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Mental Health - The Penguin Has Landed
- Thread Starter cbg
- Start date
- Status
Betty3
Well-Known Member
Yay! Glad you came over. It seems pretty many from our old home are coming here.
cbg
Super Moderator
I'm especially thrilled to see a couple of long-lost members returning!
cbg
Super Moderator
Hey, we even kept our lurkers! Take that, new-owners-that-tried-to-close-us-down!
THAT'S who we need to sic the Penguin on.
And yes, I really am going to explain the penguin jokes eventually.
THAT'S who we need to sic the Penguin on.
And yes, I really am going to explain the penguin jokes eventually.
cbg
Super Moderator
Well, it really wasn't the same once the new management took over anyway. I'm just glad you're back with us!
Singer6207
New Member
I'm a lurker too and was glad to see that a new home was established. I used to be more payroll, but have been progressively moving into HR at my somewhat new place of employment (been here almost a year). Looking forward to learning as much as I can from all of you!
Betty3
Well-Known Member
Hi Bay State. (I know you.) 
cbg
Super Moderator
Bay State - No. You're welcome.
Read your PM's.
Read your PM's.
cbg
Super Moderator
You'll understand the delay when you read it!
cbg
Super Moderator
I promised to explain the penguin references to the newbies -
And there was a man named Brian, and there was a message board for the discussion of HR questions. And Brian grew weary of answering all the questions that came his way, so he caused there to be a wide circle of HR professionals to do it for him. And he was called Papa Brian, and they were the Sons and Daughters of Brian.
And diligently did the Sons and Daughters of Brian work at answering the questions that were presented to the message board. For as time progressed and they grew to know and be comfortable with each other, the Sons and the Daughters of Brian came to think of each other as friends, though they had never met in real life. And it came to pass that sometimes, the answers became somewhat silly and not pleasing to the asker of the question.
There was a Daughter of Brian named Cathie, and Cathie said, "Let us cause there to be a thread called Mental Health. For it will be there that we will place our frustrations and venting, yea and our silliness also. For in doing so we will improve our own Mental Health, and it shall benefit those to whom we volunteer our time, for their questions shall be answered in all seriousness." And it was so. And the Mental Health thread grew and prospered, and the serious questions once more were answered seriously.
So it was that the Sons and Daughters of Brian who were having a frustrating day would post nonsense on the Mental Health thread. And there was a Daughter of Brian named Pam, and Pam was having a frustrating day, and she informed the Sons and Daughters of Brian that she had placed a bowl of fish, of the variety piranha, for the feeding of bad employees – that is to say, that the bad employees would be fed to the piranhas. And there were many jokes among the Sons and Daughters of Brian about piranhas, and bad employees.
And finally Pam declared that one of her piranhas had died, and she was about to commence a burial in the Bay of Chesapeake, which is near to where she lived, and an invitation was extended to all the Sons and Daughters of Brian who might wish to attend. The Daughter of Brian named Cathie, she who had caused the Mental Health thread to exist, replied that she would be pleased to attend, were it not for the obligation placed upon her to see to the care and feeding of the flock of penguins that had landed in her mailbox that day. And there were a few penguin jokes over the next few days and then the penguin jokes subsided until winter.
There was a Daughter of Brian named Anne, and Anne lived in the Midwest where, come winter, there was much snow. And Anne said, "Let Cathie's penguins come unto me, for there is much snow, and they will enjoy it." And Cathie responded, "Yea, the penguins are flightless waterfowl and shall not come of their own accord, but I shall see them onto the next Continental Airlines flight unto Milwaukee, and they shall enjoy the snow."
And the Midwest saw a mighty snowstorm within the next week, and Anne cried, "Take these penguins from me, for Milwaukee is seeing its heaviest snowfalls in living memory, and should these penguins remain I shall not see green grass before July". And within the Sons and Daughters of Brian, the penguins became a symbol for snow. And those Sons and Daughters of Brian who loved skiing and winter sports would invite the penguins to come to their cities; and those who did not would shun the penguins. And it was understood that if a Son or a Daughter of Brian were to claim that the penguins were dancing in his or her driveway, it was to mean that in the city of that Son or Daughter of Brian, it was snowing.
Then there came a dark day when in the world at large, there was a workplace shooting near the city wherein resided Cathie, as well as two other Daughters of Brian who were named Donna and Lori. And there were seven people killed in this shooting, and two of those killed were HR professionals named Cheryl and Craig. And Cheryl was not a Daughter of Brian, nor was Craig a Son, but the Sons and Daughters of Brian mourned them nonetheless, for they were all HR together.
And it came to pass that the New England Human Resources Association, which had as part of its region the city wherein the shooting took place, brought forth a seminar on workplace violence to be held at a large hotel, and invited all the HR professionals in the area to attend. So it was that Cathie, Donna and Lori all swore to attend, and to encounter one another, that they might know one another by face as well as by message board. And they asked, "How shall we know each other, since we have not yet met previously?" And the question was answered, "By our penguins we shall know them".
And the HR professionals came. They came from the north, and the south, and the west, but not from the east for thereby lies only ocean. They came in Hondas and Toyotas. They came in Chevys and in Fords. They came in compact cars and in SUV's. And if they did not come by camel and on horseback, it is only because there was no tether for the horses, and camels are not native to New England. And the folk at NEHRA who were providing the seminar looked at one another and said, "We had prepared for but a hundred attendees and yet they still come; yea, unto a thousand and still they come. Where shall we have them park?" And it was decided, "They shall park at the hotel next door."
And so it was that Cathie and Donna arrived in time to park at the hotel wherein was the seminar, and they waved their stuffed penguins at one another and sat together for the discussion. But Lori, who was mother to small children and thus arrived later, was relegated to park at the hotel next door, and to sit in a conference room wherein was a monitor that she might see what was in the seminar. And after the seminar was over, Cathie and Donna stayed to have coffee together, and suddenly they heard, "I see penguins!" and it was Lori.
And so whenever the Sons and Daughters of Brian came together in life as well as on the message board, it came to pass that they should bring a stuffed penguin, that they might find each other. And when the time came for the national convention of HR professionals run by the Society for Human Resources Management, there were six HR professionals who chose to share hotel rooms and thus save funds, and these six were Cathie, and Ellen, and Patty, and Shirley, and Marianne, and Carole. And Cathie and Ellen and Patty and Shirley were all Daughters of Brian and knew the penguins, and they entertained Marianne and Carole with tales of the penguins, and so they were converted. And as such they identified one another when they corresponded after the convention, for they all lived very far from one another. And Cathie was Penguin Number One, and Marianne was Penguin Number 6, and so on did they go; only today they have forgotten some of them their numbers, save that Patty was Penguin Number 4.
And when Cathie was playing around one day on BlueMountain.com, she discovered a greeting card that was of penguins being sent to a mailbox. And she remembered that the tale of the penguins had begun when she claimed that a flock of penguins had landed in her mailbox, and she laughed and said, "I must send this card to my friends who know the penguins", and so she did. And that night her phone rang, and it was Ellen, and Ellen was incredulous for she said, "Today I have received your penguin card, and still today it has snowed in Gualala, California, for the first time in twenty years!"
And as time progressed, Brian determined it was time for him to retire, so he no longer managed the message board, though still it stands, though not where it used to be; he passed the baton to she who is called Gloria, and she is Aunty Glo, wanting not to be Mama Gloria, though he still remains Papa Brian on those rare occasions when he appears.
And as time passed there came a Son or a Daughter of Brian who began to post upon the Mental Health thread as Penguin, and when it snows where and when snow is wanted not, Penguin takes much verbal abuse, and Penguin passes this off with amusement and many jokes of the sardonic variety. And no one knew which Son or Daughter of Brian was the Penguin, thought there had been many guesses. And the Sons and Daughters of Brian came to believe that the Penguin was a Son of Brian who was called Mitch, or perhaps the Son of Brian who was called Fred. Still, there were others who believed that Penguin was the Daughter of Brian who was called Aimee, or perhaps the Daughter who was called Brenda. But yea, the Penguin keeps his or her own counsel, and only those who had Administrator privileges on the message board knows who it is.
And so it is, all other things being equal, that Cathie has become the Penguin Lady by default, and her friends send her penguin items, penguin cards, and penguin socks, and even her husband, who is a teacher of political science and not a Son of Brian, one year gave her a one-foot-tall stuffed penguin for Christmas, and the penguin wears a cap from the hockey team of the city of Pittsburgh. And when Cathie remembers that she inadvertently contributed, her freshman year of college, to one of her professors being known as the Frog Princess by her senior year and that the professor had live frogs in a pen in her office, she acknowledges that karma exists and she will be the Penguin Lady forever.
And there was a man named Brian, and there was a message board for the discussion of HR questions. And Brian grew weary of answering all the questions that came his way, so he caused there to be a wide circle of HR professionals to do it for him. And he was called Papa Brian, and they were the Sons and Daughters of Brian.
And diligently did the Sons and Daughters of Brian work at answering the questions that were presented to the message board. For as time progressed and they grew to know and be comfortable with each other, the Sons and the Daughters of Brian came to think of each other as friends, though they had never met in real life. And it came to pass that sometimes, the answers became somewhat silly and not pleasing to the asker of the question.
There was a Daughter of Brian named Cathie, and Cathie said, "Let us cause there to be a thread called Mental Health. For it will be there that we will place our frustrations and venting, yea and our silliness also. For in doing so we will improve our own Mental Health, and it shall benefit those to whom we volunteer our time, for their questions shall be answered in all seriousness." And it was so. And the Mental Health thread grew and prospered, and the serious questions once more were answered seriously.
So it was that the Sons and Daughters of Brian who were having a frustrating day would post nonsense on the Mental Health thread. And there was a Daughter of Brian named Pam, and Pam was having a frustrating day, and she informed the Sons and Daughters of Brian that she had placed a bowl of fish, of the variety piranha, for the feeding of bad employees – that is to say, that the bad employees would be fed to the piranhas. And there were many jokes among the Sons and Daughters of Brian about piranhas, and bad employees.
And finally Pam declared that one of her piranhas had died, and she was about to commence a burial in the Bay of Chesapeake, which is near to where she lived, and an invitation was extended to all the Sons and Daughters of Brian who might wish to attend. The Daughter of Brian named Cathie, she who had caused the Mental Health thread to exist, replied that she would be pleased to attend, were it not for the obligation placed upon her to see to the care and feeding of the flock of penguins that had landed in her mailbox that day. And there were a few penguin jokes over the next few days and then the penguin jokes subsided until winter.
There was a Daughter of Brian named Anne, and Anne lived in the Midwest where, come winter, there was much snow. And Anne said, "Let Cathie's penguins come unto me, for there is much snow, and they will enjoy it." And Cathie responded, "Yea, the penguins are flightless waterfowl and shall not come of their own accord, but I shall see them onto the next Continental Airlines flight unto Milwaukee, and they shall enjoy the snow."
And the Midwest saw a mighty snowstorm within the next week, and Anne cried, "Take these penguins from me, for Milwaukee is seeing its heaviest snowfalls in living memory, and should these penguins remain I shall not see green grass before July". And within the Sons and Daughters of Brian, the penguins became a symbol for snow. And those Sons and Daughters of Brian who loved skiing and winter sports would invite the penguins to come to their cities; and those who did not would shun the penguins. And it was understood that if a Son or a Daughter of Brian were to claim that the penguins were dancing in his or her driveway, it was to mean that in the city of that Son or Daughter of Brian, it was snowing.
Then there came a dark day when in the world at large, there was a workplace shooting near the city wherein resided Cathie, as well as two other Daughters of Brian who were named Donna and Lori. And there were seven people killed in this shooting, and two of those killed were HR professionals named Cheryl and Craig. And Cheryl was not a Daughter of Brian, nor was Craig a Son, but the Sons and Daughters of Brian mourned them nonetheless, for they were all HR together.
And it came to pass that the New England Human Resources Association, which had as part of its region the city wherein the shooting took place, brought forth a seminar on workplace violence to be held at a large hotel, and invited all the HR professionals in the area to attend. So it was that Cathie, Donna and Lori all swore to attend, and to encounter one another, that they might know one another by face as well as by message board. And they asked, "How shall we know each other, since we have not yet met previously?" And the question was answered, "By our penguins we shall know them".
And the HR professionals came. They came from the north, and the south, and the west, but not from the east for thereby lies only ocean. They came in Hondas and Toyotas. They came in Chevys and in Fords. They came in compact cars and in SUV's. And if they did not come by camel and on horseback, it is only because there was no tether for the horses, and camels are not native to New England. And the folk at NEHRA who were providing the seminar looked at one another and said, "We had prepared for but a hundred attendees and yet they still come; yea, unto a thousand and still they come. Where shall we have them park?" And it was decided, "They shall park at the hotel next door."
And so it was that Cathie and Donna arrived in time to park at the hotel wherein was the seminar, and they waved their stuffed penguins at one another and sat together for the discussion. But Lori, who was mother to small children and thus arrived later, was relegated to park at the hotel next door, and to sit in a conference room wherein was a monitor that she might see what was in the seminar. And after the seminar was over, Cathie and Donna stayed to have coffee together, and suddenly they heard, "I see penguins!" and it was Lori.
And so whenever the Sons and Daughters of Brian came together in life as well as on the message board, it came to pass that they should bring a stuffed penguin, that they might find each other. And when the time came for the national convention of HR professionals run by the Society for Human Resources Management, there were six HR professionals who chose to share hotel rooms and thus save funds, and these six were Cathie, and Ellen, and Patty, and Shirley, and Marianne, and Carole. And Cathie and Ellen and Patty and Shirley were all Daughters of Brian and knew the penguins, and they entertained Marianne and Carole with tales of the penguins, and so they were converted. And as such they identified one another when they corresponded after the convention, for they all lived very far from one another. And Cathie was Penguin Number One, and Marianne was Penguin Number 6, and so on did they go; only today they have forgotten some of them their numbers, save that Patty was Penguin Number 4.
And when Cathie was playing around one day on BlueMountain.com, she discovered a greeting card that was of penguins being sent to a mailbox. And she remembered that the tale of the penguins had begun when she claimed that a flock of penguins had landed in her mailbox, and she laughed and said, "I must send this card to my friends who know the penguins", and so she did. And that night her phone rang, and it was Ellen, and Ellen was incredulous for she said, "Today I have received your penguin card, and still today it has snowed in Gualala, California, for the first time in twenty years!"
And as time progressed, Brian determined it was time for him to retire, so he no longer managed the message board, though still it stands, though not where it used to be; he passed the baton to she who is called Gloria, and she is Aunty Glo, wanting not to be Mama Gloria, though he still remains Papa Brian on those rare occasions when he appears.
And as time passed there came a Son or a Daughter of Brian who began to post upon the Mental Health thread as Penguin, and when it snows where and when snow is wanted not, Penguin takes much verbal abuse, and Penguin passes this off with amusement and many jokes of the sardonic variety. And no one knew which Son or Daughter of Brian was the Penguin, thought there had been many guesses. And the Sons and Daughters of Brian came to believe that the Penguin was a Son of Brian who was called Mitch, or perhaps the Son of Brian who was called Fred. Still, there were others who believed that Penguin was the Daughter of Brian who was called Aimee, or perhaps the Daughter who was called Brenda. But yea, the Penguin keeps his or her own counsel, and only those who had Administrator privileges on the message board knows who it is.
And so it is, all other things being equal, that Cathie has become the Penguin Lady by default, and her friends send her penguin items, penguin cards, and penguin socks, and even her husband, who is a teacher of political science and not a Son of Brian, one year gave her a one-foot-tall stuffed penguin for Christmas, and the penguin wears a cap from the hockey team of the city of Pittsburgh. And when Cathie remembers that she inadvertently contributed, her freshman year of college, to one of her professors being known as the Frog Princess by her senior year and that the professor had live frogs in a pen in her office, she acknowledges that karma exists and she will be the Penguin Lady forever.
Last edited:
Speaking of penguins, I feel like there are some in the room with me now. I'm at one of our other buildings today in a conference room and when I walked in the room, the heat had not been turned on at all. It is one of our oldest buildings so there is no central heat, and lots of large drafty old windows.The Meteorologists keeps saying Penguin is visiting soon, but so far, only a few fluries over the past few days.
Proserpina
Moderator
(happy sigh)
Hi everyone
Hi everyone
Betty3
Well-Known Member
Hi Elle - glad you came over. Hi Proserpina.
Those of you that work, do you get a 3 day weekend since MLK Day is Monday?
Those of you that work, do you get a 3 day weekend since MLK Day is Monday?
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