Q-tips®, Strange Meat Combinations, and Porpoises in the Elbe River

I'm been very busy living life and I've had no shortage of ideas to blog about. I just haven't had time!

First, I wanted to tell you about Q-tips. Of course Q-tips are a brand of cotton swabs. According to Wikipedia:  

The term "Q-tips" is often used as a genericized trademark for cotton swabs in the USA.

I just wanted to set the record straight that it's not only in the USA. I saw a package of "Q-tips" recently when my American supply had depleted. They were no where near the level of Q-tips. Wattestäbchen are have much less cotton at the end. Although it was a very difficult transition, I've adjusted. 

Until I recently traveled and found two American Q-tips tucked away in a zipped pocked in an often unused pouch. It felt truly luxurious and only slightly wasteful.

But then I decided I wanted to tell you about some strange meat combinations that kind of baffle me. I don't eat deli meat very often, but when I do I usually head straight for the garlic salami. But recently, I discovered Putensalami. I thought, "Oh, this is female turkey/salami - this must be a healthier version of salami." 

And then I discovered Lachsschinken. I thought, "Oh, this is fish/ham - this must be a healthier version of ham and I really like salmon." 

But then I read the ingredients and there's really only "pig" listed in the ingredients, plus sugar. This made me look into the Putensalami and apparently there is also "pig" in this.

Although, I eat very little meat here, I think I might be eating even less.

photo source

And then finally, after all this "Schwein (pig)" talk, I came across an article about Schweinswale or porpoises. Apparently some have been spotted in the Elbe River! They come because they like to eat smelt they find here. However, they aren't protected, so it's up to the people to report sightings since the ship drivers don't really need to pay attention.

Here's the article in German:

http://www.hamburg.de/erlebnis-sport/3884678/wale-in-der-elbe-artikel.html 

Those are all of the random thoughts I can share for now.