After about 20 years, my old GE clock radio died. Well, half of it died: the clock part. The LED readout went on the fritz except for one segment which would disappear whenever the time ended in a 2 or 4.
We had another clock radio in the house, but it had the same problem (and had been relegated to serving as just a radio), so I couldn’t even switch out gadgets to see me through the week. Mine, fortunately, still knew what time it was, even though it was technically blind. The alarm went off for three mornings in a row on schedule while I relied on a travel clock with a malfunctioning alarm switch to actually tell me the time.
I just didn’t have time to shop for a replacement until the weekend, so Old Paint hung in there the last day of Daylight Standard Time. It would’ve made it through the entire Saturday, except that we were hit with a torrential rain event that caused the power to go out. Once that happened, there was no way to restore life to the old faithful guy, so I was forced to endure gale force winds to traverse a surprisingly crowded Best Buy to shop for a new clock radio.
It amazed me to find so many people shopping for electronics on such a dismal, wet day. The parking lot was packed, and everybody ran across the lot to the store without umbrellas (what’s up with that?), while I broke out my trusty wind-proof bumbershoot and managed to only wet my feet.
The selection of clock radios has changed a bit in 20 years. Fortunately I managed to find a small unit that actually sets itself, recognizes Daylight Saving Time and has a backup battery in case of power outages. Delighted with my purchase–which only came to about $20–I broke it in that night and was happy to see that it met expectations by setting its own time when I plugged it in, and turning itself ahead one hour overnight with no complicated programming needed.
What I will do with the radio half of a dead clock radio is still uncertain.
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