Author Archives: Tom

PRK 4 month update

OK so it’s not quite 4 months, but close enough (only 8 more days).

So here’s my update, and this will probably be my last PRK update unless something crazy happens.

Had a checkup recently and my results are pleasing. 20/20+ in my left eye and 20/20- in my right eye. That means that I can read a couple of characters on the 20/15 line with my left eye, and I missed a couple characters on the 20/20 line with my right eye. I’m satisfied with these results.

I was hoping hoping hoping that I’d get that bionic eagle eye solid 20/15 vision in both eyes but I suppose that’s a little unrealistic. Even with contacts or glasses my vision was never that good. Right now I’d say that my vision is slightly better than it ever was. My doctor says that this is a great result.

I still have the slightest, smallest astigmatism in my right eye that couldn’t be corrected with PRK or LASIK. And that’s what causes a bit of distortion, just enough to mis-read a couple of characters on the 20/20 line.

So I think another procedure is out of the question. Not unless my eyes take a turn for the worse. But, there is no indication that would happen. I’m not worried.

I turn 40 later this month. Every time I go to the eye doctor they tell me that I’ll need reading glasses soon. I feel like the PRK procedure hustled that along. Before my surgery my close-up vision was incredibly good. I could focus with absolute clarity on very small items–I’d have to hold them inches from eyes. Now when I try to do something like that it’s blurry, like tie a fly fishing knot or read very small text on a package.

Went deer hunting last month and I was able to see things clearly far away. I was very happy with that. I’m also a sport shooter, and I’m also able to focus clearly on targets downrange with clarity. I also did a lot of fly fishing last month, and let me tell you, it was soooo nice to be able to see without correction.

My night vision has markedly improved as well. The first month after surgery I had some halos and starbursts and fogginess while night driving. Now all of those things have gone away. No more halos, no more starburst, and I can see things very clearly. I feel very safe driving at night.

So I think that’s about it. My vision has stabilized lately. I’m very happy with the results. I would do it again. And I recommend it to anyone considering laser eye corrective surgery.

Thanks, PRK.

Rights

One thing that has bothered me lately is the morphing of the definition of rights. As in, our inalienable rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Rights are things that the government cannot take away. For example, the right to free speech or the right to bear arms. Rights are NOT things the government is required to give you.

I have made a conscious effort to be non-political on this blog, so I will not discuss things such as universal healthcare or social security or political beliefs. But from time to time I will discuss gun ownership, as this is something that is extremely important to me.

As a gun owner, I am often asked why gun ownership is necessary. Today I stumbled upon a thread on Reddit that pretty much sums up my experiences with anti-gunners and my pro-gun ownership stance.

http://redd.it/mfmbc

The question posed is “…what is the point of owning a machine gun or other advanced weaponry? I am genuinely interested in understanding this perspective on the right-to-bear-arms debate because I am of the opposite view…” asked by Reddit user FenrirIII.

And the most eloquent response I’ve ever heard or read to this question is as follows, quoted in its entirety, by Reddit user TerminalHypocrisy:

The main issue of not understanding the Second Amendment is a matter of context….one which both the anti-gun lobby and even the pro-gun lobby propagate. The Second Amendment has nothing to do with hunting…it has nothing to do with sport shooting….it has nothing to do with collecting firearms. At it’s heart, the Second Amendment is simply putting in writing your right as a human being to defend yourself against threats to your life, liberty, and your pursuit of happiness…..whether that threat comes from a criminal element or the very government the Constitution established.
The Founders understood, and many of us (current Americans) have never learned or forgotten that the right to arms undergirds every other right in the Bill of Rights, including those spoken of but not named specifically (as covered in the 9th Amendment). What good is the Freedom of Speech if the government has the only means of force and is able to repress it? How can the citizenry demand the government respect their rights if their voice is the only weapon in their arsenal?
When the Amendment was written, America had just loosed herself from the yoke of a tyrannical government, and wanted to ensure that We, the People had the ability (not the right….a right is inalienable and cannot be taken from you unless you willingly give it up) to do so again if the need arose. The Declaration of Independence states:
“that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
Arms grant the citizenry the final say in how they are governed. Such a thought seems anathema to most modern citizens because we have all lived in relative prosperity under a government that only recently began a rapid assault on individual liberty. Thomas Jefferson understood gun control back in 1774-76:
“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms. . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.” — Jefferson’s “Commonplace Book,” 1774-1776, quoting from On Crimes and Punishment, by criminologist Cesare Beccaria, 1764
Have laws against guns kept guns out of the hands of criminals? Have laws against murder….rape….theft kept criminals from committing these acts? A person that breaks the law will not be deterred by yet another law….how does that make sense to anyone?
In short, George Washington summed up the meaning of the 2nd Amendment best:
“A free people ought to be armed. When firearms go, all goes, we need them by the hour. Firearms stand next to importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence.” –George Washington, Boston Independence Chronicle, January 14, 1790

I commonly respond to anti-gunners with something along the lines of “Criminals don’t obey the law. Anti-gun laws only affect law-abiding citizens. You can make all the anti-gun laws you want, and in the end only criminals will have guns.”

My right to bear arms is a right that the Constitution guarantees, and is one that the government cannot take away. It is necessary not only as protection but as a deterrent–and not just criminals but also from a government may one day try to take my liberty and property.

Thank you, TerminalHypocrisy, for eloquently writing what I have struggled to articulate for years–something I have always instinctively felt in my gut.

And there’s nothing you can do about it.

In November 1990, I was a month away from my 19th birthday. I had graduated from high school five months earlier. I was working part time at the pizza joint. I was trying (unsuccessfully) to take ONE class at the local community college. I was spending all my free time partying with my friends and surfing in Santa Cruz. I was mostly staying up all night and sleeping past noon. I was restless and directionless.

Also during this time, Saddam Hussein had invaded a little Persian Gulf country called Kuwait. The US was officially at war with Iraq. And my friends were joining the various branches of the military.

My buddy Brian talked me into going down to the US Navy recruiting station. And the sailors down there told me all their best stories of travelling and seeing the world.

I was sold. I signed up. I spent the entire day at the recruiting station. That night I came home to my unhappy parents.

“Where have you been?” my father asked, angry that I’d been gone all day and didn’t tell anyone where I was.

“Mom…Dad…I just joined the Navy…and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

I went to my room with a smug smile on my face, thinking about all the freedom I’d have once I was out of my parent’s house. Later I found out that my parents spent the entire night, awake in bed, unable to sleep, worrying about their son about to go to war.

I went to boot camp weeks later.

Well, today is Veterans Day. And I am a veteran of the first Persian Gulf War of 1990-1991.

So happy Veterans Day to me.