Eyes on the prize

More time than I would have liked has passed since my last post - for various reasons, some of which will become apparent as they take the form of this entry.  I've still got a few exciting posts planned for the next few weeks, including the latest twist in the 77-year-old mystery of Amelia Earhart's disappearance and the 75 years since the first appearance of Batman, but in the meantime I feel a post letting you know what I've been up to in the last couple of weeks is a good idea.

You may have noticed that I tend to disappear from the blogosphere for a week or so at the beginning of each month - this is when I help a friend and [ex-]colleague out with the new(ish) business that he's helping to get going, and which has constituted my "working life" for the last 3 years as I've slowly recovered from the attentions of various doctors.  Alas I think even my friend would agree that starting a new company can be a painfully long and drawn out (and often unsuccessful) process so I've been spending an equal amount of time searching for a longer term guaranteed full-time job, especially now those same doctors are practically giving "get a job" as medical advice and there are bills to be paid (not to mention the obvious social and mental benefits of gainful employment).

Well dear reader, I've got one!  The plans for earning a living as a blogger/freelance writer with an online vintage shop will have to be put on hold indefinitely (!) as I return instead to my "career bread-and-butter" - research analysis.  I received the offer yesterday and start on the 4th August, which at least gives me time to get everything in order and prepare myself for my first proper full-time job in 3 years.  Wish me luck!

A casual office, sadly, so not much of this. 
I'll have to be more creative in my work attire,
at least for the first few weeks...(!)

What this means for Eclectic Ephemera is, of course, the introduction of a proper posting schedule - most likely along the lines of one or two posts at the weekend (and maybe the odd one mid-week if I can find the time).  I feel sure this will work out well in the long run, as I know many of you work to a regular timetable in order to fit blogging around a normal 9-5 job.  I mean, Norton Of Morton sticks to a Saturday at 4'o'clock and he's just won Best Vintage Blog at the 2014 National Vintage Awards, so this could be just the thing, by Jove!  Rest assured that whatever happens I've no intention of going anywhere and I continue to look forward to reading your blogs and your continued patronage to Eclectic Ephemera.

Timeless/verging on retro, or dangerously postmodern/
looking like an architect...?  Either way, they're sitting
in a drawer in two pieces now.

In other news, I visit the local optician next Friday for my biennial eye test and - whatever the result - a new pair of spectacles.  This is on account of my existing glasses breaking in a boring yet bizarre fashion  (a gentle application of hand to brow during a giggling fit at the latest edition of The Chap proved too much for a pair of specs that must have been at least 6 years old and metal fatigue finally claimed them - right across the nose bridge but at a point where it was impossible to repair them).  It could not have happened at a worse moment (although it was bound to at some point) - the afternoon before my first job interview last Wednesday!  A frantic dash to the optician only confirmed that they were indeed beyond help, with a two day wait to have my current lenses fitted to new frames.  Fortunately I still had an ancient pair of specs from a previous prescription that have been pressed into service once again, although after six years of smaller, lighter glasses these are frustratingly over-sized and heavy.

source
One step closer to this...

I made my appointment while I was there - somewhat presciently it was almost two years since my last test anyway (and a reminder card popped through the letterbox a day later) - and had a look at the frames on offer.  I was pleased to see that my local optician has finally jumped on the "vintage" bandwagon by offering a selection of retro frames but disappointed to note that the selection took up all of two display columns, out of the 40-odd in the place.  Tucked out of the way, with two laminated "Vintage" and "Retro" signs wedged above them, the majority of specs were either 1960s NHS/Austin Powers/Michael Caine or nondescript 1980s/'90s styles.  I hummed and aaahed over some pairs that were either the same as my old ones or the rounder tortoiseshell style that I've fancied for a while now, before finally making my decision.  The ones I've picked are round but not too large and in a dark tortoiseshell.  Not too dark either, as the two caterpillars that have set up home above my eyes make black/heavy-framed glasses a no-no, but these are thin enough that I ought to be able to get away with it.

I'll maybe try and debut them on here next weekend, after which I'll be looking forward - through new spectacles - to a new job and a fresh start this summer.