Friday Weisblog: Bear-ly escaping with his wallet

For those who’ve never heard of a Slingbox, it’s a device that allows you to watch your local television stations on your computer or phone no matter where you are. I’ve always wanted one myself.

When Chicago Bears fan Wayne Burdick decided to go on a cruise in early November of last year, he brought his Slingbox device and laptop with him to watch his beloved NFL team take on the winless Detroit Lions. The Bears ended up winning a squeaker 27-23 and Burdick was a happy guy … until he got the next month’s phone bill from AT&T.

The amount? $27, 788.93. Twenty-seven thousand, seven hundred eighty-eight dollars and ninety-three cents. Why so much? AT&T charged Burdick the international rate of two cents per kilobyte, which apparently adds up very quickly!

Burdick contacted AT&T, explaining to them he was not in international waters because he was still in port in Miami – and thus should not be charged the exorbitant amount of money. Despite showing AT&T actual paperwork showing he was not away from the port, the phone company lowered his bill to $6,000 – but would not budge any further.

Finally, an exasperated Burdick decided to enlist the help of his local newspaper, the Chicago Sun-Times and their “Team Fixer” department. On Burdick’s behalf they presented his case and, wouldn’t you know it, AT&T acknowledged their mistake and fixed Burdick’s bill.

It took months and the involvement of a news reporter, but an injustice has been corrected! Good for Mr. Burdick, and props to the Sun-Times.

Thursday Weisblog: Geocache and carry

Got a GPS? Know how to read it? Then you can be a geocacher. Don’t worry … it’s perfectly legal!

I have never used a GPS device in my entire life, but today I found out about a new (to me) technological game using a GPS system that sounds fascinating.

It is a little bit like the metal detectors used to find treasure on the beach in the 1970s and 1980s, only much more modern, hip and contemporary. This new game, called geocaching, is also a treasure game, but participants attempt to find hidden containers of treasure (or “geocaches”) via means of GPS.

To do this, you first log on to the www.geocaching.com Web site and enter your zip code. You’ll find a ton of locally hidden geocache coordinate locations which you then go out and attempt to find. (At the time I wrote this, there were 69 available in Winter Park, FL where I live).

After locating them, you enter your experience in to the log book on the Web site, then put a new treasure in (if you take the old one out) and hide it again for someone else to find. If you’re feeling especially generous, you can hide your own brand-new geocaches for others to discover by hiding them and then putting them on the Web site. Of course, you can’t bury them; you just have to cover them up with leaves or something like that.

The gentleman I talked to said he’s procured restaurant gift certificates and small amounts of money among the many geocaches he’s found. He and his wife are all excited about the geocaching excursion they have planned for this weekend, and I think I would be, too, if I had a GPS.

Having not been blessed with a good sense of direction, it wouldn’t hurt me to have my very own GPS device. Some day I will … and some day I may partake in a little geocaching myself.

Wednesday Weisblog: Good luck, Chuck!

I put myself through college at UCF working at Church Street Station, a now defunct dining/drinking/entertainment complex located in Downtown Orlando, FL. This was during the early 1990s, just before the Orlando Magic NBA team became my then part-time employer.

Church Street Station, and Downtown Orlando in general, was the place to be during that time frame. Those were the days when the NBA celebrities would come down to Church Street and check out the scene after that night’s game was over. One visiting player who came in every chance he got was Charles Barkley. The crowd loved Charles; Charles loved the crowd.

Barkey was this larger-than-life guy – literally – who seemed to enjoy being the personna he created. He accepted the moniker “The Round Mound of Rebound” with pride. He’d take control of the DJ booth at Phoggs (Church Street Station’s dance club) and the people loved it. He’d stop to shake hands with everyone and genuinely seemed comfortable with everyone.

Then one night in 1997 after his Houston Rockets paid a visit to the Orlando Arena, Barkley once again headed for his favorite Downtown Orlando hangout. Once there, he allegedly got into a dispute with a man named Jorge Lugo. Apparently, Barkley took exception to Lugo throwing a glass of ice at him, and subsequently used Lugo as a human catapult, flinging him with much velocity through a giant plate glass window in the front of Phoggs.

Now comes the report that Barkley recently received a DUI and has been sentenced to five days in jail. “I think it’s going to be good for me, to be honest,” Barkley says. “I need to make sure drinking is not a problem for me. I just want some professionals to talk to me about it.”

I don’t know Charles Barkley. But he strikes me as a “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” kind of person who isn’t going to make believe he likes you when he doesn’t – and if you cross him you’d better be ready to defend yourself. And when you’re a national figure and have a reputation like that and go to nightclubs, there are plenty of liquored up idiots that will be perfectly willing to challenge you.

For Charles Barkley’s sake, I hope he truly has learned from his life experiences. He’s a superior NBA commentator; very knowledgeable and quite funny. He’s one of the all-time great players, doing amazing things for someone as short as he was for the position he played (at about 6′5″, he’d routinely be about four inches shorter than the person he went up against most nights). He is outspoken in many areas, often not just pertaining to sports. He’s even spoken of running for Governor of Alabama, his home state.

But if he doesn’t keep his temper and alcohol consumption in check, he may lose out on the public’s adoration and a career that a ton of ex-athletes would be thrilled to have.

I truly wish him luck, because unlike some of the other athletes I’ve written about, I don’t think he’s a knucklehead.

Tuesday Weisblog: “Intrusive” doesn’t begin to describe this guy

Geraldo Rivera. Ewwwwww. A serious reporter? I think not!

America was on pins and needles in 1986 when Rivera proclaimed he’d discovered Al Capone’s riches – only to find nothing inside the vault on a three-hour national television special. We all remember him getting his nose broken in 1988 when he had his own talk show. We recall him getting his behind kicked by Frank Stallone in 1992 in one of the first forays into the world of B-list celebrity boxing. In 2003, he even recklessly disclosed plans of an upcoming operation while traveling with US forces in Iraq. In doing so, he basically said to the world, Who cares about the safety of the troops … as long as I get to break the story.

I could go on and on – but I will stop with just one more example. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the interview he did recently with Ronald Cummings, the father of missing five-year-old Hayleigh Cummings. In an already emotionally charged situation, he stormed right into the middle of everything and asked series of accusatory questions to Mr. Cummings, who was obviously taken aback by the entire line of questioning.

Referring to two acquaintances named “Chad” and “Marcus,” Rivera asked, Chad and Marcus told me that during the vigil, you told them you were 75 percent sure who took Hayleigh.

When Cummings said that wasn’t true, Rivera then followed that gem up with, They told — they told me that you hit Hayleigh. Is that true?

Another denial, another uncalled-for response by Geraldo. You never backhanded her to the face?

Still another “no” answer … and, of course, yet again another idiotic question. Did you hit Crystal (Crystal Sheffield, Hayleigh’s biological mother) when she was pregnant?

When Mr. Cummings said emphatically that he did not, his follow-up question was every bit as riveting. You didn’t hit her in the back of the head and kick her?

More “probing” questions about beating up women, alleged drug use and being a police informant followed. When Rivera was asked to leave by Mr. Cummings’ family members, he couldn’t depart without picking a fight with those around him. It looked like a scene from Jerry Springer.

There is one question I’d like to ask Mr. Cummings. There’s one thing that has bothered me from the beginning about this situation; one that I’ve never heard addressed by the media (and I suppose that’s because they understand this isn’t the time to ask): What are you doing with a 17-year-old girlfriend when you are 25?

Law-enforcement officials seem to be no closer to finding Hayleigh than when they started. Let’s continue to pray for a happy and swift outcome to this story, and an arrest for the person(s) responsible for her disappearance.

Monday Weisblog: Shortened school weeks just the beginning?

Florida, along with every other state in the union, is looking for ways to reduce their ever-growing budgetary deficits. This seems to happen a lot, and one of the places that always tends to get cut is the educational system, despite the guarantees we’ve had from our politicians that a percentage of the Florida Lottery monies would go directly to the educational system coffers.

In their latest efforts to save money, a proposal that would bring about a great deal of change may soon be on the table. There is a strong possibility that, starting as soon as next year, Florida schools will be moving from five school days per week to four. That means the four days will be longer and more hectic.

By the way, regardless of where you live – Florida or otherwise – chances are your state is considering this cost-cutting move, too. Just do a Google or Yahoo search on “four day school weeks” and see what happens.

With that said, I’d like everyone’s opinion on what they think about this idea. Before you give your opinion, though, I want you to thoughtfully consider the residual consequences this could have on our society as a whole both long-term and short-term.

It would alter the schedules of teachers, babysitters, day care workers, bus drivers, school administrative staff, food service providers and a whole lot more. In addition, one of the biggest concerns for me is that there would unquestionably be a big-time backlash if this idea doesn’t work, necessitating a return to the five-day week.

Then there’s the trickle-down effect. I believe corporate America, with an eye toward savings of their own, will also have a sharp eye on whether or not this plan succeeds. People working in factories and plants are already doing this with more than a modicum of success, and employees seem to love the additional day off during the week, not to mention the savings on gas for those who don’t work from their homes.

Long story short, I think it’s worth a try with this caveat: The level of education simply cannot be allowed to suffer as a result. We are not ranked high worldwide in education as it is … but on the flip side, one of the chief complaints of Americans is that we don’t have enough family time.

It’s going to be difficult on the kids, too. I remember how short my attention span was when I was young (yes, amazing as it seems, I can remember that far back). It was difficult to hold my attention on a regular school day, much less adding another period or two to it. Can our school systems pull it off? Only time will tell.

Of course, this whole idea might be voted down never come to pass. But I tend to believe it will. What do you think? Please give me your opinions … especially if you are a teacher or a parent of school-age children.

Friday Weisblog: He is no doctor of mine!

Dr. Phil annoys me. There, I said it.

He sits there on his high horse telling you how you should live your life.

He tells you how to have a good marriage … yet he himself is a divorcee, and if you believe the entertainment publications of today, his current marriage is a bit shaky, too.

He writes books on how to lose weight, yet those same millions who buy them would be frightened to death if they ever saw a shirtless Dr. Phil on the beach.

So yes, I generally go out of my way to avoid watching his show. However, my wife and I were “channel surfing” last night when we came across his show. Admittedly, I didn’t watch very long, but I saw enough. He and some “expert” were talking about the mother of the octuplets (a favorite subject of mine as you know), Nadya Suleman.

They played some of the voice mails she’s received from the citizens of America – of course, they picked out the ones that the crazy people sent her. (You’ll be happy to know I did not send a message … lol). One voice mailer in particular was particularly inappropriate, saying she should “have her uterus ripped out.”

While that is certainly a bit over the top, what did you expect the American people to think about this subject? Surely you didn’t think there would be a groundswell of support for this irresponsible woman! No job, no house, 14 kids ages seven and younger, fertility treatments, eight kids at once … you go, girl!

Then there was the worst part … glorifying the mother of 14. Next … the never-before-seen footage … Nadya at her high school prom! Excuse me, where’s the relevancy here? What’s next? When we return, we’ll show you the exclusive footage of Nadya going to the 7-11 for a roll of paper towels. Stay tuned; or Next, we take you along for the ride to the supermarket as Nadya pays for the groceries for her 14 kids with $2,000 in food stamps.

Pathetic. Simply pathetic.