Featured on Engaging Places =D

Source: Engaging Places

The death of a dynasty

In ancient China, as far as I know, when a series of natural disasters occur it is believed that the mandate for the dynasty has passed. With the not too long ago heavy snow storms in China and now the earthquake that to this minute has killed over 12,000 innocent people, you would think that there must be something that China is not doing right. Maybe the cause of these natural disasters is god's way of saying, control your polution China. But then again, there's the cyclone that killed hundreds and thousands of people in Myanmar, tornados and crazy storms in the US, etc etc... Maybe us as humankind is not doing enough to preserve this planet of ours.. maybe its time for us to start working on it harder.. and not take it for granted.

Killer Air Fresheners

Got this and thought I would share it with everyone..

This is one of those e-mails that if you don't send it, rest assured someone on your list will suffer for not reading it. The original message was written by a lady whose brother and wife learned a hard lesson this past week.

Their house burnt down.. nothing left but ashes. They have good insurance so the house will be replaced and most of the contents. That is the good news.

However, they were sick when they found out the cause of the fire. The insurance investigator sifted through the ashes for several hours. He had the cause of the fire traced to the master bathroom. He asked her sister-in-law what she had plugged in the bathroom. She listed the normal hings....curling iron, blow dryer. He kept saying to her, 'No, this would be something that would disintegrate at high temperatures'. Then her sister-in-law remembered she had a Glade Plug-In, in the bathroom.

The investigator had one of those 'Aha' moments. He said that was the cause of the fire. He said he has seen more house fires started with the plug-in type room fresheners than anything else. He said the plastic they are made from is THIN. He also said that in every case there was nothing left to prove that it even existed. When the investigator looked in the wall plug, the two prongs left from the plug-in were still in there.

Her sister-in-law had one of the plug-ins that had a small night light built in it. She said she had noticed that the light would dim and then finally go out. She would walk in to the bathroom a few hours later, and the light would be back on again.

The investigator said that the unit was getting too hot, and would dim and go out rather than just blow the light bulb. Once it cooled down it would come back on. That is a warning sign The investigator said he personally wouldn't have any type of plug in fragrance device anywhere in his house. He has seen too many places that have been burned down due to them.

Minor Disturbance

Sorry for the lack of updates nowadays. I just started work so have been busy getting used to the change in lifestyle.. I have been on holiday for the past few months after all... takes a bit of getting used to..

Anyway, even though I don't post as often as before on my posts section.. I still regularly update my tumblelog... just scroll down and see/be amazed/be excited at what I find online daily.. I'll resume my normal posting frequency as soon as possible..

Busted: Danger! Danger! Danger!

Earlier this morning I got an email warning me of some deadly spiders and toilet seats.. Here's how it goes...

"Three women in KL turned up at hospitals over a 5-day period, all with the same symptoms - fever, chills, vomiting, followed by muscular collapse, paralysis, and finally, death. There were no outward signs of trauma. Autopsy results showed toxicity in the blood. These women did not know each other, and seemed to have nothing in common.

It was discovered, however, that they had all visited a same restaurant along Jalan Kuchai Lama within days of their deaths. The health department descended on the restaurant, shutting it down. The food, water, and air conditioning were all inspected and tested, to no avail.

The big break came when a waitress at the restaurant was rushed to the hospital with similar symptoms. She told doctors that she had been on vacation, and had only went to the restaurant to pick up her check. She did not eat or drink while she was there, but had used the restroom. That is when one toxicologist, remembering an article he had read, drove up to the restaurant, went into the restroom, and lifted the toilet seat.

Under the seat, out of normal view, was a small spider. The spider was captured and brought back to the lab, where it was determined to be the Two-Striped Telamonia (Telamonia dimidiata), so named because of its reddened flesh color. This spider's venom is extremely toxic, but can take several days to take effect. They live in cold, dark, damp climates, and toilet rims provide just the right atmosphere.

Several days later, a lawyer from Johor Bahru showed up at a hospital emergency room. Before his death, he told the doctor, that he had been away on business, had taken a flight from Indonesia, changing planes in Singapore, before returning home. He did not visit the restaurant while there. He did, as did all of the other victims, have what was determined to be a puncture wound, on his right buttock.

Investigators discovered that the flight he was on had originated in India. The Civilian Aeronautics Board (CAB)ordered an immediate inspection of the toilets of all flights from India, and discovered the Two-Striped Telamonia (Telamonia dimidiata) spider's nests on four different planes!

It is now believed that these spiders can be anywhere in the country. So please, before you use a public toilet, lift the seat to check for spiders. "


I've done some research on the matter and guess what...


"Myth: A deadly exotic spider has been found lurking under toilet seats in airports and airplanes.

Fact: This urban legend began in August, 1999 as a deliberate Internet hoax, disguised as a news story. The original version refers to a spider allegedly called Arachnius gluteus, or South American Blush Spider. Nothing mentioned in the story is genuine; there is no such spider, no such airport, no such medical association, no such doctor, no such restaurant, and no such aeronautics board. For more detail, see Rick Vetter's hoax page.

In October, 2002 a new version of the same hoax surfaced. This one mentions a real species, the south Asian jumping spider Telamonia dimidiata, but it is still a hoax. A jumping spider is one of the least likely to be found in such a situation; they are sun-lovers, and none are more than mildly toxic to humans."
Source: The Spider Myths Site


I guess you really can't believe what you read online... take everything with a grain of salt... but I would still check that toilet seat if I were you...