very good explanation fizzy, that's exactly it.
Keith, to see the comments left by people who have given you karma (if they chose to write a comment), click on "
user cp" in the blue nav bar at the top of the page, then scroll down to where it says "latest reputation received". you will see the title of the thread where the karma was given (that is a link, which takes you to the specific post in question), the date, the name of the karma giver, and their comment (if they leave one).