The junior mans are not fun, but if you play the system you will make a lot of money here. I know a few FOs who credit 140-160 hours every month. Living in base makes this much more manageable so I would highly consider just making the move if your life allows it. There are plenty of nice small inexpensive towns in WI and IL if you don't want to do the big city thing.

I had 7 days off in a row right now and I picked up a 2 day with 2 legs and 4 hours of flying today that pays 12 hours solely because I can get those days back next month and because it gets me 2 junior mans closer to my 10 for the year.

You just have to know how to turn lemons into lemonade