Epiphany, it appears that without knowing anything about me, you refer to myself as an "apologist"?
I run a single pilot, single man flying operation. As in I do everything, from the initial flight request telephone call. I do all the aircraft inspections, I tow it out, do all the flying, put it back in the hangar after the job is done and do all the paperwork. I have no ops setup and no local engineering backup. The aircraft does not get looked at by an engineer in between 50 hour/3 monthly checks. No-one except me opens a cowling.
I am very much aware that if my personal standards slip, I have no safety net either in front or behind me. As I said, I intend to make my retirement (not too far over the horizon) safely, so I cannot let them slip.
I apologise for no-one else because I have no-one else to apologise for.
And you? Do you fly, or have a licence?