Working as professional EE and having well rounded life?

[Galenbo]

That made it a work-drink1beer-sleep schedule.

You were doing it wrong.
My first work trip was to England, I finished at the usual 5pm and it didn't get dark until 10:30pm. You can drive across England and back in that time.
a) Always get your own rental car
b) Always take a few days extra. Secretary's can re-arrange your flights without even informing management 

We carried +-60K worth measuring devices in that rental car.
That made the next job was already on the schedule.
We had no participation in planning and travel details, hotel was always with secured parking.

But I guess they were doing it wrong. They dropped the daily extra compensation from +150eur to 30eur, and suddenly
nobody was willing to "travel" anymore. I quit that job and the next year all the others had quit too.

[bitseeker]

Having worked in companies large and small, startups, and being self-employed, each one is just different. They all sucked in their own way and they had good things about them. Even if another job looks like it's "perfect", it's just going to be different (rose-colored glasses anyone?).

So, the key is knowing what's important to you and what you absolutely will not tolerate. Then, find a place that best fits your requirements, keeping in mind that, like engineering a product, there will always be tradeoffs.

[CatalinaWOW]

I totally agree that finding what is important to you and doing it is the key.  You have quite a bit of leverage at your current job, though you may not realize it.  Replacing you would require extra effort on somebodies part, and the chance that the replacement would not be as good as you.  Figure out what you really need, and then do it.  Occasional midweek day off?  Long lunch hour?  Home earlier every day?  Predictable time home?  The only one that comes through from your comments that may be hard is "More attention from the boss".  He may not have it in him.

Another key point is that you have control over your own attitude.  As stated above any job will have its bad spots.  You can choose to magnify these and turn them into a horrible burden you are forced to bear, or you can minimize them, or even turn them into a plus.  If your job requires cleaning the stables, dive into it with enthusiasm, get it done and move on to the better parts of the job.

[VK3DRB]

Having worked in companies large and small, startups, and being self-employed, each one is just different. They all sucked in their own way and they had good things about them. Even if another job looks like it's "perfect", it's just going to be different (rose-colored glasses anyone?).

So, the key is knowing what's important to you and what you absolutely will not tolerate. Then, find a place that best fits your requirements, keeping in mind that, like engineering a product, there will always be tradeoffs.

True, true. No place is perfect, although I did work at one place which were are all a great team, we were highly paid and there was free beer, Stolychnaya vodkas, Coca Cola and chips/lollies on tap. Occasionally I use to have Crown Lager for morning tea and I could code much faster after one of those. Despite us having a great product and morales being high, the place went bankrupt.

[bitseeker]

Having worked in companies large and small, startups, and being self-employed, each one is just different. They all sucked in their own way and they had good things about them. Even if another job looks like it's "perfect", it's just going to be different (rose-colored glasses anyone?).

So, the key is knowing what's important to you and what you absolutely will not tolerate. Then, find a place that best fits your requirements, keeping in mind that, like engineering a product, there will always be tradeoffs.

True, true. No place is perfect, although I did work at one place which were are all a great team, we were highly paid and there was free beer, Stolychnaya vodkas, Coca Cola and chips/lollies on tap. Occasionally I use to have Crown Lager for morning tea and I could code much faster after one of those. Despite us having a great product and morales being high, the place went bankrupt.

Yeah, and then there's that. The environment might be great, but the business has to be able to sustain it.