It is very tempting to go for one of those offers you see in the papers but at the risk of stating the blindingly obvious you can  end up spending much more. I like reasonably attractive  frames but my main problem is needing verifocals because I don’t like having two pairs or spectacles. This variation can easily run up the cost to £200 and that’s via the internet without a personal consultation.

What I learned from my visit to the local shop in Radstock, Lovat Short optometrists, was that most of our faces if not all are not symmetrical and one or two millimeters can make a lot of difference  between an adequate fit and a perfect fit.

I am now wearing glasses that cost me £438. Yes I know I can think of all the things I could have done with that money but without  adequate site where am I. After I had my last inspection the optometrist very carefully measured up my face using all sorts of fancy slide rules. I am now using the glasses for the first time and it’s a funny feeling, I don’t feel I’m wearing glasses at all. Everything is crystal clear.

I was warned that it would take two weeks to adjust to the new glasses of obviously because the brain has to adjust itself to the inadequacy of the old glasses which I have had now for over two years. I could have paid £535 for a top of the range varifocal; what they do is to give a very wide angle of focus, whereas the ones I’ve got now work best if I stare straight at the object I wish to examine.

Glasses can be made out of various types of glass and I know in some cases they use plastic.

My previous glasses had a lens that automatically darkened in the sun. It recently occurred to me that they were so effective that when I was speaking to people there was no eye contact because they could not see my eyes and it struck me as being a little bit – I won’t say rude, but out of order. I felt I might appear as something out of The Matrix.

I’m sure that I could have got the same glasses cheaper but there’s something you cannot quantify and that is service. I know that if I take my glasses back in person for a new reason they will rectify the problem if they can.The same cannot be said of glasses by mail order though to be fair you have a return period which is a sort of guarantee. The optometrist I went to has  been around for a long time and they have a good reputation and that is something that is not always the case especially with new companies.

A few weeks ago I went to purchase a mower, see previous entry, and the woman was a retired optometrist who had worked in London for seven years and she said that she can look at people who are wearing glasses even on television and can see the difference between well and badly fitting glasses.

She said the industry has really gone down hill since people can advertise glasses who are not necessarily qualified optometrists. She says she got out at the right time

I remember the lady saying that people spend hundreds of pounds on their mobile phones and yet they do not invest in proper glasses.

I must make sure they are included in house insurance in case I break or lose them. I must keep the receipt.

So overall I don’t think the amateur is in the best position to make a judgment and I think we should leave this one to the professionals.