Around Town

Central Connecticut State University begins classes today with my earliest opening one at 9:00 AM sharp. There’s another class at 5:15 today but in the meantime I’ll be watching Wrestlemania at Nick Fusari’s house until that begins.

After class, I went to three different Target stores of Newington, Meriden, and New Britain looking for clearenced goods from their “Independent Studies” collection I’ve been ogling since it kicked off this recent Summer. I was looking for this particular “red globe” lamp, now discounted 30% this week, that seems to have fallen off the face of the earth from the other array of lamps currently available at the store until the end of this week. Appearently, my plan to snatch it on the first day of the sale failed… Here's a sampling of some of the stuff that came from the line.

After a few months of waiting for that marvelous red sticker, this groovy clock and striped blanket can now join the ranks with my equally retro The Pie Plate/Caldor Rainbow-inspired bedspread.

It would seem my local Target of New Britain is receiving a brownish paint job in some attempt to refurbish the store from it’s tan/red line look as seen in the picture. The guy also had this way cool spray paint blaster I tried not to let him see me onlook with glee. Upon leaving the New Britain store, I noticed Route 71 heading into New Britain from West Hartford (approximately at the light going to Target slash Brittany Farms) closed by a lone police car with visible disaster behind it in the form of a tow truck and few dozen people.

Lunch down in Bristol meant seeing yet another out-of-place Bradlees shopping cart trying to find a new life within a sea of Price Chopper carts.

The glorious brown and wooden Bristol Commons clock tower which has seen a Caldor, Kmart, and now belongs to plaza anchor Price Chopper.

Later on that day...

I knew it wouldn’t be a waste of time when Nick mentioned he needed to make an exchange at the Farmington Ave. (New Britain) Wal-Mart, formerly the Caldor I practically grew up in. Within seconds of being in the plaza, a lone Caldor shopping cart was sighted in the Wal-Mart cart coral. At the least, there shows a sign of life under the Wal-Mart of a Caldor that once was. Special thanks to the nearby IGA Supermarket who has adopted a few, albeit scratched-out, 1990's-style black/orange Caldor carts, one just wanted to return home…