Very good, Jeeves...
I don't know whether to be impressed or completely freaked out.
One of the most interesting gifts I received for my birthday last summer was a clock. Those who frequent the quirkier catalog companies like Signals and ThinkGeek would probably have heard of it, since it's definitely a Geek Culture artifact. I call it my 'Jeeves Clock', as its defining characteristic is that the clock wakes you with the sound of Stephen Fry's voice in the guise of P.G. Wodehouse's 'Jeeves', quietly and politely rousing you with a proper 'Good morning' and some kind of update regarding your day. The clock comes in 'Sir' and 'Madam' formats, and features something like a hundred different morning greetings.
I love this clock. In addition to the novelty of being awakened by Stephen Fry's dulcet tones and delightfully, terribly British accent, the messages range from imaginative to flattering to downright hilarious. Apparently I have a great many admirers who gather in throngs outside my home, requiring Jeeves to regularly attend to them lest they become disruptive in their eagerness to cast their eyes upon me. I also apparently have a houseful of servants, one of whom is a young man named Jasper that regularly exasperates my poor Jeeves with irresponsible behavior of one kind or another. I am apparently responsible for a great deal of decision-making, to which Jeeves gently reminds me to attend. It is a fun way to wake up.
The clock is awesome, but it bears noting that it has some peculiarities. For one thing, it is of surprisingly cheap construction. Not so much so that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else, but what you pay for in it is definitely not the housing or the quality parts. It's a plastic case, housing the workings of what amounts to a cheap travel alarm clock. It's battery operated, has no concept of 'AM' vs 'PM', and therefore must be turned off each morning and turned back on each night unless you want Jeeves attempting to wake you in the evening as well as in the morning. It also runs through batteries surprisingly quickly, so it rarely takes long for Jeeves' voice to take on a deeper intonation and for his efforts to attend to you to start happening unpredictably.
So appears to be the case right now. Jeeves' voice still sounds fine, but apparently the batteries are starting to run down and the clock's behavior is becoming a little erratic as a result. Jeeves is getting a little dotty and is going off at random times, for example. Fortunately, he's going off at the alarm time too, so so far this isn't a problem. It's just weird because occasionally he goes off two or three times in a morning....
...and sometimes that's a little creepy. I present for your approval the case of yesterday morning. It was Thursday, and over the past few weeks I've been meeting Michelle on Thursday mornings to walk at the MIlls. I've not been as good about keeping my my walking regimen of late, so earlier in the week I'd set my alarms (I have a regular alarm in addition to Jeeves -- no insult intended to Jeeves, but Jeeves also happens to lack a snooze bar...) to get me up around 5:30 so I could get some walking in before the kids need me to get them ready for school and I need to get ready for work. As I went to bed on Wednesday night, I reflected upon the fact that I could feasibly skip the morning walking since I was going to be walking later.... But then I chastized myself and said no... I was trying to set down a new regimen, and it was important to be disciplined about it. Anyway, it would hardly hurt me to walk twice, would it? So no, I resolved that I would be good and get up even if my bed was a perfect shade of warm and all of that.
Yesterday morning dawned overcast and cold, exactly the sort of morning that makes sleeping in seem even more attractive than usual. Jeeves and my regular alarm both went off at 5:15, with Jeeves 'reminding' me that my response to numerous invitation to an awards banquet were eagerly anticipated by their askers, and that in particular a man who called himself "Puff Daddy" was especially persistent, although Jeeves could barely understand a word the man said. I chuckled, shut Jeeves off and laid there dozing, and then went through the predictable argument with myself regarding getting up. I said I would get up. I really SHOULD get up. But I WAS walking later, and ...wow is my bed perfectly warm...
I had nearly convinced myself to shrug off self-discipline and sleep, when suddenly the Jeeves clock began another alarm. Birds chirped,Jeeves cleared his throat and then began with his usual "Good morning, Madam!" I was not quite prepared for what he said next, though. He said, in a tone clearly intended to be gently reproving, "Many people would not make good on their word, you know. But Madam is surely above such indelicacies, is she not?"
O_O
I got up and walked. If only to get away from my clock, which is apparently entirely too aware.
One of the most interesting gifts I received for my birthday last summer was a clock. Those who frequent the quirkier catalog companies like Signals and ThinkGeek would probably have heard of it, since it's definitely a Geek Culture artifact. I call it my 'Jeeves Clock', as its defining characteristic is that the clock wakes you with the sound of Stephen Fry's voice in the guise of P.G. Wodehouse's 'Jeeves', quietly and politely rousing you with a proper 'Good morning' and some kind of update regarding your day. The clock comes in 'Sir' and 'Madam' formats, and features something like a hundred different morning greetings.
I love this clock. In addition to the novelty of being awakened by Stephen Fry's dulcet tones and delightfully, terribly British accent, the messages range from imaginative to flattering to downright hilarious. Apparently I have a great many admirers who gather in throngs outside my home, requiring Jeeves to regularly attend to them lest they become disruptive in their eagerness to cast their eyes upon me. I also apparently have a houseful of servants, one of whom is a young man named Jasper that regularly exasperates my poor Jeeves with irresponsible behavior of one kind or another. I am apparently responsible for a great deal of decision-making, to which Jeeves gently reminds me to attend. It is a fun way to wake up.
The clock is awesome, but it bears noting that it has some peculiarities. For one thing, it is of surprisingly cheap construction. Not so much so that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else, but what you pay for in it is definitely not the housing or the quality parts. It's a plastic case, housing the workings of what amounts to a cheap travel alarm clock. It's battery operated, has no concept of 'AM' vs 'PM', and therefore must be turned off each morning and turned back on each night unless you want Jeeves attempting to wake you in the evening as well as in the morning. It also runs through batteries surprisingly quickly, so it rarely takes long for Jeeves' voice to take on a deeper intonation and for his efforts to attend to you to start happening unpredictably.
So appears to be the case right now. Jeeves' voice still sounds fine, but apparently the batteries are starting to run down and the clock's behavior is becoming a little erratic as a result. Jeeves is getting a little dotty and is going off at random times, for example. Fortunately, he's going off at the alarm time too, so so far this isn't a problem. It's just weird because occasionally he goes off two or three times in a morning....
...and sometimes that's a little creepy. I present for your approval the case of yesterday morning. It was Thursday, and over the past few weeks I've been meeting Michelle on Thursday mornings to walk at the MIlls. I've not been as good about keeping my my walking regimen of late, so earlier in the week I'd set my alarms (I have a regular alarm in addition to Jeeves -- no insult intended to Jeeves, but Jeeves also happens to lack a snooze bar...) to get me up around 5:30 so I could get some walking in before the kids need me to get them ready for school and I need to get ready for work. As I went to bed on Wednesday night, I reflected upon the fact that I could feasibly skip the morning walking since I was going to be walking later.... But then I chastized myself and said no... I was trying to set down a new regimen, and it was important to be disciplined about it. Anyway, it would hardly hurt me to walk twice, would it? So no, I resolved that I would be good and get up even if my bed was a perfect shade of warm and all of that.
Yesterday morning dawned overcast and cold, exactly the sort of morning that makes sleeping in seem even more attractive than usual. Jeeves and my regular alarm both went off at 5:15, with Jeeves 'reminding' me that my response to numerous invitation to an awards banquet were eagerly anticipated by their askers, and that in particular a man who called himself "Puff Daddy" was especially persistent, although Jeeves could barely understand a word the man said. I chuckled, shut Jeeves off and laid there dozing, and then went through the predictable argument with myself regarding getting up. I said I would get up. I really SHOULD get up. But I WAS walking later, and ...wow is my bed perfectly warm...
I had nearly convinced myself to shrug off self-discipline and sleep, when suddenly the Jeeves clock began another alarm. Birds chirped,Jeeves cleared his throat and then began with his usual "Good morning, Madam!" I was not quite prepared for what he said next, though. He said, in a tone clearly intended to be gently reproving, "Many people would not make good on their word, you know. But Madam is surely above such indelicacies, is she not?"
O_O
I got up and walked. If only to get away from my clock, which is apparently entirely too aware.