Whilst it remains an embarrassment, and I'm glad nobody's savaged me (so far), I feel better for having put it out there, knowing what a pillock I was and how many others have done the same.
My experience has long since reached a level where the unfortunately entries are inconsequential, but I still feel a little twinge of anxiety watching a tyro ground running an aircraft and just wondering whether an entry will go somewhere it shouldn't. My observation of the low-time instructor candidate has heightened the concern about the honours system in general.
As for Rob's tale, it's a bit sad, but it some regions of Australia, the community expectation is the prices remain the same forever. I once had a person complain bitterly, refusing to fly unless I discounted her flight to what she'd previously paid. Some questions revealed that her previous flight had occurred 9 YEARS EARLIER. The motivation to charge for hours not flown, or to run on the edge of bankruptcy, or skip maintenance, or falsify hours, does not always come from within, but like logging ground runs, the temptation must always be resisted.
I have committed just one of these sins and changed my path, glad that I didn't hurt anyone and that I discovered the error of my ways at a time when I hadn't formed a habit.