From Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle:
There were no smells. There was no movement. Every step I took made a gravelly squeak in blue-white frost. And every squeak was echoed loudly. The season of locking was over. The Earth was locked up tight
From Technovelogy.com:
In fact, there really is a form of ice called Ice-IX. Ice-IX was discovered in 1968. It exists only under high pressure and does not have the properties of Vonnegut's ice-nine (thankfully!). Kurt Vonnegut's brother held a PhD in physical chemistry from MIT; he published papers on silver iodide and ice formation (cloud seeding). So that's one possible source for the idea.
These are just some of the fascinating bits you can find out while endlessly waiting, waiting and waiting and waiting while in hospital. Waiting to hear if you need to enter the OR. Waiting to get into surgery. Waiting for results. Waiting for final analysis. Waiting for the new meds to arrive from the pharmacy and then waiting to go home.
Yup. Looks like we MAY actually get cut loose today. I'll believe it when I'm home with two tuxedo cats clamoring for pats and treats.
