One of three U.S. adults already suffers from some degree of hearing loss and the use of personal stereos and an aging population may create a hearing impairment epidemic, researchers said on Monday. So don’t go buy one of these.
or this:
On the other hand, if you have teenagers at home, this is probably a really (really) good idea: Clocky, the alarm clock that scuttles out of reach and hides before you can hit snooze again.
Nicola Griffith 
Yep, I’ve heard of Clocky.I have a reputation for hitting snooze around 5 times before I actually get up.My partner’s threatened to get that little bugger.*sigh* I wonder if it’s just my bad habit or if the teens I teach have had a bad influence on me. :)
What, is a popular word in our house :). My partner is 10 years older and is already suffering from hearing loss. Her situation comes from countless years of riding the subway and living in the peaceful oasis that is NYC.She got me hooked on wearing earplugs, which I do now quite a bit. I can still hear what is going on around me, however it takes the edge off of the constant aural assault one is subjected to these days in most public places.
janine, if your partner buys clocky, you could buy a hammer. Just saying…rory, I carry earplugs with me whenever I’m out of town. I can’t bear city noise. Now I also have noise-cancelling headphones.
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/10/03/earsplitting-sonic-g.htmlI think this is hilarious, but hey, I could probably sleep through it…
I wake up if a squirrel half a mile away coughs… I’ve always been like that. If someone threw something like that into my bed I think I’d have apoplexy.