First, my apologies to all you Kiwis out there. In my rant a couple of days ago, I said that Australia was the first nation to grant women the vote. As ochweidnit rightly points out, it is, in fact, New Zealand that holds that honour. The colony of South Australia ceded those right 14 months later.

I stand corrected.

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I headed off to the optometrist this morning. My specs are two years old and badly in need of replacing. They are horribly scratched (one huge one from the tumble I took a few weeks ago) and the frames are wonky.

It slightly pisses me off that Medicare only lets you have an eye test every two years. Scripts can change dramatically in that time and eye diseases can become irreversibly entrenched. It doesn't seem that an annual check-up would be all that much of a burden on the tax payer when it means savings made by treating other diseases earlier. And making life more comfortable and safer for we visually challenged. Sorry, side issue.

One of the worst parts of getting new specs is the whole frame choosing business. You wander up and down the displays, hopefully finding a few that you (kinda) like. You then try them on. They feel OK. Next step, the mirror.

How do they look?

Well, how the hell would I know? Like many people that wear glasses, I am as blind as a bat without them. All I see in a mirror, without lenses, is a fuzzy, vaguely human-shaped blob.

For many years this led me to wear appalling glasses. They were big, bold, colourful plastic frames. The lenses came halfway down my cheek. They were all replicas of each other because that is what I knew. The original pair had been chosen by my mother when I was 15. It took my kids many many years to work up the courage to tell me my taste licked balls.

Four years ago I decided I needed help in the specs-choosing arena. I took T along with me (with my heart in my mouth because she was a raging goth at that stage). She did me proud. The rimless frames she chose for me were a vast improvement over previous solo efforts.

Last time I went to get new specs none of the kids were available to assist me. Luckily my neighbour's son's (now ex) girlfriend worked at the local OPSM. Lauren is one of those naturally smart people. She can throw on trackies and a flannie and look good. She seems to just have an eye for what goes with what, and what suits. So I let Lauren choose my current pair.

When I went along this morning, Lauren was there for me again. I didn't peruse the displays at all. I just let her try frames on my face until she got it down to 2 she particularly liked on me. Then I chose between them.

It will be another 2 weeks before I can see myself in a mirror and decide whether she's done right by me. At over a grand for the specs (damn needing lenses that are nearly $400 each), I sure hope they are OK.

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BTW can someone let me know whether or not you are recieving your notify emails when I update. I've got a feeling it is buggering up.