Original Commentary
At first, Terrence wasn't sure is the comic needed this recap comic. But after everything that happened, and the wobbly updating schedule from birthdays and upset tummies, I felt it was needed.

Still cheeses me off the way all those people are taking a little unscheduled vacation. Lemon tech. would be a little bit of permanent downsizing if it was up to me. But then, that's why I'm not writing this arc. -Isabel

Modern Commentary
This is comic 29, hence the "feels like it's been a month". I always like those little nods to how in-comic time doesn't match real time. - Terrence

Original Commentary
Enter new challenger... miss Sandra was my only real requirement I had about this arc. For now, just know her as Patrick's little sister. -Isabel

Modern Commentary
We've got:

Sandra here in You Say it First
Shaundra in Spare Parts
Shandra in The NDU

We also, unrelatedly, have the similarly named:
Cassandra in Nicole and Derek and 100% Cat
Cassie in Grover Hills, Namir Deiter, and Nicole & Derek - Terrence

Original Commentary
Originally, Patrick was going to mention that Brisbane got his job because he was dating the boss' daughter. That got cut, for space and clarity. However, Patrick is still thinking it. -Terrence

I had actually started a different version on panel one, you can find it here. Needless to say, it didn't get that far... Brisbane and Sandra were to be way in the background, with Patrick in the foreground. You can see a small circle by Patrick's head, that was to have been Sandra. When I looked over the script again and saw Patrick talking a lot in this comic, I decided there was no way to work with this comic, so it was scrapped. Although, unlike other scrapped comics, I ended up placing it on top of my computer, so you all get to see it.

In both comics, Patrick looks very annoyed at the situation... if anything by the way Brisbane is looking at his sister, a look he has probably seen in Sophia that he hopes shows a romantic interests (or rather, he hopes that's what he's seeing in Sofia's look, but think daggers at Brisbane if it means the same thing). Brisbane, is of course, dumbfounded by the situation... romance is very far from his thinking. -Isabel

Modern Commentary
Sandra isn't exactly Shaundra from Spare Parts, but they bear a resemblance to each other. - Terrence

Original Commentary
It probably wasn't necessary, but I wanted to wrap up last week's sequence with shipping. What did they want? Better coffee (approved), changes to the dress code (approved), raises (being considered), and a discretionary fund with which the acting manager could hire temporary employees (rejected). Kimberly's response was "So you want to be able to hire your cousins, and not have anyone be able to fire them?". It still happened, but I couldn't justify spending a whole comic on it. -Terrence

Modern Commentary
A newspaper ad was old-fashioned back in 2008. Linkedin, Craigslist, and Monster.com were all big deals. But that would be a new thing to learn and a new system to interface with, and this isn't a great time to do that. - Terrence

Original Commentary
I had been working on a week-long sequence involving Robert talking to Brisbane, explaining that he and Jane had plans, and Brisbane suggesting that Jane come over. This is Isabel's idea, to deal with the issue Alexander-the-Great* style. She snuck in already. -Terrence

*At a temple in Gordius, there was a large, complex knot. Whoever undid it, it was said, would rule the world. Alexander the Great went and cut it in half with a sword.

Modern Commentary
Better that Robert brings his girlfriend over than just stay home - Terrence

Original Commentary
Brisbane gets a C+ in asserting authority, and a D- in rejecting bribes. Who knew it'd be so cheap- Terrence

Modern Commentary
Robert's boss is also out. Is there anybody else in the IT department? I mean, maybe. I think I've hinted at there being another tech there occasionally. - Terrence

Original Commentary
This is why Jane and Kimberly would be the best of friends, if Kimberly was not so stand-offish... Jane knows how to speak her language, and the two do talk... but they just haven't really spent much time with just the two of them (a double date is, after all, still a date... they are more interested with who they brought than who the other person brought- that would bring up loads of trouble).

I was hoping we would get a chance to bring up some of the demands of the shipping crew... they were just too funny not to. -Isabel

Modern Commentary
That aside about "trouble getting people to fully comprehend that Kimberly and I are in charge"? That was supposed to be a whole subplot, where they'd get resistance from the managers that were still showing up.

But the question is always how much business to show. Putting that in would require we add new characters that we didn't have clear plans for, and we had already introduced Al Fletcher.

In fact, that's why I tagged Isabel in for this middle bit - because the bit that I was trying to write wasn't coming together. - Terrence