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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Category:Aging
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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Kickass and the Deer
Attribution: Photo by Prazanthy Ramesh on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, assist the keeper in celebrating the keeper’s uncanny foresight in buying a pair of snowshoes on the hottest day of this erratic season. It happened when Phyllis left the keeper unattended at St. Vinny’s and he spotted these beautiful Iverson snowshoes, brand new and …
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Kickass and VA Eye Visit
Attribution: Photo by v2osk on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, lends this space to the keeper to update his continuing saga with the VA eye clinic as it treats his advancing macular deterioration–AMD. A three-hour session of examination and consultation with top professionals answered all of the keeper and Phyllis’s questions and assured them that …
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Kickass and Driver Numbers
Attribution: Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is not involved in the keeper’s project of more publicly identifying drivers as is done in Japan where drivers over 70 are encouraged to display an identifying symbol to get them “more consideration” from other drivers. The keeper is suggesting that …
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