using firebug and the IE developer thing

after 8 days, 6-9 hours a day, of trying, I can't say, that they helped me much to acomplish what I need. Of course it makes it easier to try things, but after more then a week of pure frustration, the only thing i learned is, that the guys from W3C are plain morons and so are most of the browser-developers.
Its just plain crazy. There is no logic, no sense, no concept behind css.
I really don't mean to insult anyone and I can imagine, that its hard work to set such standards. But it would be cool, if they made sense to a normal being.

I am not kidding. The results I am getting vary from "wtf?" to things, that would boggle the mind of a quantum in terms of unpredictability.

Lets say, I am using an absolute position with defined top and left spacing. I apply this to several elements, each with its own positioning. They now should be on a certain spot inside the viewport, according to the top/left alignment, right? Wrong. They stack on each other. They change their sizes and just seem to do what they want. A graphic with a height of 200px, set this way, suddenly only shows 120px. Just as an example.
Its just idiotic.
Something that doesn't make sense, does not settle easy in my brain and that leaves me at the same point, I have been aprox. 80 hours of trial and error. Not a px closer to what I need.

Sure, it has to be me, since others seem to manage anyway. But I still think it could be done in a more logical way...

And I am not even starting on browser-differences...