I spent last Thursday and Friday in and around Montvale, New Jersey, a bucolic burg just minutes from the New York state line.
Why?
Because not only is Julie a preacher’s wife, but I am a Vice-President’s husband. She is VP of sales for Pentax Medical USA with headquarters up there in Northern New Jersey. And this past Friday was the company’s annual Christmas party. Since it is Julie’s first holiday season with Pentax, it made sense for me to make the trip, join the party, and meet her new colleagues.
Here are five thoughts from two days in NNJ:
- Northern New Jersey is nice. If you fly into Newark and survey the surrounding landscape, all the New Jersey jokes seem to make sense. It is old, congested, and distressed. Yet thirty minutes north and it’s another world: wooded, verdant, and dotted with lovely homes and neighborhoods. It’s so nice that former President Richard Nixon spent his final years in nearby Saddle River, NJ.
- Northern New Jersey is cold. Some of you know I lived in New Jersey (the central part) for seven years — four in college and three thereafter. It wasn’t long before I realized why I left. Not just the bitter cold but the howling wind. It made me realize again why so few people save up their money so they can retire in the North.
- Getting out of the office is a great way to get work done. What to do on a day when Julie was in the office and I was left alone before the party? It’s not like I was going to sit by the pool. I had brought some of my best study materials and used the time to get started on a series that will be called The Path Of Most Resistance. Relatively few distractions; relatively more concentration with a bible, pen, and paper. It’s one of my favorite ways to spend a day.
- The world is involved in medical sales. Pentax is even more full color than Good Shepherd. I met Pakistanis, Puerto Ricans, Taiwanese, and Tennesseans among others. I even met a few natives of Northern New Jersey.
- They ain’t got no Chic-Fil-A. At least none that I saw.