Our house is at the almost top of a hill. While in most cities, hills are just hills, in others (like Seattle) hills are actual things. They are obstinate and immovable forces of nature, even when they’re covered in concrete and asphalt and stores. Going north from our house is no big deal; like I said, we’re already kind of at the top of the hill, and anyway, there’s not a lot up there, at least not a lot that I find myself visiting during the day.

Going down the hill is something else altogether. It’s not the going down part that’s the  issue, it’s the going back up part when I’m ready to go home.

You guys. The hills here are no joke. I walked all the way down the hill earlier this afternoon to fax my signed offer letter and a request for a Missouri absentee ballot (because like hell I’m going to sit idly by while Todd Akin maybe gets a spot in the Senate), and then had to walk all the way back up the hill to get home. I can already feel my legs getting stronger, but now I get to sit here and cough all night long. Also, I was so concerned with going back up the hill that I forgot about the pie place at the bottom of it. I haven’t been there yet, but they have sweet and savory pies, and the variety is only sort of a selling point for me because PIE.

I don’t start work until sometime next week; the job is at an educational institution, so I have to wait on the background check. Not that I mind. I like having another week to dick around Seattle and stay up late, plus I’ve read a couple of books already and just spent an hour looking through the library’s titles available for Kindle.

Dude, I KNOW. The library has crappy interviewers* but great features, and I can get a crapload of titles without even going to a library building (which is fortunate, because my area branch involves more hills and also it kind of smells like pee). While I realize that sitting at home and reading isn’t helping me to achieve any goals I had in mind about getting to know Seattle as much as I can before I start working, it still makes me happiest, and come on. I know myself. It’s usually a combination of books, coffee, and Netflix.

Ohhhhh and the town hall debate this evening. This is the first of the debates I’m actually able to watch. We were moving across the country for the more recent debates, so my only experience of them was limited to my Facebook feed and the New York Times rundowns. We still don’t have actual broadcast TV, but I’ve got two sites pulled up to see which one begins on time with less conservative commentary (yeah fine, anyone can comment in any way they like but I know what pisses me off and what doesn’t) and an alarm set on my phone for when it begins. Obviously my mind is made up; I’m voting Obama for reasons I’ve already gone over here, and unless he reveals himself to be Secret Hitler tonight, that’s not going to change. But I’d still like to see the debate and hear the kinds of questions asked, and experience it in a slightly broader way than I’ve been doing.

* I didn’t get the library job. Did I say that already? The interview was a maybe 30-minute interview followed by a test to make sure I know my alphabet and can count. The test was fine – I’m an adult human who knows stuff – but the interview was a little awkward. It was like being interviewed by two socially inept…well, librarians, actually, although I’m still a little bit bummed that what I thought was a pleasant enough conversation (or perhaps my background, or my ease in responding to other people, or any other thing I don’t know about) has made me unqualified for working at the library. Like, ever.