Nancy,

I do appreciate your advice. (in fact, you'll even notice that the bg image
is no longer present at all, regardless of the browser used, because I've
removed it.) However, I still need addressing the problem. I still am
not able to see a background image if I decide to ever use one, but FAR more
important is my links STILL do not work. I am EXTREMELY new to HTML and CSS,
so I really appreciate you teaching me that I should keep my work as light as
possible for friendly loading times, but I still need to find out how to get my
"get directions" links to be accessible in IE. In Firefox, Safari, and Opera
there is no issue. In IE the links are only accessible for a split-second as
the page loads. The moment that the bg image used to disappear was EXACTLY the
moment that the links ceased to be accessible. It is as though suddenly
something entirely transparent loads at a higher z-index over the top of my
"get directions" links. Any chance, Nancy, (or anyone else) that this is
something easy that has been eluding me? Keep in mind that this ONLY effects
IE, and ONLY on my index page.