First, let's establish the fact that, yes, I have a clock radio on my nightstand. I realize this is very 1987 behavior, and my iPhone is a more-than-capable substitute, but I like having the time instantly visually accessible in big, blue shiny numbers whenever I want to check it.
As you would expect, my clock radio has an alarm feature. I used to set this alarm regularly, especially when I was running a lot and needed to be up by a certain time in order to get my miles in.
Terry always makes fun of my alarm, by the way, and with good reason. When it first goes off, it's very, very soft. Almost like it's whispering to a sleeping 6-year-old: "Hey buddy! Rise and shine, champ! Up and at 'em, tiger! Time to get up!"
The volume increases the longer you wait to turn it off, but this is a very gradual process. There used to be times when I was so fast asleep, the alarm tone would ring for minutes on end and wake Terry up instead of me.
Nowadays, though? I haven't set the alarm in at least a year. Maybe two. I no longer have need for it.
At some point in the past 24 months, my body has decided we're getting up every day at exactly the same time, without the need for an alarm or wake-up call.
That time is 5:30am. Regardless of when I go to bed, my eyes pop open each morning within 5 or 10 minutes either side of 5:30.
This is a good thing, since 5:30 is when I want to get up anyway. It's just uncanny how consistent it is.
There are occasions when I "sleep in" until 6:00, but these happen only once every two to three months, and only near the end of long weeks in which I've exerted a lot of physical or mental effort.
Otherwise, my internal alarm clock is as dependable as they come.
This may be an old person thing, and by the time I'm 80 my consistent wake-up time is going to be 3:30am instead.
If and when that happens, just show me to the nearest Denny's, order me a cup of coffee and a Grand Slam breakfast (using my senior discount), and I'll be fine. Tired, maybe, but fine.
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