Eye C Fine

So, I'm just back from the eye doctor. You see, I wear those disposable lenses and I'm out. I went to order them from the nice online place that sends them to me, and they won't send me anymore - the doctor's office won't renew my prescription since it's been more than 4 years. FIRST - will someone please tell me why it is that I need an new prescription for fricking contact lenses??? It's not like I'm addicted to them or selling them on the black market. I'm not freebasing the lenses, and as far as I'm aware, there's not a lot of call on the street for illegal lenses. I know my prescription hasn't changed, I can still read the program guide on the little TV from my bed, so I know that I'm fine. But no. It's the Man trying to keep me down. SECOND - seriously, in this world of extreme technology, of laser surgery, of super-robots, is the best we can do for vision testing "Better? or Worse? One ... or two?" I have to believe that there is some scientific way that my eyes can be tested to determine what strength glasses it is; one that doesn't require me to stare at a row of letters while a seemingly endless stream of barely discernibly different options are presented to me. And by the way - I was right, my prescription hasn't changed, but I had to spend $50 and an hour and half for them to tell me that.