Our cellphone alarm clock problems have not been solved. This morning, all three cellphone alarm clocks failed to perform correctly. I don’t even see how this is possible, seeing as one of them in a different model, and all three have different software and different settings set.

It’s completely mind-boggling.

My phones –a Nokia 3711 (new one) and Nokia 6133 (old one)– both have auto-update time and date off, because I thought that might be causing the problem. Both have the alarm manually set for 5:30 am, and the while the alarm can be snoozed for ten minute intervals using the outside buttons, the only way to turn off the alarm is to open the phone and very consciously tap a couple buttons. Both of these alarms went off, and I hit the snooze buttons (as I usually do). Neither went off again, and when I finally woke up on my own, both alarms were displaying as not being on at all.

Now when I am really tired, I can be found guilty of hitting the snooze over and over and over without noticing how much time has passed. Because of this behavior, I also happen to know that one can hit the snooze on both these phones all day long, if one wants to do so, without the alarm ever turning itself off. It’ll beep every ten minutes for forever … until the phone is opened and the appropriate buttons are pressed to manually turn off the alarm. Additionally, if the snooze button isn’t pressed and the alarm is simply slept through and ignored, it will also continue to beep every ten minutes for forever until someone manually turns off the alarm. I have personally tested this and found it to be true in real-life sleeping situations.

Lin’s Nokia 3711 has auto update date and time turned on, his alarm set for 6 am, and he has it on daily repeat (completely different settings than mine). His alarm didn’t go off at all this morning, but his is still showing as being turned on (presumably already reset for tomorrow morning). It didn’t make a single beep of any kind, and no matter how tired I am, I always hear his alarm go off, even when it’s in the other room. He claimed the best alarm tone for himself, and my brain hears it no matter my brain’s state of alertness at the time. His alarm simply just never went off today.

I have not been able to duplicate this behavior while I am fully awake. No matter what I do while testing various and sundry alarm settings and methods of snoozing my alarms, they always work flawlessly while testing. The only time these problems happen is when they are set to go off in the wee hours of the morning when they must perform flawlessly. This is seriously aggravating.

I might have begun to believe I was in fact turning off my cellphone alarm in my sleep without noticing doing so had it only happened with one of my phones this morning, but both of them? It’s just not possible. I’m actually pretty adamant that it isn’t possible for me to turn one cellphone alarm off without waking up enough to notice I am doing it, but two going off at the same time? No … not possible, and even my doing that wouldn’t account for the fact that Lin’s phone alarm has failed to go off at all twice this week as well. Something is wrong with the phones or the phones’ alarm systems.

Therefore, as soon as I have consumed enough coffee to fully engage my brain and get motivated to leave the house, I will be going to Target and looking at alarm clocks. My first impulse is to buy a wind-up, bell-having, old-school alarm clock, but they do lack that wonderful snooze feature, and I am not 100% certain I am capable of getting out of bed the moment my alarm goes off the first time. I am a creature of habit, and I do like hitting the snooze once or twice, which is why I set my alarm earlier than I really need to be awake. If I get up when it first goes off, bonus situation. If I don’t and hit the snooze a couple times, I’m still up in time to get the things done I need to get done. I guess it will have to be a digital alarm clock with my precious snooze button.

Whichever I settle on (maybe both?) it has to be done today. We can’t continue to have alarm clock problems. Lin needs to get to work on time, and he needs my help getting moving and getting out the door. We both need to be awake early every morning. At the very least I need to be awake early every morning so I can wake up the rest of the household. There has to be at least one reliable alarm clock in this household! The current situation is untenable.