A few words about El Paso - excerpts from a letter to a friend

As you may know, I’m [working] in El Paso... I am surprised to admit to this, but I absolutely love it out here. The weather is fantastic, life is inexpensive, and the people are more or less friendly and easy to get along with. I live up on the side of the Franklin Mountains in an apartment complex so I have a stunning view of the southwestern tip of Texas, the southeastern corner of New Mexico and the northern border of Mexico. It’s all there out my window. It’s desert hot here, but the heat is dry, and I must tell you, I’d rather have it be 100 degrees here with no humidity than the swamp-like 80 degrees in beltway.

Work is going very well. I don’t think I am ever to have another job that I enjoy so much. The work that I have is substantive, the issues are new and interesting, and I feel like I’m learning and growing in my profession. In addition, I’m right in the middle of a maelstrom of national issues....

Most importantly, however, I have a boss – []– for whom I have immense respect and admiration. I had the opportunity at one point to reduce my [tenure] from two to one years , and I ended up choosing to remain in my two year position. I think I will be much better prepared for [later employment] at that point, and at the very least, I will have one more year of doing what I love.