So, yesterday was all day in meetings and training. The obligatory witnessing of the training videos on defensive driving and sexual harassment. Training on the outfit's new on-line computerized record keeping system for our work hours.

Learning about our new compensation system. Basically the same as the old. Since there is nobody to cover our work if we took all the comp time we accrue from working so many extra hours, the outfit will continue to buy it back from us.

At roughly minimum wage. But hey, they used to not give anything, so we're still supposed to be grateful, right?

'Course there is that one little detail that they kinda glossed over, and no one else seemed to notice except me.

They don't count holiday or leave time.

So, if you work extra hours, and that month had an official, paid holiday in it, they first subtract eight hours from your surplus, to "make up" for the day you didn't work.

Huh?

In other words, before being compensated for all the extra time the job demands, you first have to apologize to the state for taking the holiday off, and give them eight hours to make up for that lapse on your part.

Mind you, we're forbidden to actually work holidays unless direly needed and approved by the supervisor.

Don't know which is more upsetting... that the folks who set this up don't see the unfairness in it, or that I'm the only one out of hundreds so far to notice.

But at lunch, the new warden asked if I was a lawyer.

I'm not sure if I'm insulted, or not.

Speaking of whom, it was pretty easy to pick out the new guy in the room. Yeah, I imagine most the wardens had their sidearms strapped on, even for just a meeting. Partly because you never know when an enforcement call is going to come, and partly just out of habit (which in enforcement careers is a good thing). (I suspect most of them automatically reach for that gunbelt in the morning, even on their rare days off.)

But no one else was also packing their baton on their belt.

And pepper spray.

Two spare clips of ammo.

And two items of enforcement gear that I couldn't identify. A total of seven leather scabbarded items on his gunbelt.

And that's just in the front.

Makes you wonder if he's trying to compensate for something.

A fellow biologist pointed out at lunch that the new guy was also wearing his bullet-proof vest.

To a day-long meeting.

Now me, I didn't see anything on the meeting agenda to get that upset about.

But apparently he did, and was expecting trouble.

I already wrote about stopping to comet hunt on the drive home. But I didn't mention that parts of the 127-mile drive home

were worse than the drive up.