A funny story on the "more interesting job" front:

My brother was talking to his co-worker about my job. "He does computer stuff for the Human Genome Project." "That's really cool and interesting!" [etc]

This goes on until one of their other co-workers leans forward and says "guys, can you pay a little more attention to what you're doing?"

What were they doing? Oh, nothing exciting, just flying a helicopter at low altitude over Ft. Bragg, NC.