<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; = charset=Windows-1252"> <TITLE>Message</TITLE> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV><SPAN class=781043301-01082004><FONT face=Arial>Was driving = back from a customer's house today (yes, Saturday, special call) when I began to = feel increasing discomfort in the right pants pocket area of my leg. It = finally got so intense that I reached in my pocket and pulled out the brand new = alkaline 9-volt battery I had stuck in there earlier. It was VERY hot—too hot = to hold in your hand for more than a second. It had been shorting out = against coins and keys in my pocket--and the was starting to break open! </FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=781043301-01082004><FONT face=Arial>Oops. Ow. </FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=781043301-01082004><FONT = face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Alan R. = Barnard</FONT></DIV> <DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Salem, MO</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML> <BR> <P><FONT SIZE=2>---<BR> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.<BR> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).<BR> Version: 6.0.730 / Virus Database: 485 - Release Date: 07/28/2004<BR> </FONT> </P>