Sure! Now you invent it. (Dang it, this always happens to me)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Watching TV, and an ad for some fancy Refrigerator comes on. I idly watch it.
Wait, What? What the heck did they just say? Stop the presses!!
You can now get a fridge with an icemaker that makes round ice. Not squares or half moons. Circular balls! I want that.
Too bad, my way over priced piece o’ crap fridge is still too new to abandon.
Man oh man, I want balls o’ ice for my tea. So bad!

Hey, Santa? Can we talk?

2

First problem: watching TV.
Next problem: not buying ice-globe trays.
Third problem: gerbils.

My wife’s naturalist aunt preserved dead songbirds in her fridge freezer. But they didn’t go into ice cubes. Whew.

3

I GOTTA ask, even though I’ll never get an answer: songbird popsicles? Why?
~VOW

4

~VOW, get with it Sis. Freezing birds is for a large pot of Songbird dumplings. Delicious! (;))

5

Because it makes a great band name?

6

Popsicle is a trademark. Won’t work in the US.* But apparently it’s okay in Sweden.

  • Wasn’t there a band that had a name like a Chinese food company and had to change it? Drawing a blank here.
7

Peepsicles.

8

I think you can buy molds that will let you make spherical ice cubes one at a time. I think they’ve even got a system to allow for really clear ice.

9

Bekkers, hie thee to Amazon!

Yes, of course they have a plethora of round ice molds. But there is a particular one with a special insulated sleeve. According to the description, the sleeve allows the ice to form s-l-o-w-l-y, which keeps it clear.

About $32, so, cheaper than a new refrigerator!
~VOW

10

They come much cheaper than that:

I saw that ad too and the first thing that stuck out to me was, why in the world would anyone want/need round ice “cubes”?

11

Spherical ice cubes look cool in drinks. There’s been a fad in recent years for “artisanal” ice for use in bars. Some places have perfectly clear cubical ice, some have the spherical ice, some have ice from glaciers.

12

So, artisanal bars are responsible for the reduction in glaciers? I KNEW IT!

13

You’re not confusing your Swedes and thinking of ABBA are you?

j

14

That’s just the silicone mold. The Amazon $32 jobbie includes an insulated sleeve which causes the ice to freeze s-l-o-w-l-y, thus creating the clear “cube.”
~VOW

15

It’s the meticulous chiseling of glacier blocks to create spheres that causes the worst of reduction. The shavings just melt and drain away.
~VOW

16

No.

17

I always wondered why ice in the fountain drink machines was always clear, while those in any fridge ice-maker I’ve ever had are cloudy/opaque. The clear ice always seems to make a better drink.

So what’s the secret? Make it slowly?

18

I have seen a couple of shows about those big ice “factories,” you know, the ones who make bagged ice. Their solution to clear ice is absolutely pure water, and freezing it quickly.

Apparently the slow method is feasible for home use, unless you build a water purification plant in your garage.
~VOW

19

Artisanal. That’s the word I couldn’t remember.
I have an under counter icemaker. The one item Mr.Wrekker insisted in when we bought appliances. It makes clear squares that are sometimes hollow. They do make good ice teas. But they melt faster that the fridge ice makers halfmoon cloudy ice cubes.
I WANT round ice!!

20

It’s not just the coolness factor. Actually, it is, in that a sphere has minimal surface area per volume, so it will melt more slowly than any other shape, so it will keep your drink cold, but undiluted, more than any other shape. Similar reason for the huge cubes where you only put one per glass - keep the drink cold, but doesn’t dilute it as quickly.