Glasses (was Re: %#@$pers)

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

No comment on the <<(was Re: %#@$pers)>> part.  If I had written that, people 
would say I needed to be medicated and kicked off the List and out of PTG for 
it.  You see, it's all in whether you believe in and use HT's or not that 
matters.  Contrary to what they say, <<It's not the HT's, it's your 
*behavior* on the List!>>, yes, it's the HT's, believe me, it's the HT's. 
You're cool if you rant and rave, badmouth most pianos and most people that 
work on them and talk about how you're the only good guy in town.  That is, 
if you're an ET only guy.

Now for the glasses part.  Being visually impaired in one eye, very 
nearsighted in the other and in my late 40's, I can sympathize.  Long ago, I 
learned the value of visually impaired techniques.  They are the surest and 
the best.  I don't need any jigs or Rube Goldberg type key leveling devices, 
let off racks and such to properly align and regulate any grand or vertical 
action.  

Yes, I do use what sight I have when I can, but the finer points are always 
made by touch and feel.  From installation, tightening screws, and all 
regulating buttons, they are all done without measuring or looking at 
anything as a gauge or even finding where the screwdriver goes.  It all comes 
out much better and easier that way than when I ever used those other 
unnecessary tools and jigs and certainly better than when I tried to 
*measure* things!

But as for glasses, new improvements have been made in multifocal lenses.  
However, there has always been what the optical profession has called none 
other than "piano glasses".  These are glasses with the full lens made for 
medium distances, such as might be useful at the piano or computer.

I have many pairs of glasses.  My sunglasses have only distance vision 
lenses.  I have my regular multifocals and the ones that darken in the sun.  
I have a pair of "piano glasses."  I also have a pair of bifocals with only 
near and medium with the lens divided roughly in half.  I have a pair of full 
lens near distance glasses for when I have to do close work but need to look 
through the upper part of the lens.  Splicing or replacing a string in a 
vertical makes these useful.

In short, the older you get and the worse your vision is, the more kinds of 
glasses you'll find suit different needs.  All glasses used for potentially 
hazardous repair work can be made as safety glasses.  I could have as many 
pairs of glasses as Imelda Marcos had shoes.  I'd get that laser surgery in a 
wink but they won't do it for me because I only have one "good" eye, so they 
say.  Count your blessings.

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin