Wayne D's Blog

A warm breeze is blowing through the window as I sit here enjoying the first nice day of this year. My hands are stained with oil from the boy's bicycles. We dug them out, tuned them up and off they went riding today. The cushion for the porch swing is installed, the chairs are down from the garage loft along with the patio umbrella and we ate outside on the deck for the first time this year. Its been a long winter but I'm pretty sure we have seen the last of the snow for the year. When I retire I'm moving someplace without winter, not tropical necessarily, just someplace where I don't have to shovel snow.

I mentioned my infatuation with National Geographic's video podcasts and how I had subscribed through the website. I guess I'm used to instant response because I was worried when I didn't receive an immediate confirmation of my subscription. I worried all for nought, National G confirmed my subscription on the 13th which was about 2 weeks after I went to their website.

In the past I have opined on how social networking was a fad and didn't hold much interest for me. One of the younger women in my office talked me into joining Facebook even though I didn't think it would be any good for an old guy like me. Late last week one of the RHHS class of '80 alumni looked me up on Facebook and sent me an email. It was nice to hear from her and I realised that I have lost touch with all of my high school and university friends. Today I joined the alumni group for my high school and came across a message about my old music teacher Bud Hill. He was quite a character and a great teacher. He was a fan of whole wheat bread before it was fashionable to eat fibre and can take partial credit for me preferring whole wheat bread. Sites like Facebook make it easier to stay in touch with the people you know and remain connected. I originally thought Facebook was only for kids and I was wrong.

I picked up my new glasses today. I decided a needed new glasses because the ones I was wearing were a pair of safety glasses that ATS bought me a 4 or 5 years ago. They were OK but I think my head must be getting fat because they felt like they were squeezing my temples and they were pretty big and clunky. After I had my eye test I went to Lenscrafters and was overwhelmed with the selection. The sales staff left me to flounder on my own, maybe I should have called them over to help but after looking around the store for 10 or 15 minutes I expected them to check in with me. I'm getting crotchety on my old age and have a fairly short attention span, descended into despair and went home. I went cruising on the Internet and found a new company called Great Glasses who offer a 3 for 1 deal. I didn't want 3 pairs so they gave me a discounted price on 1 pair. They got just the right balance of leaving me alone to look and helping guide me in my selection. Mumtaz was very patient with me and put the pair I liked in a box and took my number when I told her I wanted to show them to my wife to get her opinion. The problem with picking out glasses is that when I take off my glasses to try on a new pair my vision isn't really good enough to see what I look like in the mirror. That was Saturday. Just as my wife and I were getting ready to go look at them my sister called up and wanted to come by for a visit. Monday night we were tied up so we didn't make it in that day. Tuesday Mumtaz called and left a message asking if I was still interested. Wednesday night we made it in and even though Mumtaz wasn't there we were treated very well by the staff who were working. When I picked up my glasses they gave me five gift packs of a lens cleaner along with a bottle of cleaning solution to give to my friends. If you need new glasses you should check out Great Glasses. If you do be sure to mention my name, if I refer ten people I get a free pair of glasses. Please note that even I didn't get a referral bonus I'd still recommend them.