It sounds like a "...walks into a bar" joke, but I was the one that was walking-- into their offices. I had to cash in a valuable sick day. Those are a precious commodity indeed, but these things needed to be done.

I did better at the eye doctor than I expected. The doctor reported that the "interesting" scar on my left eye hasn't changed in the two years since our last meeting. There was talk of a biopsy last time, but after three visits in the past five years with no changes, he's convinced that it isn't any cause for concern. I assured him that I'd call him immediately if it started singing showtunes or applying for unemployment. My astigmatism in the same eye has decreased somewhat. I asked if this would prove to help my depth perception at all. We did a depth perception test while waiting for my eyes to dilate from those damnable eye drops. I didn't do very well, and he explained to me that sometimes when children have depth perception problems, they can be corrected. By now, though, my adult brain is essentially hard-wired to interpret the things that I see as I currently see them, and there is little hope that I can gain the depth perception that other adults have. Also, even if I had corrective eye surgery-- for which I may not qualify, since I have an astigmatism-- it wouldn't improve my depth perception anymore than my corrective lenses already do. This means I can tell how far away things are better than a blind person, and somewhat better than a person with one eye. I don't have anything on most two-eyed adults, though, and I'll never be able to see one of those stereoscopic hidden pictures. On the bright side, I'll be getting new glasses soon. I hope they look alright on my face. I was nearly blind from the eyedrops when I picked them out, and then blinded by the total expenses of the visit and new spectacles on my way out.

After the eye doctor, Alicia took me to our family doctor to check out my ears. Dr. Corey couldn't find anything conclusive in my ears beyond some irritation in my left ear. My sinuses were inflamed and my throat was irritated, and he quizzed me on some recent illnesses. He suggested that I had something he called a "super-infection." He prescribed a serious course of antibiotics and instructed me to contact them if I got worse or didn't get better. By this time, I was ready to go home and crawl back into bed. The day just wasn't going well-- a super infection, and no chance to judge distances like a normal person. I decided to keep my chin up and press on with the next two stops. Why not? Being normal is boring, anyway.

I grabbed some documents from the office, dropped the Netflix off at the post office and Alicia and I went to the newly expanded Pitt Stop for lunch. It appears that their prices have been expanded as well, but it's still a better meal than most of the other options in Pittsboro. Our next stop was the Credit Union, where we hoped to refinance our truck. We bought it in late 2003 after Alicia's accident since the car had been totaled and our finances weren't in the best shape. We took the best loan we could get, which was only slightly better than no loan at all. It took about an hour and a half for everything to get sorted out and for the paperwork to be filed. We left after signing a new loan with less than half the interest rate of the old one, and a one month break before we have to start paying. Not bad, and maybe even nice enough to make up for the fact that I'm a freak of nature.