Jones And Co. Life Vol. 11 Issue 7
Jobs For Conor
Let me share my latest productivity hack with you. It was inspired by my wife. It’s a little scrap of paper that lives on the noticeboard in our kitchen. It’s titled ‘Jobs for Conor’. And it has revolutionised our lives.
For years Catherine and I were out-of-sync in the to-do list department. And being an optometrist, I can explain why. A scotoma is a blind spot in your visual field where you cannot perceive anything within that area of your vision. We all have blind spots. However, the cruel twist is we also have mental or psychological scotomas too. This is where your eyes can see the thing, but your brain refuses to perceive that it is there.
We all have different mental blind spots which explains a lot of things. Like why a thirteen-year-old boy will walk through the maze of dirty underwater, used glasses and cups, and damp towels on his bedroom floor and not see a thing. Mental scotoma. 13-years-olds have more important things on their mind so they simply are blind to these things.
Unfortunately, this condition continues into adulthood. Take the garden for instance. Catherine will regularly comment on the latest flowers in bloom and how lovely they are and ask me if I have noticed them and do I agree? I’ll make an ‘umm’ noise and ask ‘which ones?’. She’ll say something like hanging basket, border, planter or some other horticultural lingo I don’t understand.
My problem is I have horticultural blind spots. I only see grass. I see our garden as a football pitch and myself as a groundskeeper. I’ll cut the grass and ask, “Doesn’t the grass look great?” To which Catherine will reply umm, ‘Did you cut it?’ She has a grass scotoma.
Enter the latest productivity hack – ‘Jobs for Conor’. Catherine gets stressed out about weeds and all the weeding that needs to be done. Me? I don’t see them. I am blind to both weeds and flowers. Now, thanks to ‘jobs for Conor’, all Catherine needs to do is add “weed perennial border” to the list.
I just check ‘jobs for Conor’ every weekend, Google what a perennial border is and go weed it. I’m happy to help. I can also dig holes, go up into the attic, hang up pictures, fix a dripping tap (actually, I couldn’t do that one), and many other things I have mental scotomas for. I can do them and am happy to help. I just need them to be pointed out. All the stresses of mental blind spots is behind us now. Our relationship is flourishing like a heavenly hydrangea (whatever that is). It will work for you and your loved ones too.
Calling Anne Et Valentin Fans!
Drumroll please for the Anne Et Valentin Showcase! On Thursday October 17th we’re hosting a special Anne Et Valentin event where you can see all of their brand new releases, new shapes, new styles, new colours and we’ll have the entire collection exclusively at Jones And Co. for you!
This is the first Anne et Valentin event like this in a LONG time. It’s been several years and lots of you have been asking when we can do one, so Jess has used her powers of persuasion and her GSCE French language skills to make it happen. The full collection will be making its way from Toulouse to Manchester just for you!
It’s an all-day affair. We have limited appointments available so act fast if you’re an Anne et Valentin fan.
If you want to see every style in every colour from Anne et Valentin email hello@jonesand.co or call the team to book your appointment for Thursday 17th October.
Brand Ambassadors - Reporting From The Field
Meet Bim and Bode, two lovely clients who put their new eyewear to the test at Wimbledon over the summer. The team and I love it when you send us snaps of you wearing your glasses out and about. It makes us feel like we have all these brand ambassadors out there in the field, putting Jones And Co. eyewear through its paces. You know, like Patagonia have brand ambassadors testing out their new climbing trousers half a mile up the granite face of El Capitan. That’s how I think of it anyway. Thanks for the great photo Bim and Bode. You and your eyewear both look great and it looks like you’re having a ball! I was at Wimbledon once a few years ago with Catherine. She still says it was the best day of her life. The fact I was there with her was just coincidental. She loved it.
Before & After (Take #2)
New client Rosalind decided to come and see us for the first time after being recommended by her friend (Thank you Naomi!) Rosalind said she liked the before and after photos we shared last month on social media and in the newsletter. So much so she volunteered to have her own ‘before and after’ snaps. What do you think? Nothing changes how you look and feel like the right new pair of glasses. Welcome to the Jones And Co. club Rosalind! (Eyewear styled by Jess! To book your own eyewear transformation email hello@jonesand.co to book in.)
Ian’s In Love
Talking of great photos from clients, here is another one. It requires some explanation… Ian won one of our recommend-a-friend contests two years ago when we gave away an overnight stay at Another Place Hotel on the shores of Ullswater in the Lake District. They do open water swimming there so we also included a swim cap, goggles, dry bag and this snazzy yellow suitcase. So a few weeks ago, Ian finally (2 years later) got around to going BUT he put the voucher to VERY good use. Ian got married and went to the Lakes for their honeymoon. Big congratulations to you both Ian and bravo on exceptional use of your prize! Thanks for the brilliant photo. (Ian failed to mention how many lengths of Ullswater he swam but I’m sure it was a lot.)
Olympics Bucket List
Here I am sporting the latest in designer fashion in front of the Eiffel Tower during the Olympics.
The Jones And Co. x Olympics collaboration logo got lots of comments as I wandered around Paris.
We got to see some basketball, swimming and athletics and I thought Paris put on an amazing show. I’d never been to the Olympics before and all my expectations were exceeded. It was probably the friendliest, most welcoming, fun atmosphere I’ve experienced anywhere. I’d thoroughly recommend putting the Olympics on your bucket list if you haven’t done it yet. Get yourself booked for Los Angeles 2028!
Olympics Bucket List
I had a traumatic experience last weekend. It was a horrible, awful thing that no human should have to go through. I was forced into being linesman for my son’s under 11 football match. I’m terror stricken just thinking about it again.
I’m all for supporting the kids, I even sponsor the kits, but this was a step too far. As other dads claimed to have bad backs, and mums claimed to not know the rules, the little green flag was thrust into my hand by the referee.
My heart rate doubled instantly. I immediately felt judged by everyone watching. I tried to tell myself I can get up on stage and talk to 100 opticians, so surely I can manage this, but to no avail. I knew everyone would see me for the plonker that I really am.
The worst part was I was so focused on watching the line for offsides that I forgot they wanted me to call throw ins too. The ball was kicked out after a tackle. One player shouted (really convincingly) ‘OUR BALL!’. The other player also put his hand up, looked me dead in the eye and screamed ‘OUR BALL’ at me too. I thought, ‘why are they looking at me?’
Then I looked at the referee, who was miles away, and he was looking at me too with his eyebrows raised, shoulders raised, and palms up. He clearly was expecting me to make the call. I just shrugged. I didn’t know whose ball it was, and I certainly didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. So I looked at my feet in shame until the referee made his own decision. Thankfully the supporters didn’t know I was an optician so they didn’t chant ‘You should’ve gone to Specsavers’ at me. I have never been so glad to hear the final whistle and get to go home. Let’s all be nicer to referees and linesmen from here on out people. Because I have walked a mile in their shoes. And it shook me to my core.
