>The problem is, this is the second job in a row where I've had problems being satisfied. I don't know if I have just been unlucky twice in a row, or if the problem is with me... I really have a problem with clueless managers who boss me around.

It could be that the employer has such managers intentionally. Being inept, they are more pliable and less prone to independent thinking, and surely will never dare take their underlings' side in any serious dispute - they'll rather be the commissars, suck up/kick down guys, because it's their sacred duty to cover their assssets, and not make waves. If you had a knowledgeable boss, then a) he may actually appreciate what you're doing, and would actually agree to give you a raise at some point, which is contrary to corporate policy; b) from time to time he may accept that you're right about something, and then get into a dispute with his boss; c) his boss may end up looking like an idiot, and we can't have that, can we?

Of course, there are companies where all this BScience doesn't compute, and where you have people doing a good job without a care for any corporate hierarchy, court games and whatnots. Feel free to take your chances to find/make at least one for yourself. I was lucky to have been on this good side of life most of the time (the troubles were elsewhere, not on the job), wish you get to try that, it's knowing good.