Are you seriously tell me that you are an automaton - you just want to clock in your 8 hrs at work so you get your paycheck and aspire absolutely nothing else from your career??
In the 15 years I've been doing this I have realized that there are far too many people whom deep down inside the answer is yes. Maybe they are too beat down, or jaded, or just don't care. I know plenty of guys who started in the industry with me or shortly after that are still in the same job role, not for lack of skill or opportunity to advance, but pure desire and motivation.
Going through these posts so far I'm a little shocked and taken back by the common themes... look guys, no one is going to hand you promotions and raises, you need to go out and get them. The first step in doing this is to reflect on your career and skill set, then honestly answer these questions, at least to yourself. IF the answer truly is "for a paycheck" then fine, but don't also expect large raises and promotions; these generally go to people who are aggressive with their career and in it more for just a paycheck.
It's easy as engineers to sometimes feel entitled; how many of us have saved companies from a major disaster? saved millions of dollars? saved people their jobs? You might be asking "where is my cut?" The short answer is tough luck, you did your job and you don't get one; that's not to say you don't deserve one. Feel good about what you did, and use it to propel your career, but don't get caught up in what you did not get in return. With pay and promotions sometimes you need to fight for it and sometimes give up and switch jobs, cities, states or countries to move up, acquire new skills and receive higher pay checks. The major advances in my career and pay all came from job transitions between companies, with some minor victories in there while on the job.
In some imaginary utopian world a manager would pro-actively promote you and shower you with praise, fame and fortune. Your CEO would be driving the honda and you the bently. When you came to work a carpet would be laid out and fresh warm hot pockets would be already made for you. People would line the cubicle walls and cheer for you as you walked by, that balding manager would shake your hand and thank you for recovering his email. Sysadmin day would be more than just a joke on slashdot... That's not the world we live in. Companies more often than not suck, some less than others. Your *real job* is to find the least sucky job, get the most money you can for yourself and advance your skill set quickly because there aint no one out there who's going to hand it to you -- no matter how much to deserve it.