Welcome to spectacle world.
Buggah, I've just entered the "can't comfortably see things up close when wearing glasses" brigade. It's not too bad right now but I imagine it will get worse with age.
My optometrist is an old salt who has handed the business down to his son but still works part time to help out. Lot's of things have changed since he started, with the dearth of bad/cheap prescriptions being the order of the day. One thing they no longer do is grind the lenses themselves.
The glasses I have are only for long distance only, they are plastic for light weight and coated with glass to prevent scratches. I have two pairs one with a brown tint for the day time and the other is clear for night time with an anti-glare coating which needs constant cleaning.
One thing I've noticed when holidaying in the country for months on end is that my long distance eyesight improves to the point that I don't need to wear glasses. This is I believe due to the eyes getting some long distance focus exercise that is just not possible in the city. That or there is something NOT in the water supply.
I guess it's only a matter of time that someone eventually develops a lens that quickly adapts to the object near or far being looked. This will be a godsend and will dispense with the need for bifocals altogether.