You mentioned astronomy and physics or something close to that - of course I had to go looking deeper! Doesn't happen very often that I go looking... Past posts are such a delicate matter, because it's like looking at someone's soul.
No disagreement here, the land does do something for the spirit - it's the natural beauty of the place that does it. I know I could never handle a truly large city - Tucson is about as big as I hope to ever go. phoenix is simply too big, and it's five-ten degrees hotter than Tucson - No thanks!
I lived with my uncle from 25 to 27, so you won't see me laughing about living with your parents. It IS common nowadays, and it makes good economic sense. Of course, it's also limiting in some ways just because it Is living under their roof. The student loans are a pain in the rear, an absolute pain. Eh!
I try to be low-key about my employment on the web - call it good COMSEC. My uncle doubted that I would be able to handle it as well, but in the end the hardest part for me was just getting up and doing it. PT remains the hardest part, only because I hate PT tests and fitness is a low priority in my life!
I got super lucky when I went in, I went in as Open Electronics and wound up with Avionics Systems, which means I could leave the service today and get a job starting at $75k anywhere they have jets or other aircraft with little more than a $5k certificate. I've stayed in because I like the stability, even if it is the stability of instability. I left Tucson and went to San Antonio for the worst part, 8.5 weeks of basic training, and then went to tech school at Keesler for two months and tech school again at Sheppard for another two months. I asked for Tucson, and by all luck, I got Tucson. I was there for four years and I volunteered for a tour in Korea, and after this tour is done in a couple month, I go what I asked for again: right back to Tucson! Lots of luck going for me at this point...
I applied for an officer position and I didn't get it, which is fine; enlisted life suits me just fine. My only regret is not going in at the age of 18, because I would be retired in five years with half my salary for the rest of my life plus full medical for the rest of my life. I want you to imagine being 38 and receiving a check for ~$2000 each month just for breathing - that's military retirement! But for 20 years, I'm at their whim, which is how it goes, we'll see how long I feel like hanging on...
Either choice is a tough choice. The easy choice is obviously the one that's close to home if it means no moving cost - which is also cheaper. Your personal interests would also be something that should be considered, whereas things are different in that region and you may not be able to do the things you like doing. If exploring is your thing through, you have a lot of territory to explore!
I honestly believe both jobs will interfere with your work-life balance. The question then is which job is providing the best benefits package, something I forgot on the chart.
I am confused about this latter part. Now you're saying, the specialist job is $40k, or after you finish the probationary period for the specialist job, they want to consider you for program manager?