Hi Everyone;

There will be no comic this week.

I found out early this week that a high school friend of mine had died suddenly. He had been living in Australia for a long time, but we managed to keep in touch over the years. He died in his sleep. I've been spending my time reflecting, re-connecting with old friends, and going through old pictures and letters.

We'll continue our regular schedule starting Tuesday, Dec 5th.

I don't think the "Dykes on Bikes" ever appeared in the Saskatoon Gay Pride Parade like in EP243, but we can all hope, can't we. The furnace is in and everything's toasty warm. I'm ready for winter.

We have a new character in EP242. I have a name for him, but I won't say what it is yet. All in good time. And "the girls" sure know their specialty coffees! On the home front, the furnace is being replaced today. Fortunately, we found out the old one needed replacing before we got too far into winter. Major cha-ching, though. And just before Christmas. On the other hand, having a white Christmas inside the house is not my idea of fun either.

Coffee shops are funny. They can be very inviting and hoity-toity at the same time. I'm not a coffee drinker, so I'm amazed at the variety and complex potions you can order. In some coffee shops it's hard to find plain ol' black coffee on the menu. I thought it was funny that with all the choices of coffee Phil had to choose from in EP241, he had to think long and hard before choosing... black. This reminds me of our drama teacher in high school. We were going to Dairy Queen and asked him if he wanted a milkshake. He said yes, and so we asked what flavour he'd like. He had never been to Dairy Queen, so he asked what flavours they had. We rattled off a long list of flavours to which our drama teacher thought very carefully about before choosing…vanilla. We couldn't believe it. No one goes to Dairy Queen and gets a vanilla milkshake. After we listed off the flavours again, he changed his choice to something more daring... strawberry. Now that I think of it, I wonder what Dairy Queen's vanilla milkshake tastes like…I've never had one. I love the smell of coffee, but can't stand the taste. Way too bitter. You can put a truck load of sugar in it, and it still tastes bitter to me. It makes a great air freshener though. Looks like the Guilt Dyke and the D'BAD queen are ready to party in EP241.