The Optician Awards really gets into swing about this time of the year. Shortlisting the entries this year has been really tough due to the number of entries and volume of quality words.
Practices and individuals have really got the knack of entry statements making selection harder than ever.
Judging day is on February 12 so when you get the call telling you that you have made it to a shortlist don't delay in getting your entry in.
The really hard work starts now --choosing the entertainment.
I had the pleasure of attending opti-Munich at the weekend and very nice it was too. Among the great and good of the boutique frame business ( get your pictures in if you are reading) I came across Whiteout & Glare. It is great to see something that really gets you excited as so much of the product is the same. Just proves that great looking frames don't have to to be whacky.
After struggling to work today on my son's mountain bike across the snows of Surrey to be greeted with newspapers proclaiming the return of the Blitz spirit it's as well to remember just how easy we have it.
By coincidence the following letter
Arrived in the office. This letter is from the final months of WWII and highlights just how tough things were.
Little did they know it but this generation would also have to live through the winter of 1947 three years later.
I could get used to this working at home lark.
No there hasn't been a power cut at Vision Aid Overseas' offices. This was the strange meeting between myself and VAO's Jeremy Jalie last week. After discussion of where to meet the two of us decided Ryka's cafe at the foot of Box Hill was a good venue.
I arrived by bike and Jeremy by car just as the two young ladies running the cafe decided it was time to close. We decided on an al fresco meeting by the light of the headlamp on my cycling helmet.
As the Optician triathlon team's fundraising efforts were on the agenda its seemed a fitting, if somewhat chilly, choice.
The GOC's council meeting last week was a bit of a one off.
Henry Fonda may have managed to change the minds of his eleven fellow jurors in Lumet's classic 1957 court house thriller but the feat wasn't repeated last week.
Everyone at the table made positive noises about the two professions working hand in hand and that nothing should be done to drive a wedge between them or reduce the incentive for DOs to remain registered. But different levels of fee proved an intractable issue with those on both sides often citing the same issues, such as division between the professions, to support opposing arguments.
The GOC needs more money if it going to do what it says it wants to do. The chairman was left in an uneviable position of trying to seek agreement on a topic for which there was no agreement nor is ever likely to.
How harsh the various parties will be, not just on the GOC but on each other, in their condemnation remains to be seen.
I popped along to the Odeon Esher last night to see An Education with Mrs Optician Editor and very good it was too.Along with the delightful Jenny (Carey Mulligan) and Rosamund Pike playing the fantasically airheaded Helen was Peter Sarsgaard as the charming, but dastardly, David.
The sets were fabulous as were the cars and the conjured repression of post-war Britain. But what caught my eye was some fantastic eyewear. Both Jenny and Helen got through a succession of super sunglasses while Olivia Williams( Miss Stubbs) sported some frames appeared to have been loaned by the Kray twins.
The press is getting all unnecessary over the wrangle between Specsavers and ASDA. Are the papers interested in professional fees, the levels of correction offered or the use of NHS vouchers.....er no.
A typical story is this one. The reason for the excitment is the fact that the case was put back because ASDA ask their lawyers to stock shelves in the busy Christmas period.
Very laudable for the lawyers to get down to the grass roots of their client's business. I wonder if they drop their rates to £6.50 an hour when donning the green overalls?
It's that time of the year when the manufacturers preview their Spring/Summer collections so it was off to Holborn for Safilo's turn today. Along with an riot of colour and decals were a raft of vintage shapes -- and not just from the 60s, 70s and 80s.
The Georgio Armani collection had some fantastic frames conjuring up the era of 1930s black and white Hollywood glamour. A real breath of fresh air for someone who grew up in the 60s, 70s and 80s and is quite happy to consign its styling to history.
Having said that there were some really nice frames on show with cateyes and big eye sizes continuing to dominate.
The women's magazine glitteratti were all making a bee-line for the Juicy collection. This Pink and perky brand has taken the States by storm and looks like doing the same over herre too.
All right I admit it, it's my fault.
After months of using orthok I decided at the weekend to call it a day. Needless to say the very next day the heavens opened and the wind started to blow.
On Sunday morning, with no hope a of a decent cycle with No2 son becaue of the weather, I was sent out to walk the dog and fetch the newspapers. Fifty yards down the road the rain was running down my lenses and the rain was soaking in pretty much everywhere..
Henry wasn't too pleased either and he doesn't even have to wear glasses.
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