Screw driving, I want to be able to thread needles again

Tomorrow I'm off to see the ophthalmologist. As usual, given my age and previous comments made at the more-or-less annual eye exam, I'm wondering if this will be The Year of Cataract Surgery. Probably not. The last couple of eye exams I've gotten told, yes, you have cataracts but, no, we're not going to do any slicing of eyeballs yet. As long as my vision is still correctable with glasses, the eye doctor is not going to get out the razor blade and crochet hook, or its modern equivalent, to do any couching. Cataract surgery goes back at least to the Middle Ages, as in the days of Richard the Lionhearted and Robin Hood (aka the 12th century) and that is basically what they used to do: slice into the eye and use the a little tiny crochet-type hook to fish the cataracts out. There were "surgeons" who wandered the countryside, moving from village to village, specializing only in eye surgery. I have no clue how effective it was, but it must have beat going totally blind because the surgeons managed to make a living doing it. I'm told the technique has changed a bit in recent decades -- among other things, the cataracts get broken up and sucked out instead of being snared like the world's tiniest frisbees -- but I kind of like that crochet hook image.

I do know that when I see the ophthalmologist this time I'm going to tell her I have one request if she seems to think tweaking the prescription for the glasses will do the trick for another year or two. I messed up last time. She laid it on thick about making sure I had a prescription that helped with driving, made sure I could see really well behind the wheel. Screw that.

I really don't care if I'm seeing multiple yellow lines down the middle of the highway or if the traffic signs are a blur. Traffic is so thin around here that I'm not at much risk of running into anyone else even if I drive with no glasses at all. I'm just barely over the line for legally needing glasses for driving to begin with; the ability to see better when behind the wheel is not on my list of concerns.

No, this time around I'm bringing a needle and thread with me. I figured out a little too late that the eye doctor spent so much time worrying about my distance vision she didn't tweak the up close stuff. I'm not worried at all about being able to see oncoming logging trucks a mile away; what I want to see clearly is the eye on a needle that's right in front of me. If I get told a certain combination is good for a new prescription, I plan to test it by getting out the sewing gear.