Iselin, New Jersey

My wife lived in New Jersey (Bergen County) for 6 years. I'll try to remember to shoot the question her way...

oh sure p-dog...find out about new jersey, but don't worry about my poor feral cat with the URI.

Aaaaack.

I grant that pdawg may be engaged, re your feral cat, chai, but give the guy a break. He will be faced with these questions as he moves an inch in the future. Give the man room for some a2k play without having to be mr. wise/24 hours.

I tried to reach him yesterday, but didn't get through. Now I've sent him an e-mail. I'm sure we'll talk sometime soon.


I'm looking to rent. I expect to see housing prices fall much farther on the Northern East Coast, and if I'm right buying would be a lousy investment.

About the car -- I'm not ideologically married to not owning a car; it's just a preference of mine. I'll decide this when I've seen the area for real. (The first day of my new contract is December 15th, and I plan to fly over around December 1st.) For now, my search concentrates on stops of the New Jersey transit trains along the North-Eastern Corridor. As I said, the most attractive looking places right now seem to be New Brunswick/Highland Park and Metuchen. (Metuchen has the extra plus of being within biking distance from work.) I haven't yet developed an opinion about Edison, Linden, and Elizabeth.

Had nothing to add to CowDoc's cautions. I can tell you that we know that some cats who get FURDC (feline upper respiratory tract disease, nomenclature borrowed from the bovine folks, who see a similar syndrome) have troubles with chronic rhinitis (inflammation of the nasal passages) down the road, and there's nothing to be done about it. Could be involvement at the first infection of Bordatella bronchiseptica, the pimary recognized agent of kennel cough in dogs and a close relative of a bug that causes atrophy of the bones of the nasal sinus in pigs. Also, as CowDoc noted, infection with feline herpesvirus can lead to reappearance of clinical signs during stressful times (just like lip sores in people with herpes) and there's not a whole lot you can do about it. Some folks think that using L-lysine in the face of a herpes outbreak can help reduce shedding of virus and may help with clinical signs, but there's no solid evidence to support it.

I do worry about indiscriminate use of antibiotics vis-a-vis the veterinary community's putative role in induction of antibiotic resistance, but I've never heard of erythromycin specifically inducing resistance. (By the way, erythromycin is notorious for causing GI upset and diarrhea in pretty much everything but cows.) (Also, by the way, metronidazole can rarely cause central nervous system toxicity, so look out for your feral cat looking neurologic.

See? Nothing to add, just pessimism. And maybe L-lysine, which you can get at a supplement store. 250-500 mg -- probably the low end of that range, given his size, but it's a very safe supp and he should be all right with it. Not sure how it tastes, they gave up on the stuff at the shelter before I started working with the URI cats there.

Careful on that bike, Thomas. NJ drivers aren't used to seeing them, especially on weekdays.

The wife had nothing to offer re: housing in your area. She lived further out and then moved to the city, with no time spent in between. She has told about Metuchen, though -- funny name.

If they hit me, I'll sue the hell out of them. If they kill me, my payday on damage payments will be even bigger. It's all part of my evil master plan.


Thanks for asking her! What did she tell you about Metuchen? (Today I talked with a colleague who used to live there -- he says the name is Native American, and it's pronounced Me-touch-en.)

Point of interest...

There are many place with native american names in NJ.

There were a number of tribes who lived there, mostly though, the Lenni-Lenape, part of the Algonquins.

When I was a little girl, the movie theater (in Masasquan, an indian name) was called the Algonquin.

Some of the names off the top of my head...

Wanamassa, Watchung, Manalapan, Hoboken & Hakensack, Secaucus, Matawan.....there's lots more.

For the record, two bicyclists were hit and killed in the Month of October in Portland, a city that encourages and enables bicycling. One was hit by a cement mixer and the other by a garbage truck. So I'm not sure that motorists being aware of people on bicycles always helps.

I agree with you Thomas, anywhere you can ride a bike to work is a plus. Good for the environment and good for the cyclist's health. Just do look out for big big trucks and drivers who are distracted, angry, talking on their cell phones, looking for a radio station or yelling at their children.

I'm so happy you're going to be living in New Jersey.

So am I, but I'll miss you and Bernie being in New York. Frank does, too. (I just spoke to him.)

What did Frank have to say about where a good place to live would be....and about commuting?

I've been thinking about this, and emailed my friend who's done the NJ to NJ commute, NJ to NYC, and NYC with NJ on the weekend thing at various times in his life.

When he replies, I'll cut and paste his answer...

so...Frank.....?

Frank's main message was that he'll put me in touch with a realtor he knows later this month. He suggested that I concentrate on communities near Iselin, confirmed that Metuchen is nice, and said that bicycling from there to work would be realistic.

They've got books in Metuchen.

That's nice to know. I've already got one, but you never know when you'll need a substitute.

I know: you mention that any second response (Massmansbuid or similar the author's name)

In December/January? I'm impressed!

Uh ... come to think of it, he didn't specifically say "in December/January". I wonder why.

OK, here's the direct cut and paste of Mr. New Jerseys response....

Now onto the Iselin conundrum.



A) Unless you live in Hoboken and work in NYC, you need a car if you live in NJ…PERIOD.

B) I do not know much about Iselin, but it is not very suburban and rather congested with none of the advantages of urban living and all of the disadvantages of suburbia…ie. nothing is within walking distance, and tad dah, you need a car to get to the plethora of look alike mediocre strip malls.

C) I would say that your advice to get a short term rental close to Iselin, and then get a feel for the area and where he might want to settle makes the most sense. Everyones taste in living in vastly different as you know.

D) Iselin is actually fairly commutable from Monmouth Cty, and although I am not trying to sound like a PSA for the Jersey shore, it is one of the more civilized parts of the state to live in with the exception of perhaps Princeton or out west in Warren Cty (Mendham, Basking Ridge, Bedminster).

Also, he said Dag (didn't use her name) must have been "charged up on wodka as she tooled around New Jersey on a bike"


back to me....yes, I may be a lazy American...but, I have no desire to bike around in the ice, slush and sliding cars in the wintertime.

You'd be covered with rock salt from the roads, get caught in freezing rain, and get pneumonia.

Watching out for 18 wheelers while careening on a piece of metal is not my idea of how to get around in 25 degree weather, fighting a biting wind.

Really, I'm not trying to be negative, I am being realistic.

I suppose I don't want to live in such a way that I have to figure out How I'm going to get to where I Need to go....and live in a way that I can go wherever I Want to go without making it a hiking trip or health hazard.

http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/commuter/bike/commuting.shtm

Don't worry too much about the 18-wheelers, they've got bigger fish to fry - literally. If you're hit, odds are it'll be by a commuter bus or car. Also, if you're going to be hit, try to have it happen in the Bronx, that's where the money is. New Jersey, not so much.

hmmm. it's vodka and no, i was not charged up on it. i bike all year round, including 18 degree weather and less, so nothing new there. sounds like Thomas is used to the same. When it gets far too cold, I take a bus...but that is not often.
There were no 18 wheelers in Maplewood. it's a quiet residential area. it's perfectly easy to bike oneself to the train and take that into the city. or to a deli or cafe. they were walking distance too, but it's faster by bike. I don't know Iselin, which might be an entirely different story, but I do know Maplewood and Oranges rather well. We used to bike out into the countryside straight out of Maplewood, and it doesn't take long at all. Some 15-20 minutes away are lakes and parks that are fun to bike around. I do the same in Boston, but certainly most people do not. Thomas just sounds like the type who might enjoy it.