Now that I am in the twilight years of my life I am finding it more difficult to focus on smaller objects up close. I have always had perfect vision up to a few years ago so now when it comes to making reeds I’m finding it abit of a probelm. About six months ago I bought a pair of non-prescription glasses which work really well for up close but its sometimes a nuisence constantly putting them on and taking them off,but I was in Aldi’s store last week when I came across this magnifying glass on a holding stand. It was only 9euro and works great.
RORY
Looks like it could come in handy alright.
jewellers loupes like
http://www.esslinger.com/lightedheadbandmagnifier.aspx
,u can use these with glasses quite handy.
these can find these quite cheap also (plastic lenses) from hobby/carpart-stores etc , (from our Biltema carpartshop 5.99euro)
Eewe… optical aids… isnt’ there a vacination for that now? 
Nope, still deeply entangled in R&D and probably will be for years…
And I thought one pair of glasses was bad.
RORY
I have been goofing around with one of my son’s Christmas presents, a digital microscope called zPix. It’s a cool gizmo that allows you to look at stuff at 130x on your computer with a built in light for the subject. It zooms and focuses easily, and can also capture images as snapshots or video with sound. It gives a pretty amazing view of cane and reeds. On my monitor, salt crystals are displayed up to 3" across. Costs about $90, and it’s fun to play with.
But he didn’t inhale either…let that photo be a warning to those who do not believe that smoking arundo donax can cause loss of memory, and the loss of one’s eyeglasses too.