We are into June and we had a lovely start to it. Unfortunately, someone has turned the heating down and added a bit of rain. The rain that has come is much needed - hopefully it will mean we don't have a hose-pipe ban in the UK as predicted.

1. Quote of the week

Surplus not invested, is surplus wasted. -- Seth Godin

As per Seth's recent podcast, Dogs don't have hobbies and have a surplus of time. They are actually quite good at managing it with sleeping, patrolling and the occasional bit of self-play. They are not so good with surplus food management. If we find ourselves with a surplus of something be it time or resources, we should look to invest it if we can.

2. What I've been enjoying

I have been cooking more. We've had a bit more time to spend, so we've made pasta from scratch and the sauces to go with it. We've spent a bit longer over breakfast. Yesterday morning, I made a full English and overdid it with toast. Once in awhile a treat is needed. The toast definitely helped with my Saturday morning bike ride, something I've started doing again and I have been enjoying it very much.

3. What I'm reading

In the interests of getting through the backlog, I have picked up The Loom of Language again. This is a book I bought almost two years ago. I put it down after reading the sections on the Germanic languages. The remaining sections are on the Romance Languages and the future of language development. Four large chapters to go which require concentration to make it worthwhile. I suspect this will take me a couple of weeks to get through.

4. What I'm doing in my free time

This weekend, I went cycling again. I took the opportunity of a free moment during the week to take all of the bikes out of the garage, clean them up and check the tires. Yesterday I went out on a Carrera Hybrid Æthelstan III. Yes, I name my bikes. I bought this bike to use in Prague when I lived there. I would ride up and down the Vltava river on a Saturday, sometimes going further but more often than not completing 130km. I had two accomplices and often in 30-degree heat we would occasionally stop and refresh ourselves with a cold pilsner. Or 2.

There were two previous Æthelstans, both smaller frame sizes and both Carrera Hybrids. The first was the bike I bought in 2011 that got me out of a rut and back into fitness. I rode this bike from London to Paris. It was converted by one of the accomplices mentioned above into a single speed bike and donated to something.

The second was the first attempt at a bike for Prague but I found the frame size too small and sold it on to the other accomplice. He put drop bars on it and changed the gears.

I also took the opportunity to organise all of the bike gear. I've found various toolkits, screwdrivers and tire levers. The good news is I've made a small kit for each bike that fits into my cycling jersey.

I made Mead. Perhaps more about that some other time.

5. What I'm learning more about

This week I've been learning about optical fibre networks. I've been reading books and talking to ex-colleagues and friends about it. It's been good to catch up with people. One of my ex-colleagues has been stuck working in Singapore. We had a call this week and talked about FTTP & GPON (exciting stuff!) which was great for building my knowledge and light relief for him, stuck in an apartment under lockdown in Singapore.