I pay attention to "PR", but I like to think I sort of know what I am doing. Google is currently ranking me alright and I have been known to mention PR when seeking a link trade on some occasions. But, if you want to continue thinking PR is useless, by all means... please do.
That being said, as Halfdeck stated, what you can actually see in your toolbar is what they allow you to see and is not an up to date reflection of your PR.
Just my 2 cents.