All of a sudden I can't see nuttin' up close !!!!

same here. i could read newspapers in the morning but not in the evening. so i went to the doctor and had my eyes checked. well, he almost fell out of his chair and wondered why i didn't came a decade earlier. he said he could take out my right eye and i wouldn't even notice it....
since then i wear glasses to work at the computer or for reading. don't need them for driving.

welcome to the club. just get yourself some glasses with a gray or silver frame. it will match the color of your hair pretty soon ;-)

(in case your hair is not yet grey and in case you still have some left)

 

Some things to do with growing older seem to creep up on you slowly, giving time to acclimate and accept the changes without much problem. Other things seem to happen overnight. Everyone is different - I began to notice this stuff after age 48, but had never heard about the "overnight" stuff happening - or maybe I just thought it would never happen to me. See the eye doctor of course, but don't worry, you'll adjust (in fact, model railroading may prepare you better than others for whatever adjustment and compromise is needed).

When I doodle around with trackplans, I am always drawn to using N-scale due to space considerations. When I go to the LHS I am always drawn to HO-scale, and I strongly suspect my vision has a lot to do with it. At least we have a lot of company in the same boat.

:shade:

Whoops, wrong icon. . . .

 

Like Ed, I never did anything about it until I couldn't hold the newspaper far enough away to read it (about age 45). I got no-line bifocals and get my eyes checked every 2 years by an ophthalmologist who also checks for glaucoma, macular degeneration, etc. I use an opti-visor for detail work.

I was going to add that sight is important in our hobby but last week, when I went to my LHS, Tom, the owner, was on the phone describing how to locate a short in a customer's layout. When he got off the phone, he mentioned that the customer was blind! He has a Unitrak layout, so he can find his problem by isolating each piece of track, if necessary. This gentleman has been blind for at least 20 years, and is obviously excited with N sound. Tom told me of his holding the phone in the shop next to a sound equipped engine so his wife could hear it.

So, I guess things could be worse.

Matt, you're partly right. Sometimes getting older stinks but so far, it beats the alternative.

 

I was very short sighted all my life, -6 in both eyes. I had laser surgery in 1996 at the age of 44 and went to better than 20/20. Within a year or so, close up vision went to hell in a hand basket. I think I own about 20 pairs of +2 reading glasses at the moment. I have them everywhere!

David

 

I'm like the rest of you guys, If it's not 3" from my eyes I can't see it without my coke bottle glasses. wearing them since I was six.

But don't worry about your eyes going at 40. Worry about turning 60 and not being able to look down and see your old friend. Or even reaching him. I keep a pair of tongs hung (I should not has used that word) on the water closet wall.

Then at 65 hearing your wife say, "Oh well maybe next time." And watching Jay Leno becomes you main night time activity.

Memory is next you know.

It's time you send me all my locomotives that I let your borrow. Don't you remember?

See ya
Ron

 

Yep, Dave, it's age catching up unfortunately. I find I'm now in the same boat and should go get my eyes tested.
Regardless, my hindsight steadfastly remains 20/20!

And to answer your three initial questions.... yes, depends, yes! Welcome (I think).

 

Yeesh! The only thing I will add in addition to seeing the eye doctor is that maybe you should get a general checkup just to make sure that something else isn't going on.

Other than that, my eyes went from being able to read the route numbers on buses from five five or six blocks away to me squinting to read anything in the space of about two months my sophomore year in college. I don't know why. My dad noticed that I was squinting a lot, and suggested I see an eye doctor. The doctor said astigmatism. I got glasses and I have been able to see ever since. I am overdue for another checkup.

Adam

 

In glasses myself since 3rd grade. Have 20th HS reunion in Aug this year!
Had the typical coke bottle lenses for years. Got to the point that the back of my ears actually hurt from the weight. But then, glass lenses at that time.

Moved up to plastic lenses, still the size of a coke bottle bottom! Weight was less, vision still shot! Now, I have super thing polycarb lenses, metal frames and eyesight that has stayed fairly consistant over the last 10 years or so.

Can't see long distances, clearly at about 10-12 inches, and somewhat clear up close, depending on what I'm looking at. Guess I'm gonna have to look into getting eyes checked again soon. Been 3-4 years since last checked.

 

Dave,
I can understand some loss of eyesight but if it really has degenerated as much as you say it has over the last week there could be something else wrong. I suggest you go and see your doctor to see if there is an underlying cause. I don't really like doctors and don't claim to be one. I also don't want to be an alarmist but it would be wise just to get things checked out.

Lucas B.
Sitka, Alaska

 

I have to feel sorry for all you BIFOCAL guys. You haven't seen anything until you try TRIFOCALS! (And then try to use a magnifying visor too!)


Steve E.

 

I've been in glasses ever since my parents asked me to count the birds sitting on the utility pole wire. Now I could see it just fine, that wire, but the problem was, there were birds in front and behind the wire in addition to the ones sitting on the wire, and the ones on the wire were not holding sitll either, they were swithcing who was sitting nad who was flying. It was not a fair question!! I have astimatism in both eyes, so I've had glasses since 2nd grade.

Anyhow, I was 2.75-3.75[L-R] up until about my junior year of college and My sight slipped. Now I'm [3.75-4.75] It's not that bad, yet, I suppose, but i'm sure in a few years its going to get worse.

Eye strain and stress really are nothing to mess around with. I think one of the things that did it was tryign to paint three color wheel centers under poor lighting conditions. Magnification would have really helped too, two things that will probably save my eyesight is if i get thos two things covered. Haven't yet.

I'm in HO because I know in a couple years, its gonna suck. At the very least though, the things won't be TOO small when I get there!!!

 

It happened to me around 47, and it sure seemed like it was overnight. Every 6 months I went back for new glasses--and then (about 3 years later) my eyes stopped changing. I'm now officially blind as a bat. I don't let that stop me: when I work in N scale I use lots of good lighting, magnifiers, and an Optivisor with a lamp and a little pull-down extra lens.

I've been near-sighted since early childhood. I told my mom I could hardly wait until I went far-sighted. "Why?" she asked, looking at me strangely. Because, I said, then I'll be able to see again.

Ah, childhood...

 

That's why I just chuckle at the rivet counters!!! What rivets????

I use the reading glasses for everything that resembles "close" and when working on building anything N scale, I slap on the magnifiers. Been doing this since age 40

Brian

 

Yeh, it wasn't that long ago that I could read the Build Date on M-T cars, now I have to use readers to see the Reporting Marks.
I use a magnifier with a light for modeling. I blame the computer screen, as My eyes were fine until I discovered the web. (around the same time I turned 45)
Like Gats, My hindsight is 20/20 and seems to get sharper with age!

 

CRT monitors are MURDER. THROW THEM OUT!!!

 

Dave N,

Please let us know how it turns out. Hopefully it is just the aging thing.

It happened to me very quickly, virtually overnight as well. I'm so near-sighted, that thankfully I can still work closeup without any glasses.... but those of you that are near-sighted, I am I going to retain that closeup vision? (I'm something like 20/200 or worse without glasses).

And as was mentioned by another here, the 'close-in range' kept moving out for several months. Glad to hear that was experienced by others and that vision should settle down in a whole.

Guess we aren't going to live forever after all!! :-( Just means got to get busy and finish those projects, enjoy the time that we have. Keep sharing how it's going, Dave N.... it's an adjustment but handleable, and many of us can sympathize.

I'm just happy that I can enjoy our hobby (and all of you) as much as I can, gratitude is in order for all that we have. But for the grace of God, I might be working on a rice paddy in a Southeast Asian country, instead of tinkering with model trains in my spare USA time. Thx, all.

 

Since we are on an eyesight thing, please be very aware that diabetes will throw off you eyesight very quickly. When it comes back under control, your eyesight will swing back in the direction it was before the onset of the disease.

So, if you have some of the other warning signs AND you need a new or first prescription, have your sugar tested.