BDS writes:

Wow, thanks for that sobering piece of advice. And here I was, just about
to go out and take some stupid risks without knowing what I was doing in an
airplane that wasn't in flyable (safe) condition. I'm sure glad you stopped
me. I'd hate to be the reason that GA went away.

There are lots of pilots taking stupid risks. Some of them will flippantly
deny doing so, too, although it's hard to hide one's errors from the NTSB.