A quick update about work. For those coming in late, Diamond Comic Distributors, my employer for the past eighteen years, filed for bankruptcy in mid-January. For the past month, since mid-May, I have been working for Diamond under a Transition Services Agreement (or TSA); the company was bought by Ad Populum, but I remained employedContinue reading “A Saturday Potpourri”
Tag Archives: Diamond Comic Distributors
A Hard Week
Last week was a hard week. The July issue of PREVIEWS went to press. #442, my 217th issue. Except. It didn’t go to press. Not really. This issue is PDF-only. We had to buy the paper for the catalog when the sale of Diamond’s assets to Universal and Ad Populum closed, and the decision toContinue reading “A Hard Week”
Anniversaries and Endings
Today marks my anniversary date at Diamond Comic Distributors. Eighteen years. Started on May 17, 2007. Yesterday, a number of people I work with were let go due to Diamond’s bankruptcy. I’d seen the news that the sale—Ad Populum, the owners of Graceland, had bought Diamond’s assets—on Facebook. I read the press release, and thereContinue reading “Anniversaries and Endings”
On the Eve of the Sale
Wednesday night, a former Diamond colleague contacted me and asked hpw I was feeling about Diamond and the bankruptcy. I talked her ear off, in the Facebook Messenger sense, for a solid hour. “You know the ‘Five Stages of Grief?’” I said. “I’m permanently living three of them–Anger, Depression, and Acceptance.” I’m angry about theContinue reading “On the Eve of the Sale”
A Day in FedoraLand
Friday was a work-from-home day. I could have gone into the office — on the one hand, I felt unproductive on Thursday, despite getting a great deal done, because the one project on my board that I knew would take multiple days was left unfinished; on the other, the office flooded last weekend and wasContinue reading “A Day in FedoraLand”
Don’t Forget Your Towel
Fedora 42 released today, and I upgraded my installation. With a release number like 42, that called for a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy wallpaper. I liked this wallpaper, based on the movie. You can find it here. I really should have the Infocom Hitchhiker’s game running in the terminal — I have it hereContinue reading “Don’t Forget Your Towel”
March 1844, 2020
Five years ago today Diamond’s office shut down for COVID and went work-from-home. Tomorrow, bids for Diamond’s assets are due to the bankruptcy court. When work-from-home started, I was writing the May 2020 catalog, which went unpublished. Yesterday, I began writing the May 2025 catalog. This has been the longest month. Before the COVID shutdown,Continue reading “March 1844, 2020”
When I Thought About Learning Python
Two years ago I intended to learn Python. Then I never did. And there’s a story to that. What brings this up is an article I saw online a few days ago, “VBA vs. Python: Which is the best tool for Excel automation.” It began, as many such things do, with a work problem. WeContinue reading “When I Thought About Learning Python”
A Last Anniversary
Facebook memories reminded me this morning that today, February 1st, is the anniversary of the founding of Diamond Comic Distributors in 1982. I hadn’t yet turned nine. There were photos in my memories of the 40th-anniversary in 2022, when the office was essentially closed due to COVID… …and of the gift we received for theContinue reading “A Last Anniversary”
Two Weeks into Bankruptcy Life
“This business will get out of control. It will get out of control, and we’ll be lucky to live through it.” I’ve been quoting this bit of dialogue from The Hunt for Red October like a mantra recently. No, not in regards to the second Trump administration, which finds new and even more depraved waysContinue reading “Two Weeks into Bankruptcy Life”