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multipurposegoddessI, somewhat randomly, got myself a dawn simulator thing, the kind that plugs into an outlet and gets a lamp lugged into it in turn. I actually got it around when DST ended, because I am entirely capable of sleeping the whole time it is dark in the winter and being awake has many benefits to recommend it. It came with admonitions and warnings to only use incandescent lighting with it. So, that was a problem, because the bedside reading lamp I intended to use is a natural-spectrum flourescent tube thing. I don't think I even tried it because of all the "may damage the unit' warnings that I wasn't sure I understood. I thought the green-shaded accountant-style lamp in the office had an incandescent bulb, but we had switched it to CFL along with all the other lighting in the house. I did try that one, despite the warnings, and it didn't work, but did flash in an alarming manner. And we switched over to CFLs long enough ago that I don't have any loose incandescent bulbs squirrelled away, at least not that I have found.
I knew we had a lamp stashed away in the shed that had an incandescent bulb because the way the shade attaches to it it won't take a CFL, but it hasn't been in use in a long time. Pixie savaged it when she was a kitten and it's now held together with packing tape. Pixie is 9, so the lamp has been on ice for a while and I wasn't sure how easily I could find it. Also, it's been raining pretty hard most days and that short trip from the patio to the shed is just unpleasant enough in cold rain that I kept putting it off.
But it cleared up yesterday AND I remembered that I wanted to look for the lamp, so I did. And it was actually very easy to find, sitting on the table not even in a box. Brought it in, plugged it in and everything worked like it was supposed to.
You set the time of "dawn" with this contraption by plugging the thing in 8 hours before you want it to be fully bright. Or possibly 8 hours before you want it to start brightening. I'm not sure. Anyway, I plugged it in when I remembered to, which was about 9:30 PM. It did brighten up and gently wake me, though I didn't put on my glasses and look at a clock, so I'm not sure exactly when that was except that it was earlier than I really wanted to get up. I'm afraid my first thought most mornings is MOAR SLEEP PLS and I couldn't come up with a counter argument today. But I really only slept "in" until around Actual Dawn, so I think that's a success.
If I can train myself to get up at a consistent time every day, who knows what wonders I may accomplish? Not that I accomplished anything today, but it seems more likely that I would.
I knew we had a lamp stashed away in the shed that had an incandescent bulb because the way the shade attaches to it it won't take a CFL, but it hasn't been in use in a long time. Pixie savaged it when she was a kitten and it's now held together with packing tape. Pixie is 9, so the lamp has been on ice for a while and I wasn't sure how easily I could find it. Also, it's been raining pretty hard most days and that short trip from the patio to the shed is just unpleasant enough in cold rain that I kept putting it off.
But it cleared up yesterday AND I remembered that I wanted to look for the lamp, so I did. And it was actually very easy to find, sitting on the table not even in a box. Brought it in, plugged it in and everything worked like it was supposed to.
You set the time of "dawn" with this contraption by plugging the thing in 8 hours before you want it to be fully bright. Or possibly 8 hours before you want it to start brightening. I'm not sure. Anyway, I plugged it in when I remembered to, which was about 9:30 PM. It did brighten up and gently wake me, though I didn't put on my glasses and look at a clock, so I'm not sure exactly when that was except that it was earlier than I really wanted to get up. I'm afraid my first thought most mornings is MOAR SLEEP PLS and I couldn't come up with a counter argument today. But I really only slept "in" until around Actual Dawn, so I think that's a success.
If I can train myself to get up at a consistent time every day, who knows what wonders I may accomplish? Not that I accomplished anything today, but it seems more likely that I would.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-12-31 06:43 pm (UTC)I have, on occasion, woken up after sleeping a looong time and felt like I slept too much, but it takes some doing.