AUSTIN, Texas, June 9, 2005 — The thing on the calendar is the eye exam. I seem to be able to only handle one thing a day.

I do get around a little earlier than usual because I know the appointment is at eleven and I want a good workout before. I get up and get around and get that workout. It feels like a pretty good one. I read newspapers (the ever growing piles in my car, office, bedroom seem to be reproducing).

I get to the appointment and have different

things done like blowing puffs of air in my eye and other tests. Then they do a few more vision things and then the doctor does more vision things and puts in dilation drops and then I have the peripheral vision thing but the screen keeps going black on me unless I blink (the drops) but I apparently pass all that. I pick some new, not too expensive frames with magnetic sun 'clip ons.' I want some glasses I have in the car set up with new lenses. (I suddenly, sadly, need a new prescription.) I go down to the car to get them 'while my eyes are dilating.' But they already are and I have to shield my eyes and close them and risk getting hit by cars in the parking lot until I get to my car where I slam the clip on sunglasses over my old glasses and fish out one of those things they gave me the last time my eyes were dilated to wrap behind them. Boy, it is BRIGHT.

I go back in and finish spending a fortune on two new sets of progressive lenses with anti-reflective coating. The doc checks my eyes. I tell him he is cheap compared to the lenses.

I go home (with sunglasses and the strip of dark plastic looking like a goon). I don't want to go out in the sun again until my eyes quit being quite so wide open. If a glance toward the back of the house is blinding.

I eat some salad and leftover salmon and a small plate of nachos. I organize myself and watch some of my films for AFF.

I wander up to FFP's office later and make copies, install some software on the laptop and update virus software on the bookkeeper's machine. We decide to eat at our club.

Later we go over there and I have a bowl of tortilla soup and crab cakes and a taste of FFP's seared tuna. (The menu describes it as 'seared rare tuna' and it is but the waiter asks how he wants it cooked. It is OK but it doesn't taste as good as the tuna at other places somehow.)

We go home and watch some basketball and in between I finish up my film reviews.

The blinding of the light made me sort of feel headachy and out of sorts. After dinner I ended up drinking a soda and then having some cheese and chips. I knew I'd feel better in the morning.

Yeah...so I went to sleep and rested my eyes.