Original Commentary
From my personal experience, looking for work on-line is really a pain the butt. Of course, Terrence has had nothing but good experiences with on-line job searches. I'm sure the more you read this arc, the more you'll see who wrote the story arc. -Isabel

Modern Commentary
Was it easier to stumble upon a clickbaity fluff piece nowadays than it was in 2005? I mean, here I am on Windows 10 and the OS's built-in "News and weather" widget is full of them. Maybe that says more about my search history or the fact that I haven't aggressively curated it that I've got an article about how baggy jeans are back in - and I can pull off that look.
Decades of machine learning and focused advertising. They really ought to know by now that I would look ridiculous in baggy jeans.

Kimberly's probably looking at her ISP's homepage or something like that. This isn't content that she's searching out or even something specifically directed at her. It's just cast out into the general sphere of the internet, like pollen, and happens to land on fertile ground. - Terrence

Original Commentary
Kimberly's father used to be a financial backer for up and coming businesses. Most of them went belly up before they went anywhere and he usually just got some of the useless products as a consolation prize for not actually getting any of his money back. Kimberly got her business sense from her mother.-Isabel

Modern Commentary
So, it has been established that Kimberly's father is a serial entrepreneur. He has invested in a variety of companies, mostly unsuccessful. (The successful ones, he's taken the money and reinvested it in other unsuccessful companies...)
It has also been established that Kimberly has a large backstock of unusual merchandise. Roll twice on the Random Stuff table and choose whatever's funniest.

So this comic is where Isabel tied those two facts together. It feels so natural. I'm a little embarrassed that I hadn't even considered it until she wrote this, but I'm glad I get to work with someone who understands me and my characters well enough to do this and bridge the gaps that I unknowingly left. - Terrence

Original Commentary
On-line auctions are not one for the impatient among us, as Kimberly is showing us. Her outfit and hairstyle was actually taken directly from her old look back in the Unlike Minerva days, which she most likly did to get herself back in the mood of living off her wits and not a constant paycheck. -Isabel

Modern Commentary
So how popular are these things? Probably not a full on Beanie Babie national mania, but they've got a dedicated following. Several collector communities. Probably not printed price guides, but folks know how much most things cost. Not for one-of-a-kind prototypes, though. -Terrence

Original Commentary
If she were at her booth, she'd be rearranging the merchandise, making eye contact with passers-by, and generally trying to attract attention. What else can she do? - Terrence

Modern Commentary
I wonder if she knows she needs to refresh the page. I mean, I'm sure all the auction sites have live updates now, but back then? Probably not.
But yeah, she's caught in that moment of hoping something happens. I'm wondering if eBay had any kind of category alert back then, so the right folks would automatically be informed when this went up for sale. I don't think they did. -Terrence

Modern Commentary
Yeah, that's the most expensive thing she's ever sold, by a large factor.
If I were re-editing this, I'd have this be a larger amount than the check her mom just gave her. But when expenses are high and wages are low, extra money doesn't last forever.-Terrence

Original Commentary
The internet can be a very bad place, especially for those of us who work in it- it's really a 24/7 job and one feels guilty if you're not always working or thinking about work. I'm sure Kimberly feels the same way right now... I'm sure that doesn't make Brisbane feel any better about having to eat alone. -Isabel

Modern Commentary
Most of Kimberly's old inventory is stuff that's less collectible. Toy prototypes can be fun, but prototype garden hoses don't have the same cachet.

That line about "old contacts"? We didn't have anything specific planned for that. I had a vague ideas about her getting back in touch with an ex-boyfriend and Brisbane being uneasy about that. I liked the idea of him being vaguely dangerous in a connected-to-the-underworld kind of way but also being a sheep. I felt that made a nice contrast. But I never had the occasion to bring him up. I don't think I mentioned him to Isabel and he never even got a sketch.
I'm going to say not canon. -Terrence