I guess the gambling counselor has a serious case of "If you have a nail, the world looks like a hammer" syndrome, tunnel vision for her cause of choice.

That said, I know you can't go into almost any grocery, convenience, liquor store around here without passing the state lottery on sale, not to mention sports being ubiquitous in our culture/news, which I suppose would be a big trigger to some gamblers. Because most of us don't have a gambling problem, it's nearly invisible to us.

I seem to be arguing myself around to seeing it from her point of view. Though of course, she's taking a big leap over all the social situations that involve liquor, all the ads in various places and et cetera.

In conclusion: addiction is hard, and deserves a lot of understanding.

I guess the gambling counselor has a serious case of "If you have a nail, the world looks like a hammer" syndrome, tunnel vision for her cause of choice.

This.

In conclusion: addiction is hard, and deserves a lot of understanding.

Also this.

Really it was the pop culture part that killed me -- later on the same show, they had a thing about Super Bowl ads, many of which are for beer, of course.

Ah well, moving on! I think I'll go buy a six-pack and a scratch card.

Speaking of CSI (not really), if anyone watched L&O on Friday, my sister was very briefly in the first scene! She's the angry looking woman in the front row in the camouflage jacket, and there's a close-up of her shouting at the Anne Coulterish speaker right before everyone rushes the stage. (Ripped-from-the-headlines opening scenes that only tangentially affect the case don't need whitefont, right?)

Ah well, moving on! I think I'll go buy a six-pack and a scratch card.

You should also pick up a six-pack....

That said, I know you can't go into almost any grocery, convenience, liquor store around here without passing the state lottery on sale

True, but I can't think of anywhere to buy a lotto ticket that doesn't also sell beer.

You should also pick up a six-pack....

I said six-pack!

I said six-pack!

Oopsie. Dunno what my brain did there....

(I haven't had my caffeine yet. But I'm not addicted. I can quit any time.)

Get two, in case the first one breaks?

The other day I saw I guy walk out of a liquor store and immediately drop his bottle of vodka, which went all smashy-poo. Without missing a beat he just turned around and walked back into the liquor store.

Awww....

THOMASVILLE, Ga. -- A Georgia woman bloodied in a car wreck says she owes her life to a German shepherd who--thankfully--just wouldn't stay in his yard.

Shannon Lorio says that after her car careered down an embankment, the wayward dog found her bruised and battered on the vehicle's trunk, dragged her about 50 yards through briars to a highway and let her lean against him so she could flag down a passing motorist.

His new name: Hero.

"That dog is always going to have a special place in my heart," Lorio said Friday. "He's my hero."

His previous owners signed him over to the Thomasville-Thomas County Humane Society after the Jan. 26 accident because he kept wandering off.

He won't be in the shelter long. At least 50 people offered to adopt him.

Lorio, 36, of Pavo said she can't adopt Hero because she already has six dogs, but she's showered him with gifts.

"If he ever needs anything, I'll be there," she said.

Dog trainer Heidy Drawdy of Thomasville will take Hero to see if he's cut out to be a search and rescue dog.

First item on the agenda for the wandering canine: obedience training.

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