Columns

Off-road fever is a debilitating disease that is known to afflict many residents and visitors of the Parker area at this time of year. There’s no known cure, though doctors say it is possible to manage the symptoms this weekend. What symptoms afflict the patient suffering from off-road fever? Patients will experience a draw toward areas of open desert; in …

Cate’s Column #19 I landed in Quartzsite January 10, 2002. At 41 and a brand new full time RVer, I had no idea what I was doing. Thwarted at my first — and last — attempt to camp in an RV park, I learned that “55+” meant “senior citizens only.” I followed other RVs heading south of Quartzsite and found …

Recently I had to get my Social Security card replaced. This process is free, but awfully time consuming. It should be mentioned that the Social Security office in Parker is only open on Mondays and staffed by just one person. This brave soul traveled from Needles to assist a mob of people with issues ranging from basic questions to complicated …

“Male passengers were pushing ahead of women and children.” So observed retired police chief inspector Ed Gurr disapprovingly after he and his wife Liz made it successfully off the sagging Costa Concordia on January 13th. They were joined by the vast majority of the vessel’s other occupants, including the captain of the ill-fated cruise liner, who is either destined to …

As I learned early from broadcasting a daily radio show and later running this website, you can’t give everyone what they want. In fact, one of my heroes in life, who later became arguably America’s most prized entrepreneur of recent times, lived by the mantra that few people even know what they want. Apple founder Steve Jobs believed you’d have to …

I spent the last five years sitting on my hands, doing nothing to incur expenses so I could throw every dime at my mortgage. I cannot stand paying interest plus a monthly service fee; entering into a ten-year mortgage freaked me out. I want out from under it ASAP! Finally, my statement shows I have a little more than $2,000 …

Oh, Turkey Leg I love the holiday season (which for me starts with Halloween), but I’ve just about had it with the Christmas music and it’s only November 28th. Radio stations all over the country started playing Christmas music on Thanksgiving Day. I’m listening to a classic rock station on Thanksgiving Day and they played “Highway to Hell” and “American …

Thanksgiving 2003 found me dry camping in the desert near Quartzsite in my travel trailer home. I woke to a clear blue sky with air so clean I could see forever. The solar corona appeared thrice its normal size and hurtled hot, white fire. A brisk breeze blew from the north so my back baked and my face froze, a …

A Little History: From Poaching to Patton Here is a little treat in honor of Veteran’s Day for my fellow history buffs. In 1837 Benjamin Davis Wilson left his home in Tennessee and headed west to try his luck as a fur trapper. He teamed up with the Workman Party and they attended a fur traders rendezvous in New Mexico …

Almuerzo at Amapola Café Keith won an Amapola Café gift certificate for me on a You-Call-It-Friday quiz on KLPZ. I spent the next few weeks drooling in anticipation and looking for an excuse to drive the 35 miles to Parker. I looked online for Amapola’s website hoping to find a menu, but alas! Nada. The last time I went to …