LACC - Saturday G/60 Round 1 vs an Expert

I visited Los Angeles Chess Club one night to play in an G/60 tournament, my main reason was to hurry up and get to my established rating, since it's taking me years to get out of my Provisional Rating; I only won (1) game this night...  While I was still only on my 983 Provisional Rating, I managed to beat a 2054 player.

I was actually working really hard to get a perpetual check, to get a good chunk of points to my rating by draw because of the big difference factor, but everything fell in my favor.  At move 37, I could have forced a perpetual check, but I I even realized, I could have forced a checkmate!!!?  But those are things you don't see everytime, until after the fact.  My intuition told me to play on.  A funny thing is, the person I beat, was also rated @ 2054, the same rating as SLYGOLF on chess.com, who I worked so hard at to beat... (another blog)

NOTE:  Photo taken is not of my Expert Opponent, but at the somewhere in LA at the LA Chess Club.

One thing I could remember, was  that my opponent was late and the TD said to if he didn't show up soon after the scheduled start time, he told me he would tell me when to start the clock.

I had so many questions in mind after I won this game.  I was amazed, that an expert rated player can blunder like that.  I know one of the things that we're taught, is that rooks do best on the 7th rank; however, this wasn't an occasion my opponent shouldn't have done that (move 40...Qxe1).  After my last queen move, my opponent extended his hand to me and resigned.  He told me I was not a 983 rated player; he was correct indeed, but I was still under my provisional rating.  I asked myself, was I lucky or was I forced to play a good game; did he blunder out of underestimating me or did he actually blunder?