Today's weather was slightly changeable: sunny spells with occasional, heavy showers. I wore my brown and yellow shirt whose lowest button fell off shortly after I bought it a few years ago. I never fixed the button, so whenever I wear this shirt I have to find a nappy pin and use it to prevent flapping. But it's a nice shirt. We went to the supermarket. Afterwards, my youngest daughter invited me to play Sleeping Beauty with her. I got to be the handsome prince, which was a flattering but slightly awkward bit of casting. Then I had to be the horse, crawling on all fours around the living room, trying to avoid obstacles. It was less awkward though. Then I bought a car.
I feel like it would be weird for me not to mention that I bought a car today. But I nearly didn't mention it, because I'm riddled with socialist guilt about it. I can just about afford it, having traded in my old car, taken out a long term finance plan, and accepted a lot of help - psychological, administrative and financial - from my dad. In general I'm wary of accepting help from my parents. It's not pride and it's certainly not ingratitude; more an awareness that it's not an option that's available to some people. But it's a very nice car, which will benefit my family, so I've convinced myself that it's OK to enjoy and appreciate this privilege as long as I never lose sight of my humility and gratitude. Thanks, Dad.
Meanwhile, if anybody needs a lift anywhere, my conscience will probably oblige me to help you out. So just ask.
As I was reconciling myself to this conclusion on the drive home (in my lovely car that I wasn't sure I deserve), I was distracted by coverage on the radio of events at the European Space Agency, as scientists there raucously celebrated the culmination of over ten years of hard work and extreme tension, when they received data from the Philae spacecraft which confirmed that they had successfully landed it on a moving comet. I understand almost nothing about this sort of thing, but I think this is roughly equivalent to firing a pea at an orange thousands of miles away, while the orange is moving faster than a speeding bullet. Oh, and the special little rocket you attached to the pea to help it control its landing broke just before it got there. But you landed it anyway.
Now, imagine that the orange holds the secrets to the genesis of life on earth, of which your pea will now enable you to gain an unprecedented understanding. It's no wonder the scientists were cheering. I was surprised by the irrepressible grin which commandeered my face upon hearing their jubilation. Then I felt guilty about that, because what right did I have to share in their glee? Actually, I believe it was funded by European taxpayers to the tune of around £1billion, which apparently works out at about 3.5 Euros per citizen. Nigel Farage is yet to remove my European citizenship, so I can grin away.
Despite all this excitement, though, and the commendable enthusiasm of the BBC Five Live presenters, I couldn't shake off the perception that none of this was getting quite the accolades it deserved. This was a pioneering achievement in both technological advancement and space exploration, in exactly the same way as when Neil and Buzz jumped about on the moon in 1969. But I don't get the impression that families were gathered in awe around their TV sets to soak up today's piece of history. I think we're probably all so used to instant news gratification that we've lost the ability to distinguish the filler from the really impressive stuff. Will everybody remember where they were at three minutes past four on the afternoon of November 12th 2014?
Well, I will. I was in my new car. And I was very impressed.
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