GlockSpock

    Well, seems all are closed today. Would really like to go but don't think any are open.

So, let me first state that I know TGO is not a substitute for seeing the doctor, but I feel there are many intelligent people here (perhaps probably even optometrists, ophthalmologists, etc). Preface: I have never had eye problems before, don't know exactly "how good" my eyes have been but they have always seemed to me to be great at both close and far distances. So, let me start this story on 6/10. 6/10 I work outside a lot and also inside using a computer. When working outside it is typically surveying related work that includes looking for specific small objects at distances trying to find them. So Wednesday I noticed while working that I was having trouble focusing on the landscapes and it seemed sort of bright. In hopes that it would help soothe my eyes, I used quite a bit of allergy eye drops at work. I did some research and figured that "eye fatigue" was probably my issue. Later in the day I was explaining to my supervisor about my eyesight that day and explaining why my productivity was diminished. He noticed at that point my eyes were quite dilated and convinced to to go to a local optometrist so I did. Since I have never really had any eye issues, I don't know if I have ever really had a complete eye exam so the experience was all completely new to me. Seeing as how I was a new patient, I believe he did the "full exam" I think. I looked through this machine that had a picture of a red barn in the middle of a field. This I believe took pictures of the backside of my seeing system. They also blew air in my air and somehow checked for glaucoma. During the part of the exam by which I read letters on the wall, we noticed that sight in my left eye was much blurrier than the right, which to me seemed "normal". I had not noticed it until this point. The eye doctor also used the drops that dilated my eyes and then used the stuff to look into it. He seemed to think I would probably "be fine" for another 20 years until I would need glasses. He seemed to think that eye fatigue was likely a good diagnosis due to decreased sleep, and using my eyes up close at work and home on computers, etc. The drops that dilated my eyes were supposed to wear off in a few hours. That night my eyes were still dilated. 6/11 Thursday I woke up and noticed a sharp pricking feeling in my left eye. I don't know what that was about, but it was quick and relatively mild other than the fact that it is a sharp pain in your eye. Blurriness in the left eye and dilation in both were still present. Wen to work and worked a full work day with a modified assigned task in hopes that taking it easy with my eyes would be well. Kept using allergy drops throughout the day in hopes it would help. 6/12 Went to work, used more allergy drops, eventually got sick and tired of blurry vision so I decided to go to a general practitioner just to see what they thought. I am really glad I went. I realized that the allergy drops I was using had Naphazoline Hydrochloride and were keeping my eyes dilated. Since my eyes were dilated so much the doctor was able to use the little scope with light on it to look into my eye. He said it didn't look like there was any infection or anything. At this point I stopped using the allergy drops and instead bought and started using some generic saline solution. Since then my eyes have went back to normal dilation. 6/13 Saturday I took it easy. Honestly probably spent too much time using devices/tv indoors but you try finding something to pass time that doesn't involve straining your eyes in some attempt. Last night I was feeling moderately optimistic because my left eye could focus clearly on things at a close distance, such as my watch. 6/14 Today I woke up with the same prickle pain that I did on 6/11. Blurriness is worse in my left eye than last night. I currently cannot read anything on the screen on my computer as a type this with my left eye, right eye seems normal for as far as I can tell. I literally mean cannot read ANYTHING on the screen as a type this in my left eye. Through self diagnosis, I have realized that if I a lying on a pillow or in any other way place pressure on my closed left eye and look around while it is closed, it hurts. It has the entire time felt irritated, as if something is in it. // I admit that this past week I have been getting way too little sleep. I feel this could contribute to eye fatigue in combination with straining my eyes at work and home. However, I don't feel that eye fatigue would explain in any way any of the pain I have. As such, I have began to wonder if perhaps it is a corneal abrasion. I admit that I don't remember doing anything specific, but sometimes I do have allergies and as such rub my eyes more than I should. Neither of the doctors I went to did the dye test for a corneal abrasion, but if that is what I had would any other signs have shown up that would have alerted them to this? I don't know what to do. I feel like tomorrow going back to the optometrist and seeing if there is more that he can do. Seeing as to how my left eye is changing day to day in regards to focus I don't feel it is just my eyesight going bad. I think there is something going on and I guess it terrifies me to think of what might happen if something is going on and I let it go on for too long untreated. I am trying to get more rest each night, as this for sure is needed regardless of what is wrong. I am trying to keep from touching/rubbing my eyes at all but with the constant reminder of blurry vision coupled with discomfort it is incredibly hard to do this. Just wondering if anyone has any advice, similar experiences, or ideas that I have not thought of.

Depends on if you have insurance. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Updated original post with slightly larger and longer video.   Yall's answer is as good as any.

So, converting to a .gif reduced the resolution. Will try again tomorrow (well, it is 1:37 AM so later today perhaps?).

So I was out working today, crossed a bridge over a little stream, took a double take and backed up to find this guy. I try not to be like so many and "know" what every snake in the world is, or else I would show my ignorance on the issue. So what is it?

There is also this one which is sure to cause some discomfort: Guns and Coffee

Who do you use? Well, PagePlus would probably be your best bet I think. Straight Talk *sometimes* uses Verizon, it depends on the phone you have I believe. I am not sure you can take a Verizon phone to them though, I have only tested Straight Talk on their GSM network.

Just updating this thread to let you know that Ting is offering $100 credit to new accounts until June 8. That's $100 that you can use for service, and I bet you could probably get by with $25-$30 a month unless you use it a lot.   z7s3e81r013.ting.com   ^$100 Link

So....   .380 ACP vs 9mm vs 2x45 ACP   GO!

Any religious person or persons, Christian or otherwise, trying to sell something, especially something that is fear mongering (buy this so you can survive the end times!) does not sit well with me. Also, putting yourself and your family first seems anti-biblical. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  Yeah but what you didn't realize is that they were texting each other sending sending each other selfies. :rofl:   So, admittedly I suppose that is pretty much "my generation" minus a few years (graduated in 2009 myself). It annoys me too. Yes, I very much do appreciate many aspects of my smartphone, but I try to not go crazy on it, especially in public. If I'm using it in public I am probably doing something productive on it (comparing prices, responding to important email, texting friends/family about something important (such as when/where/what to bring, etc).   At home I am much more relaxed about it and TGO, etc on it.

So, I noticed that Canon has released a newer version of the "Nifty Fifty" at $125. This one has an STM motor and a metal mount, Optics are claimed to be the same as the previous versions. Since I have a void in the 50mm range right now, I will probably buy this one once it comes out and I've been able to reed a few reviews. The STM motor is primarily made to be quiter for video work. I think theoretically it may be a bit faster than than the 50mm 1.8 II autofocus. The STM motor also allows manual focus overide. One of the features about the lens I am most excited about is probably that it has a closer minimum focusing distance (14" vs 17.72" on the 50mm 1.8 II). This isn't much (about 21% improvement I suppose). Since my next purchase wants to be a 100mm 2.8 Macro, perhaps this 50mm STM will fulfill my closeup itch until I find $550 sitting somewhere. Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens But, I was honestly hoping that 50mm 1.8 II's would be popping up on sale for $50 new. I haven't seen those anywhere. EDIT: Yep, I eventually sold my 50mm 1.4 USM. I did love the output of that lens, but I got tired of worrying about it eventually breaking. It was Micro USM instead of Ring USM, which I don't fully understand the pros and cons of but I understand the Micro USM was "Baby USM". I replaced it with the 85mm 1.8 lens, which I love very much and is very well built. Not trying to convince everyone to shed their 50mm 1.4's because they are going to break, but after reading so many reviews of people claiming that theirs broke the exact same way and even reading a thread about exactly how it breaks made me decide to sell it when it was still working instead of worrying about it breaking. I technically sold it for ~ +- $10 of what I paid for it originally due to the lens going up in price since I bought it. WooHoo! http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3123026

  No, but you could claim it really, really hurt your eyes and made you feel really uncomfortable for a while. Sounds lawsuit worthy, right?   Also, since it made you tear up in front of your other biker buddies that is probably $500,000 worth of emotional scarring right there.

Black smoke don't mean it's broke! (Referring to the truck, not the brain). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  Well, sad as it may be that is a "good thing" in a sense.

Fox News is reporting an active shooter in a Pennsylvania mall.

  Well, it is an older model. I'd honestly say anything over about $50 or maybe up to $75 would be more than fair to the seller, debatably fair to the buyer.   It will take better pictures than most "Point-and-Shoot" cameras and a decent entry into the world of DSLR's. It will probably be like a bug that causes you to want to upgrade.   Personally I'd suggest a T3i or so if you can afford it, but that would probably be $250 to $350 used range.

Today is the day that the Mexican ship "Mayonnaise" was sunk. Star Wars day was yesterday. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Among the items listed are body armor, ammunition magazines, a Bushmaster Blue Fire M9 and Bushmaster Blue Fire M-16 A4. ?? Does "Blue Fire" mean it is a trainer? Bushmaster doesn't make M9's and I assume a select fire M4 would probably be at the top of the list of his troubles. EDIT: I see... Like This: http://www.meggitttrainingsystems.com/commercial-ranges/commercial-simulation-equipment/bluefire-weapons.aspx Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, I doubt I will ever wear out even the filter media, but I would like to have a few extra ceramic filters themselves on hand because they are ~$150 each and should store indefinetely I would think. It isn't so much as to whether I would like the Sawyer Mini, it is more as to whether I would trust it. I've always filled up a couple of bladders and carried water with me whenever hiking or whatnot. Honestly, the idea of drinking water from the source (river/stream/lake/etc) is a bit unnerving, even with a $300 filtering system. The Katadyn seems as if it will get everything but viruses and of course chemical contamenents. Drinking from a source such as the Hiwassee or Ocoee, specifically in the Polk County area, I would imagine that chemical and viral contamination would be virtually nonexistant. Guess I'll do a bit more reading on such things and then just give it a try next time I go hiking.

I saw the Sawyer mini on the market before I placed my order. I wished and hoped it was a grear product but had my concerns about a $20 purchase that claimed such a long usage life. I had found a few mixed reviews and figured I'd go with something tried and true (in my opinion). Wouldn't mind having one in-line for a bladder as stated.

Also, interested in opinions of the Katadyn Pocket vs. the Big Berkley Water Filters that are mentioned so often on here.

So, convinced myself to finally buy one of these. Katadyn Pocket It should be here soon. I have never owned a device like this but figured I would pick on up. Goes down to .2 micron and is silver impregnated. That means it should get everything but some of the smaller viruses. Biggest benifit of spending $290? 20 year warranty and up to 13,000 gallons dependent upon water quality. Of course, you can also use UV light to kill off viruses/bacteria. Guess what the sun emmits! My research though has shown in the United States viruses aren't typically something you have to worry about being waterborne currently. I bought this to mainly mess around with to gain experience in that sort of thing. Plan on taking it hiking, etc. Also, will be nice not to have to worry about carrying so much water if I am planning around being near water to begin with. All my research shows that Katadyn is built very nice. Yes, the ceramic filter inside is breakable but it should generally hold up for a very long time if you take care of it. You can go cheap on something like this, Katadyn even makes a "Hiker" that is I think $60. The catch? It is only rated for I think 200 gallons. You can buy replacement ceramic catridges for the Katadyn Pocket for about $150. $150 per 13,000 gallons is about a penny per gallon. You can buy optional activated charcoal filter attatchments that are good for around 200 or so gallons. They would be good for filtering taste/chemicals from the water. I may buy one for hiking but wouldn't plan on long term using them. That brings up one thing I'd like to discuss here; without having activated charcoal, you pretty much leave whatever chemicals that exist in the water in the water. Now, hopefully in back country mountain streams this won't be an issue, but I am interested in seeing what others have thought about. Eventually I'd like to tie some rain barrels together for catching rainwater for gardening and stuff. They would also serve as a backup water source for times such as what happened in Toledo last year. When chemicals in water become a concern, what are your thoughts in dealing with them? Activated charcoal in mass quanties? Distilling the water? Avoid the contamination and seek elsewhere? Something else?