"Why? You HAVE one," I said, still smarting from a $1200 car repair bill for our 12-year-old minivan.
"Yes, but I can't set the alarm," Brian said. "I push the hour button and nothing happens."
"Darn it, these clocks always break!" I ranted. "I can't even TELL you how many times I've spent 10 or even 15 dollars on these things, and they never last! I mean, what's the point of even trying another one?"
"MOM," my preternaturally patient teen said, "maybe if you bought one that costs MORE than $15, it might work?"
You know, the kid might have a point. I mean, I keep forgetting it isn't 1988 anymore. So we went on Amazon and spent a whopping $23 on an alarm clock.
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| Very futuristic looking. I can't figure out how the numbers get on there. |
And it better work, or no one in this house is ever getting a new clock again.
That does look futuristic. I've really gone all futuristic and got rid of our alarm clock altogether. I use an app on my phone and my husband gets to wake up to John Denver.
ReplyDeleteMy terrible old clock radio has lived for, literally, decades. I use my phone's alarm now, and just use the radio when I need a little NPR in there. I like your new one, though…
ReplyDeleteHe could use his phone, but I don't allow him to have it in his room at night past 9:30.
DeleteHow do you get your kids to use an alarm clock? My kids always 'forget' and I always wind up waking them.
ReplyDeleteBrian is uncommonly conscientious about getting up if he has a class to go to. Rachel, on the other hand, I wouldn't waste the money on a clock for. I am thinking of rigging up some sort of catapult system under her bed instead.
DeleteSarah got a new alarm clock for Christmas and her dad has to help her set it. I couldn't even figure it out. I prefer the cheap ones. They may not last but at least I know how to work them!
ReplyDeleteI had to retire an alarm clock when I got married. I'm a very sound sleeper, so I deliberately had gotten one with a very loud, obnoxious buzzer. After the first couple of mornings when I had to pry my new husband off the ceiling when it went off, I got something a little quieter. And if I sleep through it, it wakes him and he nudges me until I turn it off....
ReplyDeleteit was so beautiful..and disconcerting to hear the low toned chimes on my niece's alarm..beautiful..yes..but really i would just have more pleasant dreams...
ReplyDeleteI want that clock. Because wherever it is, it is 83 degrees.
ReplyDeleteBrian and I argued for a while over whether that clock gives you the outdoor temperature or the indoor one. We are waiting anxiously for its arrival so we can find out who was right.
DeleteIt was suggested I get my hard-to-wake kid an alarm clock that goes under the mattress and shakes it, but cheap me hasn't bothered to buy one yet. But geez he's almost impossible to wake up. I think he could sleep through an earthquake.
ReplyDeleteI want that clock too! Very cool. You have a wise son.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing as Carolyn: it's 83 degrees somewhere! For me, anyway, that would be some impressive time traveling!
ReplyDeleteLol. I love the new clock but I do the same thing, I think everything I buy should be about $10. I am getting old. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI get the kind you with a white face and black numbers that use batteries because I can't deal with all that light shining in my face next to the bed. I'd be a total luddite except I also use my iPhone.
ReplyDeleteBut when it comes to waking up, I can't be too careful. I'm the alarm clock version of the woman who used a diaphragm, then made her husband wear a condom. And was on the Pill. Just in case. CONSTANT VIGILANCE.
My daughter has a clock/radio that also charges the ipod. The pod screen is cracked. The clock/alarm/radio still work. Maybe I should buy the new screen for $20 and fix it?
ReplyDeleteIsn't that the TRUTH about alarm clocks? The new ones are junk. The one I got in 5th grade (Panasonic) still works. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteI made a Heathkit alarm clock in college that I used for 35 years. Nice and low-pitched and LOUD. Which is exactly what I need. So how is that one? Without my hearing aids in, I can't even hear my iPhone set to OOGA OOGA OOGA full blast unless I have it tucked halfway under my pillow--which is a good way to risk setting your hair on fire. Literally. That was a close one (it was hot!)
ReplyDeleteI badly need a new alarm. Medium to high pitches need not apply. I'd love any advice.
Update please. I am betting that the alarm clock gives indoor temperature, because with the large numerals and the uncomfortably warm temperature (for me) in the advertised display, this clock is clearly being marketed to the elderly. Why was Brian attracted by this marketing? "Some people are just born older" - Peter Bailey.
ReplyDeleteIndoor. And no need to tell me who said that quote - my poor kids have IAWL quotes thrown at them day and night. As for Brian's predilection for clocks-for-the-elderly, well, it's just another example of youth being wasted on the wrong people.
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