(In response to VictoryGrey on Dysamoria's Blog):

Yes, that was you trying to be manipulative, trying to make him pity you thus giving you the job.
No, I don't think that of course but a surprising number of people seem to think that way. Expressions of unhappiness are viewed with suspicion in general and they're especially verbotten in job interviews. In an interview you have to go in and smile, smile, smile and go on about how you've loved every single job you've ever had, and are just a happy, happy, happy well adjusted person.

I always liked this from 2:08 till 6:15 for the average job interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH6-XWFtR54

The way generally to approach it though is to remember that it's actually a very negative experience for the person giving the interview also. And making sure to completely hide any unhappiness, anything negative at all, is considered being considerate to them.

I don't mean to be negative in what I'm saying. This was important stuff for me to understand. And I had bad interviews through not understanding it well enough when younger.

For Jace's previous job for example I'd just gloss it over as short as possible. Not in the sense of lying, but in the sense of being considerate to the interviewer who really doesn't want to have to contemplate anything negative at all. And who probably genuinely wants to think good thoughts of all people. And so they want you to just gloss over past negatives.

There is all something very strange about how humans act. How so many obvious things (Like: No, we're not really all that happy, in fact a considerable portion of the population is on prozac, etc, etc. Yes, we've all had crappy jobs, etc.) we're supposed to just pretend about, through some kind of unspoken ...social norm or whatever which seems to amount to something like insanity.

But then many people have pointed out that to be happy you need to be insane. Mark Twain for example. Sorry, not trying to go off in such a depressing direction here. Basic thought: hide all things negative in job interviews out of an attempt at being considerate to the interviewer.

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Meanwhile a neighbor's house caught on fire yesterday. A lady died.

In the newspaper article our street was described as a very close knit community.

The house across the street from us is less than 20 yards away. Both our houses are right on top of the street. The street is just a straight stretch that comes to a dead end; not even 20 houses total. In this house across the street lives a couple in their late 70's, a daughter in her early 40's (C) and then her daughter who's about 10. The house that burned down was two houses up. In it lived a second daughter (who died in the fire) and her boyfriend.

We have spoken here and there to the couple in their 70's. The daughter C has never spoken to us in the three years we've lived here. We figure she's just very shy. Otherwise 4 other people on the street have spoken to us. The lawn nazi to the right, a nice older lady to the left, a nice guy to the right of the older couple's house, who doesn't actually live in his house but comes by occasionally and then just barely the people who live down from the lawn nazi. Inbetween the old couple's house and the house that burned down is an apartment house where lives the people who keep getting cats and leaving them to die outside and whom had the dog that mauled the ten year old girl.

In the article it was said the fire burned hotter than any seen in 20 years. The siding on the house across the street actually melted it burned so hot. It was an inferno.

The old man next door has a very bad heart and they were afraid finding out his one daughter had died might have killed him. So the boyfriend sat on our front steps and sobbed, hidden from the old man's view by a firetruck. I'd also never ever spoken to this man and just let him be. Nor had I ever spoken to the lady who died. I'm a little introverted I guess. But mostly in this day and age it's normal to have not have ever spoken to a couple that have lived 50 meters away for three years.

I suppose it is a 'close knit community.'

Relatively speaking anyway. Relative to the rest of 2009 America.