Memories of Bill " Fish " Conner, part two

[Actionjick]

The MMP Counter art thread got hijacked into all things sylvan related. Sylvan Death. An interesting scenario if IIRC. Anyway I posted serendipithy, which was a play on pithy, which leads to pith, which is a wood product, which leads to this story about my gaming buddy.

Fish worked for the USPS as a carrier. The carriers in the summer would wear these helmets that are like the pith helmets you always see jungle explorers wearing in the old movies. Some incident occurred where Fish thought he was in the right but his supervisors thought otherwise. They were wrong and Fish was VERY good with rules.

When the dispute ended, not in his favor, he took off his helmet, threw it on the floor, and proceeded to jump up and down on it crushing it to pieces!

The PO put it on display!!

What a guy! They were messing with the wrong guy when it comes to rules!

If you have any memories of Fish or any thoughts please post them. Brigadier Bacardi, Colonel Cuervo and I were feeling rather nostalgic.

 

[bendizoid]

The MMP Counter art thread got hijacked into all things sylvan related. Sylvan Death. An interesting scenario if IIRC. Anyway I posted serendipithy, which was a play on pithy, which leads to pith, which is a wood product, which leads to this story about my gaming buddy.

Fish worked for the USPS as a carrier. The carriers in the summer would wear these helmets that we are like the pith helmets you always see jungle explorers wearing in the old movies. Some incident occurred where Fish thought he was in the right but his supervisors thought otherwise. They were wrong and Fish was VERY good with rules.

When the dispute ended, not in his favor, he took off his helmet, threw it on the floor, and proceeded to jump up and down on it crushing it to pieces!

The PO put it on display!!

What a guy! They were messing with the wrong guy when it comes to rules!

If you have any memories of Fish or any thoughts please post them. Brigadier Bacardi, Colonel Cuervo and I were feeling rather nostalgic.

I used to talk to Bill once or twice a year on the phone. Usually the conversation would go on for an hour or so and meander about all types of topics. Anyway, I was walking down the road and something said “call Fish now ! ” I looked at my phone and saw a low battery and figured “first charge the phone up for a good conversation with Fish”. He was gone a day or two after that.

I remember crawling into the KV-1 at Aberdeen with with Bill, he knew the escape ‘hatch’ under the tank was missing and you could crawl right in. Rusty, dark and claustrophobic but very cool. I also remember sitting crammed in the gunners seat, spider webs everywhere, thinking “and this is a bigger turrent ! ”.

 

[brunger]

Our Memories keep our old friends and game comrades alive. Gaming Valhalla is a growing image as grow older and not necessarily wiser. Cheers

 

[Psycho]

I know I said I wasn't going to post anymore but here's the old story I had about Fish:

OK boys and girls, storytime:

Back when I had my falling out with Mark Nixon I decided to look up another ASL stud, Bill Conner. I went to the Cleveland area but couldn't find him. I got word that he was in Spooner, Wisconsin so I went there. When I got there I hear that he just left for Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. I followed him there only to find he was ducking me by running all over the country. I finally tracked him down in a little shack outside Lincoln, Montana. He was living there with a guy named Ted who kept to himself.

I sat him down and forced him to play ASL with me while Ted sat at his typewriter and mumbled to himself. I thrashed him soundly and taught him a thing or two about real ASL and not that bastardized version he played. He didn't even own the rulebook!

We stayed there and played for a few months. I tried to teach him properly but he kept walking into every trap I laid for him. His roomie, in one of his few moments of clarity, said it was like shooting monkeys in a barrel and started calling him "chimp." I told him it was fish and that's where he got the name. He didn't like his new nickname and Ted mocked him endlessly with it.

I finally got tired of the beatings I was dishing out and felt it was time to move on. On my way out Ted asked me to mail a package for him. Sure, what could it hurt?

RIP dude

 

[footsteps]

Why are there no trees in this thread?

 

[Actionjick]

Why are there no trees in this thread?

Lol and a sigh. I was planning on a restful evening, taking a break from Civilization and punditry, watching episodes of Cutthroat Kitchen I've seen a couple dozen times. However you have got me wracking my brain to come up with tree stories related to Fish. I think I may have something but will have to work on it.

 

[Actionjick]

Why are there no trees in this thread?

Ok these are all I have so far. Feel free to pun-ish this thread as you wish.

I think Fish told me this, don't know a lot of ground pounders so it was most likely him. Regardless.

Fish was in the Army. He said they were told to always sleep by a tree when on field exercises to avoid being run over in the middle of the night by some wayward vehicle. An issue that rarely concerned us at sea.

I've related previously about Fish ripping board 5 in half after I did something to jick him. That was seriously a LMFAO moment. I think I still have the bifurcated boards somewhere. How could you throw a momentous like that away?

There you have it. Couldn't even come up with a pun. Oh well, the Brigadier and I will work on it.

 

[Actionjick]

I used to talk to Bill once or twice a year on the phone. Usually the conversation would go on for an hour or so and meander about all types of topics. Anyway, I was walking down the road and something said “call Fish now ! ” I looked at my phone and saw a low battery and figured “first charge the phone up for a good conversation with Fish”. He was gone a day or two after that.

I remember crawling into the KV-1 at Aberdeen with with Bill, he knew the escape ‘hatch’ under the tank was missing and you could crawl right in. Rusty, dark and claustrophobic but very cool. I also remember sitting crammed in the gunners seat, spider webs everywhere, thinking “and this is a bigger turrent ! ”.

I called him up, not knowing he had passed, and got his answering machine. I left a message. " Give me a call if you are still breathing. '" Bob that still bothers me. I can't imagine how his brother must have felt after listening to his messages. Sigh.

Sometimes when you try to be funny it just doesn't work out. Oh well, so much for the sob story. Further contributions on my part will hopefully be more lighthearted.

 

[Actionjick]

Fish loved to Scrounge. More in real life than ASL. Once instead of a successful Scrounge he encountered a Booby Trap of sorts.

Fish got into Square Foot Gardening after seeing our garden based on Mel Bartholomew's methods. He liked raised beds and used cinder blocks to form the beds. He set the blocks so as to be able to use the holes in the block to plant more stuff. Very resourceful. He was looking at using grey water also.

The school on the hill above his house was being demolished and Fish saw the 40 yard dumpster as a prime Location to Scrounge. While he was in the dumpster trying to Recover some useful item the pile of Debris shifted temporarily trapping him. He obviously was able to extricate himself. A devoted gamer and gardener.

 

[bendizoid]

Fish loved to Scrounge. More in real life than ASL. Once instead of a successful Scrounge he encountered a Booby Trap of sorts.

Fish got into Square Foot Gardening after seeing our garden based on Mel Bartholomew's methods. He liked raised beds and used cinder blocks to form the beds. He set the blocks so as to be able to use the holes in the block to plant more stuff. Very resourceful. He was looking at using grey water also.

The school on the hill above his house was being demolished and Fish saw the 40 yard dumpster as a prime Location to Scrounge. While he was in the dumpster trying to Recover some useful item the pile of Debris shifted temporarily trapping him. He obviously was able to extricate himself. A devoted gamer and gardener.

Mining plastic army men comes to mind.

 

[Actionjick]

Mining plastic army men comes to mind.

Exactly!!! LMFAO and tears on the cheek!!

 

[Actionjick]

Exactly!!! LMFAO and tears on the cheek!!

Both come quite easily when recalling him.

Brigadier Bacardi feels the same.

 

[brunger]

I called him up, not knowing he had passed, and got his answering machine. I left a message. " Give me a call if you are still breathing. '" Bob that still bothers me. I can't imagine how his brother must have felt after listening to his messages. Sigh.

Sometimes when you try to be funny it just doesn't work out. Oh well, so much for the sob story. Further contributions on my part will hopefully be more lighthearted.

I’m sure he would be laughing at that anyway? More so at your discomfort. That’s what close friends would do.

 

[Actionjick]

Fish on the 2 Half Squad's interview explaining one of the reasons we asked Mac to come to the first Oktoberfests:

" I knew the rules fairly well, or at least thought I did. "

Lmao. Says a lot about the guy.

Coming up on the day he took his place of honor at the Great Gaming Table In the Sky.

 

[bendizoid]

Fish on the 2 Half Squad's interview explaining one of the reasons we asked Mac to come to the first Oktoberfests:

" I knew the rules fairly well, or at least thought I did. "

Lmao. Says a lot about the guy.

Coming up on the day he took his place of honor at the Great Gaming Table In the Sky.

Yes, I had the honor of asking a few questions straight to Mac. Later he and Rex gave me a drive to the Cleveland bus terminal. I remember thinking “these guys are hippies !”
I remember, my ride, Matt Book’s car had broken down in the Hardee’s drive through. I had just met all these new people and I asked the room if I could borrow somebodies car for a beer run or something and somebody handed me the keys to their Subaru. I walked out into the parking lot and spied a Subaru, the key opened it. I sat down in the car and tried to turn the ignition key to no effect. I was in the wrong Subaru! And almost took it on a beer run ,lololol !!! I don’t remember who that was but it warms my spirit to think about the trust from somebody whom I had just met.

 

[Actionjick]

Yes, I had the honor of asking a few questions straight to Mac. Later he and Rex gave me a drive to the Cleveland bus terminal.

Says a lot about the community too.

I only met Rex a handful of times but can still picture him wearing this flashy vest at an early Oktoberfest.

 

[Actionjick]

Yes, I had the honor of asking a few questions straight to Mac. Later he and Rex gave me a drive to the Cleveland bus terminal. I remember thinking “these guys are hippies !”
I remember, my ride, Matt Book’s car had broken down in the Hardee’s drive through. I had just met all these new people and I asked the room if I could borrow somebodies car for a beer run or something and somebody handed me the keys to their Subaru. I walked out into the parking lot and spied a Subaru, the key opened it. I sat down in the car and tried to turn the ignition key to no effect. I was in the wrong Subaru! And almost took it on a beer run ,lololol !!! I don’t remember who that was but it warms my spirit to think about the trust from somebody whom I had just met.

That might have been Fish as the original Jickwagen was a Subaru. Also might have been the same year I rode with Mac when Scott Holtz needed to get to the bus terminal in Youngstown.
Yunkstown if you are a local.

Good times! Good memories. Nice story Bob!

 

[Actionjick]

Fish on the 2 Half Squad's interview explaining one of the reasons we asked Mac to come to the first Oktoberfests:

" I knew the rules fairly well, or at least thought I did. "

Lmao. Says a lot about the guy.

Coming up on the day he took his place of honor at the Great Gaming Table In the Sky.

Mike, Fish's brother, asked me to help him sort Fish's SL/ASL stuff and told me that I could take what I want.

I took all the paperwork, his dice and container, our Chute Five dice towers and his ASLRBs.
I sent Mac his dice container and dice and still have the rest. I especially cherish his rules because to me it exemplifies him the most. His grasp of the rules was very good.

 

[Psycho]

Mike, Fish's brother, asked me to help him sort Fish's SL/ASL stuff and told me that I could take what I want.

I took all the paperwork, his dice and container, our Chute Five dice towers and his ASLRBs.
I sent Mac his dice container and dice and still have the rest. I especially cherish his rules because to me it exemplifies him the most. His grasp of the rules was very good.

 

[Actionjick]

Not sure if it was the Asian gentleman that Fish mistook for a food delivery person but it may have been. Regardless.

Fish was playing this guy and one of the boards featured the graveyard. Fish KIAd one the guy's squads in the graveyard and the dude says " how convenient "!! LMFAOROTFL!!

That just gets funnier everytime I think about it.