Pokémon Patrolman

Tonight is my first night on Pokémon Patrol, I'm here because one of the guys in my department had a big conference for his day job, and the two other guys in the department were needed for regular shift coverage. It's a pretty cushy gig, and a rare opportunity for overtime. It also took me to the site where I work the least, so it was great to see people I haven't seen since the big all-staff meeting in the Spring. Like all of our worksites, this is a very pretty area of the world. I don't have any funny feline co-workers here, but there are two golf carts on which I can zip around... I really shouldn't talk about how fun this particular job is, though I'll be the first person to admit that the job is very cushy, except when it's not, even to my bosses.

Right now, the sun is going down, and there is an aerial shift change going on- the birds are retiring for the night, while the bats are heading out on their insect-abatement assignments. I've long had a fondness for bats, and I enjoy their aerobatics. This site also has a lot of deer- pretty, shy ones unlike the bolder deer of other sites. I chalk their shyness up to a greater coyote presence in this area.

All told, I can't complain about Pokémon Patrol, I haven't even had any Pokémongers show up- maybe the 'Site Closed' sign and the presence of a parked car is inspiring them to turn away. The only people that I've had interactions with so far were an exterminator who was responding to a call about a large hornets nest onsite (I should have told my boss that I could deal with it- knocking down hornets nests after dark, when the insects cannot function, is one of my specialties), a contractor who had done work for us in the past who was just driving through the vicinity with a friend (I had a nice conversation with the guy, and told him to call our main office to ascertain whether there was any need for his services), and a woman who was asking for directions, but didn't want to drive on any of the main roads to get to her destination...

"I don't live around here, but I would suggest you take the *REDACTED* parkway."
"I don't want to drive on the parkway."
"Then you can take Route *Redacted*."
"I don't want to take Route *Redacted*"
"Then you can take Route *Redacted-B*."
"I don't want to take Route *Redacted-B*."
"Then I can't help you, there aren't any alternatives that I know."
"I'll take Route *Redacted*."

I think I would have preferred a Pokémonger. A 'squirtle' is less elusive than a mystical highway that this woman would have wanted to drive.

Now that the sun has gone down, things should be real quiet. It's a Monday night, the site is pretty remote, and I think that the 'navigation' system of the game is a bit screwed up now, so people have a harder time locating their Pokémon sites. I haven't received word of the site being removed from the system, so the 'patrol' is going on until the end of the week, when we will re-assess the need. It's not a bad gig, and at this point in time, everyone in the department has gotten overtime.

I'm not complaining, things are pretty sweet.