I decided to get back into WoW, again. It’s really good for some escapism every once in a while (read: once or twice a week, for a couple of hours). So, I’ve got my level 70 orc hunter and my 40+ human priest. I play the hunter just to explore and fool around, but I’m speed leveling my priest.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

Sometimes I have a fun and/or interesting idea for a blog post, but after I write it all up, I realize I really just don’t want to post it. Maybe the post turned out less fun or interesting than I hoped, or it’s too personal, or it’s just somehow not proper. This is one of those times. I had a nice long post, at least as long as the previous one, but I decided to delete it. Sorry, but it happens.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

I’m taking a new job at a new company, and this company screens all new hires for drug use. This is fine with me, but it just feels a little unnecessary. But then, I’ve probably led a sheltered life, lately, where drug use is concerned.

I’ve never done any illegal drug. I don’t even smoke tobacco or drink alcohol. Heck, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I don’t even drink sodas anymore. None of my friends, personal, family, or work, smoke or take illegal drugs. I just don’t hang around with that kind of crowd. (Someone may drink a beer or wine or something on occasion.) So, the whole concept of testing for drug use seems kind of other-worldly.

When I was in high school, I had a couple friends who smoked cigarettes and marijuana, and drank alcohol. One of my best friends at that age was a serious pot head. I was present when he influenced one of my other best friends into smoking pot for the first time. That incident saddened me, for that second friend. But I’ve never even so much as had a curiosity about trying the stuff. I had it offered to me, but saying “no” was usually enough to settle the question.

I remember back in the 1980s, when the “Just say no,” anti-drug campaign was being ragged on as unrealistic and naive. That argument always confused me. Just saying “no” worked for me every time. Sometimes I had to say it twice, or even three times, when the offerer gave me the “Oh, come on, give it a try.” But “no” did work.

After going off to college, and leaving those high school friends behind, I can’t remember ever encountering drugs or drug users again. None of my college friends did any drugs, nor did they smoke tobacco or drink alcohol. I can’t say I hung out with a higher class of people — that would be laughable. We all just didn’t do that kind of thing. We played video games, role playing games, went to movies, and ate pizza and drank Mountain Dew until the sun came up, sometimes, but we never did any drugs.

For over 20 years, now, I haven’t associated with, or even known anyone who used drugs. The idea just turns me off. It’s like contemplating befriending someone who eats their own excrement. It’s so disgusting, it’s absurd.

So, the idea of having my urine tested for drugs seems silly to me. But, then again, I guess this kind of thing just helps make sure that the people around me, at least those at my work, are, indeed, drug free.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

Over the past year and more, I’ve noticed my eyesight becoming poor. I’ve always had excellent vision; through the years, I’ve bragged about being able to read the line below the 20/20 line on the standard vision test charts. A couple of years ago, I would have named my sight as my best physical ability.

My weakening vision has been slowly breaking my heart. I can’t see any distance as well as I used to could, but it’s my near sight that has deteriorated the most. As a writer and editor, I read all day long. And actually, since most of my reading is done off a computer monitor, it’s remarkable that my eyesight didn’t start failing sooner. I can still see and read a computer monitor without a problem, but reading print on a page is difficult.

When I read any kind of printed text, I have to hold the object out, away from my face. If the lighting is bad, or if it’s early in the morning or late at night, my vision is so bad that I can hardly read at all. Reading small-print instructions on food packages in the morning or evening is next to impossible.

I went to an optometrist several months ago to see what kind of eyeglasses prescription I needed. The doctor said my situation was perfectly normal for a man around 40. He gave me a prescription and sat me down with a glasses salesperson.

I didn’t want to buy glasses at that time because I wasn’t emotionally sold on the idea that I needed them. At least, I didn’t think I needed “real” eyeglasses. I ended up buying some cheap reading glasses from Target; I was only willing to try out the glasses idea for a test.

At first, the difference with and without the glasses was not drastic. I could read without the glasses, but text was blurry. Looking through the glasses did help, but not enough to sell me on the idea that I needed them. I kept the glasses in my bedroom over the past several months and I’ve used them occasionally. Over this time, I’ve come to accept their aid more often. I still don’t feel a strong need for them, yet, but I can admit that they do make reading more and more easy.

But there have been a couple of times recently, when I’ve tried to read something in especially fine print, and I’ve seen the proof that eyeglasses are becoming a need. I was making some Pillsbury cinnamon rolls for the family breakfast on a Saturday morning, and I couldn’t read the cook time. It was early in the morning, when my eyes were still weak from having just awakened, and the lighting in the kitchen was not bright enough. I had to go back to my bedroom to find my glasses.

It was that moment that my resistance to the idea of wearing glasses finally broke. Now I’ve actually taken and worn my glasses (still the cheap Target reading glasses) to a game night with my friends. I may actually have to take them to work with me, now.

Not to sound all melodramatic about it, but this really is starting to bug me. Not only do I just not think of myself as a guy who wears glasses, but having to keep up with the things isn’t easy for someone not used to it. I’m now considering buying a few more sets of the cheap glasses so I can have them in several places without needing to remember to take them with me. And, dammit, it’s heartbreaking to have one’s strongest physical ability start becoming the weakest.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com