moistfinger

I found one of these buggers in my garage a couple of months ago. FALSE BLACK WIDOW. http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-1/1141510/N0K060S0X03RJKARXQAR3KURFKARLQ3Q50TQ3K3QYKNR3K9RI0FQFKCQM0Z0M0YQHQDQ703QFKFQJKNR80Q0803Q.jpg http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-1/1141510/O0PQZSEQA0PQ10KKPKZK1K1QJ0XKCKNQLS1Q1K7KJ04KTKAQF08KHS7KCKVQVKMKPKSKB04QA08Q.jpg Freaked me out when I saw it , as I had just been reading an article in a national newspaper about a guy who had been bitten twice by one that had dropped down his shirt. It put him in hospital !! Unfortunately it invoked a kneejerk reaction and didn't survive the onslaught of a size 9 boot. Just to be sure I was correct in my diagnosis of the species I trawled the web and found a guy that new what he was talking about . This was his reply to my e-mail: ' Hi Rich, As far as I know it is a ‘Steatoda Grossa’ False Black Widow spider. They are common in this country, (I have found three more in my garage since my January email to spiderzrule.com), have had quite a few emails since from other concerned Brits like yourself, and yes they are related to the infamous Black Widow, sort of a ‘cousin’ if you will. They do have a toxic bite, using the same venom as the Widow but in much smaller quantities. This results in something akin to a bee-sting I gather, although if you’re unlucky and are allergic to the venom, it could possibly prove fatal in a worst case scenario, (very unlikely). The toxin, just like the Widow’s, affects the respiratory system, causing a temporary shortness of breath. They are not considered ‘dangerous’ as such, but if you have inquisitive small children, I’d exercise caution in where you allow them to play. You would be hard pushed to get bitten, however, as they are so shy and reclusive...they like it dark, damp, quiet and free from activity or human interference. You’re likely to find them in unused corners of garages, in piles of wood, under old forgotten workbenches or in holes in the wall. And they’ll make an appearance when there’s nobody around. The females are generally bigger than the males, and both are black and shiny with a large abdomen featuring two triangles which can vary in colour from dark brown through orange to pale grey. These point towards the head. Leg-span is about the size of a two-pence piece, (maybe a bit bigger extended). They have a varied diet of small insects/larvae and in hotter climates are well known for their predatory tendencies towards Black Widows. In the U.S. and Aus. for instance, having these Steatodas around means you’re going to have a smaller population of Black Widows which spells good news for us humans. I freaked too when I saw mine for the first time, and had ‘Black Widow’ in twelve foot high neon letters flashing in my brain, complete with accelerated heart-rate and a cold sweat. I ran and got some gloves, a shiny white cup and a piece of A4 paper, caught it, then spent HOURS trying to figure out what it was on the ‘net, seeking whether I could sleep safely in my house again, or whether my life had taken a turn in the direction of a B-list horror movie. There’s a wealth of information to be found online, some of which is factual, some a little crooked, and some blatantly incorrect. To make matters more confusing, there are many photographs of the Steatoda Grossa up on the net, some clearly being different species of spider. I took mine in person to an English Nature spider ‘expert’ who ‘reliably’ informed me that mine was a ‘Cave Spider’ despite this being clearly not the case. I have sent some photographs around via email and the general consensus seems to be that it is indeed a Steatoda Grossa. The closest photographic match that I found was on the spiderzrule.com website. I have taken mine out of my house and relocated them a fair distance away, giving them a sporting chance for a new life. Having them in my house gives me the creeps somehow. I didn’t want to kill them however....they are intensely beautiful in their own way, are here for a reason, and I didn’t wish out of my instinctual fear, based mostly on ignorance, to do the ‘knee-jerk’ human reaction and squash them. Man’s relationship to the natural world is so messed up as it is....we try and control all that we do not understand.....or kill out of fear.....how about allowing, accepting and learning from phenomena that are often far too sophisticated for our tiny brains to comprehend? (This is said for my benefit not yours!). If there is God in everything, he is also in the spooky-looking spider in the garage! Interestingly I also discovered that the tendencies of the female Black Widow to eat their male counterparts after mating is indeed a myth. This conclusion was apparently drawn by a scientist (male) who kept Widows in captivity. He would feed his isolated female Widow every day at a certain hour, and then was surprised to find when one day he introduced a male Widow into her domain, that she ate him as well. She must have thought of him as food. Apparently in the wild this does not take place. I guess that it depends on which side of the fence you sit regarding the supremacy of the sexes as to whether you prefer the myth to the ‘truth’, (is there any such thing?). Anyway, I hope that’s given you something to go on.....I am no expert, just a man who’s done some sniffing around on the ‘net to feed his curiosity and try and abate his fear/ignorance. All of the above constitutes what I have discovered and regurgitated. It is as close as I have got to figuring out what these little beasties are and what, if anything, one should do with them. Best wishes, Justin.' I'm not scared of our native species of spider as I know that they are not poisonous, but these things look plain evil.

True

Amazing battle between Esso and Woodone supras' They annihilate the field and then try to annihilate each other http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-T5H5w05SQ

Hi Rich, Yeah ! still around Still have it , after a sale fell through Havn't had chance to get to any meets but will try and get to the next one if it hasn't sold by then. Rich........

Happy Birthday Fifty All the best m8.

This will be your last chance to pick up a bargain!! Decided to put the supe on ebay (even after all the trouble I had with a scammer and ebay doing nothing about it), only because it reaches a larger market. Only a £10,000 reserve , 32 watching , 22hrs to go. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270115833562 This is a RZ-S Facelift not a SZ as shown in the post details. Sorry made a mistake with post but cannot change it.

Got some clips of my Miami-GT exhaust here: http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=78704 page 1 and more on page 4 On a TT with second decat.

Got some on my Quicksilver Supe. Check my Garage for pics. http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/vbpicgallery.php?do=hall&u=7383

wish they were my numbers

Ha Ha !! , that's funny I have just read the post after submitting it and a smilie has appeared in the e-mail address. Must tell you something of the validity of the e-mail.

Spot the mistakes National Lottery Commission, 2 Monck Street, London SW1P 2BQ United Kingdom. Ref : UK/776090X2/23 Batch: 013/05/8394369 National Draw:21-4-2007 ======================================================= CHECK YOUR WINNING NUMBER: http://www.lottery.co.uk/res/ WINNING DRAW NUMBER: 14, 20, 21, 30, 41, 46, 6 ======================================================= WINNING NOTIFICATION: We happily announce to you the Draw (#942) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,online UK National Lottery program held on Wednesday 21 April 2007. Your e-mail address attached to Ticket Number:8603775966738 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the Winning Numbers: 14, 20, 21, 30, 41, 46 (bonus.6),which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e match 3plus bonus. You are therefore been approved to claim total sum of £1,628,360.00 (One Million Six Hundred And Twenty Eight Thousand Three Hundred And Sixty Million Pounds) in cash credited to file.This is from a total cash prize of £20,350,000.00 pounds,shared amongst the Winners with different amount won in this category i.e Match 3 plus bonus. All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions,associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online. This promotion takes place weekly. Please contact our Fiduciary Agent for VALIDATION. ******************************************************************* Barrister David Green. Foreign Services Manager, Payment and Release order Department,CLAIMS PROCESSING LOTTERY AGENT. TRANS-ATLANTIC S.A LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM Tel Phone: +44 701 113 6365 E-mail:[email protected] ******************************************************************** Endeavour to email him your full names,winning numbers,email address,telephone and fax numbers immediately. Congratulations from me and members of staff of THE UK NATIONAL LOTTERY. Mrs. Rose Wood, Winning Department, CordinatorUK National Lottery. http://www.lottery.co.uk ======================================================= Material Copyright © 2007 The Lottery Co. Ltd. The Lottery Company and lottery.co.uk is in no way affiliated with, associated with or approved or endorsed by Camelot Group plc or The National Lottery Commission. ======================================================= Needless to say I will not be claiming.

No , I had been waiting nearly 5 weeks for him to get the money together.

My Supra is back on the market after the sale fell through. A guy sent a deposit but said he needed 4 weeks to raise the cash. I thought fair enough I don't mind waiting , but got an e-mail last week saying he could not raise the money. So It is back on the market. I have dropped the original asking price as I need a quick sale. Full details here: http://toyotasupra4sale.bravehost.com/

Easy win for Joe Calzaghe

Hi Neil I got it from here: http://www.carbonology.com