h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A few weeks ago, the frame of my specs broke while I was cleaning them.
Fortunately, I have a second, older pair of specs which I once had 'updated' the glasses of, and which I had in the car for an emergency like this.
Brought the broken pair to the optician and got my fixed specs back two days later, so wore those again. It only took about a week and the frame broke again - in exactly the same spot as before. This time, I didn't bother to spend money to get them fixed, but wore my other pair of specs. All was fine until I cleaned them last night and – the frame broke. Now I'm as blind as a mole without my specs, so was not a happy as you can imagine. I then remembered that I had an even older pair of specs, so went to search for them. Fortunately, they were exactly where I hoped they would be, or else I’d have had no chance of finding them, and would have had to call my boss this morning, telling him I was too blind to go to work. *
Well, the glasses of this pair are not up-to-date.
However, it's sufficient for work (unfortunately, this includes housework ), if maybe not recommended for driving; and reading on the PC screen for longer gives me a .
I don’t know yet what to do – having the other specs fixed is not really an option, seeing as both pairs have broken in the same places they had broken before.
On the other hand, I can’t give away the only intact pair of specs I have to get up-to-date glasses. I can't afford to buy new specs, either.
Maybe I'll have to stay off work for some time after all.

*I kept that as an option in case I had woken up with a this morning, though, cause I had a friend visiting, and we drank quite some amount of .

Ah, the joy of specs!

If your glasses broke in exactly the same place, then I'd expect the optician to fix them again for free. They obviously didn't do a very good repair job first time around.

It was a spot that had been fixed before, so he said he wasn't sure whether he could fix the frame at all.

It's unfortunate, but it's the kind of thing you just have to spend money on. I mean, you use them every minute of the day (well, if you're awake). I suppose you can't drive with the old pair?

I guess I could, but I'd prefer not to, at least not if I had to read road signs from pretty far away. Should be OK where I know my way blind, though.

Yes, don't risk it. If you caused an accident you'd never forgive yourself.

Yes, that's true. I walked to work this morning, in pouring rain.

I have a pair of really pricey frames that broke a few years ago. I repaired the frames, but now I can't have the lenses changed. So my favorite pair of glasses looks nice, but I can't see as well wearing them as with my others.

Sorry to hear you had to walk to work in the pouring rain. I find that when it's raining and I'm walking from my train to the office, no matter which way I walk, the rain is coming from that direction. I hate working all day with damp socks and trouser legs. I hope you didn't get too wet, Bel.

No, it wasn't too bad - I had my umbrella, and there was no wind, and my eyesight was sufficient to avoid the puddles.

Ah, specs and the mixed-blessings of 'spec-ulation'(I know the situation all-too-well)....I hope you can find some solution B'El!

My glasses broke just before Christmas. So I had to spend over a week with a big lump of scotch tape around one arm, to hold them together, before I could get new ones (the optician said they were unrepairable).

Still, the tape did work quite well, however messy it looked.

TRiG.

The bridge (?) broke at the second pair, it does not look as if it can be fixed. I may try to get the first pair fixed once again, then wait for new glasses for the specs I'm currently wearing, and hope it will not breal before they're back. It's incredibly expensive here, even the glasses without zthe frame will costs hundreds of €.

Can you fit the better lenses into a good frame?

Otherwise maybe there do exist cheap frames (sort of. Why are eye stuff so expensive and so little covered by social security?) on which you could fix said lenses?

Or just walk around blind and claim that you're wearing contacts

I'll have to look for a smaller frame if I want the better lenses fit into it. I'll see if it's possible, but I'm not optimistic.

The bridge of my glasses broke a few years back. An independent eyeglass repair shop was able to replace just the bridge for about $50 (and guarantee the work). New frames would have cost me about a hundred dollars more.

I finally got new glasses about a year ago. They're made a little differently, the bridge and lens frames are all one piece of thicker metal (instead of thinner 'wire' pieces that have been soldered together) and they're a lot sturdier. They don't get bent out of shape nearly as much, either.

The ones I'm wearing now are quite solid, they aren't too large, and have a nice design, too, so I guess it's worth getting new lenses for them. I'll have to have an interim solution first, though.

Have you tried a web optician? (elder son) always gets his specs this way, and it's a lot cheaper even than specsavers and the other low price chains.

Bel have you insurance make a claim why dont you, you pay for this you have an accident, make the claim...

Bob, I don't have an insurance for that, unfortunately.

DQ, I'll look into the web thingy.