Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome, come on in.

Hello, good evening, and welcome, to my first ever post as a blogger.

As an IT worker, I've been aware of blogs since the early days, but never understood their attraction. Well, better a late convert than forever remaining an athiest, huh?

Credit for my conversion has to go to my new found interest in poker - courtesy of the TV boom and, more importantly, a trip to Vegas. Some of the poker blogs make great reads, and give a sense of the shared community feeling which comes from a common love of a great game.

I've got super hooked on the game recently, and was opining over Christmas that it could be a useful little side earner, as well as great fun. My friends weren't entirely convinced, and we had a nice little debate about it, which has resulted in my setting a profit target for this year of $6000. I then realised that keeping focused on this would be the real challenge - I needed something more than money to motivate me. So, I decided to start a blog. What can be more motivating that exposing yourself to the scrutiny and ridicule of the entire world. So, I now owe it to myself to get a few links to this blog to make sure someone actually reads this. Let me know if you do, even if only by way of a 'YOU SUCK' comment.

The current stats, for later comparison:

Bankroll @ 1st January 2005	$439.99
Bankroll @ 6th January 2005	$511.99
Profit to date	$72.00

What else can you expect from me? Well, as a fan of the glorious Glasgow Celtic you can expect a few comments on the state of Scottish football, referees, and other associated issues. Speaking of which, it's nice to see that while our English neighbours may have better players than us at present; their officials are just as inept as ours. Special mentions to Mike Riley and Rob Lewis.

On a more personal note, my wife is pregnant with our first child, so I'm sure there will be a few reflections on that. I'll try to refrain from the cloying, squidgy nonsense, but I've got to admit, I'm really looking forward to being a dad. Baby eta 9th July 2005!

Other than that, I've got a broad range of interests, and while I consider myself easy going and socially inclusive, I've got no tolerance for wilful dickheadery or incompetence, so expect a few rants about random subjects along the way. Likely future topics: British customer service, the press, politicians, M8 drivers, the British transport infrastructure, the criminal justice system. This could be a lot more cost effective than therapy - and my poor wife is in no state to suffer my verbal explosions at present.

So, onwards and upwards, I've already wasted valuable SnG time writing this. See you at the table....