Cross Those "T's"

I went back to court to finally hear a decision on the sale of my house. Yes, after nine months of trying to sell my house so I can add more money to the restitution fund and make the "victim" whole it appears the judge has agreed. I say "appears" because apparently on the sales contract a "t" was not crossed properly and I had to submit a new contract with the "t" properly crossed in order to have it approved. I have received the new contract and I have checked all of the "t's" as well as the "i's" and it appears they have all been crossed and dotted properly.

I go back to court tomorrow and will present this new contract to the judge for his approval. Hopefully, the judge does approve the contract and I can add one more thing to my list of what compulsive gambling has done to my life; lost job, lost career; lost freedom and now lost house.

I will post tomorrow more on what transpired today but keeping with the theme of National Problem Gambling Awareness Week here is an article that appeared in a newspaper in upstate New York;

BALLSTON SPA -- Saratoga County is taking a step to help prevent problem gambling by making residents aware of it.

This week is National Problem Gambling Awareness Week.

Elected officials and representatives gathered at Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III's office Monday morning to get their message out about services available to help gamblers.

Michelle Hadden, program coordinator of Problem Gambling Prevention Services, said 70,500 adults in New York experience problem gambling.

'This is a serious and growing problem,' Hadden said. 'Our goal is to educate the public and raise awareness of help locally and nationally.

'Toward that end, Saratoga Gaming and Raceway will be given brochures on help available in the county.

Assemblyman Roy McDonald of Wilton said problem gamblers are using their rent money, money for their kids' clothing and savings.

'It's not a joke, it's reality,' McDonald said. 'There's no substitution for hard work; you can't gamble into success.

''We'll work as a team here in Saratoga and beat this,' he said.

'Don't bet against it.'Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III agrees that efforts like this distinguish Saratoga from other counties in New York. Murphy said he unfortunately sees that this addiction tends to go untreated.

'Gambling brings down family structure,' Murphy said.

He said his office prosecutes criminal cases in larceny and forgery. They have a number of nonviolent cases, but some grow into domestic violence, drunken driving and divorce.

Awareness of the issue begins in the youth.'We have to nip this in the bud,' Murphy said.He said it would be great if ultimately he had nothing to do when he came to work.

'We'd all like to prevent crime or problems,' agreed Judy Ekman, executive director of the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention Council of Saratoga County.

'We all see too many people where they cross some invisible line; you don't know it until we cross it.

'Mike Miller, a representative for Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco and Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward, said they find it disconcerting that some youths try to make a quick buck by gambling, instead of earning it.

'We want to educate the general public, especially kids,' Miller said.Maureen Corbett, program director of The Center for Problem Gambling, said they want to help everyone -- the gambler and their family. The Center has offices in Clifton Park, Albany and recently opened one in Saratoga.

'We're excited about being a part of the community,' Corbett said.

She said 28 percent of their cases are people seeking help because of the 2-year-old racino at the harness track.

She told of a woman who lost $30,000 in the first four months of the racino's opening.

'We help them discover the reason behind their gambling and provide support for them and their family,' Corbett said of their clients. 'We often see spouses before the gambler and sometimes never see the gambler.

'We see people at the end of the road,' she said. 'Hopefully, we'll see them sooner because of events like this.

'Gambling is increasing in adolescents, she warned, saying that some teens are using their parents' credit cards to gamble online.

Ekman said in a survey they conducted, one-third of seventh-graders thought they could make a living gambling. She wants to make young people aware it is a problem.

'There are no easy answers, but Saratoga County is a place where we work together to solve problems,' she said.

Jim Maney, executive director of New York Council on Problem Gambling, said the awareness effort being put forth in Saratoga County is extraordinary.

He told a story from six years ago, when his daughter (then 12 years old), didn't think the younger children at the wedding reception should be given scratch-off tickets as favors. But then she won $10.

Next thing he knew, she was at the head table taking the adults' tickets.

'She went to adolescent gambler to thief in three minutes,' Maney said.