How November Began

As in many other parts of the world, November began with stricter rules regarding what activities are allowed and possible. Here in Germany, restaurants, bars, museums, cinemas, gyms and many other places are closed. Schools are open, as are hairdressers and most shops. Masks are now mandatory not only inside shops but also outdoors in "high density areas", i.e. town/city centers. They were mandatory already at bus and train stations and on public transport. We are still able to move freely, but travelling is discouraged. Everyone who can do so is supposed to work from home. Meeting others is limited to a max number of 10 and of no more than two different households. Heavy fines await those who are caught crossing those limits or wandering about without a mask in a designated high density area.

For me, not much has changed because of that. I have been working almost exclusively from home since March, with a brief period from July to October when I visited a client's office once a week. I can still see my parents and my sister, I still go shopping and still spend my weekends with O.K. Also, the only limiting factor to my walks is now the time of year and the weather; sunset is just before 5:00 pm now, around the time I finish work most days. Lunch-time walks are hard to fit in, as I often have online meetings and phone conferences all morning and starting again right after lunch. Also, I need time to prepare my food and eat it, plus clearing up afterwards. I miss those after-work walks and jump at every chance I get to walk in the day time.

Monday, the 2nd of November, was such a day.

I had my regular 3-monthly eye examination, complete with those drops that make it difficult to see properly for a while. On such days I usually take the morning off, or even the entire day, as it is hard to predict from what time onwards I will be able to work again.

The examination revealed that I will need another operation some time next year - we hope to postpone it until the corona situation has eased up enough for the whole procedure to be less of a hassle. 

2 1/2 years ago, I had surgery on my left eye's retina. In preparation for that, I was told that a follow-up operation was unavoidable because eventually, the operated eye would develop a cataract. This has now begun, and I can see less and less with my left eye. The right eye is still "fine" (as fine as it can be when one is as myopic as I am), but my doctor explained to me that she would still want me to have both eyes "done" at the same time. 

The main reason for that is that afterwards, my myopia would be very much reduced, from what is now -14 on the left and -9 on the right eye to only -2 on both eyes. If I had -2 on the left eye but the right eye would stay at -9, it would be extremely difficult for my brain to get the two different signals together and form a coherent picture; also, having specs with such a big difference between one glass and the other would be almost impossible. Usually, this kind of surgery is very much routine and happens with local anaesthesy and the patient going home right away. In my case, we plan for full anaesthesy and at least one night in hospital.

I can't say I am looking forward to it all, but I believe it will be worth it, and I know from my 2018 operation that I shall be in most competent hands and will be very kindly treated at the clinic.

Anyway, back to that Monday. I took advantage of the time off and met an old school friend. She lives less than a km away from me but we rarely manage to see each other. She was able to take the afternoon off, too, and we walked across the beautiful, park-like cemeteries. Originally, the plan had been to meet for a walk in the palace grounds, but they are now closed to the public again. Also, we both really like our cemeteries, with beautiful old monuments and large trees. 

We have known each other since we were 9 years old, and are never short of things to talk about. It was a good way to spend the afternoon, and a good start of November for me.