Saying I'm wrong to try and navigate this rotting business as best I can is easy to say for someone who had it a lot easier and with less "hurdles" along the way (certainly less bull$#!*). I, too, know plenty of "'ol dogs" who don't envy me trying to make it from the bottom in this day in age in professional flying. I refuse to believe that my time and money was not well spent. How can I be signaling to anyone that the pay is too high? How is it any different than me flying the airplane with simply another rated crew member? I learned a lot and did a fair amount of hard flying over those couple months. How could it be better to buzz around smashing bugs in local practice areas for 250 hours training people? I mean that with the utmost respect to the CFI profession. But, tell me truthfully, if a CFI at any level could honestly EARN an extra surplus of $35,000 or so, that he / she would not spend it to log QUALITY time and experience on a high performance twin turboprop airplane weighing more than 12,500lbs. to further their career or better their chances to move on to the next step.....REALLY?!?!? As long as the program incorporates good training methods / practices, and your not sitting in an otherwise 'paid' seat? Pilot in Command is Pilot in Command...it all depends on the person. I've flown with guys with 6,000hrs PIC turbine who are as brain dead as a 300hr student pilot. It should be all about quality not just quantity. Along with all of the over exposed problems with aviation today, I believe the one factor that is left untouched is the failure of the testing / evaluation / standards. It's gone from 100 micron to 10 micron filters.