What's the worst thing that could happen to an East Sacramento agent? Or to any real estate agent, for that matter? Well, apart from rolling over a guard rail in the rain. Over the last week, 2 vehicles at different locations slid off the freeway while going around a curve and landed on the road below. They survived, thank goodness.

We've had so much rain and wind in Sacramento; it's like an obstacle course driving through East Sacramento and Land Park -- swerving to avoid downed tree branches, blown over trash cans and unemployed real estate agents angrily stomping in rain puddles.

The worst thing that could happen to an agent is to be out showing property and discover that the eKey doesn't work or the lockbox won't open. I am all too familiar with that bzzzzzzzZZZT sound when the lockbox malfunctions. If the lockbox won't open, it's generally due to one of two things. Either it's on a timed access and I'm there at the wrong time or I've punched in the wrong code on my eKey.

Once I had a camera crew from Good Day Sacramento shivering in the road at 6 AM waiting to film one of my homes in Land Park. It slipped my mind that I could not open the lockbox prior to 8 AM, so I had to drag the seller out of bed to come over and let us in. Ever since that episode, I generally make an extra key for my listings, which I tuck away in my car's console.

But I never want to be in the position of showing homes in East Sacramento or anywhere else in Sacramento and discover that my eKey won't work. There are dead spots in Sacramento where cellphones don't receive reception.

The problem I've had lately is that sometimes I can't update my eKey through a wireless connection. For some reason, which only tech gods understand, a BlackBerry Bold is not designed to be used as an eKey without using another device that pairs with it. This fob converts the Bluetooth to infrared. But it's another device I have to carry around. And it has a battery. To change the battery, I need a special screwdriver, and the screw is very tiny. One of these days, that battery is going to die on me at the most inopportune moment. It's a stupid solution.

There are 3 things I can't live without. And it's not necessarily life, love and the pursuit of happiness. It's my eKey, MLS access and my cellphone.

I spoke to Supra eKey about this problem with my BlackBerry and its 9B25 wireless network coverage error. Supra said I should remove the battery from my BlackBerry and put it back. Sure enough, that solved the problem. Because I can get an update code only from Supra's website between wireless synchronizations. But I don't want to have to take apart my phone every morning. That's idiotic.

Since I'm the type of person who always has a back-up plan B, I guess I will have to buy some other type of display key and pay an extra monthly subscription fee for access to Supra's lockboxes. I could buy an extra phone, but that doesn't solve the potential dead spot problems. One of the benefits of eKey access is I can check showings of my Sacramento short sale listings and immediately follow up. So, I think I need both services. But it seems sort of silly.

Of course, it beats going over a guard rail in the rain.