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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lordmarcovan, post: 3126911, member: 10461&quot;]<font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600">...</span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600"><br /></span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600"><b>The</b> homeowner becomes unable to contain his curiosity much longer.&nbsp; After wire-brushing the hinges and lock on the box, and peering at the ornately engraved letters on top, he taps at the rusted lock with a hammer.&nbsp; Flakes of rust fly off, and one piece nearly hits him in the eye.&nbsp; But thoughts of eye safety are not on his mind, so he does not pause to get goggles from the workbench.</span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600"><br /></span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600">Squinting in a feeble attempt to avoid further rust-shrapnel in his eye, the homeowner raises the hammer one final time, and brings it down hard upon the lock, with one solid, well-aimed bang.&nbsp; </span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600"><br /></span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600">The shackle of the lock breaks where he had sawed at it earlier, and the rest of lock falls free of where it had been rusted to the side of the box.&nbsp; All of the remains of the original hasp closure on the front of the box break off as well.</span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600"><br /></span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600">The homeowner grabs his big flathead screwdriver and sets about prying open the lid of the box.&nbsp; After some time, he has a gap of a few millimeters in the opening between the box and its lid on the front side, but the lid still refuses to rise.&nbsp; </span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600"><br /></span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600">Realizing the hinges on the back are still frozen with rust, he gives each of them a hard tap with the hammer, then reinserts the screwdriver into the gap to try prying the box open. </span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600"><br /></span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600">It does open a bit wider - in fact, he gets the lid up far enough to slide his fingers into the gap.</span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600"><br /></span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600">Then he gives a mighty tug, and with a cracking sound and a scattering of rust and dirt, the top of the box flies open.&nbsp; Amazingly, the rusted hinges hold together and work again after being banged on and forced open so roughly, so the top of the box remains attached, though our homeowner might not have noticed even if the lid of the box had flown off completely.</span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600"><br /></span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600">He gazes down at the open box.&nbsp; </span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600"><br /></span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600">It is full to the top.</span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600"><br /></span></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><span style="color: #006600">...</span></font></font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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