from the the-whole-continent-is-out-to-get-you dept.
A contributor writes:
We've always known that Australia is full of nasty critters and such, but now the Beeb reports that a batch of spinach (that stuff kids don't like) from Costco in Australia causes hallucinations and delirium, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-63995469
Toxic spinach has sparked an urgent health alert in Australia after people who consumed it suffered severe sickness and hallucinations.
Nine people have needed medical care after eating the Riviera Farms baby spinach from Costco. Health authorities say their symptoms have also included delirium, spiked heart rates and blurred vision.
Riviera Farms says it believes the spinach was contaminated by a weed, but no other products have been affected. New South Wales Health has warned any packets of the brand's spinach with an expiry date of December 16 are not safe to consume and should be thrown out.
For some reason this reminded me of this famous stage announcement:
...That the brown acid that is circulating around us isn't too good. It is suggested that you stay away from that. Of course it's your own trip.
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=brown%20acid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzFongNGuQM
(Score: 4, Informative) by coolgopher on Saturday December 24 2022, @05:34AM (1 child)
As much as people want to rag on spinach, it wasn't the spinach that was the issue, it was the thornapple [theguardian.com].
(Score: 2) by Hartree on Saturday December 24 2022, @09:49PM
So, that's what The Born Loser was named after. (Brutus Thornapple https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Born_Loser [wikipedia.org] )
(Score: 2) by sjames on Saturday December 24 2022, @06:03AM
Popeye's theme played on a theremin.
(Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Saturday December 24 2022, @09:01AM (1 child)
Kevin was working the graveyard shift at the spinach clearning machine and promptly threw his spliff and his bag of ganja in the water when the production supervisor came around for a surprise inspection.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Saturday December 24 2022, @04:09PM
You're going to need something a lot stronger than that to induce hallucinations. Much less sickness and delirium.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Saturday December 24 2022, @10:31AM (8 children)
Avoided it like the plague ever since I stopped being force-fed it as a kid. You can never be too careful, and in this case my prudent caution was more than justified.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 24 2022, @01:01PM (6 children)
+1 funny!
Power out here yesterday for 11 hours (blizzard, NE USA) and cold dinner was leftover spinach casserole--still delicious.
I wish I knew how to thank the electric repair crew that fixed our power last night when it was 10F (-12C), 30-60 mph (50-100 kph) winds and often down to 10 feet (3 meter) visibility with whiteout snow.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Sunday December 25 2022, @03:46AM (5 children)
One thing you can do there is call the power company and thank them for it. I did this once when they did a repair under similar circumstances and the support person took down all the details (where/when/etc) so she could find the crew and pass on the thanks. Those guys get a lot of s**t when the power goes out, but not much thanks when they restore it under appalling circumstances.
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Sunday December 25 2022, @01:58PM (3 children)
I have made a pot of coffee, and carried it out to the crew working near my home. "Hey, how are you guys? Cold out here, ain't it? How 'bout a cup of hot coffee? You guys are doing a helluva job!" If you're REALLY thankful, you might carry along some cinnamon rolls or some such, but hot coffee is always appreciated.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 25 2022, @08:58PM (2 children)
I like the hot coffee idea, but in this case I have no clue where the repair was made. In the past I've been friendly to power crews I pass on the road (in better weather).
Our street is two-three feet deep in drifted snow, hasn't been plowed since the blizzard started on Friday morning. My guess is the power failure was along a nearby large street that was kept plowed.
Actually, we had two outages -- Friday for 11 hours and Saturday (yesterday, Christmas Eve) for 8 hours. Both under terrible weather, 10F, 30-50 mph winds. Saturday was odd, the line voltage was about 30VAC -- as measured by a cheap meter and confirmed by some dimmable LED bulbs making dim light. There was also the clicking as the fridge kept trying to start, but we unplugged that.
Texting with a neighbor, he called it a "brownout", but I thought that term was used when the voltage was down something like 10% from nominal--high enough so motors would start, but then overheat under load?
(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday December 26 2022, @09:56AM (1 child)
That's where calling customer service works. In my case it was the same thing, no idea where the repair was made so I sent the thanks via the power company support people. The fact that they got as many details as possible indicated that they'd actually try and get it to the crew rather than a generic "thankyou for your feedback".
In terms of the beige-out, does the US have MEN power systems? You can get odd things happening there when e.g. a neutral is left floating, which happened in the street here, levels of a few tens of volts were present a few houses over via some unspecified path (I only got the details second-hand from a neighbour) until they sorted the problem out. Shortly after that I fitted a power line monitor that pushes undervolt alarms to my phone.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 26 2022, @03:34PM
First I'd heard of the MEN system. Found this page which seemed similar to USA power, neutral and ground bonded at every house service point (usually by the meter). https://electricians-success-academy.com/learn/what-is-men-system [electricians-success-academy.com]
Then I read this, and I don't know how the high voltage earthing is done here:
> The low-voltage and high-voltage earth systems are kept separate in the MEN system.
Our residential power (almost all USA) is split phase -- neutral and two phases of 120VAC, one either side of neutral, all from a transformer (on a pole) that serves a handful (or a dozen) of houses. Only in industrial areas is there 3-phase distribution.
Fun detail -- in my kitchen (and I think commonly done), every other wall outlet is on the other phase. So if I want 220VAC (to run a faster European water boiling pot) in the kitchen I could make a cord with special double plug and connect between the two hots.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 25 2022, @08:58PM
Excellent idea, thanks.
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Sunday December 25 2022, @03:35AM
Pretty much the same. But, I've discovered that fresh spinach, right out of your garden, goes well in salads. So, I eat it now and then, when it's in season. None of those lawn mower clippings sold in grocery stores though.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 3, Informative) by Hartree on Saturday December 24 2022, @09:46PM
Thornapple is better known here in Central Illinois as Jimson weed. I've pulled lots of it when weeding soybean fields as a kid. It's well known to be a hallucinogen, but not very pleasant. It's a standard item on the list of toxic plants for this area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium [wikipedia.org]