Alarm!

I just received a forward on alarm clocks from a friend S.
Alarm clocks and I go back a long way. Since when I can remember, I have never been early to bed and early to rise. Maybe it's just because I don't want to catch that worm or what, I don't know! Still, I do love sleeping and can go on and on about how I need my eight + hours of ugly sleep...
Anyway!
So obviously, I have always needed alarm clocks to wake me up. Sometimes they have the desired effect on me and sometimes not. But I tell you, one of the best things to have happened in the alarm world is the snooze button. I simply love the option to snooze (I feel all snoozy and ooozy and woozy just thinking of this great option). I can hit that snooze button with aplomb. There's a certain thrill in supressing the alarm for just a few more minutes and getting that many more (few) minutes of shut eye -- a thrill unparalleled that early in the morning. Ok, maybe not early. After all, what's sauce for the goose may NOT be sauce for the gander. (Is this saying correct?).

Ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-TAP!-snoooooooooooooooooooooze.

I must now yak about a few of my favourite alarm clocks...this was much before the snooze button's arrival on the sleepyheads' planet: -

1. My father got quite desperate by the time I reached the ninth standard and bought me one hip looking triangular, black and white alarm clock which made the sound of a cock crowing. Apparently, he thought a farm-like environment was required to make me wake up with the sun. Unfortunately, it was rather too easy to lightly smack the top of this smooth-headed clock and go right back to sleep. The crowing did help the first few times though.

2. The next was a military / army green coloured alarm clock in the guise of a major-general-like doll. This fellow would start up a band and a drill routine to wake me up. There was even an alarmingly realistic trumpet sound in between to kick up more of a fuss. The only way to stop the alarm was to hit the top of the gun the fellow had pointed upwards. This worked slightly longer than the crowing alarm clock. Nevertheless, the novelty soon wore off.

After 1 and 2 above, my father had become increasingly resigned to having to wake me up himself, following any alarm clock's failed attempt. Only, he would put me on a guilt trip: "See, Appa (Daddy) has so much work to do during the day and am interrupting my sleep to wake you up. The least you can do is to wake up(and study)." Indeed. This was really the only ploy that worked on me and probably the only kind of guilt trip ever laid on me by my pretty-cool parents!


Reading various Enid Blyton books (red/green story books and so on) which had some mild morals-of-the-stories for sleepyheads, like a walking and talking bed that took the little girl away to some strange land for not waking up when told to ...and so on, did not really help in the long run.

Oh and then there was one alarm clock that I must talk about. It was my sister's. Again bought lovingly for her by my 'ever-positive-about-his-daughters' late father. This clock is rectangular and unapologetically yellow. Or is it orange? (So yellow, that it's hard to tell!) Anyway, this clock was a simpleton compared to the other two mentioned above. Clearly, my dad did not consider my sis a lost cause like me! Its alarm had a wonderful tune. Why I enjoyed this clock so much is because, I was then going to afternoon college whereas my sis had a full time job before which, she would try and wake up early in the morning to go for a bicycle ride. I had my own room but like all pesky younger sisters, I would pile on to her room from time to time on a lusciously padded mattress on the floor. Then when this alarm began its tune, it was sooo melodious (cos i was not the one to have to wake up) and soothing and...somehow satisfying that I snoozed after that with pleasure. Aaaah. What memories!:)

Now, I use my mobile phone alarm. So bland but delightfully fitted with the snooze option that lasts ten minutes. Ten cozy, glorious minutes.

As they say in German ...Bis Morgen! (Till the morning)
Cheers!
Note: Only the No. 3 alarm clock pic is the real thing since I still have it safe:) The No. 2 is close to what mine was. The pic for my No. 1 alarm clock is more for effect!