Well even with those votes "removed" you still would be at the top but thanks for the clarification, though not needed.
I will also say that I started that recommendation thing not on my own idea, I have seen others doing it and like @bigtom13 said, we all need to promote each other when and where we can. It doesn't cost a dime to plug someone at the end of a post and I would encourage others to do it as well, what can it hurt.
I know that "pulling" you speak of, sometimes I just don't have the time to crank out a Daily Dose or keep up with the voting and comments. I am just now catching up on two days of replies I needed to answer.
So thanks and congrats, now I am getting back to my replies I need to catch up on.