Instructions for the Chia Alarm Clock

Last year we purchased a Chia Pet (I believe it was a hippo) for my 6 year old daughter for Channukah.  This was one of those great, relatively inexpensive gifts that kids love.  It was also a great learning experience for her.  For me, it was truly one of those moments that showed that you don't need to spend a great deal on a gift in order for it to be loved.  For kids and pets that don't understand the concept of money, it truly exemplifies the concept that the simple things in life are best, regardless of cost.

 

But I'm getting away from the point....which is the point of blogging anyway.  Accompanying the Chia Pet was the Chia Alarm clock, which, in 2006, was included to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Chia Pet. The Chia Alarm Clock is a small plastic LCD alarm clock resembling Chia Puppy at full growth, and plays the Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia jingle as its alarm function.  It's actually very annoying, and, as with most cheap foreign electronics, the instructions were not at all clear.

 

The alarm seemed to have a mind of it's own, and would go off at all hours.  At some point, I was able to silence it, and for months, it sat safely on my desk.  Recently, one of us triggered the alarm, and it would go off seemingly every hour.  I searched the web for the instructions....to no avail, including on the manufacturers web site.  The e-mail address posted on the Chia Pet website did not work, and the company did not answer their phones, nor return my voicemail.  Apparently this was a common problem, and there are many stories of the Chia alarms demise at the hands of a hammer, etc.  My wife accused me of tossing the instructions (I didn't), and the frustration of the alarm, and her accusations, led to the Chia alarm being tossed at her in frustration (I later apologized).  Since that time, the Chia alarm has been sitting in my garage, continuing to go off, with ever diminishing power as the batteries wore down.

 

Tonight, as I put my daughter to bed, she found the instructions for the Chia Alarm in her night table.  I was thrilled, as it proved my innocence.  I also now have the opportunity to once again disable this electronic nightmare, and to share the information on the web for the world.

 

So, without further adieu, here are the instructions....

 

To Set Date & Clock:

    1. Press B four times.

    2. Press A to adjust month.  When finished, press B.

    3. Press A to adjust day.  When finished, press B.

    4. Press A to adjust hour.  When finished, press B.

    5. Press A to adjust minute.  When finished, press B.

    6. Press A to active the clock.

 

To Set Alarm:

    1. Press B once.

    2. Press A to go activate alarm functions (alarm, chime, snooze)

    3. Repeat pressing A to set functions on or off

    4. Press B once again.

    5. Press A to adjust the hour of the Alarm.  When finished, press B.

    6. Press A to adjust the minute of the Alarm.  When finished, press B.

    7. When finished, press B to return to normal display.

 

Alarm:

    1. Will last for one minute

    2. Press C to stop

    3. From normal display,

        a. Press A once to show alarm time

        b. Press A twice to show date

        c. Press A third time to show second

        d. When showing second, Press B to reset the second.

        e. Press A to return to normal display.