The cost of vanity

I managed to give myself an eye infection over the weekend, well done! I decided to wear my contacts on saturday, because it was completely overcast. Then as soon as I parked to go watch the Pride parade, the clouds began to clear. So, I popped them out and put on my prescription shades, and went about my day.
Later that night, I decided to put them in at home. And here's the best part - the solution in one of the lens cases was discolored, and I still rinsed it off and put it in. Mistake. My vision in that eye became cloudy in about 20 mins, so I figured the contact was dried out...so removed them and went about my evening. I noticed that I was seeing halos and my vision in that eye was a little cloudy, which was worrying...but little I could do then.
I woke up around 4am with the most amazing pain in my left eye, like sand-no, gravel - was stuck under my eyelid. Nothing like a kidney stone, but really not something you want to experience.
Flushing with solution, then pouring water over it did nothing. I whined and fretted for about an hour, then finally went and got a ziploc with ice and placed it over my eye. There...it felt so good I fell asleep with the icebag on for about an hour.
Then when the ice had melted, I was back to square one. This wasn't taking care of itself. I tried calling a few friends to see if someone could drive me to the hospital, but really - who answers their phone at 7am? They assume your'e drunk or calling from the drunk tank. By 8, I realized I'd be sitting all morning waiting for someone to call me back, so I decided to drive myself. The sunlight was excruciating, but I managed to one-eye it to Grant most of the way. I learned that sunday mornings are your best time for an unplanned medical emergency - I was in and out in about 3 hrs. They gave me these amazing numbing drops while there that stopped the pain in about a minute, but sadly they wore off as I was being discharged, and they wouldn't let me take any home - I guess they thought I'd be heating them up in a spoon and injecting them or something. Luckily, the antibiotic drops they prescribed started to clear the infection pretty quickly, and the pain was gone by the end of monday. By wednesday, it was clear again, and I went back to a normal routine.
Gah...never wearing contacts again, the anxiety of that little episode was enough for me.
But as an unexpected bonus...I had wondered recently if I had a sinus infection...my ears seemed a little plugged at times, but not badly enough to seek treatment. Well, the eyedrops draining through my sinuses are apparently clearing those out as they go. My hearing has improved today, and my voice sounds different to me - clearer. So, 2 for 1 at Grant!