Real LIfe: alarm goes off in my head, ? Been playing SR too long? Options

[pbangarth]

So I have this summer job while I finish writing my dissertation. My teammate and I go around the big city, to randomly generated locations, and measure a standard size plot, counting trees, shrubs and other plants as well as building cover, cement, etc. We get a picture of the urban forest this way, to determine effects of the forest on air quality, cooling of the environment, etc.

Sometimes the random plot falls in a park. Sometimes on the landing strip in the airport. And sometimes in the back yard of one of the many businesses. Like Friday, when we went to a shop that converts vehicles to run on propane. Lots of trucks, cars, etc. parked all over the gravel lot. We asked for permission to go to the back and count and measure trees.

The young guy we first asked pointed to another guy, who spoke in a heavy Russian accent and said it was OK, but we should check with the boss. So we went to the boss. After our spiel on what we do, he says, again heavily accented, "Sure. Go ahead. Ve are de good guys."

*ALARM* I wonder what really goes on in that shop.

Peter