The Drive..
Posted: Mon 29 Jan 2007 10:46 am
Hope this isn't too dull but might be helpful for those getting used to RGPs and driving...
I did my first big drive since I was fitted with my lenses in November. Before RGPs I had to pack in driving almost altogether. No driving at night and half an hour max during the daytime. Since November I have been building up lens wear. This weekend I had to visit relatives down London way (well Romford way). So I drove from Glasgow to London - 900 miles. I was very unsure as to how the RGPs would be but it was OK.
Day One: Drove from my home, north of Glasgow down to Romford. It was a long old trek in Friday afternoon traffic. I was getting about 5 hours out the RGPs at a time. After this I was needing to stop, get a coffee etc. I spent about an hour at the service station, took out the lenses, drowned my eyes in systane and generally chilled out for a bit. I found when I got the lenses back in, I was surprised how comfortable they were. Again plenty of systane. On the second leg, my two year old son decided a marathon snooze was in order, so not wishing to wake him, we pressed on. Another 6 hours saw us to our destination, tired but comfortable. We arrived around 10 pm after 11 hours of driving and no dramas! I was really surprised.
The second day, after our visit, we started back up north. We planned to break the return journey with an overnight stop. But I had let my confidence get away with me. I did not take my lenses out when I was visiting my relatives, the perfect opportunity to rest them. At about 6pm my left lens decided it had had enough! It decided to eject itself. Dried out perhaps! Suddenly my eyesight was very below par. My left eye is the worst one at 6/60. By shutting my left eye, I could see better but lost the 3D effect of both eyes. It was dark on the road and it wasn't looking clever. We pulled into a service station and looked for the lens. No joy! Things looked bleak. We were about an hour from the planned (and paid for stop). I didn't bring a spare lens (doh!) and there was no way I could drive. My wife does not drive...My toddler doesn't drive....It was kind if depressing. I wondered how it came to pass that was completely dependent on this little plastic disc to do something completely ordinary like driving! We decided to console ourselves with a coffee and healthy burger. While we were sat
unwinding, we decided to have one last go at looking for the lens. We bought a £2 torch from the garage and headed back to the car. Miraculously, Ginny found it. She has amazing eyesight 6/4 both eyes. Anyway, quick examination of the lens showed that it was unmarked. I cleaned it up and gratefully popped it back in. I learned a very important lesson.
The rest of the trip passed without event. We stayed overnight in Pontefract and completed the journey on Sunday. Plenty of stops, plenty of systane and resting the lenses when we stopped for a while....
Silly boy!
Sunday was funny because the service statin we stopped at was taken over by loads of Japanese rally cars for some kind of meet up. Massive great 300-400 bhp cars. We got lost and ended up driving through the venue in our little Kia Piccanto 1.1 hire car. Poor thing! The rally drivers must have wondered who we were trying to kid!!
I did my first big drive since I was fitted with my lenses in November. Before RGPs I had to pack in driving almost altogether. No driving at night and half an hour max during the daytime. Since November I have been building up lens wear. This weekend I had to visit relatives down London way (well Romford way). So I drove from Glasgow to London - 900 miles. I was very unsure as to how the RGPs would be but it was OK.
Day One: Drove from my home, north of Glasgow down to Romford. It was a long old trek in Friday afternoon traffic. I was getting about 5 hours out the RGPs at a time. After this I was needing to stop, get a coffee etc. I spent about an hour at the service station, took out the lenses, drowned my eyes in systane and generally chilled out for a bit. I found when I got the lenses back in, I was surprised how comfortable they were. Again plenty of systane. On the second leg, my two year old son decided a marathon snooze was in order, so not wishing to wake him, we pressed on. Another 6 hours saw us to our destination, tired but comfortable. We arrived around 10 pm after 11 hours of driving and no dramas! I was really surprised.
The second day, after our visit, we started back up north. We planned to break the return journey with an overnight stop. But I had let my confidence get away with me. I did not take my lenses out when I was visiting my relatives, the perfect opportunity to rest them. At about 6pm my left lens decided it had had enough! It decided to eject itself. Dried out perhaps! Suddenly my eyesight was very below par. My left eye is the worst one at 6/60. By shutting my left eye, I could see better but lost the 3D effect of both eyes. It was dark on the road and it wasn't looking clever. We pulled into a service station and looked for the lens. No joy! Things looked bleak. We were about an hour from the planned (and paid for stop). I didn't bring a spare lens (doh!) and there was no way I could drive. My wife does not drive...My toddler doesn't drive....It was kind if depressing. I wondered how it came to pass that was completely dependent on this little plastic disc to do something completely ordinary like driving! We decided to console ourselves with a coffee and healthy burger. While we were sat
unwinding, we decided to have one last go at looking for the lens. We bought a £2 torch from the garage and headed back to the car. Miraculously, Ginny found it. She has amazing eyesight 6/4 both eyes. Anyway, quick examination of the lens showed that it was unmarked. I cleaned it up and gratefully popped it back in. I learned a very important lesson.
The rest of the trip passed without event. We stayed overnight in Pontefract and completed the journey on Sunday. Plenty of stops, plenty of systane and resting the lenses when we stopped for a while....
Silly boy!
Sunday was funny because the service statin we stopped at was taken over by loads of Japanese rally cars for some kind of meet up. Massive great 300-400 bhp cars. We got lost and ended up driving through the venue in our little Kia Piccanto 1.1 hire car. Poor thing! The rally drivers must have wondered who we were trying to kid!!
Just as well because I have a lot of work trips this year. I like the idea iof children being employed as lens seekers! 