Happy New Year!

It's time to back up our Zarges-boxes and go back to the cabin. We'll spend our New Year there, little bit out of the town and fireworks. So, Happy New Year for all of you!

Northern lights as Christmas decoration

Christmas was peaceful in Svalbard. We were lucky with weather and in the Christmas day we got a spectacular polar light show. It's not that often with pink and violet beside green colour, so it was really amazing look those colourful lights dancing all over the sky.

We dog owners skied to the cabin with our dogs and other people used scooters. They also took all of our totally full packed Zarges-boxes and other stuff with them. Huskies got a nice snow hole to sleep under the cabin and we others had it cosy inside the warm cabin.

In one day I needed to go to town to work for some hours. For that I just borrowed a scooter and drove to the town and later back. In one afternoon we got visitors from the town by scooters. They had also a dog with them, but she sat at a scooter with people. That's really practical :)

We had everything in the cabin without water and electricity: A real Christmas. Far away from busy world, out of commercialism. That is what Christmas is for me :)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas at a cabin

We will spend our Christmas at a cabin with some of our friends and dogs. We try to take some parts of Christmas traditions from all the countries which are somehow represented. There will be some traditions from Norway, Danmark, Sweden, Finland and Germany. In our Christmas dinner there will be some typical Christmas food from all of those countries. We are not yet sure will it be amount of meat or sugar which will kill us... Otherwise we just waiting for quiet and nice Christmas outside of the "busy" town.

Eclipse of the moon

Our visitor was really waiting forward to come to Svalbard and sleep loo-oong on her holiday. Good plan... but of course the astronomical happening of the year needed to be early in the morning. We had a total lunar eclipse and as it was at a shortest day (or, however, we don't have any day anyhow) of the year, you just couldn't sleep it over. And it was worth of it to follow it :)

We spend about two hours outside following the moon. It was around -18 Celsius and strong breeze. I had my Sorel Glacier and puffy down jacket on, but I was kind of totally frozen when we came inside - we were not moving much but mostly just standing in one place. Sorel Glacier is advertising that they are are comfortable to use up to -70 Celcius, but I would not be even dreaming to use them on those temperatures (we start on that fact, that I'm not dreaming about being outside on that temperature). I lost feeling on my toes just on that couple of hours time.

Christmas preparations

I'm back in Longyearbyen. It was nice to see twilight in Tromsø - now I'm ready to continue in totally dark again. Or, actually almost... it's soon full moon, so that will be giving magical light again.

We're having a visitor at the house over Christmas. We're preparing for a real Christmas with making decorations, baking and just having good time. Christmas with little excitement is allowed even for grown ups :)

Tromsø - the port to Arctic

Now I'm in a town visit in Tromsø, a town in Northern Norway. It is just a week to Christmas and all the town is having a Christmas-feeling over it. It's actually pretty nice to have a short trip to a "real town", have look around and do some shopping. And after a week it's again nice to fly home out of that all haste in the town and go home in our own little world. The sun isn't rising in Tromsø either, but in midday there is some hours twilight. For me it looks like a real daylight :)

Polaria

One of the nicest place to visit in Tromsø is Polaria.  There is a nice exhibition about Arctic, including Arctic Aquarium with bearded seals. Also the film "Svalbard - Arctic Wilderness" is worth to see. In the film you're following little auks and with them you're flying over the imaging landscapes over Svalbard. When I'm seeing that film I just need to think how lucky I'm that I can be living there.

Night of shooting stars cancelled

It was night for Geminids meteor shower. It has been lately really bright falling stars, so I guess they have been part of that meteor shower. But exactly that night when Geminids were supposed to be peaking it was overcast. Year ago we had a fantastic trip up to Sarkofagen under the heavenly fireworks, so my friend was comforting me that it's just too much asked to have that kind of night every year. So, instead of shooting stars we had lot of fun with shooting dogs :)

Seven weeks under fluorescenst lamps

We had a busy week and far too late nights. On some mornings I set the wake up time one hour later than usually. One morning I woke up, went to living room and continued sleeping at the sofa one hour extra. On the other morning I just turn light down when light woke me up little bit earlier and continued sleeping until I really needed wake up after three snooze. Even thought it's not easy to leave the bed in the mornings, I still think it's cosy to wake up when there is light in the room :)

Paradise flowers

Our dracaena or corn plant started to flower - in the darkest time of the year without any natural light. That plant is a having strange habit to do that. All of our house is smelling like a flower shop - smell of those flowers is so indescribable intensive that you can't avoid it in any room. It feels almost heady to go to the living room, when door has been closed there. Something unexpected in the high Arctic :)

Cold and nice

It's so nice when it's not blowing. It's now around -22 and just very light wind. We were skiing with dogs in Adventdalen. Dogs were working just fantastic - even my own dog, which best side isn't pulling :D There isn't any moon now, so stars are twinkling amazingly bright. Milky Way was very clear. And my favourite constellation Orion was just over the horizon. There were some northern light, but not any superior. But falling stars gives always some extra points :)

Smart people... or not

People are saying, that dark time is cosy here in Longyearbyen. Tourists have disappeared and life has calmed down after a hectic summer. I agree this :) And people are saying, that it's cosy, when there is a bad weather outside - then you're having a good excuse to stay inside, have candles on the tables and have it cosy with a glass of wine. Agree that also... in principle.

It's -18 degrees Celsius, with strong breeze effective temperature is -31 degrees Celsius. There isn't excuses for not to go for a little trip with dogs - not especially on weekend, when we're having good time! But also our four-pawed friends need in this kind of wind some warm windproof clothes as well - we're not having any thick-fured polar dogs. With their jackets on they don't mind at all about coldness :) And we don't mind that either, as we're fully packed in with wool, down and fur.

But other things... some smart people pack their boats in after summer season. Some other people are so busy, that they won't get it done. And then finally, when they're having time for that, it just need to be done on that -31 degrees effective temperature, strong breeze, and of course when there is pitch dark. Life would have been just too easy to do those kind of things in better kind of conditions...

Our new Culture House is opened

Now our new Culture House is officially opened. Couple of weeks ago, before official opening, we had there a theatrical performance "The Experiment". It was a story about a human experience. A special thing was that all story was by nonsensical Russian, made-up language which sounded like Russian. Even though I didn't understand the language I was feeling that I followed the story all the time. Storyline was actually pretty tragic but you just couldn't help laughing. And then you were feeling guilty that you were laughing when people in the story was actually having a horrible experience. The performance was just so cool!

I wasn't in the official opening ceremony, but what I have been waiting for most, was a concert by Vamp, a famous Norwegian band. Vamp is playing kind of folk music, nicely spiced with rock. The concert was just brilliant! It's really nice, that we get those kind of things also up here :)

Tir n'a Noir with lyric by Vamp

A beautiful song by Vamp.

Six weeks with wake-up light

My sixth week with the wake-up light was pretty variable. Twice I woke about five minutes before planned times. Once I managed somehow (don't ask how!) to take sound so low that I didn't wake up for that at all and because I didn't have my back-up alarm I woke one hour later. Twice I decided to give me half an hour extra time - and I got pretty irritated, because to bottoms are really tricky to handle without seeing them :/

And question about to being refreshed when waken up... I don't know if the point for me is to wake up refreshed, but it's nice to wake up for room where is light. To turn light on in mornings is always so painful for eyes, so it' just nice to avoid that. Already because of that reason I like my wake-up light really much.

I wonder if that light is waking me up only, if I happen to be on a light sleep phase. If I'm in deep sleep, it's not just catching me from there. If one sleep cycle is around 90 minutes, then it's just little bit with luck if I happen to be on so light sleep that I can be woken by light. Maybe that light should be connected with sleep phase wake-up clock so that it starts to light within that half an hour window which is given. Mhhh, maybe that's getting little bit too advanced...

Gratulerer med dagen!

Our best greetings for you on your special day! We hope you had a happy day and happiness will follow you through your life together!

Always out when possible

A line between enjoying life and being totally crazy is pretty thin. Found it out again today...

Norwegians say, that there isn't bad kind of weather, just bad kind of clothing. And they also say when you're out on a trip you're never ill-humoured. Yeps, logical enough...

Of course we needed to go for dogsledging... dogs need some training, anyhow. It was -12 Celcius degrees, strong breeze, gusts near to gale - and I don't need to tell it was dark as well. To being totally honest, I saw about nothing on our tour on Adventdalen. Wind took snow up, skies were sliding quite badly. On some places there were so much snowdrift that dogs got some problems. I was wrapped with some layers with wool, having on top clothes filled with down and a fur cap on my head. I was following to working dogs... and thinking that it was actually pretty nice to be out with dogs. And I was thinking I have to be totally crazy to be thinking so!

Around Longyearbyen (from Torgeir/YouTube)

Sixth week of the dark season

Can't believe it's already the six weeks since we said goodbye for the sun. Time has got so incredibly fast! I can't say that I'm specially tired or lacking energy because of the dark season. The difficulties I'm having on the mornings with to get out of the bed are just normal for me - I'm absolutely not a morning person!

My sixth week with Philips wake-up light started with little problems: I didn't wake up at all for the light or beeb-sound, but for back-up alarm on my mobil. Mhhh... but that has an explanation: We were having a weekend in a cabin and forgot totally to follow day rhythm. After that kind of weekend it can't be expected to be fresh... But - it's worth of it :D

Heavenly elk

My daddy is taking part of a hunting club and every autumn a freezer at my parents home gets full of delicious elk. Last holiday we packed a good amount of meat with us and relocated it in our freezer. Yum!

That good meat just need to be shared with some friends! In evening before I was planning to make a dinner I took a good piece of frozen meat and put it in the oven in 100 Celcius degrees. It was just laying on a wire tray and under it there were a bowl of red wine giving some moisture to the oven.

Eleven hours later was inside temperature of meat 70 degrees. Then I took meat out of the oven and laid it in marinade, which was just spiced with salt, pepper and juniper berries. Meat was laying in marinade seven hours, means until evening we were ready to have a dinner.

Before we got guests in the house, I put some potatoes, carrots, swede, leek and onion in the oven and heated up elk at the same time. While they were in the oven I made a sauce out of marinade, red wine I had in the oven over night and onions. We had also some lingonberries to give some extra taste. Oh, that was good! And food is always anyhow tasting best anyhow shared with good friends :)

Gave up for light...

The first time I gave up for light. Since I got the light, I have been (at least aimed) to wake up latest 9 am. No exceptions, not even in weekends, despite when I have got to the bed. Until now... It's Saturday and I was planning to wake up as usually. But somehow I woke up couple of hours before I should have and I was deadly tired. I remembered how difficult it was change the time without seeing properly buttons, so I just switched all the thing off. And were happily sleeping until 12 pm. Ah, that was so good!

An early bird

In this month I'm having only one early shift at work. As normally, I didn't manage to go to the bed early enough, so I got about five hours sleep before I needed to wake up. But - I woke up five minutes before alarm got off! Not bad :D That was good, because my partner was still sleeping, so then I was able to sneak me out of bed without disturbing him. And now, when I actually needed to get right away out of bed, it was working very fine :)

Taking out a dog at 6 am -28 Celcius degrees effective temperature and with strong breeze isn't the best thing I know, but that's a part of life when having a dog. And worth of it :)

Fifth week with the light

How to say that... Light is working fine, it's cosy to wake up for it. But I'm not giving good change for it - I was up until 3 am again. How I could be then fresh on next morning? I guess I would need "Go to bed - NOW" -service more than wake-up light ;)

But I love my energy light. That rescues my mornings :) With help of good cup of tea :D

Magical full moon

When it's full moon time, then you just can't be staying inside. In the dark season Svalbard is on it's best with light of full moon. Mountains bathing on moon light is just something miraculous.


We had today a trip to Sarkofagen, a mountain on the end of the Longyeardalen. If you can think really positively, you can say that there were still some nice twilight left in the middle of the day. Anyhow, sky was looking lighter in south. There were lot of powder snow, so partly we were ploughing through deep snow. We were doing lot of work, but my dog was just enjoying with soft deep snow - he really loves it :) From the top of Sarkofagen we were able to see Longyearbyen and the full moon was glowing over Hiorthfjellet. So beautiful!

Cosy mornings = difficult mornings?

Usually I'm going to work little bit later in day time, so I'm having good time in mornings. If I would be smart, I would wake up in good time and do lot of things before I go to work. Yep, I would... But it's not that easy! I know that I'm having good time. Bed is nice and soft, there is warm. And I'm tired... and that wake-up light is having a well working snooze function... And again it took far too long time before I was out of bed. I'm having really cosy mornings - but should I also say then, that it's difficult to get out of bed. I will try better... maybe later...

Shooting stars

It was night for shooting stars, Leonids meteor shower. Me and my friend took our dogs and went for skiing in Adventdalen. It was beautiful evening: Temperature around -18 degrees, some weak northern lights and the moon whitch is soon full. We had a really nice short skiing trip, but didn't see any single shooting star. Of course, we were not exactly staring at the sky, but usually you see them when you're just out on the trip. So we'll wait for Geminids in middle of December instead... Anyhow, North Taurids some weeks ago gave me a fantastic sight, so maybe I don't need to see every heavenly show. But it's just a nice excuse to go outside to have a little trip :)

Scooter season has started!

I have been listening already for some weeks scooters driving beside our house. But I have kept my fingers out of my scooter... until now. I couldn't wait anymore. There were just couple of minus-degrees, just perfect weather for first start. Checked first the engine, it was alright after a summer outside. And engine started without any problems. Perfect! Had a little drive into Adventdalen. Conditions were just perfect! The scooter season has started now :)

The fourth week

The fourth week didn't start easy. I woke up for alarm, but was far too tired to get up. No worries, I was having good time... Snooze, twice... Then new waking time by telephone... Finally one hour later I needed to force me up. Light all the time at the level 20 - and I still managed to sleep. And to say honestly, I couldn't say I was refreshed when I finally pulled me out of bed. Arrgh!!!

Tired on the third week

I like to wake up with my wake-up light, but to being totally honest, waking up is still difficult. This week I made one extra step on the way up: first to the sofa, where I cuddle a little stunt with my dog, and when he gets enough of that, to the kitchen beside the energy light. Even though, I wouldn't like to stop using my wake-up light, I think it's so cosy to wake up for it :) And it's nicer to wake up in the light room than in a dark one.

Northern lights

Last evenings we have had fantastic northern lights. Green lights has been dancing over the sky. When I'm watching those light-shows, I remember so good, why I'm living here :)

Days are getting darker

I'm at home, time is around 11 am and I'm waiting that it's getting reasonable twilight outside. I'm having a day off and were planning to have a twilight-trip on the valley. But I'm getting soon inpatient and I guess I need to just admit, that we're not getting anymore much lighter as it's now - so I'll be just going out on that half-dark. Yep, I need to get used to have my trips again without real light. I know it's not that bad when I get out, but it's to get yourself first out.

The third week starting

It's still some hours twilight at midday and if it's anyhow possible, we spend that time outside. Mountains looks so beautiful with that indirect light, they are somehow like glowing. This is fantastic beautiful time here :) I'm start to get ready to wake up at 9 am, despite which time I have got to bed. That would be really nice, if I could keep somehow that sleeping rhythm over the dark season as well.

Freezer outside

There were -19 degrees Celcius outside - perfect temperature for unfreezing and cleaning a freezer! I have been planning for long to do that, and finally I managed to do. So, all the things from freezer outside and hot water inside to freezer. I don't want to even tell how much there were ice... But sometimes it's practical it's cold outside :)

Sleep so good

Very normal morning... Woke up for beeb-beeb at 9 am. It was so nice and warm in the bed. I was thinking that I will listen little bit radio before I get up. There were some nice music, and started to listen it. And then  music was over and I looked at time. It was 10 am!!!! Ok, anyhow, it's a day off, so I wasn't any hurry anywhere. And it was so nice and warm in the bed...

"Go-to-sleep-light" wanted

I guess I might need more "go-to-sleep-light" than wake-up light. This time I was "only" up until 2:30 am. I think it can't be expected then that I would be kind of fresh when I wake up on the morning. I lose really easily day rhythm, especially in dark time, so this winter I try to keep me waking up every morning at 9 am, also on weekends. We'll see how long time this promise is holding... Last year it really didn't work.

Out on twilight

Now it's just some hours twilight middle of the day. Me and my friend had a day off and we decided to spend that with being outside while we're still having some light left. We took our four-pawed companion with us and just hiked up to Platå-mountain, mountain beside Longyearbyen. Around half eleven day had dawned and about four hours later, when we got down again, it started to be dark. It was nice weather and town looked so beautiful on twilight. Now it's getting really fast dark, so it's nice to use these last possibilities to be outside on twilight.

Dogsledging

My friend is having some huskies and I was helping her with them. We went to have a little sledging trip into Adventdalen, the big valley beside the Longyearbyen. That was really nice :) It was dark, but you were able to see mountains around you. And just silence around you... Dogs were working very well, also they love to run on the real snow instead of training on the roads. Winter season has started seriously :)

Nightbird

I went to sleep at 3 am... How smart was that? Very little, found I out on the morning... But, surprisingly enough I woke up anyhow about five minutes before alarm, just for light. Not bad :)

The second week is starting

The second week is starting with Philips Wake-up light. I had a weekend "break" of it, because we were out of the town in a cabin trip. But now I'm back in normal routines :) It was pretty easy to back in town life - I woke up seven minutes before alarm got off. It was nice to be laying in the bed, when you knew that you're having good time before you need to get up. And when alarm went off, I took myself beside the kitchen table and continued wake-up process with energy-light and cup of tea. After a little while my partner got up as well and made for us some freshly baked doughnuts. That's the way to get up :)

Weekend in a cabin

We're not owning a cabin, but it is possible to borrow them, if you're living here. For us meaning to be staying here in Svalbard is to enjoy nature around us. So, we like to borrow different cabins around and spend some time there when it's possible. A cabin we borrowed doesn't have electricity or water, but we needed to carry with us wood to warm the cabin up and we also carried some water, so that we didn't need to smelt that from a snow. It took about three quarters to walk to the cabin from the car, so that's actually pretty reasonable distance to carry things. We haven't yet taken our scooters on use - there is a risk to break it when to snow cover is that thin as it's now - so that's why we needed to carry our things to the cabin. Later, when we will have our scooters on use, trips will be much easier.

It was really nice weekend. We had around -14 degrees and the sky with bright stars and northern lights was just fantastic. And as we turned time to wintertime between Saturday and Sunday, we got an extra hour to sleep. That was nice too :)

The first week is over

The first week with Philips wake-up light is now over. The real dark season hasn't properly yet started in Longyearbyen, but I'm really happy to start to use the light all the way from start of the season. It has still been kind of process to get out of the bed, but I can still say, I'm happy to have that light. And I'm having a big expectations for it over the dark season!

The biggest point for me seems to be, that I'm getting ready for a new day  quicker than I'm doing that normally. Often my mornings are kind of survival battles, whereafter I'm still half sleeping when I go to work. Now, on this week, I have had really cosy mornings. I have been waking up - or at least having alarm on - every morning about the same time, at nine o´clock. I have been having my breakfast in the kitchen, enjoying a beautiful view to Sukkertoppen. Now on one weeks time I can see already difference in light intensity: a week ago it was kind of light, when I was having my breakfast, now it just a twilight. But it looks beatiful with pale blue sky behind the mountain and a half moon over the Platå mountain. I'm counting for, that this dark season will be a nice one :)

The sixth morning

The alarm sound seems to be working on me. I think I will forget the radio now for a while, even though it might be cosy to be waking up on it. So, I'm now using that "traditional" sound. I saw an advertisement where you were able to dock an iPod on a wake-up light. That sounds actually a really nice idea. I would like to have that :)

It has been still a kind of process to get out of bed. I can't say that I'm full of energy when I wake up. But, when I get out of bed, and have a cup of tea with my energy-light, I get on normal day-modus really quickly. That is actually really nice :) I remember last year, that I was having days, where I was feeling that I actually never woke up properly. So, I'm hoping really much, that Philips wake-up light will help me to wake up for a day.

Good bye Sun!

We said good bye for Sun on the 26. of October. Actually, I haven't seen it anymore for a while, because our valley is facing to north and even though the sun has been over the horizon, it has been hiding behind the mountains. Earlier years we have went to see the last sun or sunset somewhere outside of the town, on on mountain or in Bjørndalen to say farewell for him. This year I didn't had a change...

It's still couple of weeks kind of twilight at midday, but then we're getting toward to real dark season. On cloudy days it's totally impossible to say, where is south. But, in clear days it's nice to go to have a trip to valleys which are facing to south - then you can see the sky being little bit lighter even in the darkest time of the year, around Christmas. That's so beautiful, and it keeps you a hope of that the Sun will return back on one day.

The sun is rising next time at the 14. February. Again, our valley is facing to north, so it takes couple of more weeks before we can see it from our town. Before that we need to go to greet him back in some mountain. It's always so nice to get him back!  There is a big celebration, when the Sun is shining first time on the steps of our destroyed hospital. If the weather if good, you can see him shining couple of minutes over a glacier - and then he hides again behind the mountain. That's the actual Sun-celebration day. Now days that is a big day for kids in the town, which haven't seen the Sun for a while now. Traditionally it was giving a hope for those people, which was laying sick on that hospital. The Sun is back - they will survive!

The fifth morning

Now I decided to try that alarm-sound for a wake up instead of radio. And that was successful. I woke up for sound and was right ready to get up from the bed. To be honest, I can't say that I was fresh (I don't know if that's possible on my case...), but I was feeling pretty reasonable. And that was good, because soon after I got a telephone call, which make me to run for action almost straight after - without having time to drink my morning tea. But I was ready for that :)

The fourth morning

I woke up before alarm :) This morning I decided that I want to try birds singing, but I woke up already couple of minutes before that. That was really nice :) But I just wanted to stay couple of minutes more in that nice soft bed, took light off... and fall asleep. Woke up ten minutes later for back-up alarm. But anyhow, I was feeling pretty fresh :) I guess I'm getting over the lack off sleep now.

Morning continued with little extra light beside the breakfast table. Time is now about half past nine in the morning, and it's twilight outside. As our valley is facing to north, we lost straight sun light little bit before it really disappears under the horizon. It keeps hiding behind the mountains. So I'm happy to start to use my morning-saviour-energy-light.

I think my mornings will be much easier in this year than they were last year :)

The third morning

New morning with Philips wake-up light... On some point I realised that it was lighter at the room, but I was far to tired to want to wake up. Instead I just turned around and tried to ignore light - and fall asleep again. I think I need to change my radio channel or turn volume up, because I didn't wake up for it today either. I guess I'm far too used to sleep while my iPod is on... So I woke up for my back-up alarm ten minutes later after planned waking point. I should be already quit the biggest lack off sleep, but I was still feeling kind of dead in morning.

I took yesterday my energy-light out of storage - I'm starting to get ready for dark season :) So, I was enjoying my cup of tea beside that energy-light and after a little while I was already feeling like I was ready for a new day.

The second morning

New try with the light. As I didn't wake up for light on the first morning, I set the light level at 20 again. I went to bed around 1am and was planning to wake up again 9 am. I didn't wake up for light, but when radio went off, I thought I woke up. At least I was thinking that I was already waken, but I didn't opened my eyes, was just laying in the bed. Ten minutes later my back-up mobile went off, and it was actually then, when I woke up - from sleep. I needed again a good cup of tea before I was able to say I was feeling my somehow refreshed. But, as I had had bit short nights earlier, it can take some days before I'm somehow back in normal rhythm again. The light can't be replacing the lack of sleep, I guess :)

The first morning

I have been lacking some sleep lately, so I was pretty tired. I went to sleep around 12 pm, and was planning to wake up 8:15 am. But, I wake up some hours earlier, and decided, I would like to sleep until 9 am instead. I got some light from my mobile telephone and started to change the time. Without glasses I was able to see what there was in the screen, but I couldn't see buttons as they are same colour as surrounding. They had same structure as light otherwise, so it was difficult to change time. I needed to try to feel, where were gaps between the buttons, and then I was able to use them. My expectations about difficulties to use buttons got verified... The different material or little knob on them would make it easier.

I had light at the level 20. I didn't wake up for light. I'm used to listen podcast before I fall asleep, so actually I started to wonder, how my iPod can be still on when I started to hear somebody talking. I was listening that talking for a while before I remembered, that I had radio for waking me up. I opened my eyes and it was light on the room. The first reaction was to shut it down. It was easy to hit that stick and it came dark again. But then I started to think, that wasn't it exactly light I needed on mornings. So I turned it on again - and it was painful! Level 20 was pretty sharp that early :/ It wasn't easy to wake up, but after a cup of tea I started to feel to be ready for a day again.

I got the light!

I got the light two days ago. Somehow it didn't look like I have got an idea from pictures - instead I got an impression it looks like a white plastic bucket upside down. In pictures that flatter model looks somehow nicer. But, I guess the function is the point, not how it looks like.

Some of my friends had started to use it already before me. On the first evening we lost the power on the town, and light got reseted. They was hoping, that there should be a back-up battery inside the light, which keeps settings even with failure in power supply. As it happens once in a while, that we lost power, I really can't be trusting the light only as an alarm. So I'll keep having my mobile alarm as back-up.

It was easy to take light on use. I'm having a bad sight, so for me it's important, that I find at night time everything just by feeling them, that I don't need to take my glasses on every time I need to do something. I would have liked, the buttons would have made in different material the light otherwise, for example they could have a rubber-coating. Then the buttons would be easier to found, even, when you don't see them, just by feeling. That is a good idea, that light-button has a little knob. When I just find it, I find other buttons around it just by feeling. I think that snooze-stick looks funny, when it sticks out on the side of the light, but it's practical to use. Why that top-lid can't be used as snooze? I think some older models have that function.

Will Philips wake-up light wake up the town?

Philips gave wake-up lights for people living in Longyearbyen. They wanted to test their light to see if claim of "waking you up feeling refreshed" is still true even in day around darkness in the high arctic. I was one of them, who got a light. Now I'm ready to start to use it :)

More information about the project:
http://www.wakeup.philips.com/
http://www.facebook.com/philips.wakeup
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wotUrbYs0QI