Monday, January 31, 2011

Alarm Clock Support Group


Hello... my name is Melissa, and I'm alarm clock challenged.

I've told you about my alarm clock issues before.

Yesterday, I thought I'd found a solution; I bought a new alarm clock.

The buttons on my old clock needed to be pressed three times to advance one minute, and Dave's fancy, reliable clock was retired because of its constantly-lit face (verboten in our cave-like bedroom with blacked-out windows).

As a reward for 30 days of compliance with the Whole30 program, I decided I would treat myself to a new clock. (I know! I'm a wild woman. A new clock! That's just crazy!)

The new one is tiny so I can shove it in the drawer during the day)... it's battery-operated so it doesn't tick... it has no back-lighting... and the buttons work perfectly on each press.

That is, the buttons respond exactly to the time you enter on the clock.

When I set it yesterday, the time was 1:10 p.m. So I punched the HOUR button once and the MINUTE button ten times. Perfect! 1:10.

Then I set the alarm. I hit the HOUR button five times and held the MINUTE button until it cycled through to 55. Perfect! 5:55.

Then this morning I woke up, naturally, no alarm... at 7:33. Three minutes AFTER the end of my CrossFit class.

Horrified, I picked up my new clock, depressed the LIGHT button to turn on the backlit blue glow, and saw that the face said 7:33 PM.

Silver lining: I got 9 hours of sleep.

My name is Melissa, and I'm alarm clock challenged.
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17 comments:

  1. JennJanuary 31, 2011 at 2:15 PM

    Yeah, general rule: if you're setting an alarm for the AM and setting the clock to a time in the PM, one of those settings should take more than 12 pushes of the "hour" button. Or you can switch to 24-hour time. Or you can set an alarm on your cell phone, because it sets its own clock automatically and the whole AM/PM thing is a lot clearer on a cell phone clock than on most clock/radios I've seen.

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  2. Mel_JoulwanJanuary 31, 2011 at 2:17 PM

    Yeah, one would think I'd just go ahead and use my iPhone alarm. I should ask myself why I don't. Seriously. WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?! :-)

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  3. AnonymousJanuary 31, 2011 at 2:35 PM

    Ha! At least you just woke up and figured out what the problem was. Once upon a time in college, I woke up, looked at the clock in horror to see that it was about 10 minutes past the time I was supposed to be at a workout...threw on my clothes, raced out the door and about halfway down the hall...and started wondering why there were so many people up and about so early in the morning...
    Turns out I'd taken a short nap and woke up in the evening, 12 hours before I needed to be at the workout. The roommates got a good laugh out of that one.

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  4. Mel_JoulwanJanuary 31, 2011 at 3:28 PM

    Anonymous --> Thank you for making me laugh. That is an AWESOME story. Fantastic!

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  5. The Get In Shape GirlJanuary 31, 2011 at 7:07 PM

    I hate my alarm clock more than I could ever hate any inanimate object. Try waking up at 4am every day. Ughhhhh. We need this http://www.sourcingmap.com/white-portable-children-plastic-dumbbell-with-alarm-clock-p-40625.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=froogle&utm_campaign=usfroogle

    It won't go off until you've done 30 reps!

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  6. Allison BojarskiJanuary 31, 2011 at 7:49 PM

    I recently got a light alarm clock and I love it. It starts to gradually brighten half an hour before you need to wake up and it makes a sound at actual alarm time in case the light hasn't awoken you yet.

    I love not going into fight-or-flight mode from the sound of an alarm and instead waking up gradually.

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  7. UnknownJanuary 31, 2011 at 8:20 PM

    Allison, that light alarm clock sounds great! I've seen things like that before and debated getting one - your comment is definitely a pro towards finally doing it!

    I figured out a system that kinda-sorta works for me: two different alarms, 10 minutes apart, on my official alarm clock, as well as two more on my cell phone, which I keep on vibrate under my pillow. Also, I moved my bed so the sun hits my face as soon as it rises. It's a work in progress...

    Great job on finishing Whole30, Melissa! Me too :)

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  8. meghanJanuary 31, 2011 at 8:27 PM

    Oooh, Allison, where did you find that alarm? I LOVE that idea. Except...I have to get up at 5 for my morning workout and my husband sleeps in til 6:45, so I'm thinking the waking up gradually would wake him as well?

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  9. Mel_JoulwanFebruary 1, 2011 at 9:45 AM

    Get in Shape Girl --> That's like a shake weight + alarm clock combo. Hilarious!

    Allison --> Back in the day, I had one of those light alarm clocks, and I loved it, too. You're right... they're really, really nice.

    Nely -->That is a LOT of backup systems. Perhaps I should try that :-)

    BTW, I'm proud to report I re-set my clock and alarm last night, and it went off without a hitch. Of course, I had Dave double-check my work before I hit the pillow.

    Meghan --> Here's a link to an example of the kind of clock Allison mentioned:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041HU4YK/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000T3Y2RA&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1ZZKP6BDFWK3ZWNB0MJC

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  10. UnknownFebruary 5, 2011 at 3:09 PM

    Maybe its a curse of the name...
    I'm Melissa and I'm alarm clock challenged too.

    I've done it all, a lot! Setting pm instead of am, forgetting to turn it on, turning it off in the middle of the night, not hearing it etc. I had a dual alarm clock (until the dimmer broke on it) and could mess up both of them!

    Just don't know why they are such difficult little devices.

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  11. Mel_JoulwanFebruary 6, 2011 at 7:55 AM

    Welcome, Melissa, to the Alarm-Clock Challenged Support Group. We don't judge your button-pushing skills here ;-)

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  12. CaitlinFebruary 6, 2011 at 1:07 PM

    Any chance you have an iphone? If you do, get the Sleep Cycle app ASAP. It's awesome. You put it under your pillow, it tracks what stage of sleep you're in via your movements throughout the night (e.g., you don't move at all in REM sleep but do move a bit in other phases, move lots if you're wide awake, etc) and then WAKES YOU UP IN THE MORNING WHEN YOU AREN'T IN DEEP SLEEP. It is so very, very awesome. My husband who sucketh at sleeping has been using it for a few months and sleeps so well now. And it gives you a nice readout of your night's sleep which is always fun.

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  13. Mel_JoulwanFebruary 6, 2011 at 2:40 PM

    Caitlin --> Thanks for the tip! I'm going to check it out right now!

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  14. SuzanneFebruary 9, 2011 at 7:50 AM

    This was awesome!!! I have my own issues with alarm clocks stemming form oversleeping for crew practice in University...the whole team would have to run ...miles...to wake you up. Now I am neurotic about checking my alarm clock setting and somehow still manage to mess it up occasionally. ugh!

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  15. Mel_JoulwanFebruary 9, 2011 at 12:15 PM

    Suzanne --> I've been setting my new alarm clock correctly but waking up before it goes off (yay) until this morning, when it went off at the appropriate time and SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME. It was so loud!

    There must be a better way ;-)

    BTW, I downloaded the Sleep Cycle app mentioned above, so I'll let y'all know what I think of it.

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  16. suzanneFebruary 13, 2011 at 9:52 AM

    OMG!!! I downloaded the sleep cycle app last night, tested it out set it for 7am AND JUST WOKE UP AT 8:40am!!!!! ARGHHHH! WHAT is wrong with me, I swear it said 7 AM when I set it...

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  17. Mel_JoulwanFebruary 13, 2011 at 9:53 AM

    Suzanne --> Maybe people like us are just meant to live without alarm clocks :-)

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