Just returned from the opthamologist, keeping an eye on possible ARMD, cataracts, glaucoma. A small amount of cataract problem, neither of the others an issue, for which I am profoundly grateful.

Thanks to drops, vision is all blurry, bleary, but it will clear soon, I expect by dinnertime everything will once again be beautiful in its own way.

In my young and foolish days I'd get my eyes checked and then go back to work for the afternoon. What idiocy! If I couldn't see well, there wasn't much I could do except to listen to customers complain and take notes, promising to call them back.

I always wished for a mobile headset for the phone so that I could walk over to the file cabinet, the fax machine, someone else's desk while I had the client on the phone, rather than put them on hold. I could have let them vent and researched the necessary information at the same time.

But the District, in its infinite wisdom, preferred to pay me an extra half hour to call the customer back, playing phone tag, after I'd resolved their issue. I guess it was cheaper than a one-time cost of a headset.

Let's see...in the peak times, I'd take 6 calls an hour, then research, then return the calls later in the day. 180 minutes, an hour and a half a day, 5 days a week...yup, penny wise and pound foolish (in so many ways). Your tax pounds dollars at work.

Going to lie down now and give my eyes a rest. See you on the flip side.