I love this story of a day of firsts. You rock Mr. Pepper! Like you, I have been thrilled to see the power of my votes increasing as well as my curation rewards. It has made me excited for the future of Steemit again, and optimistic that over the long haul things will be OK. I'm sorry some people got hurt and confused by the downvotes due to the ongoing whale "experiment", but overall I consider it a success and it has certainly been beneficial to us little guys.
Keep on Steeming on!
Nice attitude! Keep it up!