Typewriter Talk / The Advantage of Being Nearsighted

**Posted by TypewriterKing** 03-4-2016 17:52:19

It's about time for me to get a new pair of glasses (I will NOT wear contact lenses. I've always been afraid that contact lenses would roll back in my head). So I thought I'd write about something, in the case of a typewriter mechanic, of a blessing (of sorts): Nearsightedness. Yes, even my own mother called me "Mister Magoo," after a cartoon character who was hopelessly nearsighted himself, and who got into some pretty weird situations because of it. I know how that man saw the world. But there's one thing about nearsightedness no one says anything about: You can see the minutest detail of just about anything. I can practically read a book as it rests on my nose, that's how bad my eyes are. I have to have fairly strong glasses to see well enough to drive. Anyway, I can see well enough to identify tiny numbers, and even different adjustments made in most any typewriter. I can almost poke my head inside and look around--especially with a little light. I do need light more now than I used to, though, but that's my middle age showing. I know it must be total living H*** for a farsighted individual whose line of work involves fixing on small things.

**Posted by treefaller** 04-4-2016 11:54:03

I'm nearsighted too, though maybe not as much as you. And it is a regular thing when I sit down to work on a typewriter to take off my glasses and set them aside for the whole work session. The second thing I do now is to put on the led "headlight" with the elastic bands on my head. I just got it a couple of months ago when I got heavy into fixing the Underwood Noiseless Standard, and I don't know how I managed without it before. It's great!

**Posted by SoucekFan** 04-4-2016 16:02:59

treefaller wrote:
The second thing I do now is to put on the led "headlight" with the elastic bands on my head. I just got it a couple of months ago when I got heavy into fixing the Underwood Noiseless Standard, and I don't know how I managed without it before. It's great!

The head-worn light is a must for me as well. Plus it comes in really handy during power outages. During one outage, I was afraid to type by candlelight because of all the paper strewn about, so I put on the head lamp and opted to type coal miner style instead.

**Posted by TypewriterGuy** 04-4-2016 16:11:45

If anyone is interested, theres a headlight I bought for $15 or something thats 2000 lumens and is rechargeable. I use it and its great.

**Posted by Gabby Johnson** 04-4-2016 20:10:19

I didn't become myopic until I was in my 40s, not long after I transitioned from typewriters to computers as a newspaper reporter and later an editor.
Now that I'm retired, my vision has improved, according to my optometrist, and I think it's from not staring into a computer terminal for 10 hours every day.
Another plus for the old technology of the typewriter.
If I gave up the internet maybe I wouldn't need glasses at all

**Posted by Spazmelda** 04-4-2016 20:35:30

I can agree with this. I usually wear contacts but right now I have them out and my kindle is appx 2.5" from my nose. I sometimes remove my contacts for doing really detailed stuff rather than wear readers. I can see so much more detail. It must be related to degree of nearsightedness, because I can see things without glasses (or contacts) that my husband can't see when he takes his off. It's kind of like a little super-power. Of course, not being able to see things more than 4" away kind of detracts from the coolness.

**Posted by Repartee** 23-4-2016 21:36:33

I am mildly near sighted - been so all my life - and my sweet spot is about the range of a computer screen. So I take my glasses off to use a computer or read ordinary papers or to eat, put them on (bifocals) for distance or fine print. Regarding the "super power" mentioned by some I made a serendipitous discovery: if I wear a pair of reading glasses that is much too strong I also can see really tiny details inches from my nose. So I can sympathize with people who have this power naturally - like wearing a pair of reading glasses much too strong all the time when you don't have your glasses!

There are some disadvantages to having a sweet spot where so many tasks lie - I am always taking off my glasses and sometimes I misplace them, or they fall out of my shirt pocket, and in general they make a nuisance of themselves.

**Posted by TypewriterKing** 01-5-2016 23:11:36

I finally got my new glasses a week ago. Found out my eyesight has gotten worse about a dial click's worth.