What's perplexing you today?
 

Brendan Fraser. Why does this man have 51 acting credits in the IMDB?

Has he ever made a good movie? Is there such a thing as a Brendan Fraser fan? I don't begrudge him his success, but wtf? How does he do it? He keeps showing up in new crappy movies.

I'm perplexed about the cost of sofas - why does a sofa cost 900.00 dollars?

And, should I get it?

PS I liked him in BeDazzled.
With Liz Hurley. Cute movie.

I'm perplexed, what the fuck is 900 dollars?

As to Fraser, I guess for the same reason Kate Hudson keeps getting roles, which is to say they're sorta cute and appeal to a wide range of people who don't like movies that make them think too much.

I liked Airheads.

Oh heck, I liked Hudson in How to Lose a Guy in 10 days. I don't even like McConaughey that much ('cept for the indie film I just saw him in) but even the simple films can have a certain charm.

I'm just a big grumpy buffoon. :(

Bedazzled is a simile of his career. I think he may have sold his soul to the devil to get where he is today.

I'll admit, my memory of Airheads was that it was fine. But it's poorly rated in IMDB, and I honestly only remember a few gags, and none of them had much to do with Mr. Fraser. I was laughing at everyone else.

It's one of those comedies which you fault for not being realistic enough when you see it in the theater, but then on TV replays it gets better.

As a kid, I loved Encino Man and must have watched it a dozen times.

What it boils down to is, he's an inexpensive kids' movie actor, mostly for tweens. But movies for tweens (like The Mummy, for example) have to completely look like they're meant for adults, or tweens won't be interested. Sometimes the adults get fooled. :)

Because they can get away with it. People expect a sofa to cost that much.

Do you have an old sofa you liked when it was new? Have you considered re-upholstering it? Chances are you can get that done for about two thirds the cost and it will be made better, assuming the guys doing it know what they are doing. It's more work for you though, and you will be without your sofa for a month or two while they work on it.

I have never, ever owned a brand new sofa. This one would be my first.

All my other life-sofa's were hand me downs - sometimes several times over. This last couch I bought from a woman who moved to OH from AZ and the couch has a definite AZ vibe - not my colors or pattern at ALL - is a weird zig-zaggy pattern of navy, gold, red...maybe it looked good on the mesa, but not here on the prairie.

Anyway - I guess like mattresses - sofas cost what they cost. sheesh. UNREAL.

BTW - I'm gonna get it. *don't guilt me, man*

I can think of lots less appealing actors than Fraser, and there's nothing wrong with steady work, especially for an actor.

The Mummy movies and Journey to the Center of the Earth are solid entertainment. Blast from the Past was absolutely brilliant and funny.

I hate movies that make me think! Give me mindless action romps every time.

Get it and enjoy it! Never mind me...I'm quite bitter today with myself.

You know, I've never had a new couch either! :lol: Years ago my ex asked me if I wanted a new couch or a computer (when they were really just catching on with us non-technical people) and the rest is history. :p:

Is it leather Bri? Pay more for leather, it's worth it.

Compared to prescription glasses, or even sunglasses, sofas are cheap - for what you get.

The guy selling the sofa, bought it for 1/3 of list price.

My ex has a leather sofa. He seems to like it - this one isn't leather but it's really big (and purty, too - looks like it belongs in a bordello!)

Why do you like leather? don't you tend to slide off? ;)

Yeah, clear vision isn't worth much. Used glasses work just as well as used sofas do. If you don't have a sofa, you can sit on the floor, if you don't have glasses, you can drive into something you don't see or get somebody else to read things for you. [/all defensive and shit:p:]

BTW, you *can* get inexpensive brand new glasses that will give you clear vision.

My bro and sis-in-law's leather couch (you say sofa I say couch, let's call the whole thing off---compromise...the DAVENPORT!) is wonderful. I thought it would be slidy but it's not.

They're not too expensive for what they do, but for what they are - two little pieces of plastic with some wire to attach them to your face.

I'm still buying 20 dollar reading glasses. I'm far-sighted...I can read a billboard at 10 miles...but it's the up close stuff that I need glasses for.

If I ever get back up from paying for my teeth, I would like some real glasses. Spexx, I'll be consulting you!

Like saying a tire is a wad of rubber that you slip on a rim, or that Jack Daniels is just some mashed corn that's been cooked for awhile. :drunk:

heheheehee...he said "wad."

As long as you're getting regular check-ups, and "readers" are working for you, stick with them. :thumb:

:blush:

I'm not getting regular eye exams. I had a free cursory one here at work last year and they said my magnification was right for me. In HS I had an eye exam and the doc asked me if I could read the printing on the edge of the doorknob, my far vision is so good.

With my job it would be best for me to have glasses designed for me. I think there was a mention of a slight astigmatism, some years ago, but I don't really know what that means.

I got my glasses the last two times at eyebuydirect.com. They were around $20-$30 with shipping. They work perfectly.

There's this thing where if something doesn't cost a lot, people think it is low quality. That's not rational thinking.

I get eye exams each year, and buy my contacts from 1-800-contacts, and my glasses from the web. To buy either from an eye doctor seems to be doing it wrong. Your doctor sends you to a pharmacy to get a drug prescription. Why should it be different with glasses/contacts?

I am far sighted too. The optometrist comments on how good my far vision is. I have bought RX glasses but I see no difference between the over the counter readers and them, in fact I prefer my readers.


Oh except for that one pair of prescription glasses with the tinted and small frames. It is perplexing where I could have lost those. I replaced them with a dorky pair I use just for reading books in bed. lol I use my over the counter readers for the pc screen and everything else like recipes.

Seconding eyebuydirect.com. I now own 5 pairs of glasses so I can change them to match my mood. And I got prescription sunglasses. And a "spare" for my husband, who likes to lose his.

ETA: I think I also have a couple of 5% off coupons lying around; if anyone's interested I can go look for 'em.

I think I'm going to buy my next suit on line.

If you have a trusted tailor measure you and then send the measurements off to the on-line suit maker, why not?

But remember that they only measure your inseam like they do...IN PRISON!

What perplexes me is individuals who are such individuals because they do things that make them individuals that a million other individuals do but they want to profess their individuality at every turn and want to make sure everyone knows they're such an individual like everyone else because they did something that sets them apart from all the other individuals who are being individualistic in the same way the first individual is being an individual.

If you type and say the word individual enough times it starts to look and sound funny.

Just more of my random thoughts. When they pop my head off I might not have many more, want to get a few in first.

I'm curious. Do you have a trusted Optician who measures you?

I have an optometrist who tests my eyes and gives me a prescription.

An optician to measure my haid? no. I have old glasses that fit well, and a ruler to measure those to get the same sized ones offered on the internet. I can measure the distance between my pupils myself in the mirror.

Here's the issue in my profession. When you buy glasses, some of what you pay for is the Optician's expertise. A good Optician will determine your needs and recommend the best products to meet those needs. S/He will take appropriate, accurate measurements, and when the glasses are made, s/he will ensure their accuracy. Then the Optician will custom fit the eywear to you, and will adjust your glasses if they ever come out of adjustment.

Historically, we have adjusted anyone's glasses, whether they purchased the glasses from us, or not. An Optician somewhere sold those glasses and at some point may adjust glasses that were purchased from me.

Now, people are buying their glasses on line, and we Opticians are being asked to give away our skills, expertise, and our time. If it's just fitting glasses to someone, it's not a big thing, but when we're asked for measurement, for which we can be liable, or to troubleshoot a problem with the glasses, then it becomes costly to us. The worst is when our paying customers have to wait while we try to figure out why an on line purchaser can't see out of their glasses.

For young people like you and Pie, it's not so much of an issue, especially if you don't have a strong prescription. But when you get into multifocals (and you will), you may want to consult with a licensed Optician. :idea:

Sounds like a simple policy of "we charge to fit any glasses not sold by us" is in order.

That's a completely new paradigm, and it won't be a popular one with patients - taking something away that's always been free never is.

How about a sign or a card or "something" that says you do it for your customers for free. <shrug>

They used to do free adjustments at a few places here, but haven't for the last few years.

I got my first pair of glasses at 3 years old. For the next 6 years, I wore the wrong prescription, because every single time I went in for my eye exam, I squinted as hard as I could to figure out what the letters on the chart were--because I was told it was "a test" and you're supposed to do as well as you can on tests. I had two eye doctors during this time, and neither of them ever told me not to squint, to just see what I could really see. What's more, you can look at old photos of me and clearly see that the two sets of frames I wore during this time did not even come close to fitting my face.

Then I found a good eye doctor, and I have stayed with him. But still, he is not the one in charge of seeing people in the frames department, and in my adulthood that person sold me yet another pair of ill-fitting glasses after a 10-year stint of contacts followed by LASIK. It wasn't until I made my husband (who has always chosen well-fitting glasses) come in with me to get a new pair that he informed both of us the reason none of the frames fit me is because my face bones are small and I need to be shopping in the kids' frame section. The woman was a little shocked at the idea, but he was totally right.

All of which is to say, good opticians certainly do the things you list above. But good opticians may be rarer than you think.

Hey, I pay an optometrist $60 every year to give me a full eye exam. I get pics of my retinas and everything, since I'm typeIID and work with <Dr.>frikin' lazers</Evil> every day. I refuse to pay a kajillion dollars to some frame manufacturer when I know it should cost $19.95. And I work with precision optics for a living -- we don't pay hundreds of dollars for the stuff we use, and it's a lot more high-tech than my specs. I know my prescription, my IPD, all the various lengths associated with my last specs, and verify that info with my optometrist.

<shrugs> Seems fair to me.

Spexx, the party's over. I wonder why photographers didn't do the same thing that doctors did a long time ago: create a guild that prevented others from practicing without a special license. Do you know how many times I hear from people who ought to be using a professional photographer that their nephew or son or whoever is going to take the pictures for them for free? Just because you can buy a hammer, that doesn't make you a carpenter. Same goes for just about every profession and trade. Being in a consumer society we pay the price by having our expertise discounted in order for someone to be able to sell out from under us. Our national values respect consumerism more than expertise.

There was a local paper near here that was always going on an on about "shopping locally" and supporting local businesses. But what does that mean? From my point of view it means:
Don't buy a camera, if you need photos, go to your local photographer and let him make a living (not a killing)
Don't buy a computer for desktop publishing, go to a graphic designer and hire them to make your poster.
Don't run to home depot and buy and arsenal of tools, hire your local carpenter to fix your screen door.
don't buy pepperidge farm cookies or budweiser beer or produce from across the continent. Why don't you have a local bakery or brewery? because they were edged out by economy of scale.

So I say the party's over, because it is just a matter of time before your business is a self serve procedure. Pharmaceutical companies are already marketing directly to consumers.

I can just imagine how my teeth would have looked if I could have ordered my new caps online, after making my dentist take the molds. :eek:

Umm, I like the highlights... and your bangs are cute.

HA! That's an uglified photo of Elle McPherson I grabbed off google images.

And yet, many professionals have countered the problem by charging more and more for the few people who are still willing to pay for their expertise. A wedding photographer nowadays will cost you a couple thousand dollars for a mere 4 hours of time, and then the photos are still their property and you get one copy of each and anyone else in the family who wants one has to pay $5 per photo. Which only leads to more people deciding to let their cousin do it for free.

All the better really. I wouldn't want the agra of shooting a wedding for 15 thousand dollars.

The pros aren't countering the problem by over charging, they are passing along their real costs, believe it or not. And a good wedding photographer is a world of difference from a bad one or even a talented cousin.

Think about your industry. Is what you do really something that anyone can do? Are your standards higher than someone else's? Why should I pay a voice over actor anything when I can get my brother to do it for nothing?

On the other hand I just heard Maya Angelou narrating an explanation of the big bang and she may be all ms. poet, but she sucks as a narrator. Absolutely no sense of rhythm, every word was another brick in the wall.

Unfortunately, only 22 (I think) states are licensed, which is why I live in PA (non-licensed) and work in NJ (licensed).

It's good that you get examined every year, that's the standard of care for diabetics (you should probably see an MD, though). But "eye doctors" don't know much about glasses. They know about eyes.

Should? What's should? You're not going to get a high quality, stylish, current (not discontinued which means unlikely to be replaceable if broken), frame fitted well by a good Optician for $19.95.

A replacement headlight for a 2008 Buick Lucerne is $142.00 on line. That's not high tech, either. Or installed.

As I said, you're young enough that it probably is not critical, but when you need multifocals, you may feel differently. There are something like 170 different progressive addition lens models, and plenty of lined bifocal types. Additionally, just because the sizes and lengths of your last glasses suited you doesn't mean that your new ones will. You were wearing an 18 bridge? Is that a saddle, keyhole, modified saddle, fixed, adjustable, or unifit bridge? How will the difference effect how the glasses fit you? An Optician would should better know.

I've heard Maya speak live, twice, and when it comes to things totally unlike the Big Bang...she is wonderful to hear speak.

You know, too, I remember my ex talking about what the band charged for events, or wedding receptions. He said no one thinks about hauling the shit around, sometimes up and down stairs, all the practice, the years learning the stuff...

Putting a high price tag on something doesn't make it quality, but for the most part, you pay more for the really good stuff...in just about anything.

On a much smaller level, I can pay a chick at Slash~n~Dash 3 bucks for a haircut (and I have!) but it's not going to be the nice cut I get for 17 bucks more...which will look a lot better and last a lot longer (good cuts always do) and so, it's worth it.

Glasses perhaps seem more disposable than your wedding pics. It depends on what is important to you. And people think "well, it's not like I'll have these glasses FOREVER." Yet good feeling and good fitting could lengthen the life of your glasses, I would think. No falling off and pushing them back on your face.

Possibly true, but will it make them last TEN times longer? Because that's how much more you are paying.

That's how much you can choose to pay. We just finished a sale where a complete pair of glasses started at $77.40, regularly $119.00. That includes my expertise, actually being able to try on frames, see how they look and fit before purchasing, measurements, ensuring the glasses were made correctly, custom fitting, guarantee to replace any broken frame or lens for a year, and future adjustments.

On the flip side, I've sold glasses that cost over $900.00 for one pair. They were really good ones.

Actually it's quite high tech, just not customized for you specifically.

Definitely not.:headshake

Heed this advice. Online buying is great if you know all your important info and the style of glasses are the same. Oh and hope you know what that really means.

Spexx - Don't most optometrists know all this as well? I thought an ophthalmologist was more for serious medical issues. I thought most places had an optometrist in them, well the more reputable ones anyway.

You're proving my point for me. Your cheapest glasses are normally $120 and you ran a special where you could get them for $77.40.

eyebuydirect's cheapest glasses are $7.95. That's TEN times cheaper.

I know you add value, and I'm not arguing that point with you at all. But you charge ten times more for that value. Some people are going to decide it's not worth it.

Right - buy a commodity on line. A roll of scott toilet paper is the same at the store or on line. IMHO, glasses are not a commodity. :shrug:

Ophthalmologist - mainly health of eye, performs surgery, some don't even do refractions, can't be bothered with eyewear.

Optometrist - mainly vision (refractions), can manage eye disease, may fit eyewear, but their (approximately) 2 hours of classroom eyeglass learning does not prepare them well for in-depth eyeglass dispensing. They're more interested in fitting contact lenses.

Optician - Almost entirely eyewear, some states allow Opticians to refract.

Whenever a patient comes in with problems with their glasses, regardless of where they got the glasses, I always analyze the glasses first, and give the doctors my opinion of the problem.

Of course.

I looked into glasses online but with my astigmatism in one eye and the progressive lenses--I didn't think I could get the correct lenses for my eyes.

and that's too bad, 'cause I need a pair now. Normally they run me about $400-$500. Yes, it's a rip off.

What do you normally choose? Frame and progressive lenses start at $219 here.

ETA
And what's wrong with lined bifocals. That'll save you prolly $50.

I'm used to the progressives, and they look better. I also need the Transitions (light reactive)

My doctor is always like, Whoa! you have no pigment in your eyes. I can see all the way back to the back of the eye [insert medical term here for the back of the eye.] So, yeah, I need the Transitions.

Coccons Over-Rx sunglasses and Coccoon clip-ons are both less expensive than Transitions, give you better control and protection than Transitions.

better control?

but . . . I love my transitions! Before I got them, I was constantly messing with my glasses--taking them off to drive, putting on my sunglasses. Taking them off in a store, and putting on my regular glasses. Taking my regular glasses off when I go outside, and putting on my sunglasses. You get the idea.

But I will look into the clip ons.

What about buying the frames online and having the lenses put in by an optician.
Thats what I've done. IIRC not all places carry all the lines, just like everything else.
Do you find that to be a relatively new trend, Spexx?