Hil and I have gotten in the habit of using our portable electronic devices as alarm clocks. I use my smartphone, while she sets either her iPad or her smartphone. We like how quickly one can change the alarm time. Plus we've always got them nearby anyway.

But Hil's phone is dying, and the iPad's charging port is also giving up the ghost, so last night she needed an alarm clock. I pulled out my favorite one, she set it to the time she wanted to be up (which was an hour before my wakeup), and we went to bed.

When it went off in the morning, I had a rush of memory. I'd bought that battery powered alarm clock back in Georgia. It had gone with me to Afghanistan, Japan, California, two different ships, and more than a dozen different countries. I knew that sound.

And in the Corps it is unwise to be late getting out of the rack, so when that alarm rings my feet hit the deck. When it sounded this morning, my heart rate popped from "resting" to "alert", and my hindbrain decided that despite the lack of light, it was now officially morning. It wouldn't do to be late for 0430 PT, now would it!

While I appreciate the occasional bout of nostalgia, did I mention that it was going off an hour before I had planned on being up? Such are the perils of conditioned reflexes.

Posted by: Boviate at 09:38 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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