I’ll continue to catalog my observations about this place that is not yet even a week old for me:

When the sun goes down in the town, you can smell the grazing fields of dairy cows as the clouds blanket in and the winds shift. Though the air has an undeniable waft of cow manure, it’s not overpowering. It’s kind of refreshing to be so close to agrarians, supposably Dutch and Portuguese immigrants and their ancestry.

I went to Whataburger for lunch today and, honestly, I had never seen a Whataburger anywhere that crowded at any point in time. I waited nearly fifteen minutes for my order to appear–not because of incompetence but because of the sheer volume of orders coming out before mine.

I’ve noticed way more young people (my age and younger) hauling around kids. I’d hate to generalize so early on, but it’s a trend I’ve noticed all over–from Starbucks to Wal-Mart.

It feels like a blue state here. The government bureaucracies appear to be the main employers and, if not an employee of the government directly, people’s private sector jobs probably exist because of the government presence. It’s a noticeably different way of life in this state.

I like my days so far. I get assigned something new every day. I don’t clockwatch and I keep myself focused on the task at hand. I anticipate that I’ll have an office with a door in the days to come, which will be good. The ambient noise was mildly distracting today.

The people at the office, though, have been great. I enjoy gettting to talk with each and every one of them whether it be about a case or just about life in general. I feel like the latter of those things might not happen at a larger place.