Attribution: Photo by Raul Torrento on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog assumes that along with the keeper and Phyllis, everyone watched the 60 Minutes feature on the benefits of studying dogs’ dementia to shed light on how it happens with humans. Being at the age where his recliner could turn into an F-35 at any …
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Category:Aging
Kickass and New Wheels
Attribution: Photo by Mobio Marketing on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has a new set of wheels, and adjusting to them may require more than was demanded when his first wheels were pulled out from behind the neighbor’s machine shed in the form of a no-tires Model T Ford pickup that …
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Kickass and the Price of Gas
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, cautions the keeper about going so deep into his past that he mentions the price of gas at 5 gals for $1. Memory exercise of this kind tend to brand the keeper as either careless with the facts or performing for attention. His defense …
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Kickass and Johnny Appleseed
Attribution: See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper impressed with a bit of research showing that Johnny Appleseed sometimes went barefoot in the snow, slept in the woods and once fell out of an apple tree and was caught by the neck between …
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Kickass and Volunteers
Attribution: Gabriel Vanslette, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that at the time his daily Kickass meandering is usually written, today the keeper will instead be on his way to the VA eye clinic for injections to treat the eye problems that dear old mom handed off to …
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Kickass and the Extra Hour
Attribution: Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes the keeper and Phyllis accepting with gratitude the extra hour of March 7, 2025 and hanging it on a hook with all of the others—in the keeper’s case that would be about 34,467 hours and—hopefully, counting. Phyllis’s hour tally is impressive but not …
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Kickass and Feeding the Young and Old
Attribution: Photo by Maria Lin Kim on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in acknowledging that as the only meaningful function for every species is reproduction which includes lots of obligatory activities among them feeding the young until they are adept enough to feed themselves. Thus, ingrained early as a vital …
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Kickass and Mom’s Poetry Book
Attribution: Photo by Emmanuel Phaeton on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper in his feeble efforts to “organize” the keep-safe treasures of his long life ran across his mother’s book of “One Hundred And One Famous Poems,” published in 1929 just a couple of years before the keeper was born. Mom’s small, …
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Kickass is NOT Prom King
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes the keeper is not asking for an election recount but the fact that he remembers the event after all this time means that it has taken up valuable memory space that could have been more judiciously used, perhaps to remember the dance steps …
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Kickass and Help for the Elderly
Attribution: Photo by Mobio Marketing on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes the keeper and Phyllis’s adjustment to accepting age-related considerations with grace and appreciation. Those appropriate response do not arrive without some early resistance, like when the first overt offers of assistance come as implied insults that you are too old to do it …
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Kickass and Shoes and Socks
Attribution: Photo by Fotógrafo Samuel Cruz on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper is ever anxious to follow the dictates of nature through the aging process—if running poses a balance issue, don’t run; when your vision fades, get glasses; when your waistline expands buy bigger pants, etc.. So, what to do with the natural …
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Kickass and Tech Defeat
Attribution: Phillip Pessar, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper attempting to draft behavior standards for the elderly who get caught in a tech trap, and for those who would assist them. Using the example of the keeper making the fatal mistake of thinking he could handle …
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