Attribution:Mathias Krumbholz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, asks the keeper and Phyllis to explain their decision to reschedule a planned drive across mid Wisconsin just because advance weather information tells them they would be in the middle of a band of possible severe thunderstorms most of the afternoon. …
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Category:Aging
Kickass and Shot in the Eye
Attribution: Rhcastilhos. And Jmarchn., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper starting the day with the VA eye clinic deciding whether or not he needs yet another shot in the eye to protect him from the advance of the macular degeneration that was so generously handed off …
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Kickass and Screens
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop, advises the keeper and Phyllis that their constant company of senior citizens can be enriched by an occasional exposure to members of a different age group as represented by the recent visit of Maverick and Holden who demonstrated how the meaning of life is in …
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Kickass Goes for a Walk
Attribution: Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, was not invited along when Phyllis promoted a walk around the block for the computer-bound keeper who once built newspaper columns around “Walking across Wisconsin with spring” and other similar “walking” themes that got him out of the office for days—even weeks at …
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Kickass and InDepends
Photo by Geoff Carter By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis survived Independence Day 2025 curious as to whether or not “INDEPENDence Day” had anything to do with the origin of the “Depends,” brand name, a not unheard-of word in their crowd. See more at… The Bill Stokes Author Page
Kickass and Phyllis’ Fall
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper in awe of Phyllis’s recent demonstration of how to trip over an item of exercise equipment while carrying a bowl of dessert, falling on her face in the kitchen and bruising a knee and an elbow and needing only minimum help …
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Kickass and Hi-Tech
Attribution: Grj23, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, observes how Phyllis struggles to maintain the keeper’s tentative grip on technology, showing him on a daily basis how to do the simplest things, like retrieve messages or save images. There has been discussion as to whether the keeper’s need to be …
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Kickass and Collecting
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is little help to the keeper as he tries to figure out why he is prone to “collecting” while Phyllis prefers a more clutter-free life. In a recent visit with Carol who is among the Vista West premiere collectors, the point was made with …
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Kickass Puts on Shoes and Socks
Attribution: Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, encourages the keeper in his efforts to extract something useful from the verity that putting on your shoes and socks becomes a vastly different undertaking over the course of a lifetime. From a hurried minute when your youthful mind is on other things—you know …
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Kickass and Old Licenses
Attribution: Photo by Andreas Haubold on Unsplash Kickass, the doorstop dog, warns the keeper that it is possible to overdo in saving mementos as they are wont to span time on very rickety bridges and leave you stranded on an impossible fantasy island. So it was with the keeper’s 1944-1945 Wisconsin resident hunting and trapping licenses that somehow …
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Kickass and Five Reasons to Exist
Attribution: Andreas Bohnenstengel, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, warns the keeper and Phyllis that it will obviously only be a matter of time until they get notices from the Fox News rejects and Musk, who are now producing the national tragi-comedy TV show in Washington entitled “What’s …
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Kickass and Adjustments
Attribution: Gene Daniels , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is not much help to the keeper as he grapples with changing eyesight conditions due to macular degeneration, which currently has him wearing an eye patch to deal with seeing double images. At this point in his nonagenarian existence, the …
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