Most of the time I am an organic gardner but not over iris borers. When I spot them I dig up the clump and cut out all rotted areas and trim the leaves to healthy parts and fungicide them. It postpones bloom for a year with some irises but not others. I do not dig up all the clumps not showing a problem however for most seem healthy and usually I do not get the borers back again for many years. What is bothering me this year is slugs and snails all over the iris. Never had that problem before and that might be from rain, rain, rain so I stomp, stomp, stomp the offenders.

It may be too late to do anything about the year old glasses, but before you give up, contact your state consumer affairs board AND the board in your state that licenses opticians (assuming your state does, not all states have that requirement) and see if you have any recourse. As to getting reliable cheap glasses? DD is an optician. She's worked in a dept. store, in a discount chain and now works in a dr's office. There's a WORLD of difference in the quality, according to her. You DO get what you pay for. Discount chains use very inexpensive (read easily broken) frames, many use lenses that are manufactured in 3rd world countries that are of questionable quality at best and often the workmanship is also sub-par. However, I do have a suggestion for you. IF your state licenses opticians, find out where they train (a community college, perhaps) and see if they have a dispensary. I always got to the college for my glasses. Where I go, they sell high end frames, brand name lenses--at cost! The point of the dispensary is to give the students practice writing up orders and fitting the glasses when they're done. The professor checks everything and makes the glasses up herself. Last go-round? I got a pair of progressive regular glasses with the highest priced glare coating, a pair of progressive sunglasses, my husband got a pair of progressives and our bill was $450. Oh, they all were designer frames (not that I care, but they were). DD said my 'regular' glasses, in her shop, with the family discount would have cost $800 alone! Often, too, colleges have the very latest in lab equipment, because the manufacturers donate those gizmos for free, so that the students will 'learn to love them' so to speak.

I've been to the one at my Missouri Walmart many times.. he does not work for Walmart, but is a independent optometrist. I also get my glasses there. He is much nicer and does a thorough eye exam unlike some of the other places I have been to (such as Clarkson Eyecare, which was the worst exam and lenses ever.. took me months of adjustments and changes of lenses and the glasses were still not right. I did finally receive a refund and promptly went back to Walmart, even though it is a out-of-network provider for my insurance now. So worth it though!).

Make sure any disinfectant is thoroughly thoroughly rinsed off everything before returning before using. Best to just use some diluted bleach for cleaning algae off things than rinse rinse thoroughly. Generally just a rinse (no chemicals) is best for most of the changes. How much water volume did you add that 1/2 tea of salt to? Don't want too much salt. Bettas will actually do fine without a filter. Your biggest problem in small volumes of unfiltered water is uneaten food. Food that is not eaten immediately begins to rot and pollute the water. Rather than drastically changing everything once a week it is better if you once a day or so siphon out poop and uneaten food from the bottom and replace with equal water (a small fraction of the total volume.....maybe 10-20%). The advantage of larger volumers of water is that they are more buffered from the pollution of a tiny bit of extra food. OK what does your refrigerator filter do to filter the water? Is this just a carbon filter. That is probably ok. The bigger problem with small bowls in temperate areas is temperature! Bettas really like warmer water, at least in the mid to high 70s (F), and your room temp may not be that warm (probably is not). Stress leads to all sorts of potential diseases. If the fish is healthy and in the right conditions you don't need all the chemicals etc. Get him in a warm spot and maybe even skip feeding for a day or two (he won't starve, but he is probably not eating well anyway with his eyed clouded like that) and see if he improves.