Eyeglasses

The first of several different appointments was completed yesterday. After a conversation with the office, the Westbrook Vision Center in Peoria had a cancellation and was able to take me at 10 AM yesterday. I could have gotten an appointment at an Optometrist office in Surprise, but I wanted to go to an office that wasn't part of a big chain and had a Doctor on staff to perform the exams. Since Medicare was paying for the exam, I figured it didn't matter what was charged for the exam. Anyway, I got a prescription for glasses, but didn't buy them at this office for two reasons: I would get a better price for the glasses at a large chain store like Costco, Walmart or Sam's Club, and I wasn't sure what kind to get - either bifocals or Progressive lenses.

Since we had a few items that we wanted at Costco, we went there to check out frames and glasses. They had a nice selection of frames and I was able to get a pair of glasses ordered with Progressive lenses. The program that Costco has will exchange the lenses back to bificols within the first 60 days, at no charge, if I cannot adjust or get used to the Progressive lenses within that time frame. They also would reimburse me for the difference in cost if that should happen. With all the coatings, the frames and lenses cost about half of what it would have been at Westbrook where I had the exam. I will get my glasses in two weeks or so.

I need to take our propane tank to be filled today. It hasn't been that long since I filled it, but we have been using the gas furnace exclusively instead of the fireplace to save on electricity. Our first month's electric bill was $100 which is a result of our having the fireplace on just about every day. With propane being so cheap now - $1.99 per gallon - it will be cheaper to use the propane and rest the fireplace. We can still use the fireplace without its built-in heater just to have a visual flame which works as well. That is one reason we are looking at Lake Pleasant for next year - the electric is included in our space rental.

We also took down Christmas in our fifth wheel yesterday - except for the tree. We packed everything in boxes and put them in the shed here until we make another trip to our storage unit. Only 361 shopping days until Christmas...