A little perspective for you then. I bid in the top 10 in SFO (as an FO) and am an East Coast commuter. On a "good" month I spend 8 nights in my own bed. I do hold lines with 13-15 days off but it is very common to only have 1 or 2 days off between trip pairings, not enough time to go home. I can upgrade (have been by passing it for quite a while) but that would mean sitting on reserve and getting home 2 or maybe 3 nights a month, no thanks. With nearly 10 years seniority I have my apps out at the big 4 and am starting to think about jumping to another "tier 2" airline just for quality of life.

As for pay, I am on 10 year pay, a good friend of mine is on 6 year pay at Spirit and consistently makes more while flying much less than me.

Good luck and keep banging on Delta's door until they open it for you!