It is interesting to see the other side of it, this being the only time in my life I have ever been here (and the only time I have ever been on the receiving side of public assistance, unemployment comp).
I mean, I don't mind chucking some long held standards, because some of them are for convenience as much as anything. But I really don't see how lying about myself is going to get me anywhere I want to be...given what we are talking about is a job paying far, far, less than I've ever made before and doing things I've never done before. How long am I going to be able to do that before I just chuck it? Hell, better to start eating the pension fund than compromising that much and heading down a dead-end road.
So...Har! I'll take the "whiner" label proudly (even though I don't remember exactly what it was I was supposed to be whining about). Better that than whore myself out so cheaply that whatever qualities I had that allowed me to succeed for so long fritter away into lost self-respect, remorse and second-guessing. Better a shooting star than a slowly dying ember.