Thirty to $65

By Lee Vander Boegh –

It finally happened, every ounce of coolness and youthful exuberance I once had has gone the way of a giant ice cream cake that said “Happy 30^th Birthday.” Goodbye rock and roll, hello Michael Bolton. Goodbye life in the fast lane, hello economy cars and blinkers. Goodbye being an idol, hello being idle.

And what better way to celebrate the death of cool than with a $65 fill up at the local gas station? If I drove a school bus, I wouldn’t be concerned, but I drive a coupe. A 16-gallon couple.  And what makes matters worse is that I’ve already logged more than 100 miles since I filled up on Saturday afternoon. At 25 miles per gallon, my birthday weekend cost me upwards of $20 in gasoline.

And most major news outlets say $4 per gallon gasoline is here to stay. And if it goes away, it’s only because the prices have topped $5.

Forget getting old, I’m getting broke.

My round trip commute to IQ’s office is about 50 miles now that we’ve moved to Boise, which means it costs me $10 per day just to make a living. And that’s assuming I don’t throw in extra miles here and there to take in any Michael Bolton concerts.

So I fill up my tank every five days. And as I watch the pump tally up dollar after dollar, I think to myself, “What could I spend $65 on if I didn’t buy gas?” Here are some of my answers:

- A barrel of bottled water,

- 73 burritos from Taco Bell’s new 89-cent menu…

I could do this all day, but I’d much rather hear from ya’ll. So this is your open invitation to become an active part of iqidaho.com. Tell me how you’d spend $65 per week by posting a comment on this post. It’ll be fun. And as a bonus, I’ll buy the person who sends in the best idea an 89-cent burrito from Taco Bell – so long as you don’t mind me moping about getting old.