Tuesday, 26 Aug 1997

                           LVES and ME
                             PART III


Good Afternoon, Doris!

I received Kitten's VERY FIRST e-mail today at noon!  The Internet had a two-hour flurry of mail
between stepkat and tuckjim1 - I'm surprised something, somewhere, didn't go into melt down. 
Kitty's reaction to her initial use of the Internet was "love at first site".  Thank you ever so
much for your patience and understanding - you know, it were these two qualities I found in
you that prompted me to tell Tia I was your number one fan;  I'm adding 'wisdom' to that list.

Nuff of that...on to the subject:

The telescopes on my monocular telescopic glasses, l refer to them as my MTG's, extends
about an inch out from the frame.  The frames are just like regular, everyday type of
correctional lens glasses.  The 6X MTG is about « inch in diameter, and the 3X MTG is about
1/3 inch in diameter. In other words: they stick out like a sore thumb!  I think there is no one
on this planet who has ever seen me wearing one of the MTG's that hasn't done a double-take,
you know, like "Whoa! What is that dude wearing on his face?"

I'm an avid 'walker'.  I love to explore the avenues that are my geo-surroundings, and I love to
do it daily.  Here, I usually start my walk at the beach (this is Beacon's Beach, City of Leucadia,
California - a predominantly 'surfing beach') but have, in the three years I've lived here, walked
along every route possible to get to the various beach access points.  I've often walked up to
ten miles, of an afternoon, but I usually do about five.  I do this usually unaccompanied -
except, of course, my friends: my MTG's.  Otherwise I would probably spend the majority of
my time at home.  A totally blind person would not be safe trying to navigate this beach
community.  There is a paucity of sidewalks and a lot of sand .... believe me, walking blind on
sand is confusing because the movement of that sand under a foot can actually redirect the
direction you want to proceed with.  The foot MOV by the sand which was interrupted by the
previous foot movement is so subtle, a person could get totally turned around, a blind person,
and not even realize it.  I know this because I wanted to walk on the beach just using my cane
(I was afraid I would get the optics of the MTG's wet with salt water).  What I described in
that, probably confusing, sentence about getting turned around happened to me.  I WEAR an
MTG when walking the beach.  I always have both sets with me ... it would really be the pits
if I lost or damaged beyond use an MTG and not have a spare.  Sometimes I am the only person
on the beach, especially when it's not the tourist season, and I've had moments when I would
have to reflect on where I was, relative to where the beach access was located. The field of
vision for the MTG's is only about three degrees, so I've had a few uncomfortable moments
when I was actually lost - had no idea which way to go.  Of course, I just tell myself to calm
down, do a 360 deg pan, a few degrees at a time, until I figure out where I am and which way
I need to proceed.  Yep, it's scarey, sometimes, but it's too wonderful being out in Mother
Nature's Wonderland for me to let little problems like that keep me home.  This is probably
another very good reason for getting Low-Vision equipment availability news out to the public. 
 I'm sure there are multitudes who are resigned to staying at home because of mobility hazards
they probably have, and afraid they will again encounter.  I've become aware, with the passing
of time as a low-vision person, that there are many others like myself and that they know
nothing of the equipment which could dramatically enhance their lives.

Well, Doris, now that you've got an idea of what the MTG's look like, let me throw in a few
anecdotal scenarios from encounters with fellow pedestrians, strangers, while out on my own
with my MTG:

A day rarely passes that I don't encounter someone who has a question or comment about my
eye wear.  I think this quite normal, curiosity is a good attribute.  I enjoy meeting strangers and
engaging in conversations with them when I'm out on my walk.  Sometimes I am totally
amazed at some of the comments and questions.  Please don't misunderstand my reason for
relating to you the following anecdotes, in every case I found them to be totally amusing and
each scenario ended with the stranger and I being in a friendly, jocular mood.

I could probably write a book of these, but here are a few of my very favorite 'happenings'" 
I had occasion to go to Seattle to visit friends and do some sight-seeing while walking around
Capitol Hill. The friends in my company were doing some window-shopping while I was
standing near a pedestrian crosswalk - mostly just looking at people, and hoping no one would
notice or mind.  When you see me, all you need do is draw a line from the telescope out to
some object it's pointed at and you'll know what I'm looking at...gets to be a drag, sometimes. 
A fellow walked up to me and asked "Hey, Dude, are you with the FBI?   You gotta van around
here somewhere with dudes taping stuff? Just what's going on?"  The fellow was obviously
a wino, living off the street. As he stood there, wobbling in front of me waiting for my reply
(I needed a moment to digest his words) I, using a calm and slightly falsetto voice said "No, Sir. 
I am an alien from a distant star.  I'm sending pictures to my spaceship of possible suitable
earthlings to take back with us."  He disappeared from my field of view.  I quickly looked
around for him and saw him running down the street waving his arms frantically.  Maybe I was
his "pink elephant", if so, I remember thinking to myself, then my sarcasm was acceptable.

Another scenario has occurred sooooo many times that I could not even come close to telling
you how many times this has happened.  The question to me is almost always worded the
same way: "Are you a jeweler?" After about a hundred of these questions I developed a 'stock'
response: "Yes, and I'm out looking for jewels, have you seen any?" The response to this is
usually preceded by the proverbial "pregnant pause" and then followed with "Well, eh....no." 
I usually start to chuckle at that point and give the person a quick explanation.  These "jeweler'
incidents almost always end with laughter and then brief conversations ... about whatever. 
One thing for sure, wearing the MTG's is a good way to meet people (and during the past
decade I've been wearing these glasses, I have maintained a few lasting friendships with some
wonderful people whom I probably would never have met, otherwise.

Another situation, and this has been repeated several times, though not as many as the
'jeweler' scenario:  when I've concluded explaining my eye wear to a curious fellow-pedestrian
I have received the following comment:  "Well, it's a good thing you've still got your other eye
to see with".  My right eye is a prothesis, as you already know, and it's fitted in such a manner
that when my left eye moves, the prothesis makes the same movement.  I can explain how this
is done if you'd like to know.  The prothesis is handmade and painted by a craftsman, in the
case of my current one - a craftswoman.  She did such a wonderful job in making my prothesis
that I've even had occasion when going to a new place for an eye exam when optometrists and
their technicians would try to examine my plastic eye just as they would my real eye.  These
persons usually felt a bit embarrassed upon the obvious discovery but I always see it as a
complement when this happens.  The thing that is hardest for me to comprehend is why
someone, to whom I had just explained my visual ability, or inability, whichever the view may
be, would think that I could see with the plastic eye.  I have even had people ask me, and quite
seriously, "Is it very hard to see through it?".  Thank goodness this question has only been
asked of me on two, maybe three occasions. I really don't enjoy the thought that there are
people with whom I share our Universe who are THAT stupid.

There are more anecdotes about the MTG's, but these should give you an idea of some of the
situations I deal with on a fairly regular basis when encountering the public.

A thought came to mind as I was describing my plastic eye to you.  So please allow me a brief
tangent, off the low-vision stuff to tell you about an incident that happened to me the summer
of 1981.  Let me precede this by saying that as a person ages, the shape and size of the eye
socket changes and a new prothesis is in order about every seven years, or so.  The eye I was
wearing at that time was the first one I had, so it was about six years old.  I was living in my
sister's house in Garden City, Kansas.  My sister, and this is my older sister, Leslie, always
nagged me about my hair - not keeping it trimmed and neat enough for her taste (I keep my hair
long...it's shoulder length...because I'm vain and it's the only way I can hide the scars on my
head without wearing a hat.  And I don't like hats unless the weather requires one. She
convinced me, or perhaps I should say coerced me, into letting her take me to her hair stylist
to 'neaten me up, a little'.  I was sitting in the barber chair as the guy toiled away at my
tangled hair.  Leslie was sitting in the adjacent chair, and since she and this fellow knew each
other quite well, a general barbershop type banter was going on between the three of us. 
Leslie said a 'funny', we all laughed.  In the process of laughing sometimes tears tend to effuse
from one's eyes...mine did: the plastic eye popped out of my eye socket and landed in the
shampoo sink.  The barber, I guess I should call him a 'stylist' FROZE - suspended animation,
you might say.  Up to this point he didn't even know I had the prothesis.  Picture him standing
behind me, holding hair with comb in one hand, just preparing to cut with open scissors in his
other hand and seen his patron's eye fly off his head and into the sink.  Phew!  Talk about
blowing someone away!  My sister, totally calm and collected, stood up (no words had been
said, yet), walked over to the sink and retrieved my eye.  She washed it, handed it to me and
said "Put your eye back in your face.  Dan (or whatever his name was) needs both your eyes
to do your hair symmetrically."  Dan, at this point has realized what happened , says "wow"
and releases himself from his state of suspended animation and continued with my hair .... that
is, once the three of us were able to stop laughing.  I had a new eye made, while living in
Garden City...needless to say.  

O.K.  Enough of the anecdotes...on to my BEECHERS.

Beechers is the name of the glasses and the name of the maker of the glasses.  This eyewear
was originally designed for the purpose of birdwatching.  They can be obtained in either
monocular or binocular style.  The power if 10X.  I'm not sure of the field, but it's significantly
greater than that of the MTG's.

Because the Beechers are so strong, they are not recommended for mobility purposes:  the
closest they can focus is about fifteen feet. Anything closer than that is very blurred; this
glasses were made for distance viewing with extrordnairly good clarity.  Since the original idea
was to be able to be able to focus with great fidelity on a small object, in this case, a brid off
in the distance sitting on a limb, or whatever, without disturbing the bird.  In order to do this
the glasses have to be powerful, and 10X is quite powerful.  When I wear the Beechers I can
see from one end of a city block to the other, in most cases; with the MTG's I'm limited to
under a hundred feet.  The excellent clairty is obtained by  the use of (I'm not sure of the exact
number) seven mirrors that are arranged in periscope fashion.  The viewfinder lens rests directly
in front of my iris; it's about a quarter of an inch in diameter.  The mirrors are sequentially
stacked upward to the viewing lens which rests against my forehead and directly in front of my
eyebrow; a wide, adjustable nosebridge provides for correct positioning and a rubber band
connects the side temple/bars, if you will, in order to keep this optical device in place (they're
a bit heavy and would fall off if not held in place by the rubber band).  

The Monocular Beechers I have were provided me by the Veteran's Administration during that
visit to Tacoma I spoke of earlier.

I carry the Beechers with me, along with the MTG's.  When I arrive at a spot where I want to
sit a spell and check out my surroundings (and a favorite is sitting on the beach watching the
surf-riders' doing their thing).  Sometimes when strolling along the beach, I wear the Beechers
rather than the MTG's and use my cane for mobility purpose (since the Beechers won't focus
close enough for me to see what's directly in front of me).  I like walking wearing the Beechers
because, of course, I can see clearer and further, but I can also make out obstacles ahead and
make mental notes of them for checking out with my cane when I'm getting close to them.

The Beechers are great, for me, for watching television.  At the time I obtained these glasses
I had the use of a 27 in. TV and could see the picture infintely clearer than with the MTG's, and
I no longer had to be sitting close to the TV in order to see it.  I also found that with the clarity
provided by the Beechers that I could actually read some of the printing that occassionally
appears on the screen...commercials, titles and even subscripts (such as on foreign language
films).  Sometimes the subscripts were too small, even for the Beechers, but it was great to be
able to watch a program without having to have someone with me to read stuff for me.

Last summer the 27inch TV decided it was time for me to get a new TV - it died.  Paul took me
to Dow Sound City.  He wanted me to look over their selction of televisions using my Beechers
and make a determination as to which size TV would be best for me to read even better than
I been able to on the 27in TV.  I can cut this short  -  after awhile it was apparent to me that
the 35 inch screen was the perfect size for reading with the Beechers.  Paul bought the TV!  

This was, I think, last June.  The following October WebTV was put on the market.  I had never
used e-mail or surfed the internet.  PC's and their tiny little monitors, and totally cluttered
keyboards were truly an impossibility for me.  I heard about WebTV on the 'Computer
Connection Show' that is produced by CNN (it's on on Saturdays at Noon). I got to thinking
that ths was something I should check into.  I asked Paul to take me to Dow, where he had
bought the new TV.  The salespeople were happy to give me a demonstration.  I was their
fourth purchassor of a WebTV browser the day they went on sale.

Doris, I reached my limit, once again.  I need to rest my eye and nose for awhile.  I think LVES
IV might just wrap up this story.  Tomorrow I have an appointment with my low vision
specialist (about 30 miles distant from here), so don't know if I'll get to part IV then; may have
to wait until thursday.

Until then, I hope all is well and happy with you.  Give my regards to John; I hope he is feeling
better today.

Hugz, my friend, your fan

Jim