needed.

*Stream of fire never better demonstrated than by NAAFI manager John Leake, who shot down an Argie Skyhawk from the deck of HMS Ardent. His story is almost unbelievable:

http://tinyurl.com/yb72pdmr

Ardent was attacked by the Argies so seriously that it had to be abandoned, but John left the ship with the rest of the ship’s company who survived. Unfortunately, his story ended sadly.