Well, sort of. Early patrol-planning meeting for this. Back soon!

BG’s alter ego is on vacation for two weeks, so we’re gonna be running with a skeleton crew around here. You’ll see see the (brand! new! world! premiere!) comics here on Mondays, plus MSN.com columns & commentary on Tuesdays — plus assorted other goodies here and there from Chris and the blogging team — and we’ll be back up at full steam the week of June 29. And in the meantime, as always, you can meander through our vast stores of advice, comics, animation, and much, much more (don’t forget BG’s Magic Beach Ball!)

Hope everyone’s enjoying the summer!

The country that brought us the Lovegety continues to be a relationship innovator:

TOKYO (Reuters) – Lovelorn staff at a Japanese marketing company can take paid time off after a bad break-up with a partner, with more “heartache leave” on offer as they get older.

Tokyo-based Hime & Company, which also gives staff paid time off to hit the shops during sales season, says heartache leave allows staff to cry themselves out and return to work refreshed. “Not everyone needs to take maternity leave but with heartbreak, everyone needs time off, just like when you get sick,” CEO Miki Hiradate, whose company of six women markets cosmetics and other goods targeted for women, told Reuters by telephone.

From yahoo news, via NowPublic