Same here, before I found out it is literally impossible for me to see them I had one of the books and I would stare at it for hours trying to make it work. Of all the annoyances of being half blind, not being able to see magic eyes is the one that bothers me most.
I was the first in my my friend group in highschool to have a car and a cell phone. My friends would call my cell collect from a payphone and just say where they wanted me to meet them. Never needed a name or explanation, if I got a collect call with a location I would decline it and be there as soon as I could.
This is why I hate when people ask me what time it is. I can glance at my watch and know what time it is but not in a format that makes sense to other people. In order to tell someone what time it is I have convert to a “normal” format and that makes it look like I cannot quickly read my own watch.