In February of this year I biked to work one day. Because it was winter time and all cold and dark, I tried a new shorter route to work that day. On that route I discovered a person’s front yard that had been given over to a model railroad diorama. I posted about that day here. The trains only run during the Christmas season, so when I saw it that day and subsequently throughout this year, it looked interesting, but just a little bit odd. I had all but forgotten about it until on Monday morning one of the other Dads told the story of taking his kids to this house over the weekend. So after work on Monday, I swung by the place on the way home. It was still light out, so the trains were not running yet, but the diorama had been spruced up to give it that Christmas look & feel.
On Tuesday I had a Doctor and Dentist appointment, so I took the day off. I’ll charge a half day of sick leave to cover my time for the two appointments. I didn’t feel like going into work for the rest of the day, so I took a half day of vacation to cover the rest of my work day. Having the flexibility to charge your time like this is a brand new innovation. Previously, I would have had to either take a full day of either sick leave or vacation or to have made up my time. I like this system better, but you know, I’ve never actually tried this half and half day. The time card system might barf all over it and I’ll just have to eat it and take a full vacation day.
The dentist appointment was like a sharp stick in the mouth, that is, it was just a cleaning. I’m sure you’ve all been there and got the t-shirt too. The cleaning went relatively quickly, if not painlessly. I did have to wait for a while until the dentist finished up the root canal in the adjoining station. In between appointments, I managed to squeeze in a mini-bike ride. I got ten miles.
The main event was my eye doctor’s appointment. I’ve been diagnosed with having glaucoma. For as long as I can remember my vision has been poor. It has not improved with age. I gave up playing baseball (not professional) when I caught a flyball with my face. Fifteen years ago, while undergoing a routine eye exam, I got the diagnosis. In the intervening years, eye drops and regular exams have seemed to do the job. In the intervening years I have also been privy, to a lot of the advancements in diagnostic technology for the eye.
I’ll leave you with a portrait of my retina, the right one, I think. You have the optic nerve and its sheath. Then you have the macular, that is where the daggers that your wife is staring at you originate. Finally there are the blood vessels. I think that this picture would have made a better model for Sauron, the dark lord, of Lord of the Rings fame then what Peter Jackson used.
