It's time, again, to start the weekend yard work routine. I spent a small part of the time this weekend weeding but didn't come close to catching up with all that somehow grew since Thanksgiving. And now, with more rain on the way and next weekend already committed for a trip to DC with our CARET representatives, I imagine the weeds will be far ahead of me by the time I get back to yard work again. That's just how it goes.

I'm reviewing my calendar and weeding out things that just might have to go on hold while I work through the merit and promotion documents (79 total, I hear, with all of them left to review by early June). Also, there are many, many meetings to attend some of which are standing meetings while others are somewhat new to the calendar. I need to decide where things fit in my Focus Funnel. I suspect some of the things I really enjoy (county visits) may slide. I need, also, to determine which activities present themselves as competing commitments and, as a result, deter my efforts to achieve my stated goals for the good of the Division.

If I need some inspiration to stay focused and avoid competing commitments all I need to do is look at this morning's UCOP Daily News Clip. There was a great call out to work in Fresno County. Take a look; the work is inspiring!

I'm looking forward to seeing the County Directors and the REC Directors this week. Both groups are meeting in Davis. The Research and Extension Council meets Tuesday evening, followed by the County Director meeting all day Wednesday. The REC meeting, on Thursday, is an ‘all-hands' meeting so Business Officers and Superintendents will be in attendance. Each of the meeting agendas is quite full. I expect I will learn a lot and later need to weed through all of the information to separate out action items from ideas for future use. It already appears that the weather may make travel challenging for some, but hopefully, travel disruptions are minimal. My week should be hassle-free as far as travels go; just a quick trip to Irvine on Friday. Then I head East again over the weekend, so plenty of opportunities to traverse the airports at that point.

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