A new dawn

I exchanged a birthday present today. It's not something I like doing, since there's always a certain stigma attached to being the giver of a returned gift, but in this case it was so very nearly what I wanted I felt I had good cause to replace it. Pleasingly it ("it" being a very particular sort of alarm clock) arrived in one of those rare confluence of events that would have seen me purchasing it for myself even if it hadn't been presented to me. It's always pleasant to receive a present that's almost exactly what you wanted when you wanted it (even more so if it is exactly what you wanted). And in this case there was only one tiny, nigh insignificant flaw: it ticked.

That an alarm clocks tick is to be expected really, but I'm completely incapable of sleeping through any form of constant ticking. Experience over the years has proven to me that even the sound of a seconds hand traversing the face of wristwatch is enough to keep me awake. My old analogue watch found itself embedded deep within my sock drawer each night as a preventative measure. I've also had to resort to burying wall clocks in out of the way spots when visiting with friends (fridges have proved particularly suitable for this purpose in the past).

So back it went, to be exchanged for the next model up which features a blessedly silent digital display. In case you're wondering why I wanted an alarm clock, you can see it for yourself. The rising sun usually wakes me each morning, and whilst it means I only catch a relatively few hours sleep in the summer, I've never minded too much. Usually I'm content to lie in bed for a few more hours and drift into a gentle sleep. with the curious and pleasing side-effect that I remember my dreams far more vividly when I do so. It's a pleasant and natural way to wake up, which is usually denied me on those bleak Scottish winter mornings looming in the distance. Hence why I wanted the clock. I've yet to wake up to it, but my toying around this evening has shown it to produce a pleasingly dawn-like glow and I'm hopeful that it will make waking in the winter months an altogether more pleasurable experience.

And, if you'll permit me a rather brutal segue, back on the flat front installation of the fireplace is finally underway as of today (at last!), along with the termination of the annoyingly persistent leak in the showerroom. I have to go back in tomorrow evening for the moving of the tv aerial socket (which has been drawn out into yet another ordeal). I'll try to remember to bring my camera and give you a few story-so-far pictures. I'm getting rather excited now...