G-man,

Nice to see you post again.

When I worked for a number of restaurants I always had ice for free. Now that I'm independently wealthy , I just buy two on trips when I fish for salmon in the summer. One goes over the diet coke, the other bag stays unbroken until I get fish.

A tip when cooling in your cooler. Put the product (fish, beer, diet coke) in first, then pour the ice on top. Cold travels down with gravity, along with the melting water. You will use less ice and it will last longer.