After reading your review, I made the decision to return to the right seat of something big and comfortable before I'd go to the DC9. I'm sure it's a fine airplane, but I already went backwards in technology (73N --> 737-200), and vowed I'd never do that again.
I love the 88, and for all it's warts, would like to stay on it for a very long time. But when I went to it 3+ years ago, I never imagined I'd be worse off seniority-wise for this long. I'm just about at my limit on hot, cold, and wet airplanes with the maddog, so enduring more from her older, special sister doesn't enter into my plans.