Sequel to "The Lenny encounter" and "The Lenny relationship" about how Leonard met Penny. Everything belongs to Chuck Lorre and friends. Part 3, working late.

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Six months later Professor Penny Walsh finally got home at 8pm on Friday night. Sheldon, Amy and Leonard were sharing some Chinese food when she walked through the door of 4A.

Penny kissed her husband "Hello everyone, sorry I am late yet again. My PhD student Sally has her thesis defence next week, this has been the only time I have been able to help her this week. I should never have agreed to have become head of department :-( Stay on my good side Dr. Cooper or I will volunteer you to be my successor in 18 months time."

Leonard "Welcome home Professor, we have saved you some food."

Penny "Thanks, it's good to be home."

Next day Penny spent most of her time catching up on emails and talking Physics with Sheldon, she was trying to keep up with the latest developments in her field so she could become an active scientist again when her head of department time was over. Finally Sunday was her day of rest when she had nothing to do with Physics and tried to do fun things with her husband and friends.

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Next Friday Penny had just finished a meeting in her office with Kripke when there was a knock on the door. Amy came in to announce

"Good evening Professor Walsh, you have a visitor" and Professor Schwartz came into the office.

"Well if it isn't Professor Schwartz"

"Hello to you Professor Walsh" as Penny hugged her mother.

"Do you remember my colleague Professor Kripke?"

Kripke said "Hewwo Professor, nice to see you again. Please eksyuse me, I have got to go" and Kripke practically ran out of the office."

"What's wrong with him?"

Penny replied "He remembers you from his PhD thesis defence committee."

"This is a common reaction after I meet my examinees."

"How was UCLA."

"Oh the young man passed, I must be losing my touch, he stood up to my questioning quite well."

"Sorry I couldn't come and pick you up, it's rather hectic as head of department."

"Tell me about it, I did it for ten years!"

Penny "Thanks for picking my mother up from UCLA Amy."

"No problem, it is always good to see Susan."

Penny "I am now finished for the day, let's collect Sheldon and Leonard and get off to The Cheesecake Factory."

Forty minutes later at The Cheesecake Factory

Susan "So are you enjoying being head of department Penny?"

Penny "Not really, there are so many meetings, I hardly ever get to do any Physics."

Susan "You have got to learn to delegate if you want to keep your sanity, it was like that for me in my first year as head of department."

Penny "Still it should be less hectic next week. My PhD student Sally successfully defended her PhD thesis two days ago. She had been really nervous but she had no problems."

Susan "Was that your first student to complete Penny?"

Penny "Yes, I have two more students but they only started last year, they won't finish until I have finished as head of department. I should have less supervision to do from next week."

Susan "What is she going to do now?"

Penny "She is off to do a postdoc with her Doktorgroßvater, Professor Skof at Berkeley."

Leonard "What is a doctorgross?"

Sheldon "Your PhD advisor is called a doctorfather or doctormother, Penny is Sally's doctormother. There are academic family trees of advisors of advisors going back in time."

Penny "Professor Hans Skof from Vienna was my PhD advisor at Berkeley, as he is a native German speaker I call him my Doktorvater, therefore Professor Skof is Sally's doctor grandfather, this is Doktorgroßvater in German. If Sally ever gets any graduate students I will be a Doktorgroßmutter."

Leonard "What a strange world you academics live in. So how are you Susan, what is happening in your world."

Susan "My big news is that I am going to be retiring in six months time."

Amy "Wow, what are you going to do next?"

Susan "I will become an Emeritus Professor and just do Science for fun. I am going to organise one more conference in three months time."

Sheldon "We should all go and attend this last conference, a chance for you to see more our of strange academic world Leonard."