I’ve had the same alarm clock since I was 14, so I’m in the bad habit of ignoring the alarm completely. My first solution was to have the radio turn on at full volume when the alarm went off, but pretty soon I was able to sleep through this, too. Nowadays, to ensure that I get up on time, I set my alarm clock AND the alarm on my cell-phone, and stagger the snoozes by 5 minutes. The result is a relentless alarm-fest for about a half-hour before I finally drag myself out of bed.
Similarly, a friend of mine was once in the habit of plugging a shopvac into one of those wall-socket timers because he had grown immune to the sound of his alarm clock. He would set the power switch of the shopvac to ‘on,’ plug it into the timed outlet, and set the timer to turn on whenever he needed to be up. Impossible to ignore.
Another friend recently alerted me to the existance of ‘Shake Awake:’ a device that goes under your pillow
and vibrates at gradually increasing intensity at a set time. The Shake Awake website says:
“A Better Way To Greet The Day! This travel-sized alarm clock fits neatly under a pillow or mattress and its gentle vibrations will jar the deepest sleeper from their slumber. Great for: The “Morning Impaired,” Hearing Impaired Sleepmates on Different Schedules, Busy Travelers, College Roommates, Snoozing Commuters, and Sleepy-Headed Teens.”
The dilligent internet enthusiast has probably already seen the recently released Flavor Flav alarm clock, but I include it here to be thorough. The point of all this is that for some reason, I get the impression that there are some ridiculous alarm clock tales out there. I could be totally wrong, but If you do have something to add, either let me know or post in the comments.