Cartnoon

I have frequently been in Bristol, Connecticut, home of ESPN and Otis Elevators. The last time I was there I was abandoned by a Cop at a Movie Theater without a Pay Phone (and me without a Cell because I’m a Luddite) since I didn’t want to be dumped at a Strip Club at 3 o’clock in the morning.

To be fair he thought they had a Phone, instead I had to hike about a quarter of a mile to an all-night grocery.

You get off the exit for Rt. 132 (I’m just guessing, I know it when I see it and I’m too lazy to look it up) and head toward what the signs say is Bristol but really isn’t anything much until you hit the outskirts of Southington (and not a lot there either) with a few exceptions.

The first is ESPN on your right, a Jodrell Bank of Satellite Dishes (some impressively large) on a sloping hill with a rather ordinary office complex next to it. Want to know why the Lady Huskies are on TV all the time? That’s why.

But if you slog on a little farther, to your left is the Otis Elevator Test Facility, a 30 story obelisk of concrete blandness (without a cap mind you) that rises like an enormous middle finger, a random monument in the midst of nowhere in particular.

There are things around it, the Plant, the fast food places that cater to the employees, convenience/gas, etc. …

And a Hotel I stayed in at least 6 times for conferences of my club which was attractive because while they served the Otis crowd during the week on Friday and Saturday the rates were quite reasonable especially if you could guarantee a certain number of rooms.

Oh, did I mention I used to set up Conferences?

Yeah.