“bachelor party”

That’s what tonight feels like. Technically I don’t become Associate Provost until Tuesday, but I’ll be addressing the graduate student orientation tomorrow, and there’s at least one meeting per day thereafter. So, the fire starts blazing with the early bus tomorrow morning.

However, I’ll be working closely with some of my favorite people on campus, and that’s what I’m looking forward to most. Besides which, I always enjoy trying to improve policy (as with my three years in the Senate leadership), and university-wide research policy is in fact the portfolio for this position.

And best of all, it’s not often that you get a nice long vacation after one week in a new job. Ramadan ends just in time for me to go off to Malta and walk on the seaside for 5 days. Everything shuts down here for the Eid.