Welcome to the world

I'm proud to introduce my new daughter, Alyssa Ann Grear, to the world. She was born at 4:58pm on Saturday September 27th, and she weighed 7lbs 7oz and was 20.5 inches long.

Its hard to describe the feeling I had after she was born, somewhere between shock, happiness, and panic lol. Actually the first thing I thought after seeing her for the first time was "Damn she has a lot of hair", which she does surprisingly. She had to be born by C-section and I didn't even get to stay in the room or cut the cord when she was born. In fact she was born for almost 45 minutes before I got to lay eyes on her. I shouldn't complain though, her mother didn't even get to see her till 4 hours later, and by then the whole family had already seen her. I felt really bad about that.

I'm beyond happy that she is finally here and I can't wait to bring her home on Wednesday. I'll post lots more pics when I get more.

The great debates

The first scheduled Presidential Debate is set to take place Friday night at 9pm EST, and me having no life whatsoever will probably watch it. It should be interesting to watch, I just hope Obama comes out swinging because he should wipe the floor with McCain. He's far smarter, his policies are far more sound, and he obviously a far better communicator.


I know that I've sworn off polls until October but I can't ignore the almost daily news stories talking about Obama pulling ahead in them recently. We'll see how things go after the debate this Friday, I think those polls will give us the first "real" look at how the election is going.


So, I haven't really been up to anything lately, just waiting for my damn kid to pop out. She's already 2 days past due and I'm ready to get this waiting over with. If she doesn't go into labor by this Wednesday they are going to induce her. Either way I will be a father in a week. I still can hardly believe it to be honest.

Update: I actually started this post on Tuesday, but it seems McCain doesn't want to debate on Friday, using the Economic problems as a scapegoat. This will backfire on him, no doubt about it.

Crazy week

Yeah, its been a really crazy week.

First in sports, the Eagles lost a heartbreaker against the Cowboys 41-37. The game was going back and forth but we had a late turnover while in scoring position that ended up costing us the game. Next the Phillies came out of nowhere to take the division lead back from the Mets and also pulled ahead of Milwaukee by a game in the Wild Card race. It looks like we may be headed to the playoffs again this year.

Then in politics the polls have been moving up and down so much I can't get a real guage on how the election looks right now. Most newer ones show McCain actually beating Obama in electoral votes at the moment, but I noticed that many of them are from Rasmussen, which is always Republican leaning compared to the other major pollsters. It shows McCain suddenly way ahead in Florida (where every other poll is even), and tied in Pennsylvania (where every other poll shows Obama with a comfortable lead), so I am taking it with a grain of salt.

If you want to be realistic Obama is still holding all the Kerry states and is dead even in Ohio and Florida. If he wins either one he wins the election. Truth be told I am swearing off polls until October since the fluxuation is so large right now that I can't get a good read of what is really going on. My gut instinct is telling me that everything will remain the same as 2004 except Obama will take Iowa, Colorado, and Florida.

In other news still no baby yet. In fact she is even dilated at all yet so more than likely she'll have to be induced. Next appointment is on Tuesday so we'll see what happens then. In case you fogot the due date is the 21st which is just a few short days away. I'm ready for her to come out now, this waiting is annoying lol.

Thats it for now, next post may be after the baby is born. I'll definitely include pics then.

Crisis averted

So after 9 months of everything being normal in the pregnancy we finally had a little glitch. My wifes Amniotic Fluid level was low when we got it checked on Monday, so they had to recheck it again today. If it was low again they were going to have to induce labor so she would deliver the baby today. Turns out that the fluid level was good and she doesn't have to deliver early.

Also we had the Baby shower on Saturday and holy Christ did we get a lot of stuff. We got a Crib, Bassinet, Play Pen, High Chair, Changing Table, and a shit ton of clothes and other stuff. I needed two trips in a huge SUV to get it all home. This baby has more clothes than I do right now, its pretty insane.

In other news the Eagles absolutely stomped the Rams on Sunday 38-3, and have our rival the Dallas Cowboys this Monday night. Many consider Dallas the best team in the league but I still think we're gonna beat them.

I can't end a post here without a political rant lol so here goes. So some new polls are coming out that have McCain leading Obama now and people have their panties in a bunch about it. Big deal I say, Obama still has huge leads in the "Kerry" states (states that John Kerry won in 2004) totaling 251 Electoral Votes. He has also finally caught up to McCain in Florida, which I predicted he would way back when McCain decided to support offshore drilling. So when (not if) he wins Florida he'll have 278 Electoral Votes and will win the Presidency.

Again I cannot stress this enough; forget National polls they are worthless, State polls are all that matters. This election is NOT close, Obama is a virtual lock to win right now, and it will take a HUGE miracle for McCain to overtake him. The major TV networks are only giving you an illusion that its close because close races = high ratings = more money for them. Don't believe the hype believe the facts.

That time of year again

Are you ready for some Football? (the American version)

Yet again my beloved Philadelphia Eagles line up this Sunday on another quest to win that elusive Super Bowl title. We actually have a pretty good chance for the first time since 2004 to win it all and I can't wait to get the season started. Back in 2004 we made it to the Super Bowl but lost a heartbreaker to those cheatin' Patriots, a game we dominated throughout but lost because of too many turnovers.

But this is 2008 not 2004. We aren't as good as we were back then but we will compete for a division title and make the playoffs. Our QB Donovan McNabb is healthy, our RB Brian Westbrook has blossomed into a superstar, and our Defense is healthy and dramatically improved from last year. I'm pumped, lets get the season rolling.

More politics

Man I am totally ramped up on Politics the last few days for whatever reason.

So I stayed up late to watch McCains acceptance speech at the Republican Convention. I regret it. A lot. It was long winded, boring, and completely lacked any substance whatsoever. He spent the first half talking about, heres a /shock, war. He went on and on about being a POW, about the Iraq war that noone cares about anymore and just wants over, yada yada yada. I was really struggling to stay awake at this point, but I was a trooper and kept on watching.

Then he went on to tell some bullshit story about how Obama is gonna tax the middle class and poor to death (very false btw, just look at their economic plans), and about how Obama doesn't care about education (why hello thar Mr. No Child Left Behind). He even said one of the dumbest things I can even imagine.

Education -- education is the civil rights issue of this century.

I can't even possibly begin to describe how stupid this comment is. Forget institutionalized racism, unfair wages, and a disregard by government to improve conditions for the poor. Nope, education is the problem.

A big reason we have such problems in education is a direct result of No Child Left Behind. This bill basically forces schools to push kids through grades to make them pass. They determine Federal funding for schools through test scores, so schools nowadays teach kids how to pass these tests instead of how to actually think for themselves.

Yeah our education system is pretty fucked up no doubt, but to call it "the civil rights issue of this century" is narrow-minded and border line racist.

Ok lets have some more fun with McCains speech

My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government-run health care system where a bureaucrat... where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.

Gee, thats sounds exactly how things already work doesn't it. Obamas plan will not force people into a government run health care system, it will simply allow ALL people to have health insurance if they choose it. I repeat, Obama will NOT force you to accept government run healthcare, he will simply have it available to ALL people who want it.

We all know that keeping taxes low helps small businesses grow and create new jobs. Cutting the second-highest business tax rate in the world will help American companies compete and keep jobs from going overseas.

Better known as "trickle down" economics, this theory assumes that these businesses will invest the money saved from taxes into expanding their businesses and hire new employees. You know what else sounds great in theory; Communism, and you see how that worked out.

This is a completely and utterly false statement. There is no empirical evidence whatsoever backing this statement up. One thing that is a fact however, is that everytime a Republican has left office (except Reagan) they have left the economy in shambles due to this false and misguided belief.

the first big-spending pork-barrel earmark bill that comes across my desk, I will veto it

While its true McCain himself is against earmarks and pork-barrels, his running mate has requested and recieved the most earmarks in the entire history of the country. Hypocrite much?

Well thats enough for now, its getting busy here at work, see you later.

So I gave it some time to sink in.....

And have come to the conclusion that picking Sarah Palin as a VP was about the most absolutely retarded thing McCain could have done. She literally brings nothing to the table to help him win over independant and undecided voters. The Republican base loves her sure, but thats because she shares the same wacko religious and conservative views that they do. Lets list my reasons for why she is a dumb choice.

1.) She has two major controversies surrounding her that, by mostly all idependant sources, are totally legitimate. The first being her Corruption charges for Abuse of Power. She had a relatives ex-fiance fired from his job for no good reason, using her position alone to have it happen. The next being that her infant child is actually her daughters. I saw photos of her and her daughter when the announcement Palin was pregnant was made, and for being 7 months pregnant Palin sure as hell looked skinny as she does today. Her daughter was noticably bigger however, and that right there is pretty damning evidence against her.

2.) She will fail miserably at attracting women voters, especially Hillary supporters, because she (very reasonably) is seen as unworthy and a pander on McCains account to attract women. She is staunchly Pro-Life, which most women are against, so forget about attracting anyone but religious nuts because of it. She is trying to play up "family values", but dragging your kids on the road for 9 weeks, especially one with special needs, is a bad bad idea.

3.) The speech she gave last night, which I didn't watch, was largely praised by the Media, but largely put down by everyone else. I've read the transcript and not only did she have several lies in it, she never once touched on any issues. It was an obviously divisive tactic and the Republican party realizes that its their only shot at winning the election. Its so sad that they are still relying on archaic and classless techniques to win.

I will give her some credit though, she did take some of the thunder away from Obamas amazing speech, and she has energized the Republican base. Unfortunately she will hurt more than she will help because she will drive away more voters than she will bring in. Polls already have Obama restoring his large lead in the polls, and as we get further into the campaign I don't see Palin changing anything.

I have to admit I've become far less passionate about this election than I was before. I'm 99% sure Obama is going to win so what happens day to day I don't really pay as much attention to.