It has come to my attention that something I said was construed in perhaps a negative way by some unknown person or persons who attended the TPMP session last week and I would very much like to take the time to apologize for this oversight on my part.
At one point while being given the new guidelines to the employee review process, I said in a voice loud enough of the whole room to hear and spoken to no one person in particular that if they could find a monkey that could recognize Dennis Hastert, I would be out of a job. I said this in the hope of relieving some of the tension that seemed to be creeping into the proceedings of the meeting with a little dose of off-beat humour, afterwards, I distinctly recall at the vey least more than half of the people in the room laughing or smiling and a fellow who was sitting behind me who works up in the newsroom whispered in my ear that they already had been working on just such a project. This joke at the time in no way seemed to affect anyone in a negative manner and there was little to no pause in the flow of the meeting afterwards.
I am dreadfully sorry that my style of self-deprecating humour has found offense with other co-workers and I will make a conscience effort to refrain from making such comments in the future.