There kind of is... The more you log in, the faster the resources seem to get mined. Whether I log in in 1 hr or 8 hrs, I never seem to get more than +150 of any resource at a time. And it's not dependent on how tired the P3s are... I think it's just a factor of neopets wanting you to reload the game screen =P
Definitely agree with that, it's like you go away for half a second and it'll tell you that you've gained 10 EXP... when in that time in-game, you would've gotten +1. I'm stuck with all Mootixes though. Didn't realize what it was until after I started.
Just talking about the whole eye-contact thing in specifics: I think it also has to do a lot with where you're from. As someone who's lived in Seattle for quite some time, I know that making small-talk with strangers isn't something that odd. But I think in larger cities (Seattle is sort of mid-sized, I guess), there's much less privacy in everyone's daily routine so most people prefer to keep to themselves.