Miguel, answer the damn question already, please!

November 6, 2003 6:32 PM

Miguel, answer the damn question already, please!
posted by five fresh fish to MetaFilter-Related at 6:32 PM (31 comments total)

And I quote Migs: "Here in Portugal our wake-up calls, since last month, are all phoned in from Cape Vert. Numbers have gone up since the switch. Portuguese operators were surly and judgmental ("You should be up by now, surely"), whereas Cape Vertian operators are cheerful and efficient."

Which, naturally, has several -- perhaps many -- of us dead curious about what he means. Wake up calls? Doesn't Portugal have alarm clocks? Can one even answer a phone coherently first thing in the morning? Why would you want a telephone to wake you up instead of a clock radio? And, most importantly, does Miguel live in a hotel?

These questions need answers!
posted by five fresh fish at 6:35 PM on November 6, 2003

Teehee. Sorry, five fresh fish: I did take my time - but my time-stamp still beats yours.

I realize now, by the way you've framed your question, that wake-up calls are something you don't have. Well, they're essential here. Of course we have alarm clocks but, for a very modest outlay (about 40 cents a day), you get your own personal Mom or Wife to wake you up, with a cheerful voice.

The advantage is that these simpático operators will not give up. Even if you take the phone off the hook for two hours, the moment you put it back on you'll get the same lady (admittedly by now furious, having lost all maternal feeling in the meantime) telling you, in no uncertain terms, you should have been up two hours ago.

Frequently, there's worry in their voices - which allows one to make an outlandish excuse and get back on their good books.

While Portuguese operators are sweet enough, Cape Verdian operators are even sweeter. Imagine Cesária Évora waking you up every day.

To be honest, sometimes I put in a wake-up request (which can also be done through a live operator, though they're always surly, as if it were a crime to want to wake up) just for a reference and a little humanity.

I don't live in a hotel - but the fact that nobody here ever tells anyone "This is not a hotel, you know!" should give you an idea of how comfortably we have it. :)

Matt: please wait till five fresh fish reads this answer before you delete it.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 6:57 PM on November 6, 2003

O.M.G. metatalk: where the fuck is my diaper.
posted by poopy at 7:30 PM on November 6, 2003

is there an ethel merman feature?
posted by clavdivs at 7:31 PM on November 6, 2003

OK, I found a link to it.

Here's the gist. I'll translate with full Portuguese flavour, rather than in good English.

You have a commitment (whether related to business or your private life) at a very early hour and you fear you won't wake up or don't trust the traditional means (alarm-clock).

You need to be warned, reminding you of commitments or events that are very important for your professional activity (meetings, get-togethers, contacts, etc).

(...)

The registration of "Waking Up" can be done either automatically or manually. This service is provided by a technical and human infrastructure that guarantees requests for wake-up will all be answered, whether automatically or by an operator.

Even the best hotels don't try this hard!

I demand a commission for any MeFites who start using this very chic service! ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:35 PM on November 6, 2003

I don't get it, fff, why do the second, third & fourth links in your question point to user's profile pages?
posted by jonson at 8:09 PM on November 6, 2003

Because they were the people who asked me to explain myself in the thread. jonson. I thought it was neat as it reminded me they were real people, fellow members, rather than just comments.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 8:25 PM on November 6, 2003

That's so quaint, but for the price of 40¢ a day you could help save a young child in Africa.

Incidentally, it's also the cost of a small vial of generic-brand drugs (enough to treat fifty children) that drastically reduce the transfer rate of aids between a mother in child.
posted by The God Complex at 8:50 PM on November 6, 2003

40 cents a day? Which organization is this? I'm with Foster Parents Plan, and it costs $31, so $1 a day for one little girl. Jeez, I could be saving two and a half children for that.
posted by orange swan at 9:30 PM on November 6, 2003

Well, one child every two and a half days.

Fair enough, though, TGC and orange swan. I could think of a lot (more!) of unnecessary daily expenses incurred by Americans which could be donated to charities, but I realize that would be beside the point.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:03 PM on November 6, 2003

For the last time, I'm Canadian! (not that it affects my first-world waste any) I wasn't being entirely serious, either, only poking fun in the most imperial way I know ;)
posted by The God Complex at 10:39 PM on November 6, 2003

I know you are, TGC - I'm a Canadian too. All of us Europeans are. In fact, no offense (in fact, praise), it might even be the other way round. I.e., Canadians are profoundly civilized Scots, Englishmen and Frenchies who somehow managed to resist not only the yolk but the very egg white of Yankee imperialism. For this alone, you deserve to be put up with. ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:48 PM on November 6, 2003

Awww, Migs... if you ever come to Canada, you can stay in my guest room and I'll wake you up in the morning, no charge.
posted by orange swan at 7:09 AM on November 7, 2003

I realize this is the height of silliness, but in the past when I haven't been very trusting of my alarm clocks, I've used WakeUpLand.com. Costs either $11 per month or $3 for one-time use, and you can do your ordering over the internet, mere hours in advance. Very helpful if you have an important meeting or something, know you won't be getting much sleep, and worry about sleeping through your alarm.
posted by onlyconnect at 7:14 AM on November 7, 2003

I can't imagine paying someone to wake me up. I HATE being woken up more than you can imagine and never even use an alarm clock anymore. I simply tell myself when to wake up and it happens. Otherwise, anyone who wakes me up had better have a very good reason.
posted by orange swan at 7:37 AM on November 7, 2003

you fuckers are destroying this site
posted by matteo at 7:42 AM on November 7, 2003

Man, this really is Lame MeTa Post Week.

Next: do you prefer to roll your toilet paper from the top or the bottom?
posted by languagehat at 8:06 AM on November 7, 2003

This is fucking weak.
posted by Ufez Jones at 8:44 AM on November 7, 2003

jonson: Opps. I copied the wrong link addresses. They were *supposed* to go to those people's questions.

Migs: thx. You Portuguese are strange.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:59 AM on November 7, 2003

"Next: do you prefer to roll your toilet paper from the top or the bottom?"

The top, of course. Anyone who drapes it off the back is a moron.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:21 AM on November 7, 2003

Miggy, I know that you know that I only correct your english mistakes so... well here goes...

I'm just wondering - did you perchance yoke together two homonyms up here^? Or maybe, I just missed the yolk? (",)
posted by dash_slot- at 10:26 AM on November 7, 2003

Ich bin ein Kanadier?
posted by TimeFactor at 11:24 AM on November 7, 2003

Have none of you ever considered going to bed at a decent hour? I wake up ahead of my alarm clock most of the time.
posted by konolia at 11:53 AM on November 7, 2003

The top, of course. Anyone who drapes it off the back is a moron.

THANK YOU.
posted by The God Complex at 12:52 PM on November 7, 2003

I actually have a spooling system in place where I roll over used toilet paper. So after I've dropped the Cosby Kids off, I give the toilet paper tube a little rub, and then roll over it with fresh paper. Then when in about a month when it's time to throw out, I wad it up and assail elementary students with it.
posted by Stan Chin at 2:14 PM on November 7, 2003

The top, of course. Anyone who drapes it off the back is a moron.

unless you have a cat.
posted by mdn at 3:34 PM on November 7, 2003

The top, of course. Anyone who drapes it off the back is a moron.

By god, it's good to see that MeFites can agree on something.
posted by languagehat at 4:52 PM on November 7, 2003

Hell, I'm a bachelor. The fucking roll sits on the tank lid. ;-P
posted by mischief at 6:16 PM on November 7, 2003

Back, front, who cares? Just as long as there's some there.
posted by sharpener at 7:15 PM on November 7, 2003

Hell, I'm a bachelor.

But... you're so cheery! ;)
posted by The God Complex at 8:26 PM on November 7, 2003

One of the side effects of divorce, TGC.
posted by mischief at 8:58 PM on November 7, 2003