A reader writes:
I work at a semi conductor company in the Dallas suburbs. We ate shit in 2008 after eating shit in painful restructuring of our own doing in 2007. We went from 21 people to 13, with the survivors taking a 50% pay cut for half of '08. The average age of our company has to be close to 60, so a lot of seniors looked at their 401(k)s wondering if there was another paycheck coming or how long they could hold their breath. As the controller I got a front row ticket in the raft going over the waterfall.
The last eight months, however, have been the best in the company's 30-year history. Sales are up 70%. Our pay is back to normal and we hired our fourth new employee on Monday. I attribute our success to pent-up customer budgets and being one of the few surviving competitors in our market.
Another writes:
I dropped a suit off at the dry cleaners on Monday, and noticed this sign – a small but neat gesture from a dry cleaning outfit in Portland, OR
The Dish 