Ron Badberg, owner of Dean's cafe, walked up to the counter with notebook in hand.
"Two eggs please," Jesse Stein said. "Don't fry them a second after the white is cooked . . . don't turn them over . . . not too much grease . . . just a pinch of salt . . . no pepper. Well, Ron, whattya waiting for . . . hustle with the food, man."
Ron's hair curled a bit more. "The hen's name is Eleanor — is that all right?"
Keep the peace
Who planted the state tree on the capitol grounds last May? The Otoe County Bicentennial Tree Committee? The Jolly Trippers?
If you're an "outsider" then take our advice — don't touch that question with a 10-foot pole. The groups are "separate" organizations but many of the people are the same. Everett Reimers is co-chairman of the County Bicentennial committee and Ed Bottcher is the man who has arranged tours for the Trippers for many years.
There is an answer we hope will soothe the situation — irregardless of the title of the organization, the people who make up the groups deserve the "Thank You" of all of us in Otoe county.
We know you as friends and neighbors. There was no personal gain or self interest in the tree planting at Washington D.C. You did it for one reason only — to help people remember the Bicentennial from the people in Otoe county and Nebraska.
From George's files
The wife exclaimed to her husband, "I found nearly a hundred empty whiskey bottles in the basement storeroom. Where in the world did they come from?"
The red-eyed husband answered, "Why ask me? I never bought an empty whiskey bottle in my life."
It don't feel that way
Mrs. Barbara Andrastek, a registered nurse from Cypress, Calif., who accompanied Nebraska City squadsmen on a call, said some flowery things about the volunteers from Nebraska City.
They were accepted with appreciation by Chief Don Chapin and the 30 volunteers. The truth is, most of the work is tragic. The biggest reward a volunteer receives is when an injured and ailing patient grasps the squadsman's hand while being transported to the hospital and looks at him with eyes that have a message. That'll tear up any hairy chested man.
The other night was another experience. Lorene Wood, an R.N. from the state health department and one of a crew of experts working on SIDS, spoke bluntly to squadsmen about answering calls involving those infants.
The death rate is high, unpredictable. Expect the worse. Prepare for it.
The victims in sudden infant death syndrome are smiling, bubbling infants from one to six months. Last year 35 died. No reason. This year 31 have died. No reason.
Half the infants had the sniffles or a mild cough. Some time later the infant was found dead in his crib. An autopsy reveals a minor degree of inflamation of the upper respiratory tract, but no lesion sufficient to account for the death.
Often, the autopsy reveals no evidence of illness. A doctor must tell the parents the infant died and he doesn't know why — it's called SIDS.
Nurse Wood said the peak period of deaths is at three months of age, death occurs during sleeping periods, and if the parents had been there, they probably couldn't have prevented it.
Meanwhile, squadsmen have been trained in CPR to handle infants.
Those babies are not the victims of a "freakish" disease. As many as 10,000 die each year. SIDS also has been traced years back. It was frequent in the 18th and 19th centuries. In Biblical times it was referred to as "overlaying" when a mother slept with the infant and awakened to find the baby dead. She assumed she must have rolled over on him and caused his death.
If you wish more information on the subject, contact Mrs. Wood at the state health department, 1003 'O' Street, Lincoln.
New subscriber, new resident.
Mr. and Mrs. John Carley, Albuquerque, N.M., are getting the News-Press every day.
"We're going to retire and we want to live in Nebraska City," Mrs. Carley said. She is originally from Lincoln. The couple started a subscription to the News-Press and is looking for a home.
Their address is 2903 Rio Vista Crt S.W., Albuquerque, N.M. 87105.
(Hey, hey . . . Mary Bell . . . did your Road Runner go "beep beep" too much or too loud?)
Flipping a lid
Iowa motorcyclists no longer have to wear helmets. The law was repealed effective last Thursday.
Nebraska does not have a law requiring helmets.
Congress threatened to withhold federal highway and safety money from states which did not require cycle operators to wear protective head and eye gear. However, the 1976 Federal Aid Highway Act specified that federal safety programs could not require passage of such laws.
We ride a motorcycle. We wear a helmet.
Last weekend we rode the bike on I-29 to the "dead end" and on to Brownville. We saw a lot of other cyclists and all wore helmets.
On the way back we watched the cloud and accompanying rain so we stopped at Trail's End until the storm passed. (Mr. and Mrs. John Ehmke drove in the lot and we visited a few minutes and then headed for home.)
One of the biggest kicks "road" machine riders get is from the passengers in cars, particularly children. They all wave and we return the greeting.
A special report.
"Days . . . bound to each," a publication of the School of Journalism at the University, is one of the more interesting packages of Nebraska history.
The free land of Nebraska and Daniel Freeman's first claim is the story by Sue Beach of Syracuse.
A cross of gold is the story of William Jennings Bryan by Nancy Stohs, the News-Press legislative correspondent.
The stories begin with 1833 and the opening of the Overland Trail to the northwest and give a very fine and interesting report through Gov. Norbert Tiemann's administration of 1970.
Did you hear the one about the man who was bitten by a dog and some time later during a physical examination he was informed by Dr. McFadden that he had rabies?
The man's blank expression changed to an "idea" and he took out a pad and pencil and started to write.
Dr. McFadden assured him that he didn't need to write his will. "We'll pull you through."
"Oh, I know that, doc," the man said, "I'm just making up a list of people I'm going to bite."