replaced by every day

I admit it. It's actually 12:22AM, March 1, 2006 instead of the 11:52PM, February 28 that the timestamp for this post denotes. I did this mostly for bookkeeping reasons -- not that anyone really cares whether I have an archive page for February except for myself -- but sometimes, when you've been doing this for as long as I have, the small things like this matter. Especially when you can't believe a whole month has gone by and despite all the posts you've half-composed in your head while driving home from work, you still haven't managed to write anything. Ah well. One day, I'll get over it.

So I was going to write about something semi-meaningful, but as I was getting ready for bed (as I write this I have a pillow propped behind my back and my laptop balanced on my comforter-covered knees), I set my alarm clock for 7:20AM and changed my mind.

So the reason I was setting my alarm clock in the first place is because tonight is the first night in about two weeks that I'm using an actual alarm clock again. For the past couple weeks I'd been trying something new and using my computer as an alarm clock instead. I did this mostly because my current desk is small enough already without my rather bulky alarm clock -- before, I barely had enough space on the desk for the clock, all my computer peripherals (mouse & pad, speakers, monitor, keyboard), not to mention my cup full of pencils and pens, and this nice little mail-holder thingy that Alan's mom gave me a couple Christmases ago.

Anyway, so two weeks ago I decided that I'd save quite a bit of space by getting rid of the alarm clock and using my computer instead. In the preliminary stages of figuring out how I would do this, I thought about actually writing my own customized alarm clock program, and even developed quite a nice little list of features that I wanted it to have:

• Ability to create a random "playlist" of mp3s so that I could wake up every morning to a different (but familiar) song, instead of being subject to the will of the radio. Because there are definitely songs that fall into the category of Good Wake-Up Music (The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" is one, Coldplay's "Don't Panic" is another), and those that don't.
• Ability to hit any key in order to snooze, and then maybe spacebar or another specific key in order to turn off the alarm. (Keep in mind that I am blind without my glasses, so when I wake up in the morning I pretty much can't see anything, much less the keys on my keyboard).
• Some sort of large, easy-to-read time display on my desktop, and the ability to wake up my monitor when the alarm went off so that I'd be able to see what the time is. Since I sleep to the left of my computer, I definitely cannot see the tiny little time display in the lower right hand corner of my desktop.
• Ability to customize the alarm for different days of the week (for example, no alarm on the weekends).

...but then I realized I totally do NOT have the programming skills to create something like that. Then I thought, "Well, maybe this can be a project I can use to learn the programming skills I need!" (I think this is a mindset I picked up from Ethan, who is really good at coming up with useful little learning projects for himself [see evidence].) Anyway, I quickly gave up on that idea, just because I wanted a quick solution. I can't stand desk clutter for that long. ;)

So, I ended up surfing the internet for alarm clock programs. I ended up finding one that, despite its not-so-sleek user interface, allowed the use of mp3 files for the alarm, and had the ability to snooze and wake my monitor when it went off. Used in conjunction with Konfabulator's clock widget, the setup had most of the features I was looking for.

I tried it out for a while. But the one thing I didn't have was the ability to hit any key to shut off the alarm/snooze. Instead, I had to use the mouse to click on the alarm's "Snooze" or "Close" buttons. So my morning routine usually went like this:

• wake up,
• fumble around for my glasses,
• push myself out of bed,
• fumble around again for the mouse,
• wait for my eyes to focus,
• and finally, navigate my pointer to the buttons.

The past two days I've just been turning the volume knob down on my speakers instead of messing with the mouse, which works, but only if I don't snooze. (Luckily Alan has a separate alarm clock and wakes up about 20 minutes after I do most mornings.) In the end, though, I just got tired of the amount of crude hacking needed to get my computer alarm clock setup to work.

So... now I'm back to my original, uni-purpose alarm clock, and back to a more cramped desk. But that's okay. It was worth a try. And maybe someday I'll get around to writing that program... ;)

Posted by Jennifer at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)