DEAR ABBY: I have some advice for the adult son of "Dad, the Morning Rooster," who can't -- or won't -- get himself up in the morning. I used to have the same problem. I, too, just couldn't wake up in the morning.
The alarm clock on my nightstand would go off, and I'd reach over, turn it off and go back to sleep. Most of the time, I never remembered having turned it off.
I realized I had to do something to keep from missing work, so I decided to make my alarm clock harder to turn off. I bought an alarm clock (a wind-up Big Ben) with bells on the outside. That night, I set the alarm, then placed the clock in a metal dishpan and shoved it under my bed.
The next morning the alarm went off and started rattling the dishpan. The noise shocked me awake. I leaped out of bed to locate the source of the racket and shut it off. (By then I had forgotten where I had put the clock.) By the time I was down on my knees, flailing around beneath the bed, I was so wide-awake I couldn't have fallen back to sleep if I had wanted to.
That young man should try my solution. I can almost guarantee it'll work every time. Sign me ... OLE SLEEPYHEAD FROM FLORIDA
DEAR OLE SLEEPYHEAD: Thank you for the helpful anecdote. For slow risers who would prefer a less radical wake-up, placing the alarm out of reach -- for instance, on the other side of the bedroom -- is a valuable suggestion.