Imminent Domain

When I got back from San Diego, I discovered that my personal safe wouldn't open. It was obviously the battery. I didn't know it had one.

That was a week ago. I was serenely reading my Travel and Leisure magazine for the month, when I suddenly realized what was in the safe: my passport. I have to rescue my passport! Otherwise I'll be stuck in Hooterville for the rest of my life!

So, I went to my files and actually found the Sentry safe information. After about an hour of perusing the information I received, I discovered that I should have replaced the batteries -- four of 'em -- around two years ago. The hard part of this rescue was that I couldn't figure out where the batteries were.

Nicely enough, they're located in a little secret compartment that you can't see from the front of the safe, right under the key combination. I had to insert a eyeglasses screwdriver to release the mechanism, and then slide the plastic door open. There they were. One of the batteries was even corroded on the bottom.

And, after I replaced them, I had to re-program my code. My code is the original Inspector's badge I was issued in 1979. I figure that, after all this time, only I know the code.

Gosh, once Alzheimer's hits me, that code will be gone. By then, so should this fresh new set of batteries.