Monday Ramblings




Time Will Tell



I get too attached…to my gadgets.
I didn’t want to get rid of my bag phone even though it was hard to stuff in my purse. I like clunky VHS tapes and when my good VCR died I nearly had a meltdown.

I know, I know I am a technology person…well I have a technology type job and should embrace new technology. But you know what? Technology changes so fast that I find myself not finished with the old relationships. Do you see how it is? I like long hugs. It's like embracing the moment only it's embracing the electronic gadget. I know that sounds…well…weird. Now, don’t read anything into that do you hear?

For two weeks, I overslept every morning. I kept thinking, what's going on? Am I that tired? Am I going deaf? Am I slowly being poisoned? (Remember my imagination?) Finally, I realized my alarm clock was not going off as scheduled. It was not doing its “gentle” reminder to wake me.

Sometimes it takes me a minute or... two hundred to catch on.

My old alarm clock (see above photo with fingerprint smudges) started off with a gentle sounding beep… beep and then progressed louder and louder until I hit the snooze, which I hit three times before getting up. Now isn’t that nice? Isn’t that polite? Don’t you just want to invite such a clock into your bedroom? It was kind of like my sweet momma waking me when I was a kid. She would call up the stairs, “Get up kids, it’s time to get up,” in a soft but projected voice. Then I would just lie there (because I am a no good for nothing….) and then a few minutes later she would ever so gently increase her volume, kind of like beep beep --only in words. She was a good alarm clock.

This year at Thanksgiving dinner, I asked her to come live with me and cook for me, cuz I never cook for myself anymore. She smiled sweetly. I could see her worried eyes and her mind churning, “Is my baby not eating?” My mother is special like that. I had a feeling she was probably trying to think how she could put my hair in ringlets again. But then I digress. And I wonder why my family and friends have a hard time keeping up with my conversations.

I really loved, not liked, but loved my (2 year) old Timex alarm clock. I could choose if I wanted to wake up to music, gentle beeps or other sounds. It also, (and isn’t this sweet?), would lull me to sleep with various sounds like night noises, rain or a running brook. Of course this was a problem… water running… well you know…so I quit using that one.

One day the alarm just ceased to work. It’s tragic when they cease.

If you knew me, and you don’t really, you would know that I can’t make a fast decision to save my life. I can’t decide on new flooring. I can’t decide on a new pet. I can’t decide on a new job. I can’t decide on a new husband…. STOP ME...because that's an entirely different story.

But I needed to find a new clock, and I had to find one fast. Becuz, my spare alarm clock sounds like nails on a chalkboard.

There are many choices in alarm clocks, one of which was very much like my old one. I passed on that one because the last one didn’t live very long. My feelings are if a gadget doesn’t last 20 or more years, like my Kenmore appliances, then it’s not for me.

So, I settled for one but HEY it doesn’t trust me to set the time… so it sets it all by itself…you know like the atomic clocks. But, it doesn’t say atomic on the box, but come on that’s what it is. Maybe that’s a registered name or something.

So now I have a new alarm clock. It wakes me loud. Its buttons are hard to find. It’s kind of ugly. AND most of all, I think it’s cheating me out of a minute of snooze time. If I’m thinking right, that would be 1 snooze minute x 3-times of shutting it off = 3 minutes per day. It’s cheating me out of 1095 minutes per year of valuable sleep.

Now that’s just wrong.





Clocks Source: Me, Me, Me

Comments

White Dove said…
Teresa....you are just so lucky. Fancy being able to sleep until a gentle beep wakes you. I am a terrible sleeper....awake before the birds arrive to say " It's dawn "

You tell the story so well (as I should know by now) and I can understand your attachment to old faithfuls. I's almost an affront when they give up the ghost after years of service.... R.I.P
White Dove said…
P.S. I've just remembered something.... have you kept those new knobs on your chester drawers?
I'm afraid I'm like White Dove--a bad sleeper. I woke up 10 minutes before my alarm went off this morning, and that's pretty usual.

My usual M.O. is to find the same thing online that I liked so much to begin with! Maybe ebay would have your clock?

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
WD, Oh, if you think I sleep well through the night, that is a no. I should have added that bit of info. But when I do sleep it is nice. I have had 3 wonderful wake up alarms- in my life, two alarms clocks and mom.

PS - No I took those knobs off the chester pretty quickly. But I still have the knobs....

Elizabeth, This morning- me too- woke about 15 before. I will check ebay, because this one is for the birds.
Arlee Bird said…
I am so with you on this one. It's not just the new technology either, it's what goes with it. Now I have a collection of vinyl LPs but no cartridge for my turntable, a ton of cassette tapes, and my CD's-- please stop so I don't have to keep changing formats. If it still worked (and it probably would if I still had it), I'd be happy with my old clock radio alarm that I had 40 years ago when I was in high school. Instead of rapid transition I was companies would have some form of gentle transitioning.
Joanne said…
Hm, interesting how similar the two clocks look! I think you are trying to hold on to your old clock, subliminally ;) And even though you're complaining about it, I'm sensing a fondness for it already. Maybe it's growing on you?
i always think of Cinderella when my alarm clock goes off. Kill Joy, that's what she called it, and I do too.
Cindy said…
I enjoyed discovering your blog, from one journaler to another.
Anonymous said…
Well, it's a stop gap until you find something better.

I rarely use an alarm clock, unless I'm travelling. I trust my internal rhythms.
Elspeth Futcher said…
Have you ever noticed that the quality of sleep is the best ever once you've hit that snooze button? It doesn't matter what position you're lying in; you could be standing on your head or in a double lotus, but it's the most comfortable position in the world.

Elspeth
Anonymous said…
Loved your post especially the last paragraph!
I hate the alarm clock but it's so necessary sometimes.
I love the old clocks, and i have one on my fireplace.

Have a blissful week!

BETTY MANOUSOS / CUT AND DRY
Lee, I am for slowing it down a bit, so I can enjoy the technology I have.

Joanne, Nope no fondness for the new alarm. The picture doesn't show that the new one is white and silver and smaller.

Eileen, Kill Joy is my new name for my alarm clock esp. since I believe Cinderella and I are kindred spirits. :)

Welcome Cindy, Yay - a sista in journaling! Visit again soon.

Hi, Devon, It's funny how my internal clock rings on the weekends only.

Elspeth, Yes, I am sure my best sleep is in that few snooze minutes. I think I am telling my mind to hurry and rest.

Betty, Thanks I enjoyed writing the last paragraph. I need to do a post on all my clocks.
CM said…
I hate my alarm clock. It goes off at 0453 so I can hit the snooze one time and still be up by 5 AM. Way too early!
CM, That is early. We got my son a football alarm clock one year, where when it sounded you could throw it to turn it off. That might be fun.
Unknown said…
This post is quite funny because I can relate so well. 1) I hate a rude awakening (IE. a loud alarm or blaring music). 2) My new clock gives me only 7 minute snooze instead of the old one's 9! 3) I cried two weeks ago when I dropped my camera and it broke! I have my favorite gadgets that I use repeatedly and do not want to part with them. What's wrong with that?
SEE, Judy, it's not imagination this time. Are you telling me my clock is cheating me out of snooze time? And there is nothing wrong with hanging onto outdated technology.:) I do it all the time. PS Camera breakage is to cry over. Cameras are precious technology to mothers and bloggers and moms that blog.
Oh man, I pop over here and what do I hear? Daddy's favorite Christmas song's playing. He lived very far away from when I was little, and would go to great lengths to come be with my sister and I on Christmas, and then he would sing "I'll Be Home For Christmas."

Okay, I wipe away a tear, and back to the subject at hand. I HATE clocks. And I HATE waking up. I rely on my internal clock, a nasty voice that says, GET UP LAZY BONES.
EB, I didn't mean to make you tear up unless it helps to bring good feelings.

Me too on clocks. If they aren't on the wall screaming at me - tick tock - get on with it, then they are beside the bed screaming get up. I would be a wonderful world without clocks, I think.
i don't know the reason but i am attached the old things and back memories i save my old belongings carefully and whenever i miss the past i look at them and visualize the past events i am sure it sounds weird((:
lots of lovesss

Popular Posts