Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with ice

You're as cold as ice

zerobyproxy — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:17:19 -0800

Is it cheaper to buy or make 10 pounds of ice cubes? Here are the factors: I am in Chicago, fresh water is cheap, electricity not as cheap, I have a standard refrigerator. I started thinking about the value of my time in making the (ever depleted) ice bin.

Thoughts?

Help me remember this movie...

smoothvirus — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:45:54 -0800

I'm trying to remember what the title of this movie was. I think it was made in the 1960's or 1970's in the U.S. I remember watching it on TV on the Sunday Matinee show in the 1980's. The plot involved this millionaire who wanted to attack the Soviet Union, he had a small force which was to attack Russia by driving trucks across the polar ice cap. All I can remember was that in the end of the film his plan is thwarted by the Soviets, who send planes to bomb the ice, and the trucks sink to the bottom of the ocean. Any ideas?

Ice Ice Baby.

mrhaydel — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 07:08:05 -0800

Where can I find some good, quality shaved ice in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area? As summer is more or less already here, I've come to the notion that the only summer treat that will satisfy me is shaved ice.

And I'm not talking about that piddly "snow cone" (read: crushed ice) stuff like you'd get outside of a Home Depot for free (if I wanted that I could buy the $30 machine from Walmart). No, I mean shaved ice so smooth it's like fresh fallen snow drenched in delectable syrupy goodness.

I suppose my standards are pretty high, being weaned on Williams Plum St Sno Balls in New Orleans. However, it seems tough to really find a choice shaved ice stand because they typically don't advertise, and are often in places one wouldn't normally look.

So, do any of the Metroplex MeFites have any suggestions as to where I can go to make it through the summer?

There's a freeze up comin' (maybe)

activitystory — Mon, 19 May 2008 11:29:45 -0800

Post-marathon advice: I'm running my second marathon this weekend; I was very sore after my first and am convinced that an ice bath is probably my best bet post-race to combat soreness. Problem is, I'm more scared about the bath than the race. Does any one have any practical insights into how to make the ice bath a positive experience? Advice on how not to make a big mess, when/how much ice, what it takes to get in and out of the bath would be appreciated. I'd also love to hear some "my first ice bath" stories, even if they end in heartbreak.

Mmm, garlic-flavored mojito...

arianell — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:03:51 -0800

How can I improve the taste of the ice cubes in my freezer? I do a lot of my cooking in bulk, making enough food for several meals and then freezing whatever I don't eat immediately. Right now I have a lot of heavily-seasoned savory foods stored in the freezer, and their scent is permeating my ice cubes and giving the ice a really unpleasant aftertaste. As much as I love french onion soup, I'd rather not taste it in my strawberry lemonade.

All of my frozen foods are pretty well wrapped/insulated , I think - the solid foods are wrapped in aluminum foil and then sealed in plastic freezer bags, and the soups/stews are in small plastic Tupperware-like containers within freezer bags of their own.

So, is there any way to keep the flavors of my frozen food out of my ice completely as the summer months approach?

What's this ANSI artist doing now?

apetpsychic — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:39:26 -0800

I've been watching BBS: The Documentary and just finished the "scene" episode. I was struck in particular by Metalhead / Shaggy from iCE. He seemed much, much cooler (my standards, obviously. I also liked Jed from ACiD) than anyone else interviewed. I was kind of into ansi art and demo stuff in high school and college (though not as a participant) and it was refreshing to hear someone kind of deflate the hubris surrounding it. I'd like to see what he's up to now, if anything, but google is failing me. Current work. Websites. Even just his real name.

Worst winter ever. Deadliest winter ever?

Shepherd — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 15:47:56 -0800

Ice has destroyed my oil furnace chimney. Will it kill me? Well, this record-breaking Bad Canadian Winter has killed my chimney. I was up there on a ladder yesterday, trying to get a look at the damage, but ice sliding off the roof clipped my right leg really badly -- a bruise running from the back of my right ankle to the back of my right knee -- and the ice, piled up behind the chimney, is pushing it with enough force that I can't push it back at all. I can't get on the roof, first because it's physically nigh-impossible, secondly because if the ice slips out from under me I'm dead. It's a long way down.

So the question I have right now is: the oil furnace is my sole source of heat for the upper floor of the house. The chimney runs up the outside of the house, so leakage isn't a huge concern (it'll run through the overhang, or at least I hope)... but is running oil heat going to kill me? I don't want to die of carbon monoxide poisoning, but I don't want to freeze to death, either.

Fortunately, the lower floor -- where the water intake is -- is on electric heat, so there's no danger of the place overheating. I have a carbon monoxide monitor and the house set on 10 degrees Celsius, so I'm wearing a lot of sweaters and a toque and praying for warmer weather.

It's gonna be freezing again tonight, Monday, and Tuesday. Warm up a bit Wednesday and Thursday, and then right back down into hell for another week or more.

I'm stymied. I'm going to call the roofing people to see if they can give me some advice tomorrow, but more opinions are always welcome. It's really bloody hard to get back there, so I can't scaffold my way up... I'm a bit freaked out by all this.

Picture here.

No ice in Ottawa?

kamelhoecker — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:10:11 -0800

I'm going to Ottawa tomorrow, and I just found out that the Rideau Canal is officially closed for the season. What? It's -9C in Ottawa and is staying below zero for the next few days. So, what are my chances of getting some ice skating in? I also saw maintenance dudes driving their pickup on the ice today on the canal webcam, so this seems to be more of a policy issue than a safety one. I'd love to know if it's possible to skate on parts of the canal when it's "officially" closed or if there are any other ponds or great places for ice skating in the Ottawa area.

I don't believe you're leaving cause me and Charles Manson like the same ice cream

samsarah — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 19:26:02 -0800

What was/is Charles Manson's favorite ice cream? The lyrics of the Tori Amos song "Tear in Your Hand" suggest that this is somewhat common knowledge, yet google has failed me. What is Charles Manson's favorite ice cream flavor?

Snow Chunk Nomenclature

Tube — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 14:36:49 -0800

What do you call those chunks of snow that accumulate on automobile fenders behind the wheels? I wonder if there are regional or colloquial names for these chunks. I can't remember that aspect of my Montana childhood clearly enough to recall if this phenomenon had a name, slang or otherwise.

Can't stop thinking about fridges and winter...

advicepig — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:07:11 -0800

I can't stop thinking about fridges and winter. Would it save much energy to freeze gallon containers of water outdoors and put those in the fridge now and then? It's Minnesota winter over here and I want to make the most of it ;)

A walk on the wild side

grrarrgh00 — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 08:30:50 -0800

How do I know if my frozen lake is solid enough to walk on? I'd love to watch tonight's lunar eclipse out on Lake Calhoun tonight. It being the middle of February, I'm pretty sure the ice is OK; except for a warm spell last weekend, it's been well below the average temperature for most of the last two weeks. But is there a rule of thumb I could go by, or (even better) an official ice status tracker for MN lakes I could refer to?

Crystal formation is an increase in entropy?

XMLicious — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:51:52 -0800

ScienceFilter: Creationists, crystals, and thermodynamics. A common red herring argument that I've encountered as advanced by Creationists is that by Newton's Second Law of Thermodynamics evolution should not be possible. (According to Wikipedia that argument was originated by a biochemist named Duane Gish, incidentally.) My understanding is that among other things, one reason why this is an erroneous argument is that while it might apply to a closed system the environment on Earth is constantly being pumped full of heat via sunlight and other solar radiation.

But never mind that, that's just the context. I was thinking about it and it occurred to me that in terms of orderliness increasing, the formation of ice crystals in freezing-temperature water or quartz crystals in liquid hot magma that has cooled to the correct temperature both seem to represent an increase in orderliness of the matter in question.

Something I've heard is that formation of crystals isn't strictly due to loss of heat. Supposedly you can have a quantity of water at a static temperature around freezing and if it's turbulent it will remain liquid but when it becomes still the ice crystals will begin to form. (Although hmm, maybe loss of turbulence would be a loss of heat.)

So is an ice crystal actually a higher entropy state than the equivalent amorphous mass of water?

Water expands when it freezes. I don't know why, van der Waals bonds or something, right? But other substances become more dense when they change state to a solid, so a given mass would lose volume. Isn't this kind of like all the air molecules in a room leaping into one corner of it - just the example that's presented as absurd in explanations of statistical mechanics?

I know that orderliness isn't the same thing as heat and isn't really the opposite of entropy. I was hoping that anyone who feels they've got a thorough understanding of thermodynamics could expound on what a thermodynamic analysis of the formation of crystals would be. And anything you can say about the relationship of order to entropy and thermodynamics would be interesting too.

In an eerie coincidence there was this recent post about the second law. The crystals must be telling me things.

Avoid frozen death

crapples — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 13:44:08 -0800

I grew up in the California Central Valley - so I know nothing about ice. Now I'm in the Midwest. My question is: How do I know when it's safe to walk on a frozen river or lake? I would like my margin of error to be small enough that I avoid being sucked into an under-ice river and dying while I claw frantically at an unrelenting ceiling of ice.

Also - are the rules different for rivers and lakes?

Winter tires in Denver: required or just recommended?

FlamingBore — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:12:10 -0800

Do I really need winter tires in Denver? I lived in Chicago for 30 years and never bought winter tires. Granted, I was young and foolish for many of those years, but still. Now I live in Denver. I have nearly 48k miles on the performance tires of my 2004 Honda Civic so I need to get new tires anyway, but I'm concerned about the winter driving here. In Chicago everything was salted within an inch of it's life the minute the snow started falling. That doesn't seem to happen here. I've yet to see a city plow or salt truck or any of the like.

Tell me about winter tires and whether it's just a good idea or a necessity. Is it likely I'd be able to get through the winter with just a new set of tires? And should I get winter tires - what happens in the spring? I store them until I need them again? Does the garage/shop swap 'em out and hand the lot of them to me?

Other information: I work about seven miles from where I live. I have one road trip planned from Denver to Albuquerque at the end of this month. I need to get back and forth to DIA on average of 4 or more times each month. Thanks!

Where can I buy good iceskates in Chicago?

moooshy — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 19:17:20 -0800

Can anyone recommend a place in the Chicago area to purchase ice skates? And do you know if I should go for figure or hockey if I'm planning to use them for exercise purposes? I plan on skating 5-6 nights a week as my aerobic workout, and would like to purchase my own pair of skates. Right now, I rent the skates -- but that's expensive, gross, and they're not very sharp.

Are there any benefits to getting hockey vs. figure? I'm a girl with size 7 very wide feet, if that matters.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Where can I buy ice skates for my big feet?

gaelenh — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 17:36:58 -0800

Where can I buy large size ice hockey skates? I want to own a pair of ice skates so that I don't have to try to squeeze my foot into whatever beaten up pair the rink has for rental (usually size 13, sometimes 14). I wear a size 15/16 shoe. I think this correlates to a size 14 ice hockey skate.

I haven't had luck finding any online or in store (NYC). Any suggestions?

Fountain pens and climate change, two great tastes that go well together

b1tr0t — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:28:02 -0800

Why is Mont Blanc's height so stable? The pen company has been marking 4810 on their nibs since at least the 1930s. Just this year, it measured 4810m tall.

Winter Ice Cream Extravaganza.

hermitosis — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:40:05 -0800

Cold-weather ice cream suggestions/recipes? I want a whole new palette of ice cream flavors that are perfect for cold weather, use seasonal fruits/ingredients, or are perfectly (or suprisingly) paired with other cold-weather foods and beverages. Bonus points for recipes that allow me to make or blend them myself.

I'm NOT really looking for the sort of seasonal gingerbread/peppermint/pumpkin flavors that the regular brands march out over the holidays. These tend to be sticky sweet and incredibly obvious. I'd prefer complexity of flavor to mere sweetness, which is where pairings might come in handy.

This question was inspired by Vosges' Naga flavor, a curry and coconut custard, which is so buttery that it alternates between sweet and salty on the tongue. I'd love to find a way to approximate it.

Inspire, challenge, and surprise me.

How to deal with automatic heater in apartment?

shivohum — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 10:45:57 -0800

My landlord in NY claims that our heater must turn on when the temperature drops. If we wanted to prevent this, a technician would have to "turn the valves off" -- a cumbersome process that risks the valves later freezing and "popping" and steam destroying our apartment. True? Is this common? And if so, how can we deal with a too-hot room, other than by opening the window?

You're as cold as ice! And hot as fire!

Happy Dave — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:00:21 -0800

We're having a Fire and Ice party - how can we, 'scuse the pun, heat it up? Hey MeFites. I have somehow found myself leading the team of people at my work charged with organising the End of Year party. We've decided to go for the pleasantly broad theme of 'Fire and Ice'.

So far, we've thought of the following elements:

* Red and white wall decorations
* Hot and cold cocktails/drinks
* Fire and Ice themed music (as people enter, not all night)
* Ice sculptures/vodka fountain
* Hot and Cold themed food (i.e. spicy stuff sizzling away in woks, and other food on blocks of ice)

After that, we're a bit stuck. So, do MeFites have any cool ideas for entertainments, costumes, music choices, drinks, food or anything else that fits in the 'Fire and Ice' theme? Bonus points for entertainment ideas, as that's the one area we're seriously berefet of ideas.

Thanks!

SF To Tahoe: ideal used auto?

soda pop — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 20:12:40 -0800

Need to get from SF to Tahoe to snowboard on a regular basis: recommendations for a relatively affordable used car to handle the snow/ice? I got addicted to snowboarding last season (despite the poor snow) and am going in on a house next season. I'm also in the market for a new (to me) car. So, logic and fairness say that I should buy my own AWD-type car so that I can go up whenever I want, without having to mooch off my friends for rides every single time.

So: recommendations? I've been perusing A4s and Jettas, but there must be others. I'm hoping not to spend more than $9000. Because of my garage, I can't look at SUVs.

Where can I get dry ice in Berkeley/Oakland area?

mikeand1 — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 00:28:23 -0800

Where can I get dry ice in Berkeley/Oakland area? Where can I get dry ice in the Berkeley/Oakland area?

thanks,
Mike

POW! POWer POWders for my Smoothies!

prophetsearcher — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:52:00 -0800

What can I add to my smoothies to get some bonus health benefits? I recently got a Magic Bullet because I looove smoothies, but I haaate overpaying for them.

Meanwhile, I'm on a health kick, and desperately eager to lose some weight in the next month. This is mainly through better portion control, smarter food decisions, and increased exercise.

Bringing it together: What powders can I buy to add to my daily smoothie? I hear and read about protein powders, vitamin powders, etc. etc., but don't know where to look for what. I just figure I have the opportunity to healthify my drinks, so I may as well.

Some things about me:
I don't eat enough veggies or healthy foods. I am about 15 lbs. heavier than I'd like to be. I'm 24. I'm more generally sedentary than active. I'm male. I'm paunchy, but want to be muscley. I'm balding too early.

Some things about my smoothies:
I usually throw in some combination of -- fresca, OJ, grape juice, ice, frozen strawberries, frozen raspberries, lemon juice, lime juice, sorbet, ice, Crystal Ice lemonade, and more ice. (But not more than two or three of the above at a time, the list is just my arsenal).

I'm intrigued by the protein powder idea. Because it seems people who drink them are ripped. But I assume there's some other steps involved. Where should I begin?

Dry Ice in car in place of a/c. A bad idea?

tonylord — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:44:09 -0800

Will using dry ice in my car as a replacement for air conditioning kill me? Or my dog? So I have no air conditioning in my car and it is bloody hot here in DC. I mean it's now 2230 and it's still 28C. Lunchtime today it was 34C, but after my car had been in the sun at lunchtime I could have sworn the steering wheel was more like 100C. I could barely touch it for the first 10 minutes.

The only cooling mechanism my car has is to open all the windows and drive quickly, as the air conditioning seems to have stopped working earlier in it's 16 year life span. Could putting a chunk of dry ice in the well of the car (ie where the passenger's feet go) cool it down sufficently?

Obviously I would need to keep the windows open, but CO2 is denser than air, right? So as long as I keep my head above the open window line, shouldn't I be ok? What about my dog, who also gets hot on long car journeys in her crate in the back (its what I would call an estate and what USians would call a wagon). How can I prevent the gas killing her?

How much would I need to use to cool the car (it's a Ford Taurus wagon)? What precautions would I need to take when buying the stuff (from Safeway I suppose: it's the only place I've ever seen it on sale).

Thanks for your help, the green.

T