Don't try this at home. No...really. Don't.

Was helping my husband pack for a trip to visit his parents yesterday. Had to dig out a pair of 9-volt batteries for a metal detector that he was taking back to his dad.

You know 9 volts? Rectangular, both terminals on one end? Put a piece of steel wool over both terminals & you get a cool spark show that can double as an emergency fire starter:



And yes...you can find anything on YouTube, but I digress. Any metal will carry the current. Aluminum foil. Copper wire. Coins.

By the way, did you know that the diameter of a quarter is large enough to bridge the gap between the two terminals. Not one of the things you think about normally, is it? Yeah, I didn't, either.

Which is why I dropped a battery in my pocket one day a few years ago. Not even thinking about it. Just someplace to put it while I was doing the smoke detector battery replacement patrol. Never occurred to me to think about what else might be in my pocket. Not like I was toting steel wool or anything, so I forgot about it for all of five minutes.

I'm washing my hands when I suddenly become aware of a feeling of warmth over my right hip. Before I can even think "WTF?", it goes from warm to holyshitHOT!!! and I dive into that pocket, coming up with the forgotten battery and a handful of change, including one overheated quarter that I immediately drop while swearing creatively and hopping around in a pattern that would have called down rain had I been outside.

Seriously, though...what are the odds that coin and battery would align just *so* in my pocket?

Fortunately the effect with the coin isn't as pyrotechnic as with the steel wool, or maybe it's just slower, because I managed to get away without any major burns or holes singed in my jeans (or me). And fortunately, my husband wasn't around to see the whole episode, because if his laughter hadn't killed him, I would have.