Hi, Adam,

It's always nice to hear encouraging words, so I was glad to write something positive. Thanks again to you and the other Xfce SIG members for all your hard work on the Spin.

I had heard about the Texas Linux Fest and it sounds like it could be a cool event. Unfortunately, I won't be attending it because it's in Austin and I'm in McAllen -- about 350 miles (6.5 hours) away. McAllen is in far South Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley. We're about 40 minutes from Brownsville (at the very tip of the state). McAllen is on the international US-Mexico border, and our Mexican neighbor city, Reynosa, is 8 miles away. The Valley is an interesting place to live; geographically, we're in the US but culturally, we're in northern Mexico. There is a joke among old gringos in the area: "You know, it's pretty nice living in McAllen -- it's almost like being in the United States."

The map here will you give a better idea of Valley geography:

http://bit.ly/9OoZgK

This area has made the national news lately because of the border violence in Reynosa (which now has a population of ca. 1 million) and surrounding areas in Tamaulipas State. There is an ongoing turf war between rival drug cartels: the Cartel del Golfo (CDG or 'Gulf Cartel') and the Zetas. Members of both groups are heavily armed (automatic weapons, grenade launchers, etc.) and some innocent bystanders in Reynosa have died in crossfire. The Mexican government has sent troops to the area but it's unclear whether they are really in control of the situation. McAllen is still safe but we've heard increasing concern about "spillover violence." :-(

=david