We had a great trip to Wisconsin last week. Yeah, I’ve had my moments of anxiety about stepping out a little in a pandemic (to be addressed in a later post), but all in all, the kids traveled well, we were able to stay reasonably safe, and we had a wonderful visit with family and friends. It all went well. A little TOO well.
There always has to be something. And with me, it usually involves some dumb moment of carelessness.
A day after we got back, I realized I couldn’t find my prescription sunglasses. I figured they would turn up. It was pretty chaotic when we unpacked, so probably I just put them somewhere and I’d stumble on them soon enough.
But then another day went by. And another. And I actively looked for them and could not find them. I wracked my brain, and suddenly it hit me. When we parked in the garage, I think I may have set my sunglasses on the roof our other car while I unpacked. I later took that car to pick up Asta.
I cannot confirm this with 100 percent certainty, but at this point my best theory is that my sweet blue Ray Ban Wayfarer sunglasses took a nice ride on the roof of the car and flew off onto a busy street and oblivion.
Not only did I love those glasses, there was a story there too. I had gotten the original pair back in about 2014, when I was still in Chicago. Last year, when I changed jobs, I decided to use the lens benefit on my old job’s insurance to update the lenses in those sunglasses, figuring it would be a low cost affair.
I took them to Pearle Vision, and it turned out I still had to kick in a bunch of money because I’m super nearsighted and need ultra thin lenses so I’m not walking around with coke bottles. OK, fine, I decided to do it.
Then came a monthslong saga with Pearle. I took my glasses there thinking it would be fast and cheap. First of all, the new lenses were delayed and took forever. Then, while installing them, they destroyed my original frames. I then got a nice call to say, “Sorry, we broke the frames, so now you need to buy new ones from us.”
Yup. It turns out you sign away any liability to Pearle when you ask them to upgrade your lenses. So in the end, I wound up paying a ton of money to get a new version of the glasses I already had. It sucked, but oh well.
And now they are either crushed on the road or the proud property of a some hobo. I really and truly hope for the hobo scenario. I like to think some hobo is going to turn around his life because he looks so boss in those Wayfarers.
So now begins the search for new sunglasses. And it also drove me to finally get a vision exam because I’m on the verge of needing progressives. I discovered I am still indeed on the bubble, so I will punt that decision a little down the line. In the short term, I just need some new shades.
As it happened, Erin just got a new pair of glasses from Warby Parker and needed them adjusted, so I went with her to a store location in Boulder and tried some on. Even trying on glasses is a funky experience in a pandemic. There is a giant tray, and any frames you touch or try on need to go in there for disinfecting.
But they were super helpful and nice and I eventually settled on these babies.
It’s a different look for me, but I was in need of a look update anyway. (And so did the theoretical hobo that now has my Wayfarers.) Now it has me thinking I may need to step up my regular glasses too. Maybe I’ll need to make that progressives decision sooner rather than later after all.
