Guess I'm part of the woodwork. Three years today.

There were fewer than 50,000 accounts when I arrived on the 6th of August 2016.
The price was free-falling past $2, and wouldn't regain that level for another 7 months.

Still from Pirates of the Carribean.

I got straight onto Facebook and put the feelers out. One of my friends jumped on as @holoz0r and is still with us to this day.
I think the shadow-banning started not long after, as any post about Steem fell flat from then on.

My first post - https://steempeak.com/anarchism/@mattclarke/does-scarlette-need-a-gun - is unfortunately just as relevant today as it was then.
I'm still in touch with the lovely Scarlette, although we no longer work together. She's now married and has beautiful, twin baby boys.

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My main motivation for joining up was the permanence of the chain.
People say that once something's on the net it's there forever; but that's not meant as an offer, it's meant as a threat.
Before blockchains, you didn't have any way to make sure desired information would always be available online; I remember seeing guys charging to embed a message in the bitcoin blockchain, so when I understood that Steem flipped that around and offered to pay, rather than charge, I knew I was looking at a viable business model.

My paternal Grandfather took his own life when my Dad was only a baby (PTSD and chronic tinnitus from WWII), so I grew up with an acute appreciation of how fortunate I was to have my Dad in my life, and a sadness at how much he had lost.
So much of who his Father had been was lost when he died; and I knew I didn't want that for my kids.
If something was to happen and I wasn't around to raise Henry, Fletcher and Evelyn to adulthood, if they then wanted to know who their Dad was, I wanted to know they could learn.

Dad, reading a bedtime story to Fletcher

My dear friend and cherished member of the Adelaide community, @minismallholding actually went through and read all of my old posts, and I'm confident she now knows me better than close friends I've known for decades. This is a big part of my hesitation to post too frequently, or on current events. I don't want a future reader to face wading through reams of dated news-sharing to get that understanding.

From steemworld.org

Me reading to Evelyn

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Its been a fascinating 3 years.

• I lost a gif chess match against @blocktrades, @armen and @brendio.

• I got to be a millionaire (in Aussie dollars) for less than a day, before the price started unraveling.

• I've held quarterly hardcore races in Path of Exile, a brilliant game.

• I've kicked off, (with the help of my boys, @holoz0r and @o07), the #mallsballers here in Adelaide, South Australia, with monthly meetups (last Thursday of the month from 6pm at The Jade, on Flinders St.)

• I met @rustle and sent him off on his travels.

• I saw a bright future in Splinterlands and moved in heavy, early, managing to hoard more than 25% of the world's Alpha Flesh Golems.

• I secured Steem silver round #8/1500 in 2017 and 2018, and plan to do so again this year. I'm also fortunate to count the artists behind both designs as good friends. @bearone, @welshstacker; love your work.

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Thanks for making it an incredible 3 years; I'm very much looking forward to the next 3.