How to build an audio reminder to take meds?

[BBryan84]

Try Karen's Alarm Clock--download at http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptalarm.asp. Record your reminder as a digital audio file and select that as the alarm sound. Simple and works well.

[jr213]

You Might try a program called "GigAlarm". Its freeware too. And very versatile. It'll run text files or MP3's or Wav (I think) and It'll repeat itself as often as you like. NO, I don't work for them or own the company, just a very satisfied user !

[Erniek]

Sometimes we reply on technology far too much. Occasionally it is easier\better to revert to non-technology to find a solution for every day problems.

I have quite a few tab's to take 3 times a day and my way of reminding myself (yes hard as it to believe even after years of taking them I can occasionally forget if not at home)

I keep all my daily tab's (in a daily dispenser\container) lying next\close to the kettle. This means that when I switch kettle on for first morning cuppa the tab's are lying there. If your med's require injection just put empty syringe (no needle attached) some place near kettle or coffee\tea container and leave it lying there permanently, or secure it to the front of your coffee (granules) container. Does not look right but a good way of reminding myself\yourself.

[DrWho]

Some great ideas!
The mention of something that snuck in with CPU-z (I think it was) is nothing unusual. As I update things on my PC I get offers to install stuff from Norton, McAfee, Bing, Ask, etc. I don't want any of that crap on my own PC and I take it off of customer's PC's all the time, so it's a constant battle to keep those wolves at bay.

On the Alarm Clock, I Found One.
I don't even know the name of the program other than "Alarm Clock". (ain't that weird?)
It allows me to set up an alarm for each day of the week for the time I want and the sound effect I want.
When I boot up my PC in the morning the Alarm Clock opens a window on my desktop, that alone is enough
to remind me to get up and go take my meds.

I really DO appreciate all the interest this thread has spawned and the very creative suggestions.
Yous guys are the bestest.

But I'm still a bit befuddled, by why my batch file won't run in the Task Scheduler and why it gave me that elaborate error message.
Well, that's a task and a puzzle for a different day. That may require some Googling.

I just got a telephone call from my Dr's receptionist, reminding me of my Dr's appointment for tomorrow. I like that personal touch.
Most all the local Dr's do that, as well as the VA Hosp. It's unusual in this day and age of automation to get a reminder call from a real live person.

Thanks again guys, and Happy Holidays!
The Doctor

PS: A good idea about the "Kettle" but my kettle is a Mr Coffee, automatic coffee maker. I load it up at night and set the timer to ON and at 7 AM the next morning it makes me a pot of coffee. The smell of fresh coffee is great to wake up to. It's been proven that just the smell of coffee is Stimulating.

[lesle]

You could put this in your startup folder, as a text .vbs file:

Dim speaks, speech
speaks=" Take Your Medicine"
Set speech=CreateObject("sapi.spvoice")
speech.Speak speaks

[chatterbug]

I wish there was a reminder to take my morning medicine on my desktop.Thats the first thing i see in the morning.A picture of a huge "Take Your Medicine" staring me in the face will get my attention.( I Hope)

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

I wish there was a reminder to take my morning medicine on my desktop.Thats the first thing i see in the morning.A picture of a huge "Take Your Medicine" staring me in the face will get my attention.( I Hope)

That's easy in Windows (probably in Mac OSX too, but I don't know that OS), provided two conditions are met:
1. you power up (cold boot) or restart (hot boot) your computer every day,
2. "Windows Photo Viewer" is the default application to open *.jpg graphic files.

How to proceed:

1. With your graphic application (Paint,The Gimp, Adobe Photoshop, Paintshop Pro or whatever you prefer) you design an image showing the warning you desire, a large bold-faced text or a drawing of a raised finger or a photo of a scantily clad nurse or whatever grabs your attention. Save it as a jpg-file in a folder of your choice.

2. Navigate to your Startup folder.

3. In your Startup folder create a shortcut to the jpg-file you just saved and give it a self-explanatory name.

That's it. Each and every time you cold boot or restart you machine, the "Windows Photo Viewer" with your warning graphic will appear on your desktop.

OTOH, if your machine "sleeps" or "hibernates" at night, then this little trick will only work if you create an entry in the Task Scheduler.

[Medico]

Very nice, and very easy.

Fred, did you see this one?

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

... Fred, did you see this one?

Who? Flintstone?

[Paul S.]

I use Alarm:

http://bluefive.pair.com/alarm.htm

[Medico]

Who? Flintstone?

My mistake, I confused Fred and DrWho. This happens at least once a day it seems. Perhaps I am getting as bad as DrWho in remembering some of the important stuff. I apologize to both Just Plain Fred and DrWho for the mistake.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

I use Alarm:

http://bluefive.pair.com/alarm.htm

So ... computer permanently ON while governments and power suppliers keep nagging consumers to save power?

[DrWho]

Remember, I said:
"On the Alarm Clock, I Found One."

So for me, the problem has been solved.

Just the very fact that I have the alarm set, reminds me to take my meds.
The alarm doesn't even have to go off, because when I boot up, here's this alarm clock
window, the size of a post card, in the middle of my desktop screen. That's really all
the reminder I need.

I do thank yous guys, for all the interesting comments.

Happy Holidays Everyone!
The Doctor

[MJ2]

I'm surprised that, with cell phones so ubiquitous, you're not using that as an alarm. I don't have a smartphone, but my dumb ole cell does have an alarm function, that I've creatively named "pill". If I needed more alarms during the day and my memory were REALLY bad, I'd name each alarm with the name of the med.

[DrWho]

Why are you so surprised? Not everyone lives in or around a HUGE metropolitan area, like Philly.

I own a cell phone but I'm 8 miles from the nearest Cell Tower and my phone, which just makes and receives calls, doesn't work here.
I just leave the phone in the car and only use it for emergencies, like if I'm going to be late for an appointment.
I turn it ON, make a call and turn it OFF. If I don't turn it off, I get some butthead calling me saying something like, "Mom? Mom? Is that you mom?". After the last time that happened to me, I started turning the phone OFF just as soon as I'm done with it.
I wish more people would do that!

As I said, twice, I have found the program that I needed and it's working just fine.

Happy Holidays Everyone!
the Doctor