The Ice Cream Trip

If you have never seen Shark Tank, on television, you are missing some interesting business information about small-wanna-be-big businesses. Each week, people appear before four venture capitalists looking for either funding and/or mentoring. If some or all of the venture capitalists like the look of the business or the sound of the people presenting the business, they commit themselves to funding and/or  their expertise.

In this week’s episode, a man and woman asked for funding for a business they started called Sub-Zero Ice Cream. This looked intriguing. A business friend and I were watching the episode, and I liked the concept. I asked her if any of the 18 shops were in Washington.

Yes, indeed, there was one in Federal Way, 40 miles down the road.

So, on a Friday afternoon, with all the other traffic leaving Seattle at 2:30, we drove to Federal Way to check it out.

Of course there was traffic.

Of course there were cranky people in their cars.

But we persevered, finally finding the shop in a strip mall, with a big sign…Sub Zero Ice Cream.

It turned out to be worth the trip. We learned about how injecting LIQUID NITROGEN  (think flash freeze) into cream can produce ice cream in about 30 seconds. First there is the bowl of cream; lactose or lactose free, or yogurt. Then add flavor and mix-ins. There are about 40 choices. Then it’s how hard you want the ice cream; soft serve, medium or hard serve. Next comes the big swoosh of the liquid nitrogen. Think lots of dry ice with sound.

Voila! Quite favorable ice cream. Mine was pistachio, my friend had chocolate peanut butter.

Hers was good as well.

But here’s the point; the trip was fun. It was novel. It was spontaneous. My brain liked it. I am keeping Alzheimer’s at bay by adding novelty and spontaneity into my life. I am living a more meaningful life by being silly from time to time. And, doing something enjoyable produces dopamine, which makes me feel better, and keeps Parkinson’s at bay.

All in all, I am living a better life because of an ice cream trip.

This is Aging Intelligently.