Space...

My uncle's funeral took place last Tuesday. It was a relatively small affair; about forty attended - no tyre kickers as he would have put it. As was his wish, he was buried with his garden shovel, which he'd had for decades. I got a bouquet of flowers delivered to my aunt who rang me at the weekend. I don't know how long she'll stay at the new house.

I’m worried I’m going to fall out with Kevin and we’ll end up not talking to each other. I’m amazed we haven’t fallen out already. After five months with a complete stranger living with me 24/7 (he might as well be), it’s almost inevitable.

On Saturday I stood for 3¼ hours at the entrance to Countdown with Tom, raising money for Autism NZ. People gave generously – it was pleasing to see. It must be the rock-star economy putting more money into everyone’s pockets. I must make sure I vote for Team Key (ugh) at the upcoming election so that the rock star doesn’t crash and burn. I think I’ll have a hard time voting for anybody. The difference between this year’s collection and the 2012 one was significant though; logically you’d expect an Autism collection to be more dependent on the economy than, say, a collection for a child cancer charity.

I couldn’t face staying at home on Saturday night, and luckily I didn’t have to. I went to the Carter Observatory with a few other people and managed to see Saturn through a 100-year-old telescope. It was an impressive sight, even if I couldn’t make out the reds and browns, and Saturn’s many rings appeared as one thick band. I 'd like to go back there and learn more about eccentric orbits and so forth, especially given the name I use when I post this blog. The more you think about the universe, the more mind-blowing it is. OK, so the universe is expanding. But what is it expanding into?

We had the second penalty shoot-out of the World Cup this morning, as Costa Rica finally did for Greece. I maintain that shoot-outs are crap. Exciting crap yes, but still crap.