Sound the alarm

Rise and Shine.

Are you particularly attached to your alarm clock? I am, and I realized last night, as I clicked the oversized buttons on my chunky black digital dinosaur, that this alarm clock has been with me since I went off to college! After a decade of wake ups (currently serving the crucial role of "backup" alarm for when I silence my cell phone while I'm basically still asleep) I insist that it's ease of use and reliability make it irreplaceable. But the fact is, it isn't that easy to use and it's features are far from extraordinary. It's just MY alarm clock and to switch to something new (perhaps something with less of a green glow?) seems like more trouble than it's worth... What if I can't figure out the snooze button? What if I don't like the location of the on/off switch!? Dr. H is similarly attached to his purchased-for-college alarm clock. His is a big, nightstand-dominating device with the clickiest buttons and most abrasive buzzer ever, but he is firmly rooted in his belief that his is the best alarm clock around.

What is going on here? Is it that managing the clock and radio settings is so complex that once we settle on a device we can actually use we won't budge from it? Maybe it's that these alarm clocks represent the first time in life that we had to get up and out of bed on our own (too philosophical!?) Whatever it is, I wish I had the courage, or even the desire, to chic-fy my nightstand with something like THIS, (or at least upgrade to something with an ipod dock!) but in all likelihood, I'll be waking up to the green glow for as long old reliable is up to the job.