It's Heeeeeeeeeeeere

Training is over and now is when I begin performing my job alone. I will still get tons of help from Sandy and go to meetings around town with Micah, however I have had four realizations today that show I am settling into my job.
The first was I walked into the front office this morning and thought I was in the wrong building. The front area was completely remodeled over the weekend and it looks very different. It's newer and sleeker. What made me realize I am settling into my job is that if the job still was new and I felt I didn't belong, the front office would probably not have stood out to me. I would have likely just walked through and not given it any notice at all. Yet I did notice. This makes me think I belong here now and I am one of the guys at the office.
Secondly, I have had three new job assignments given to me today that will be a routine thing. The first involved a meeting with Chief Dale Holt of the Ennis Police Department. Sandy took me over to EPD and we took a tour with Lt. Ron Roark. He showed me the detectives' offices, the jail cells in the basement and where I would be picking up the reports from the previous night. I was then informed by Holt of the peace officer/news reporter confidentiality clause that is basically an understanding that I will not report anything that is off the record or libelous to the police department without first conversing with him. I will be reporting to Lt. Roark every morning at 9 a.m. to discuss any questions I have about a case in progress.
My second assignment given to me today was a "Man on the Street" story, which are questions I have to ask random people about around town. Today's question was about Michael Jackson. It took me a while to find some volunteers for such a volatile subject. I was also given questions for the next several days, but I will complete those on a day-to-day basis.
The final assignment discussed during my meeting with Sandy this morning was my column. I will have a featured column every Wednesday starting next week. This is kind of scary. I blog a column all the time, but it is only read by my friends and the occasional passer-by. You can tell when I am being sarcastic. I am afraid I will be too abrasive for Ennis. Also, what if I don't have anything to talk about. Luckily, for a little while I can pull old blog entries and use those. That will work for a while.
The third item of recognizing my settlement in the office was I now listen to the scanner when it goes off. Before today I would sometimes block the noise out and not pay attention. Today I picked up on a report of a female being tackled and thrown into a truck as it pulled away. Nothing came of the report, because I'm not an ambulance chaser, but it was a good sign that I heard the scanner when it went off.
The final realization was my computer and desk are starting to look like me. I replaced the old mouse pad today with a special one I got for Christmas from my mom. The old one was a plain, maroon-colored pad with no personality. Now it is a picture of the Rat Pack around a pool table. My desktop also has a picture that is very me. It is a poster of the 1933 production of King Kong. I like it and it is much better than the plain blue background I did have. Now I stare into Kong's eyes as he is battling planes atop the Empire State Building, which I will be at in just over a week's time.
All of these things combines made me see how much I am starting to feel at home in the office. However, I should always feel at home at the office, because it is in the same building as my home.