A few things to get used to in Nebraska

Now that I’m starting to get settled, at least a little bit, in Lincoln, I’ve started to notice a few idiosyncrasies about my new town.

First, very few places here have Coke Zero on the fountain. Needless to say, this is disappointing. I was used to walking into a Maverik store or one of the Conoco stations in St. George and filling up with a Coke Zero to give myself a caffeine jolt in the morning. Since I don’t drink coffee, it wasn’t a big deal for me to stop by Swig (the original store at 1000 East and Tabernacle) and buy a Coke Zero on the way to work.

I was starting to lose hope here in Lincoln, but I finally found a Kwik Stop on Cornhusker Highway near 27^th Street on my way to work. I stopped in thinking a Diet Coke would taste pretty good after not sleeping all that well the night before. Much to my surprise, when I looked at the fountains (no bottles or cans for this guy, not in the morning anyway), I saw that beautiful black background with Coke Zero in white type!

And the Kwik Stop has a rewards program that looks a lot like the one I was taking part in at Maverik.

Ahhh …

The other idiosyncrasies come related to roads. Apparently, Nebraskans aren’t to be trusted to drive fast or turn left. I guess that’s why there are no NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers from this state.

I got used to Utah’s 80 mph speed limits on interstates. In Nebraska, the top speed is 75 mph. And state highways are only 65 mph despite being divided and in fairly good condition. In some areas, authorities have placed speed limit signs with flashing lights if you’re going even 1 mph over the limit.

I understand safety. But in a state with so many wide open spaces, slower speed limits like these seem a little outdated.

About that problem with left turns, the issue really is just about every non-residential street block in town has a median. I’m not sure how much money taxpayers spent to put those things in place, but it’s a bundle of cash. Seriously, I bet I’ve made more U-turns here in a month than I did in the previous six months in Utah – and remember I worked on St. George Boulevard, with a median all the way down its length.

I’m sure I’ll get the hang of things, and some of these issues that seem new to me now will fade into the realm of the usual in short order.

I can’t wait for the weather to warm up so I can start exploring the downtown and some of the parks around here. I also want to walk the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus, but I have to wait until it warms up. I don’t think the Cornhuskers would appreciate me walking their campus wearing a jacket with a great big Jayhawk on the back!