I Can See Clearly Now (Almost)

There’s been a lot happening since I last posted here, so let me enumerate and elucidate.

Peace Corps/FEMA Vaccine Support

The Peace Corps is typically focused on helping people in other countries, but there are times when Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) are asked to lend a hand domestically. It doesn’t happen often, in fact, it’s only happened one other time, during the recovery after Hurricane Katrina. 

Most will agree that the Covid-19 Pandemic is every bit as devastating, at least in the number of people affected, as Hurricane Katrina, and to helps us and the world recover requires that the majority of the population be vaccinated. FEMA was given the daunting task of vaccinating folks here in the US who, for whatever reason, have not had access to the vaccine. To accomplish it FEMA has asked other federal agencies who may be geared to support this effort for help. Peace Corps is one of those agencies. In turn, Peace Corps asked its recently returned volunteers for support. I saw it as a way to directly contribute to the effort of getting the US and the world out of the pandemic rut and back to some semblance of normalcy. So, I volunteered, and I was accepted. 

I don’t know where or how exactly I will serve, but I will be glad to do what I can wherever I can. My service will be for 3 months starting in May. It should be interesting and I’ll post something about it here.

Go Geezer Videos

I had not been sitting on my hands before the call came out to support FEMA, I had the idea to try something different, to do something I’d always wanted to do, but never seemed to find the time to fully explore it. I wanted to become proficient at camping.

Those of you who are experienced campers will likely think, “That’s not a big deal.” For you, that may be true, but for those of us who have never camped, it’s a huge deal. What, where, how, when and other questions are unanswered in our minds and just considering all that I don’t know is enough to make me want to change my mind. Lucky for me that I pay little attention to all the things I don’t know. (Not sure that’s a good thing…)

Anyway, I’ve been learning a lot and as I learn I’ve been creating videos explaining to other poor souls who, like me, wanna camp, but don’t really know how. Yes, there are a bunch of videos that talk about camping this and that, but few that talk about it from the newbie’s perspective. So, that’s what I’ve been doing, creating videos of camping as I learn. So far I have 3 (the third will be published soon) and intend to publish a bunch. This has been interrupted by the Peace Corps/FEMA thing, but I’ll pick it up once that’s done.

Please stop by my YouTube channel and check out what I’ve got so far.

Cataract Surgery

One sure sign that you are getting old is when your doctor insists that you investigate getting cataract surgery. For those who don’t know, cataracts is a condition where the lenses in your eyes start to harden and become cloudy, reducing your vision and in some extreme cases, cause blindness. Cataracts can also cause other problems such as increased eye pressure which can lead to glaucoma, a far more serious eye malady. 

So, taking my doctor’s advice, I saw a specialist and agreed to have the surgery. The surgery involves making tiny cuts in the eye to remove the problem lens and replace it with a plastic lens. If the surgery is successful the new lens restore and greatly improves vision in two ways; first it restores the ability of the eye to focus, often to levels of those when the patient was very young. Secondly, the new lens is not cloudy so more light comes into the eye, increasing visual acuity.

The surgery is usually performed on one eye at a time. I had the surgery done on my left eye earlier today and while it will take a day or so for my eye to focus with the new lens, I can already tell you that the amount and quality of light that the new lens lets in is dramatically Better. The photo below gives you some idea the difference I’m experiencing, and my cataracts was only moderate.

Many of my friends who have had the surgery have told me that I would be amazed at the difference. Like hearing loss, losing your vision over time is insidious because you don’t notice how bad it is until, often, it’s too late. Having this surgery will be life changing for me, especially since I am now focused of videography. 

There’s more stuff going on, but I won’t bore you with those details. Or maybe I will, but in a different post.

Stay tuned.

Vern