I got a package in the mail last night that I’ve been waiting for awhile. Inside were a set of goggles glasses that look decidedly utilitarian, and also kind of like someone forgot to tint the lenses on a pair of Oakleys. They’re actually a pair of safety glasses, and I had them ground with progressive lenses to help me when I’m out in the shop working. It’s a drag to continually be taking my glasses off to see something up close, and it’s even more of a drag to get shit stuck in my eyes. These were inexpensive to have made, compared to other services, so I’m using this as a test run for upgrading my every-day glasses.

The verdict: not bad! They’re comfortable and they stay on my head really well. The lenses are curved to fit my face, so there’s some distortion as I move my head side to side—there’s a sweet spot at the center of the lenses for distance, and it falls off around the edges. But the up-down difference between distance and reading is really smooth. And I can read easily with them at normal reading distance. It’s going to take some training to move my head so that my eyes are looking at the right thing through the right part of the glass.