Genealogy Jottings

Do you have trouble seeing a computer screen? I do.

I spend many hours a week in front of the computer in my genealogy pursuit. My eyesight is not great. For several years I have worn either bifocal contact lenses or progressive lens glasses. The sweet spot in the lenses for the middle distance needed for computer viewing is quite small. Increasingly, I have found myself with my head tilted up and back as I worked. Only from there could I focus on the screen. At the end of a session, my neck and back hurt.

It finally dawned on me this summer that optometrists have devised a solution for this problem. Computer glasses! My husband/tech adviser has had them for years, but I never before realized that I needed them, too. He urged me to get some.

When I went in for my annual vision checkup this month, I asked about getting a pair. Not only did my doctor think it a good idea, he also told me that I had a choice of two different types.

He asked whether I worked in a business office where I would sometimes need to walk around to meetings, etc. Or did I work in a Just-Me-And-The-Computer setting? The answer to this question would influence how much of the lens on the glasses could be devoted to the computer-viewing distance.

Of course I work in my home office, so I do not need glasses suitable for a large work setting. Based on that information my optometrist wrote up a prescription. Soon I was off to the frame showroom to select the style for my new eyewear.

I picked them up yesterday. What an improvement! I am hoping neck strain will be a thing of the past for me. I just need to remember the technician’s parting instructions, “Do not use these for driving!” I got it—computer only.