I meant to add that I have gone back to Lenscrafters and told them about my
issues.  They went back and checked the lenses and said they were correct
strength.  I can see the 1.5 etched for the add, so at least I know that is
correct.  I am just not sure I am getting competent service from this shop.

Thanks again.

Varilux Panamic is not the best available, but it is not bad. However, all
progressives have an hour-glass shape of viewable area, and the reading area
for any progressive lens is not very wide (usually about 1/4 the width of
the bottom of the lens at best). You will have to learn to move your head.

As you know, Varilux (who makes Panamic) has some more sophisticated lens
models, such as the Physio or Physio 360. Zeiss makes several sophisticated
models also such as Gradal Top and Individual (very expensive). The Hoya ID
is thought to be one of the very best lens designs (also very expensive).

A progressive lens design typically comes in a choice of lens materials, and
one of those usually is polycarb. The Essilor/Varilux name for polycarb is
Airwear. Polycarb (1.586 index) is a good choice for drilled frames because
it has very high tensile strength and impact resistance, but polycarb has
the worst optics (abbe value of 30) as any material that is commonly
dispensed. LC pushes almost every customer into polycarb. Abbe value is a
measure of chromatic aberration, the higher the number the better. Chromatic
aberration can definitely negative impact in the reading area for a
progressive lens that has a moderate to high Rx strength.

There are other lens material options such as Trivex (Hoya Phoenix) which
has same tensile strength as polycarb, but with excellent optics (abbe value
of 42). Trivex has an index of 1.53 (a little thicker at the edges on your
lenses) and is not available for Varilux lenses. Also, 1.60 (usually about
abbe 42) or 1.67 (usually about abbe 36) would be better than polycarb with
an abbe value of 30 (the higher the index the thinner the lens but the worst
the optics, except for polycarb which is worst optics of almost any lens).

This is an excellent time to invoke your unconditional 30-day money back
guarantee at LC and go somewhere else. Last I heard is that Wal-Mart Optical
was selling a Nikon 1.67 lens for a reasonable price, which is really the
Essilor Accolade Freedom, which is the Essilor version of the Varilux Physio
360 (Essilor owns Varilux and has the rights to Nikon brand name in the US).
These come factory coated with Crizal Alize for about $385 for the lenses.

You will likely never get the full story at LC, because most of their
employees were selling jeans at the same mall a few months before. Their
sales pitches are scripted and dumbed down for salespersons who know little
to nothing about optical products.

Yes.  However, I find it rare that people who non-adapt to a great
progressive like the Panamic are able to adapt to the very best
progressives such as Hoya's Id or Essilor's Physio 360.

The success stories are more like people who wore lower-end
progressives then moving to a modern, quality one.  Or people who were
flat-top bifocal wearers who were unable to adapt to standard
progressives but do after trying a "non-traditional" progressive
(e.g., Varilux Liberty).

FWIW, the top progressive I have been using lately is the Kodak
Unique, but it is very expensive.

That area tends to expand with time.

You got a big potential problem right there -- you see too good at
near without glasses.

You might be a candidate for the "executive" trifocal progressive
unfortunately.