I don't know if you've ever been to an Iowa game, but it is traditional for 4 cheerleaders to stand on each corner of the field with I-O-W-A flags and wave them having each quadrant scream out the letter. Yesterday somebody stole the O flag. It actually made the news. It has since been recovered.

>"Life isn't all about money" -- I almost put that exact phrase in my reply to you. Yes, exactly.
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>As far as the Hawkeyes tickets, I guess it is important to replace the job aggravation somehow ;-)
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>>I drive about 24 highway miles to work everyday. The new job would be ~ 8 miles shorter.
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>>No, I'm not to the point of not being able to handle the stress, although it is piling up. It gets better and worse, but it doesn't stay better for long.
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>>I am pretty sure I will end up accepting it - I just want a little reassurance that life isn't all about money. That 6% isn't going to break us by any means, but if I have to give up my Hawkeye Football season tickets, I will cut somebody.
>>
>>>When you reach the point where, when someone asks you how your day was and you reply "No one died', it might be time to look for another job.
>>>
>>>Other things to consider:
>>>Is the new job closer to your home? If so, there's gas and mileage savings
>>>
>>>Is getting out of bed in the morning the least stressful thing in your day? If so, do you 'require' some type of relaxant after work to 'wind down' (and no, I'm not trying to imply anything bad)
>>>
>>>Are the benefits within the realm of 'good'? Yeah, a smaller shop might not be able to afford the same insurance - but if you're less stressed you might not need it at the bigger shop level :)
>>>
>>>I think it all boils down to the fact that you are uncomfortable/unhappy in your current work situation and life is WAY too short to grind in a job/environment you don't like.
>>>
>>>
>>>I'd still get the preformance expectations and the promotion statement in writing.
>>>
>>>
>>>>I just got a job offer this morning. I have been getting really sick of the Dilbert-ness of my current job. I have talked to my manager and my manager's manager about it, so I have tried to address the issues.
>>>>
>>>>The new place is a small local manufacturing facility. They have a 7-8 developer shop. I would be coming in as a Developer 1 for about 8% less than I am making now. They said after 6 months if I meet performance expectations (which I am confident I can) they would promote me to a Developer 2, and my salary would increase to about what I make now. I think I would fit in better at the new place because I have always really enjoyed manufacturing, and it seems like a somewhat laid back place. I interviewed with half the department and they seem like geeks, instead of the business stiffs I work for now. All of their systems are written in .NET, so I wouldn't have to struggle with the integrations between subpar vendored systems.
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>>>>The benefits wouldn't be as good as my current job, but not by much. I think there would be a lot more potential at the new place. I am about ready to friggin lose my mind at my current place. Once jagoff told me I should start to learn Java and I was ready to fight him (not literally, but in my mind I had him up in a helicopter whirl).
>>>>
>>>>What say you? I'm having a hard time getting around the money thing for the first few months. Even if it were just a miniscule amount more than I make now it would have given me a warm fuzzy that at least I am headed in the right direction money wise. However, I really do think that in 2-3 years I would be making more there than I would be here. They are a C# and Oracle shop, and I am a VB and SQL Server guy, but I'm fairly confident I can make the switch without too much trouble.
>>>>
>>>>Anyway, I should probably just be happy that I have a job because I know some folks on here aren't as lucky.