I used to be an audiovisual consultant. I got out right as the entire industry was about to die - and it's f'n gone now. Probably 15% of the employment it was at in 2006. But some segments died sooner than others. The high-end home AV universe really took it in the nuts right about the time the iPhone came out... 'cuz if you have a choice between the lights and shades and screens and sounds and speakers are controlled by your wife's iPhone or controlled by a $30k Crestron system that took eighteen hours of programming and a $350 truck roll every time something breaks? Karen's iPhone is your new control system.

They had trade magazines, though, and the content slowly shifted from "how to install this widget" and "Spacely makes the best Space Sprockets" to "how to survive an economic downturn."

One of the things they kept hammering home was that your employees are your business. If you have to sell trucks, you can buy trucks back. If you need to liquidate some gear, you can buy (and amortize) more gear when it's time to gear back up. But Joe? Who has been with you for five years, knows all your customers, knows all your folklore, is completely trained on everything that you do and handles all of Joe's shit without you thinking about it? Yeah you let Joe go and it'll take five years to replace him.

The people we have working for us are unparalleled. They are the cream of the fucking crop. Not only that, they'd walk through fire for my wife. We have their absolute loyalty: every single one of 'em was in a bad way when we started cultivating them, things took a dire turn for the worse for every single one of 'em, and we arrested their falls with goose-down pillows.

But I mean, even a Golden Retriever doesn't love you very much when you take them to the vet. And 99% of the time, I'm the guy taking 'em to the vet.