Yes, that is my junk drawer in my kitchen.  Don’t look at me like that … I know you have one too.  And yes, I have tried to organize it.  Again. And. Again.  But it always just ends up like this.  Besides, how do you organize post-its, bags of keys, a zillion pens, paperclips and … is that a clown’s nose?  Based on how many times I find myself rooting around in that drawer per day, it can’t be all junk; I must actually use it, or at least some of it.  (Who is brave enough to use that chap stick that has been in there since the Bush years?)That is how I feel about this week’s newsletter.  I have been accumulating tidbits of things, useful things, to tell you, but never got around to organizing the thoughts into something more coherent than this drawer.  So, let’s just haul some of it out here on the table.
I tag these as UBIs (Useless Bits of Information) but, I always enjoy finding them.
In August, the world’s largest ‘hog hotel’ opened in Hubei, China. Up to 600,000 pigs live in the 26-story tower block, eventually producing 54,000 tons of pork per year. The site has twice as much floor space as The Shard in London. [Ye Zhanhang]
Consumer goods branding existed in the ancient city of Uruk, Mesopotamia over 5,000 years ago. ‘Temple-factories’ mass-produced, packaged and labeled goods like bread, beer, wine and woolen clothes. [David Wengrow]
A Chinese woman created over 200 fictional articles about Russian history on Chinese Wikipedia, writing millions of words of completely imagined history. It took ten years for anyone to notice. [Wu Peiyue]
How Long Can I Keep Meat Refrigerated Before Freezing It?
Meat that has been kept in the refrigerator is safe to freeze IF:
It has been kept below 40°F in the refrigerator, and
It is before the “use by” or “freeze by” date on the packaging
If the product doesn’t have a “use by” or “freeze by” date, make sure to freeze it within 1 to 2 days for ground meat or poultry, or 3 to 4 days for steaks, chops, or roasts.
So, maybe not all of these are UBIs. Now back to that junk drawer, I know I have some AA batteries in there somewhere.