The Sun in My Eyes
One of the typical situations that we in the services business have to learn to deal with here on the west coast is that the world of business more often than not operates on the east coast time zone. That seems to be the case whether you are positioned, like me, to the west of there, or if you are east of there, as in Europe. Obviously, I am three hours earlier here in San Diego than in New York and that is often the only difference I have to be aware of, but not always. On the case that I am currently working on, the claimants and respondents are based in Iowa, so the Central Time Zone. Lawyers for the claimants are also in Central Time, but lawyers for the respondents are located in Los Angeles, so two hours earlier. The arbitration panel and the administrators of the Zoom call are all located in the eastern time zone, so one hour ahead of Central and three hours ahead of me in San Diego and the respondent lawyers in Las Angeles. It so happens that the principals of my expert witness firm are located in New York, Lisbon, Portugal and Palermo, Italy. Europe is, at this time of year and for most of the year, six hours ahead of New York Time Zone and nine hours ahead of me here in San Diego. That nine hour time zone spread makes finding convenient times for everyone somewhat challenging at times. Generally, the team in Europe has made a social contract with those of us who work for them and the clients they serve that they will operate as though they are on New York time. That means they are often working well into the night. By the same token, one of the prices I assume for living out here in San Diego and choosing to stay engaged in the game is that I am prepared to wake up early to make morning meetings. Being a morning person, that suits me fine.
This particular hearing is being conducted on Central Time and starting at 9am, so I am up and at’em for a hard start at 7am PDT. Sunrise here in San Diego today was at 5:59am, so by the time 7am rolls around, the sun has risen high enough to poke its head above any of the surrounding hills and up over the landscaping that can keep it hidden in the early morning. That means that my eastward facing window at my desk has the sun in my eyes from a 90 degree angle to the right. In my early days of working at this desk during COVID, I found that sun shining in my eyes to be enough of an annoyance that I bought a clip-on umbrella to shield me from the sunshine. I have noticed that l am less troubled by the sun and have gotten used to it to the point of not bothering to use the clip-on umbrella. I suspect that like all beasts, I have accustomed myself to my surroundings and having the sun in my eyes is simply a part of life on this hilltop.
My eyes have done funny things as I age. I wore rather thick glasses from Fourth Grade onward. I tried contact lenses (both hard and soft) as a young adult, but they never suited me relative to the look of wearing glasses. In around 1992, as the science advanced, I became interested in a new surgical procedure called Radial Keratotomy, which was a way of modifying the shape of the cornea to correct for near-sightedness and astigmatism. I did something I would never do with a knee or shoulder and decided to take a chance on the surgery. The procedure was easy and painless enough and the discomfort afterwards lasted only about three hours (I had one eye done at a time a week apart). After a week, my Ophthalmologist (an old college friend) gave me a clean bill f health and declared me to be 20/20. Strangely enough, I didn’t feel like I was 20/20, but decided to give it a chance to settle in. After about six weeks of struggling to work and live with my newfound “perfect” sight, I walked into a local midtown eyeglass/optometrist storefront and asked to be fitted with some glasses. The optometrist took one look at my eyes and said, “RK?” He went on to say, “Yeah, RK is getting more and more popular. I used to have one person a week asking for glasses after RK and now I get a dozen each week.” The irony in his comment was not lost on me. He was saying that RK was not working so well at eliminating the need for glasses.
My new glasses were far less thick than my old glasses, but I definitely needed them to feel comfortable. I wore them for almost twenty years and watched as RK gave way to LASIK, which I was not eligible for due to the RK scars on my cornea. Then, as I approached age 60, I started to need to remove my glasses for reading and desk work. Eventually, I would leave the glasses off to walk around the office or house. Finally, I went back to my ophthalmologist and she tested me and told me that I was 20/20…finally. She explained that it was not so unusual for older people to see their eyes reshaping and consequently needing less or no corrective lenses. She declared that due to aging and probably my prior RK work, I had perfect vision.
For my whole life, since I wore glasses, I found it cumbersome to weak sunglasses. It also happened that my eyes were not so terribly sun-sensitive compared to most people. But as I have moved out here to sunny San Diego and because I am now not wearing glasses at any time, I have finally bought some nice sunglasses to wear. I have a few pairs of Ray-Bans and I am particularly fond of my Persol “Steve McQueen” folding sunglasses. In fact, I am rarely outside or heading somewhere here in San Diego and NOT wearing my sunglasses.
Steve McQueen was an important star for me in my youth. I had the poster of him astride his Triumph 650, made up to look like a German motorcycle on the grassy knoll between Germany and Switzerland where they shot his attempted escape on the motorcycle. The Great Escape is still one of my favorite movies. I always wanted to be more like Steve McQueen. After his death at a relatively young age, it became widely known that he was a real misogynist and abuser of women. I try to block that out and think only of how cool he was when I was a teen.
Life is funny in its circularity and changing times and needs. I was never a sunglasses guy and now I am. I was always a corrective lenses guy and now I am not. Imagine how much easier life would be if things just always stayed the same and didn’t keep changing. Then again, maybe its good that the sun in my eyes forces me to think about where I am and how I can make it better.