Dec 23, 2012- Hey We're Still Here

Yet another apocalypse has come and gone.  The Mayan Calendar will no longer be a concern.

I'm not so sure I'll be renewing my NRA membership when it comes up.  Their answer to school shootings is to post an armed guard at each and every school.

School budgets are cut to the bone now, so how many teachers will lose their jobs to make room for this armed guard job?  Making for bigger classes, and bigger body counts when the massacres do happen.  Because the armed guard will be part of the body count.  Anybody who's watched any action movie knows that the security guard always gets it.

As I understand it, Sandy Hook had a pretty good security system in place.  You had to be buzzed in.  I am pretty sure they did not buzz in a Bushmaster-toting guy with a ski mask.  He shot his way in.  Seems to me, the answer might be bullet proof glass or entry at a gated entrance.  But you can't really plan for every contingency and a motivated perpetrator will find a way around your best plans.

As for those calling for more gun laws, I think it is important to note all the guns used were legally purchased by the mother of the perpetrator.  Had she made use of a gun safe and trigger locks that were not accessible to her son, he would not have been able to use those guns.

My father used to own a .22 revolver but when I was born, he got rid of it.  There was always a .22 rifle and a shotgun in the house.  They were basic tools for varmint control on the farm and they were kept out of reach of us children and believe me, we knew better than to try to mess with them.  I never fired a gun until I was in ROTC in college and then it was only blanks.  I was in my 40's when I acquired my first gun.

In my state,  to buy a handgun, you get a permit to acquire from the county sheriff.  The first time I did it, it took about two weeks and the permit is good for one year.  The last time I got one prior to attending a gun show, I was able to get my second permit on the spot, because I had had one before.  As long as you aren't a felon or mentally ill or an alcoholic and maybe some other things I don't remember, you can buy a handgun here.

I don't own a gun safe and I've never bothered with the trigger locks that came on my newer guns but recent events make me think I should do that, even though I live alone.  If my guns were stolen in a burglary, they'd be a lot harder to use.

There Are None So Blind

A while back I dreamed that I went to a different eye doctor and he was able to completely correct my vision.

Last year, at my annual eye exam, my optometrist was doing the "which is better? One or Two?" thing but when he was doing my left eye, nothing looked good.  He shrugged, said something to the effect that it is what it is.  Macular degeneration was starting to take its toll.  Maybe my vision would fluctuate from day to day and I was having a bad day.  I was still having fairly frequent visits to the retinal specialist to monitor bleeding in my right eye.  The specter of disability can freak you the fuck out.

I started to read up a little more on myopic macular degeneration and how to test my eyes myself.  I started to eat a lot more spinach.  I started taking the Areds 2 formula vitamins.  I spent a lot of time closing one eye and seeing what the other eye could do.  I had triple vision in my left eye and mild double vision in my right eye.  Some days were better than others, focusing on the computer screen would be easy and I didn't have to squint to read the numbers on the screen.  I figured the multiple images were from the cataracts that are starting to form.  Apparently, being very myopic can make everything go wrong with your eyes, macular degeneration, retinal tears, cataracts and glaucoma.  Nobody's mentioned glaucoma yet for me.

I went back to the retinal specialist last week.  During the initial exam, the guy was able to make my left eye see things.  I was startled- there's only one thing there, instead of three!  He wasn't impressed and emphasized not squinting and rapidly deciding which was better.  He said both eyes could be corrected to 20/30.  So in a way, it was like the dream came true.

Then he dilated me, I got scanned and then I saw the retinal specialist.  He quickly looked around inside my eyeballs and was pleased to announce no bleeding and that I could "graduate".  I wouldn't have to come back unless there were problems.

So maybe the vitamins and the spinach have helped.  I'll keep up with them.  I am not so worried about being able to renew my drivers license next summer and do not feel as though I will be forced to retire early because of this.  I feel fortunate.