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Hate Comments #001

admin — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 03:33:48 +0000

I’m instituting a new feature: Hate Comments. You know, the comments that don’t get published because they fail my unapologetically arbitrary moderation process.

It turns out there could be gems of literary wisdom for the ages in some of these unpublished comments. Let’s read the nuggets and gems just pouring out of this deleted comment:

Author : Johnny (IP: 66.142.***.*** , adsl-66-142-***-***.dsl.crchtx.swbell.net)
E-mail : forgetyou19@hotmail.com
URL :
Comment:
first of all, David Langford is a sore loser in optometric field…..”happily rents a place in Wal-Mart” ????……after 8 years of school (maybe more for you, who knows), and works “happily” in the cubicle of Wal-Mart ??!!!…you’re embrassing !!!!……having opticians watching your every move and determining your working hour ??!!!….take title OD off of your last name Langford….biggest loser like you don’t deserve it…..if you can’t encourage people into OD career, then don’t lead them to your sorry ending ways.

Wow. First, I didn’t lose in the optometric field. It was private practice. And if a bright, nice guy like me can fail in opening cold, you young pups coming out of optometry school could also. It should give you pause because while I don’t think I’m any better than you, why would you assume you are better than me? Your O.D. degree doesn’t guarantee anything. And that loss was just a single battle in my life. I’m winning everywhere else (family, church, hobbies, current job, etc), so I don’t think you can fairly call me a loser.

Second, Johnny, look in your local phone book and see how many commercial vs. private practice optometrists there are. Your comments are disparaging almost 1/3 of the optometrists in the nation. Your use of cubicle is interesting because almost 99% of all optometrists work in a room about 11′x13′ (and in the dark half the time). You don’t even know that I set my own hours. What’s embarrassing is your spelling of the word embarrassing.

Let me address who I think Johnny is. His IP address from Southwestern Bell indicates he’s probably in the states of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, or Texas. So, it’s possible that he could be an optometry student in Houston, Tahlequah, or St. Louis. Judging by the maturity and knowledge revealed by his writings, I would guess that it’s more likely he’s an undergrad, possibly high school student, planning on becoming a private practice optometrist.

Johnny, I would say that you should go for it. Go big or go home. I’m sure you can do it, Johnny, because I have faith in your ability to communicate and win friends and influence people.

To the rest of you undergrads that are asking yourself, “Should I be an optometrist?” Let me ask you some questions:

Do you like sitting in the dark half the day?
Do you like explaining the same thing over and over and over again to everyone you meet?
Do you like to wear slacks and collared shirts all day, everyday?
Do you like to work Saturdays? (More and more private practices are now in addition to commercial.)
Do you want to pay more in school loans than it’s worth to be in said profession?
Do you have a favorite town you want to settle in? Because I’ll bet it’s already saturated with eye doctors.
Do you like having shortened lunch time because the last patient went long?
Do you like getting scowled at whenever you run a few minutes behind?
Do you like knowing you could be sued and maybe your career over if you mess up even once? (Not that you will, but it’s possible.)
Do you like to whine at ODwire.org? (But seriously, check out this link for more considerations in choosing optometry as a career.)

Excuse my mess

admin — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 18:48:41 +0000

I’m upgrading my CMS from WP 1.2 to 1.5 so please excuse the mess.

Optoblog rising up in the world

admin — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 23:41:17 +0000

*shameless self promotion mode: on*
Optoblog is a rising star on the optometric blogging scene. This site was finally indexed by Google, so now people can find us. Yahoo and MSN indexed us right of the bat. Now when you mention optoblog.com when talking to your friends, they can actually google it and find the official site.
Another cool thing is if you enter “optometry blog” in a Google search, optoblog pops up in the middle of the second page. If you do the same search with Yahoo optoblog pops up on the first page at number 1.
We’re moving up in the world and big things are on the way. Soon I will have my first optometric instrument product review, and then we’ll start podcasting. Optoblog’s podcasts will be mostly informative and interesting interviews with distinguished players in the eye world. Right now I’m getting my things together for telephone interviews, but I plan on attending the June 2005 AOA meeting in Dallas to get quality recordings of live interviews. I will have daily blogs coming out of Dallas, so if you can’t make it, just read optoblog, and you will feel like you’re there.
Stay tuned for exciting things coming from optoblog.com.
*shameless self promotion mode: off*

The pretty high Dk silicone hydrogels

admin — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 23:35:06 +0000

When the Acuvue Advance (Dk 89) and Ciba O2Optix (Dk 138) lenses came out, my first reaction was “Why?” The Advance and O2Optix are high Dk but not as high as Ciba Night & Day. They can be worn for occasional overnight wear and/or up to 6 nights extended wear, but Night & Day can be worn 30 days. I myself wear Ciba N&D and love them, so why would I want a â€œlesserâ€ lens?
Now I have seen the light. The O2Optix and Advance lenses are 2-week disposables for patients in the real world. You know, the patients who are wearing their lenses 16-18 hours a day and occasionally sleeping in their lenses. I think most patients are like this, or at the very least, would be like this only they can’t stand the feeling they get when they over wear there regular hydrogel lenses, so they have no choice but to take them out.
This is where the newer not-as-high Dk lenses come into play. They allow the patient to “flex wear” their lenses for 2 weeks then throw them away and start again. Since they aren’t wearing them continuously, they don’t need as high of Dk as N&D, yet, they have enough oxygen passing through to allow what would normally be considered “over wear” with other regular hydrogel lenses. Nice.
I think the Acuvue2, Frequency 55 and the other regular hydrogels should be history. Most patients should just be directed over to this new 2-week replacement modality because that’s how most patients live their life. I can’t tell you how many patients I see that could have avoided corneal neovascularization if they could have had this type of lens. They’re not bad patients. They were just trying to live life without worrying about their contacts. They were trying to wear their contacts like their friends and family with contacts do, but their eyes won’t allow it without repercussions. Now, there’s a contact lens modality that fits their lifestyle and won’t bring neo and the wrath of their optometrist.
Please note, I wish I had a financial interest in the above companies, but I donâ€™t and cannot since I work for the government. Also, my practice doesnâ€™t include a contact lens service, so I have never actually fit any of the above lenses. I read the available information and specs on the products and submitted my opinion to this blog. For what other ECPs are saying, visit the Optometric Management forums which includes a thread on O2optix.

“Eye MDs” have their own official blog

admin — Fri, 04 Feb 2005 23:54:32 +0000

The American Academy of Ophthalmology has one-upped optometry with their blog site (www.eyeorbit.org). It appears to have started around Sept. 2004. It’s a pretty nice looking site, although I think the site would be better served with a bulletin board for what they’re trying to do. I don’t get the point of having anyone being able to blog on a single web site. If anyone can post messages, isn’t that a board?
One interesting read on their “What’s a blog?” page (That’s right, they used “What’s a. . .”)

Q. What Do I Blog About?
A. There are two main types of blogs. Personal and business blogs.
Personal blogs can be about anything. For instance, one can blog about political advocacy and the battles with optometry’s scope expansion in their home state. Members-in-training can write about their training as eye surgeons and medical doctors. . .

Does anyone have a blog ranting about ophthalmologists in their home state who don’t spend enough time in the operating room, so they sell glasses for a living? If so, please leave a link in the comment section.
But I digress.
I think they’d be best served by having a very small number of some really interesting, known, and respected “Eye MDs” to post blogs, and then have all the boring nobodies post to a web board. (I can say that because I’ve never pretended to be an authoritative blogger, just an enthusiast blogger.)
Which leads us to discuss, how come optometry doesn’t have a blog sponsored by the AOptA or AAOpt? How come the major ophthalmic manufacturers don’t have blogs about upcoming products and technologies?
And how come we don’t call ourselves “Eye ODs”? (Or maybe that’s just what you call an eye doctor in Montana crazy enough to Rx cannabinoids for glaucoma.)

Richard Hatch Named AFOS 2005 Optometrist of the Year

admin — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:21:13 +0000

The Armed Forces Optometric Society named CAPT Richard Hatch, OD their 2005 optometrist of the year. Included among the AFOS judges was CAPT Terry Schleisman.

Updated PHS-IHS Optometrist directory available

admin — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:19:57 +0000

Includes names and phone numbers for optometrists and eye clinic staff in each IHS area, FDA, and BOP. Current as of 1-18-2005.

FY2004 IHS Optometry report available

admin — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:18:20 +0000

Dr. Hatch reports statistics and happenings within IHS optometry for fiscal year 2004.

Commissioned Corps Officers in IHS to wear uniform daily

admin — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:13:56 +0000

The previous practice of wearing a uniform once a week (or not at all) is history as of 11/1/2004. The new policy requires all officers (with the exception of COSTEPs) to be in uniform while on duty and applies to all locations within the Indian Health Service. The local uniform authority is at your area office. If you havenâ€™t ever received it, you can receive $250 towards uniform costs by sending in a memo.

Optometry Retention Pay for Commissioned Corps Officers

admin — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:00:29 +0000

Starting 10/1/2004 IHS optometrists can receive retention pay (ORSP) in return for a termed agreement. The amount one receives per year varies according to length of agreement: 1year=$6K/year, 2 years=$7K/year, and 3 years=$8K/year. In order to sign a 2- or 3-year agreement, one must already have 3 years of active duty. An optometry retention pay contract must be filled out, signed, and notarized by the CC optometrist, and their supervisor and service unit director must sign before submitting. ORSP is disbursed in your regular paycheck and can be applied to TSP if desired. Unfortunately, at present one cannot receive ORSP and loan repayment (LRP) at the same time. It is recommended that you sign up for both, and should you received LRP, then you must return a pro-rated amount of your ORSP money to the government.