Jersey's in da house!

Guess everyone has heard by now that Ben Bernanke was tapped by President Bush to replace Alan Greenspan as chair of the Federal Reserve. He was our neighbor! My sister and I used to ride the bus with his son Joel. From the NYTimes:

Mr. Bernanke, 51, is more like a "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" than the political figure that Mr. Greenspan already was when he became Fed chairman in 1987. Appointed a Fed governor in August 2002, Mr. Bernanke from the start considered his term in Washington as a time-out from academia.

But Washington grew on him. His friend, Gene M. Grossman, another Princeton economist, said that Mr. Bernanke "thought it would be informative and interesting to actually work on policy."

"And then he found he was enjoying it and he was good at it," he said.

Hooked as he was, Mr. Bernanke nevertheless bridled at Washington's customs, including its dress code. "The biggest downside of my current job is that I have to wear a suit to work," he told fellow economists in a speech last January. He likes tan socks and was once chided by President Bush for wearing them with a dark suit. His puckish response was to buy a dozen tan socks and distribute them at the next White House gathering.

Less than three years into the Fed job, Mr. Bernanke's name went to the top of the list of candidates for the chairmanship of the Council of Economic Advisers. By then he had sold his home for $630,000 in Montgomery Township, N.J., where he had served for a while as president of the board of education (I remember seeing him at the school board meetings & at our high school graduation), and purchased a house in Washington, paying $839,000 for it.

In another show of Jersey pride, this was sent to me by someone in my vanpool.

New Regulations in the New Jersey Registry of Motor Vehicle's 2005 Handbook:

1. Turn signals will give away your next move. A confident New Jersey driver avoids using them.

2. Under no circumstance should you maintain a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, because the space will be filled in by someone else, putting you in an even more dangerous situation.

3. The faster you drive through a red light, the less chance you have of getting hit.

4. WARNING! Never come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it and it will result in your being rear-ended.

5. Never get in the way of an older car that needs extensive bodywork, especially with PA, NY or Del plates. With no insurance, the other operator probably has nothing to lose.

6. Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving a vigorous foot massage as the brake pedal violently pulsates. For those of you without ABS, it's a chance to strengthen your leg muscles.

7. Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right. It's a good way to prepare other drivers entering the highway.

8. Speed limits are arbitrary figures, given only as a suggestion and are not enforceable in New Jersey during rush hour.

9. Just because you're in the left lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn't mean that a New York driver flashing his high beams behind you can go faster in your spot.

10. Always brake and rubberneck when you see an accident or even someone changing a tire. This is seen as a sign of respect for the victim.

11. Learn to swerve abruptly without signaling. New Jersey is the home of high-speed slalom-driving thanks to the Department of Public Works, which puts potholes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them alert.

12. It is the tradition in New Jersey to honk your horn at cars in front of you that do not move three milliseconds after the light turns green.

13. To avoid injury in the event of a collision or rollover, it is important you exit your vehicle through the windshield right away. Wearing your seat-belt will only impede your hi-velocity escape from danger.

14. Remember that the goal of every New Jersey driver is to get ahead of the pack by whatever means necessary.

15. In New Jersey, 'flipping the bird' is considered a polite salute. This gesture should always be returned.

Thank You,
The New Jersey Registrar of Motor Vehicles