This Is So Interesting, I Postponed The Other Post

My ancient nokia cell phone (tiny, robust, and lightweight - ah, those were the days) recently lost its last useful function, which was that of an alarm clock. After it enjoyed a brief stint as a friend's emergency replacement phone, the alarm just wouldn't ring anymore.

The tiny animated bell on the display would roll from side to side, and the word "Alarm!" would flash aggressively, but all was silence. Perhaps my little old phone was overwhelmed when it came into contact with my friend's sim-card, which was full of complicated Blackberry data. Maybe, being of old age, it couldn't handle the abrupt change in its routine. Suddenly it was supposed to make calls again, when it was used to whiling away its days by the side of the bed, ringing every morning, and watching the seasons change through the window.

The only visible clue I could find was a tiny symbol in the center of the display that was always, idly present. It was barely 10x10 pixels big, and it looked vaguely like a tiny VW Bug-like car in profile. It had two little windows and two teensy wheels. I figured, in the car, you use your headset, so all is quiet. This is a usefull setting. So I scoured the phone's menus, sub-menus, sub-sub-menus, and so forth, trying to undo the setting that caused the litte car to appear and my phone to be mute. I went as deep into the phone's brain controls as I could penetrate. Which is not all that far.

I never found the setting anywhere. Maybe it wasn't a car, maybe it was a tiny skull. Maybe it was a herald of death, announcing the end of my phone's life. And so I did my part. Since it was no longer able to fulfill faithfully its wake-up services I eventually let the batteries run out. After using my iPhone for a week or two (which has obnoxious sound effects and lacks the haptic qualities that make more sense in half-sleep) I decided to look around for a new alarm clock. And this is what this post was really supposed to be about: Radio Alarm Clocks!

One more thing before I get to the other fascinating thing I want to discuss: I wanted to snap a photo of the mini-death-car to illustrate my mesmerizing tale. I went to grab the old Nokia, which for some reason, was charging on the window sill. But I wasn't able to get a picture of the mini-death-car...becasue it's gone! The phone is all buttons-a-beeping and alarm-a-ringing again! A magical resurrection form the ashes of exile! Of course by now I have spent 2 hours on ebay looking at so many great old radio alarmss that I'm having trouble picking one out, let alone cancelling the whole idea of buying one. I will hold on to little Nokia though. I'm sure it will come in handy. Haha! (This was a stupid pun for German speakers.)

Thank you for your time.