Now this is just weird. And yes, I validated the html and the stylesheet.

I created a transparent gif image in Paint Shop Pro 7. I made the mistake of
 making a
transparent png and went along merrily until I viewed the pages (it's a mult
i-page three and
two column site with an underlying stylesheet) in IE6. The transparent png w
orked fine in
Mozilla but broke IE6. Sooooo, I recreate the image as a gif and it seems to
 work just fine
in both Mozilla and IE6. That is until I refresh the screen in IE. Then for 
some reason the
entire center column just disappears.

That's weird but it get weirder.

If I switch pages the center column returns. That is until I refresh the scr
een. Then bye-
bye. This happens on each page.

The transparent gif is on the top of the left column and the column is set t
o overlap the
masthead. The center column has a light yellow background to offset it from 
the white
backgrounds of the left and right columns and is usually filled with black t
ext. All this is
setup in the stylesheet.

God, I hate IE