Senior Moments

After a break of some weeks, cycling into town both days left my leg muscles complaining at the unexpected use.

The reason for cycling in on Sunday was to go to the eye test appointment I'd set up the previous day, and here other muscles were being called into question. After the nurse had done the peripheral vision and internal pressure tests, I was handed over to a youngish guy who was the optometrist. He took one look at my date of birth, and prescribed reading glasses. Then he started the measurements.

I still tested out with (at least - they never bother to push the limits of what I can read on the little letters) 20/17 vision - and though I now notice a perceptible fraction of a second's accommodation if I'm looking at stuff closer than 20cm, I had no problem with even the smallest text presented in the near vision test. Sure, a magnifying lens meant that I don't have to do any accommodation - but I'd rather keep the muscles in use while I can, rather than letting them get flabby.

The only time recently I've thought my sight may not be as keen as once it was was trying to read the best-before year on a jar of paté - the year printed as a block about 3mmx1.2mm white on black closely kerned text which made telling 2006 from 2008 a little tricky.