Surface mount - that's the throwaway version, innit? I don't go there.
Know what you mean about components getting smaller, too.
The latest is that the coloured bands seem to breed. I used to be able to recognise brown-black-yellow at 10 paces; now it's half the size or less and brown black black orange gold pink, and I have to stop and think.
I've got some sub-10-ohm resistors in the box for transistory stuff; I can't work out the colours on those. I've stuck them into pieces of paper with it written on 'em.