USA

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Ordering Glasses Online From Zenni Optical, Part One

After much hemming and hawing, I finally placed an order for glasses from Zenni Optical.

This post is going to talk about the ordering process. I have no idea yet if the time and money I spent on Zenni’s website will pay off or not. However, testimonials tell me that I am about to get my money’s worth and then some. We shall see!

Ordering glasses on Zenni started with a fresh prescription. I created an account and entered my prescription details into it so that I wouldn’t have to reenter the information several times and possibly get it wrong.

One measurement that is needed but is not on the prescription is pupillary distance, or PD. My friend had the ruler and know-how to measure that for me. This number ensures that your lenses are correctly centred.

The next thing I did was measure my current pair to give myself an idea of the size I would need my new glasses to be. Important measurements are the width of the nose bridge, the width of the frames, the width of the lenses, the length of the temple, and the height of the lenses.

Finally, I took the time to get a good portrait of myself to upload to the site so that I could virtually try on the glasses.

Then, I started shopping! There are several parameters for narrowing down the search, such as price, PD, gender, type of glasses, and type of prescription. The one I wish was a little more precise is the frame size. After a bit of trial and error, I determined that I needed to look at medium to just slightly larger than medium frames, but it would have been nice to be able to input a range.

I’ve been wearing glasses for 23 years and have an idea of the types of shapes, materials, and colours that look best on me. So I started looking for two sensible pairs with metal frames, spring hinges, and oval or rectangular lenses. I started off with a $24.95 pair until I found a couple of $6.95 pairs that looked just as good. In fact, one of the cheaper pairs looks exactly like the pair I currently have on (which I paid several hundred dollars for, and that’s just for the frame).

The processing and shipping time can be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. I don’t know when I’ll next be in an area where I can hang out for a bit waiting on glasses. So I decided that I might as well make this order count, especially since shipping is a flat fee of $4.95 regardless of the size of the order, and there is currently a 10% off coupon! Therefore, I kept shopping!

Once I had some classic (read: boring) frames, I decided that I wanted to try some novelty ones. I finally settled on a pair of pink frames and a similar one in green.

Finally, my current prescription sunglasses are horribly scarred. I’ve always wanted a pair of tortoiseshell sunglasses, so I found a frame I liked and, following my friend’s instructions, looked for the tinting option on the order form.

For each pair, I added the anti-reflective (A/R) coating at $4.95 per pair. I was tempted to try the premium oleophobic coating (A/R, water repellent, smudge resistant), but reviews were not good for that option.

When all the frames, options, and shipping were added up and my 10% discount was calculated, my order came to a whopping $71.05. That’s for five pairs of glasses including prescription sunglasses! Walmart wanted to charge me that for lenses set in a truly crappy frame! Do note that I have single vision lenses, not bifocals or progressives.

Two things irked me about the order process. The first is that you cannot edit your order. So when I wanted to remove the fancy coating from one pair, I had to redo the entire order for that one. That wasn’t too painful because you can import your saved prescription, but it would still be nice to be able to change settings.

The second thing that I do not like is that they are not set up to take PayPal. I know the site is reputable, so I was okay with paying with a credit card, but I prefer to use PayPal for online purchases.

I placed my order yesterday, Sunday. First thing this morning (literally, it was 1:28AM my time), I got an email from them saying there was a problem with my order. It appeared to be for one person, but there was a pair out of the five that had a different PD. Which number was correct?

Well, I had started shopping with an estimated PD, updated my prescription with the correct number, but had forgotten to redo one of my orders! I’m so glad that they caught that! This tells me that whomever is processing orders at Zenni is not an automaton.

I was asked to reply to the email, so I did, and I got an email later today confirming that all five pairs will have the correct PD number I gave them and that they had started work on my order!

Now, to see if glasses from Zenni live up to all the hype…

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I Wish I Could Get Used To This

Going back to Canada after my current stay in the U.S. is going to be brutal.

My current level of income is enough to do just a tad better than scrape by in Canada, but it allows me to live so well in the U.S. because everything is so much cheaper here.

This evening, I needed to get groceries for the week and fill the truck. Filling my truck in Canada has cost me $80 to $90. Well, I spent $95 dollars this evening and this is what I got for my money:

– dinner at Tokyo Thai (spicy tuna roll to start ($5), then their shrimp pad thai ($12). Total with tip: $21 (Much more expensive than what I normally spend on a meal in the U.S., but that’s only because I rarely get a starter, and this is still CHEAP compared to what I’d pay in Canada! I would say the tuna was worth $10 in Canada, plus another $18 for the pad thai, plus tax and tip, so about $35.)

– groceries for the week at Farm Fresh and Dollar Tree: $25 (mostly just fresh fruits, veggies, meats, and mustards as I have lots of pantry staples right now. This would be about $50 in Canada.)

– 16 gallons of gas (what I consider to be a full tank since the needle is in the red by that point): $49 (This would be about $83 in most of Canada right now.)

Total: $95 (total I would have spent in Canada: $168)

These numbers are not exaggerated. My monthly budget in the U.S. for usual household expenses is about half of that in Canada. That means I can apply the other half of the amount to debt, entertainment, and items I put off buying north of the border because they are cheaper here (which reminds me that I really need to get going on finding some new house batteries!).

I know I’m a guest in this country and that I will need to leave. But I sure wish the U.S. would grant me asylum and let me stay. Pretty please?

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Feeling a Little Blind

My friend and I were both due for an eye exam and new glasses, so today we headed over to the optometrist at the Walmart to have our vision checked. I was very impressed by the office and also the cost ($69 for the basic exam + $10 for the peripheral vision test + $25 for the dilation test), much cheaper than I’d been quoted anywhere in Canada (but I never thought to ask at a Walmart).

I’ve been needing new glasses for ages, but haven’t been due for an exam, so I put off getting replacements as long as I could. Now, I can go ahead and order several pairs at Zenni Optical with my new prescription. I’ve never ordered from them, but several people, including my friend, have, so I feel very comfortable going that route.

My eye health is good and I need an ever so slightly stronger prescription than I’ve been wearing. The doc said that if I wasn’t due for glasses, I could even skip this prescription. So that was good news today!

As for the title of my post, my eyes are still painfully dilated and my vision is ever so blurry. I’m glad I didn’t have to drive home!

Feeling just a tad photo sensitive right now.

Before my appointment, my friend took me to lunch at Panera Bread. WOW! How come I have never been to this chain before?! From now on, if I need wifi and/or an electrical plug in, I will look for a Panera Bread before a McDonalds or Starbucks. The food is tasty, good for you, and inexpensive. I was very impressed!

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I’m Officially Too Old For That S$%@!

Donna has finally posted an update about the setup on her new homestead and a lot of her and Ken’s woes have to do with the weather. Winter has apparently settled in firmly in northern Alberta. Plumbing notwithstanding, they are doing fine.

I just can’t imagine myself fighting through another winter, not in an RV, not in a stick home. I am just done with it all. It’s 20 right now in Suffolk and like yesterday, the heat is off, the windows are open, and I wouldn’t think of putting socks or a sweater on. The forecast promises temps in the high teens to low 20s all week, with sun every day except Wednesday. These are the kinds of temperatures I dreamed of when I was shivering my way through damp BC winters. And I’m not even as far south as I plan to get this winter!

Not having to fight the weather is giving me the energy to do other things and to move beyond survival mode. This is going to be a life changing winter.

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Dealing With Electronic Cables Once and For All

Today’s project came together more easily and wonderfully than I would have thought! I guess I deserve an easy project once in a while. 🙂

Now, I don’t want to get into too much detail about my electronic set up, but the following pictures should give you a general idea of the way I got my electronic cables coraled once and for all!

I started off with another Closetmaid product from Target:

As delivered, the unit was too high for me to comfortably view my monitor. Before I cut it down, I spent some time at Walmart this morning looking for bins that would fill the shelf horizontally and depth-wise, and which would then give me an idea of how much of the legs to cut off. I also cut the second shelf-length-wise to get a front panel for my new shelf.

End result:

The only cables that are now visible are the ones that I absolutely have to plug into my computer.

Behind the front panel are bins that hold my  cables, with one of them being a charging station of sorts:

Now, the only cables running under the desks are the power bar cords.

I felt a little silly today sawing handles off beautiful storage totes then drilling holes in them, but they were the perfect-size containers for my project.

Next step in my office setup is to get an external monitor and then I think my workspace will be as near to perfect as possible!