Clicked over to Goggles4U this morning and was struck by the "Best Sellers" area. I was able to get a screenshot of the top 7 most popular frames they list on the site (there are 8 -- the 900 pixel height of this laptop has always been a sticking point with me). Fully six of the top eight are reminiscent of the Palin eyeglasses wardrobe (both current and historical).

The other women's frame makes me think of Tina Palin, er.. Fey.

That "most popular" frame is the maverick of the bunch. Perhaps McCain, has done a slight update from the following stylish number:

This is another of the scams that they perpetrate on us. For a large number of us, our prescriptions really don't change outside of the tolerances of human error and daily differences -- "One or two? Click. Click. One or two? Click. Click. One or two? Click. Click. Click."

I know for a fact that my last two prescriptions haven't changed enough to warrant a new pair of glasses. How do I know this? My ophthalmologist told me so. Something to the effect of, "this is a very minor change, if you don't need new glasses, you certainly don't need to get new ones." I'm no doctor, but I think I understand what he's trying to relate. He's a good guy and why I keep going back every two years to get my eyes checked out. It's not for the the prescription, I can tell if I need a new one. It's for the eye-pressure tests and all of the other things they look to catch early before they become a problem.

I have a "valid" prescription. It's less than a year old. I always have a valid prescription, but if I didn't for the year and needed new glasses, the eyeglasses store at the mall would have me over a barrel on a technicality.

No longer. I didn't need to fax anyone my prescription when I ordered from Zenni and Goggles4U. I entered the numbers on a form on a web page, checked them for accuracy (about 6 times), and hit submit. My PD was easy enough to measure. Like all of this stuff, it ain't "rocket surgery".

This two-year prescription law is protectionist, it's also pretty much unenforceable. I can't imagine any "hard time" for using a three-year old prescription.

If your lenses are still working for you and they get scratched or broken and you're in "prescription limbo-land" there is no reason you shouldn't consider ordering online and taping up your glasses for the interim.

Better yet, order the $25 pair right now and don't fret.

Opticians are going to argue about this as if their livelihoods depend on it, and in fact they just might. They’ll argue that you need to be looking through the focal center of the lens. They'll argue that eyeglasses alignment is a critical issue with vision. Let's face it, eyeglasses are not exactly a precision system.

The frames are nothing more than a chassis for a crude lens. It is crude too, it has to be by definition. If it wasn't we'd need to lock our eyes into place to see properly.

The fact of the matter is that we've all had glasses that slide down our faces, in some cases for years at a time. Is it fun? Nope. Can we still see? Indeed we can and have -- even with the $300 to $400 eyeglasses you're probably wearing now.

All you need to do is look at the walls in your local mall store to see that eyeglasses are a matter of fashion for most. If it was about the preciseness in which they fit and performed, no optician with a conscience could be in the same room with half of frames they'll gladly sell you. If it was only about utility there would be three frames (metal, brown plastic, and black plastic) in a multitude of sizes.

So, these chunks of polished plastic over your eyes are designed to be able to move on your face. Your face contorts, your hands bump the frames, your sweat and oils cause slippage… all of these things coupled with wear and tear, actually require the lack of precision.

The perfectly fitting pair of glasses is a fallacy. It's just another ploy to make you spend way too much for your specs.

There are a number of truths out there that many in the optometry field would like to keep hidden from you.

A big one is that they are required to give you your written prescription. You can take that prescription anywhere to have glasses made. Obviously it isn't in their best in interest to offer this up.

Demand it!

I appreciate all of the comments and now it's time to get everyone's experiences put together so that we can find the best places of the lot. I don't need 30 pairs of glasses, so let's spread the wealth. Post your experiences.

Include the following (maybe copy this block of text as a comment format):

Outlet: [insert outlet name here]
Ordered: [date ordered]
Received: [date received]
Price: [price incl. shipping]
Communication: [did they email you? call?]
Quality: [how are they built?]
Impressions: [any other comments on the experience?]
Rating: [1 (bad) to 5 (good)]I'll do some sort of compiling -- I love statistics -- and keep a leader board for the best options.

Thanks!