Monday, June 23, 2008

Frozen Frustration/ More MIllion Dollar Ideas

As readers of this blog will note, there are countless things that annoy me about living here. Normally I am nice enough to try and balance them out with kind comments, and I usually only mention the trivial things that bug me instead of the big glaring things like inane bureaucracy and how rude people can be here. So in light of focusing on one big glaring thing that has bugging me I am gonna focus on something trivial that seems to be growing in importance as the temperatures creep up....ICE



Is it true? Can I really NOT buy a big ol' bag of ice in this country? Just some big cumbersome thing to shove in the freezer and throw blocks into my blender to make refreshing drinks all summer long? Is that unavailable? Really? REALLY?



I mean I am willing to tolerate the lack air conditioning in the houses thing but no ice? What gives? This whole place is full of ice and snow all winter, are we all so afflicted that we cannot bare the sight of it once the winter is over? Come on! A girl can't live on low-grade pivo alone! Gimme a break. Gimme some ice.

14 comments:

BlackGirl said...

So where are the two in the picture from. Bet they cost ya too.

Camille Acey said...

All images from FLICKR :(

Rachel said...

i feel your pain. my freezer is so small i could not fit most of my book inside it.

Felicity said...

Don't even mention the word, ice. My freezer doesn't seem to make any!

lili said...

i know the situation is probably not funny to you, but you made me laugh :)
when i was in the states i HATED airconditioning EVERYWHERE and that they put ICE into EVERYTHING i drank!!! i was probably the only girl on the block ordering specifically NO ICE and NONCARBONATED drinks.
it's just a matter of habits, i guess.
:)

Camille Acey said...

@rachel - we don't even have a freezer upstairs in our flat, we have to beg to put our few freezables in the downstairs freezer!
@felicity - at least you have a somewhat working freezer. it's a start
@lili - it IS funny, but sad and funny at the same time.

Anthrophile said...

Wait -- you can't make ice in your fridge?

My Yankee behind has never bought a bag of ice in my LIFE, but I've always had fridge backup, at least in countries where it got hot!

*sends hugs and sympathy*

@lili -- I like ice (lukewarm milk in France made me weep) but you're COMPLETELY right about the cold air. I think they overdo it, at least in NYC. JUST because it's the first day of summer chronologically doesn't automatically mean it's hot outside! And we don't need to be frozen, just brought down to a reasonable temperature. I was once on a bus in summer where the driver had the AC on full blast -- even though there had been a flash thunderstorm that took us down to around 55F/12C degrees -- and every rider was soaking wet. We raised a fuss.

lili said...

@antrophile: i don't like milk, but in general any drink , except beer, is ok lukewarm (for me). i'm strange comparing to most people, i guess.
and i remember the subway in NYC, sometimes i was sure they were trying to kill us by freezing us!

AmandaPants said...

so i guess theres a small business opportunity for you...

Anonymous said...

For americans in Slovenija?
Coz I can't imagine slovenes bying ice.
We make it in our freezers.

Lenoxave said...

I'm sitting here snickering over this one. I'm sorry for you because isn't it the little stuff that makes you nuts? Who'd have thought about ice until you see that you need it?

Great post.

Anonymous said...

I'm lucky because I have 2 fridges with freezer compartments and a freezer, so ice - even in the longest hot spell - is no problem. But with very few (and relatively expensive) exceptions, there are none of those huge ice machine thingies you find outside almost every 7-11/wawa in the States.

You do realize, too, that many Europeans consider drinking cold (i.e. icy) drinks as hazardous to your health as - *gasp* - sitting in a draft, don't you?!?!??!

Anonymous said...

You could have some luck in your friendly local bar... I don't think they freeze the ice ad-hoc.

Myself I'm in the quest for something even more alien... A5-format paper... 10 shops and counting. So I'm still cutting A4's in half... Good luck !

Ales said...

Heh, well I am not used to buying ice in the shop, but it would be a hell of a lot better if we could do it! Sometimes 10 icecubes every few hours is not enough, and the freezer always too full to put more bags inside.