If I have to set an alarm clock at all I find myself waking up every couple of hours or even less to check on the time. I think it has more to do with anticipating having to wake up for something at an unusual hour rather than the noise the clock makes, at least in my case.

I saw your post about the fire while I was away. Quite spectacular. The smell of burning is one of the most lingering.

Yes, there's that as well. Setting an alarm clock is supposed to relieve you of anxiety about getting up on time- but somehow it doesn't work like that.

So if we set one- as we did this morning for an early appointment at the medical centre- my inner clock sets itself too and makes sure I wake up ahead of time.

Yes. And I can rarely get my internal clock to do this on its own, which is frustrating; so I set my alarm clock and I wake up feeling like I haven't slept at all.

I almost always go short of sleep when I've got an alarm clock set. It's crazy.