cd $x; rmdir $x; mkdir $x; ...

[jidanni]

Yes, this all is probably expected, but I'll post it here anyway, just
in case.

$ mkdir /tmp/n
$ cd /tmp/n
$ rmdir /tmp/n
$ mkdir /tmp/n
$ pwd
/tmp/n
$ touch k
touch: cannot touch `k': No such file or directory
$ touch /tmp/n/k
$ dash
sh: getcwd() failed: No such file or directory
$ pwd

$ exit
$ bash
shell-init: error retrieving current directory: getcwd: cannot access parent 
directories: No such file or directory
shell-init: error retrieving current directory: getcwd: cannot access parent 
directories: No such file or directory
$ pwd
pwd: error retrieving current directory: getcwd: cannot access parent 
directories: No such file or directory
$ exit
$ ls .
$ ls -l
total 0
$ ls -la
total 0
$ ls -la .
total 0
$ ls -la $PWD
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 jidanni jidanni  60 2009-09-12 01:55 .
drwxrwxrwt 9 root    root    440 2009-09-12 01:55 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 jidanni jidanni   0 2009-09-12 01:55 k