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My friend Robert Bashe died on 1 December 2018. I will not easely
forget him. It must have been decades ago that we first exchanged
mail. And although we did not always agree, over the years we became
friends. We met in person on several occasions. Two Fidocons, one at
his house, one at mine. Bob loved cats. When his "Fang" died he
wanted another cat. And so he got two offsprings of my BlauwBlauw.
He came to my house to make a choice. Out of the three kittens, he
choose the two whites. They were deaf but that didn't bother him.
He called them Peter and Wendy. Some weeks later he came to my house
again to pick them up.
Last time I saw Bob was when I went to his house to pick up a
motorbike. His Suzuki Bandit was too much for him, he could not
handle it any more. I bought it. That was in March 2011. The last
time I saw Bob in person.
Not so long ago he told me in an e-mail that his health situation
was detoriating and he was afraid that he would end up as a helpless
plant. He inquired about the options of voluntary life ending in The Netherlands. Unfortunately I could not be of much help. I feel very
sad he is gone. But also a little relieved that his worst fears did
not come true.
Goodbye Bob, I will miss you.
Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
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And then Bob is gone ...
Ward Dossche - 2:292/854
December 1st 2018 ... It was a cold and gloomy day in Belgium
although it was announced as sunny and nice, then the news hit ...
my good friend Robert "Bob" Bashe of 2:2448/44 had passed away.
We may have seen it coming from afar because his health was not good,
but then again "No, Bob can't die just like that".
I've known Bob for more than 20 years and we often touched base above
and beyond Fidonet-stuff.
Although living in Germany and holding a German passport, he was a
native from Texas. He came to Europe in the 1960-ies on a
scholarship, he was a young scientist with an education at a renowned
US institute, and settled in Germany. He had a wife and a single son.
Him and I often debated real-life political matters, like for example
the WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) case which was the
justification for the US's invasion in Iraq. At such moments although
being a nationalized German citizen, he could suddenly become
American again ... for a short time at least. Then he remembered his
last visit there to his parents and the way how he was treated by US
border officials. Especially after he was blocked in Florida due to
the 9/11 events and airplane groundings.
When his parents passed a while ago, the USA for him became something
of the past.
He entered my life in an unusual way on December 29th 1998. Suddenly
the phone rang and an unfamiliar voice said "This is Bob Bashe. Is
this Ward?"
The next day he was going to have a visitor, David Moufarrege, the
then current ZC1. David's ancestry was German and I think he went to
visit grandparents or so. Bob thought it would be a great idea to
bring the ZCs of both zone-1 and zone-2 together for an evening. I
instantly liked the idea and then it hit me "Where the hell is
Datteln?" ... Hmmm ... 220km ... no GPS in those days and I didn't
have a map of Germany.
We had a very friendly meeting and I got to meet 3 really interesting
people ... Gisbert Rudolph being the third (Gisbert in the meantime
also has passed away). Talking about Fido chitchat, acknowledging
there are more important things in life than Fido, a few good beers
and dinner at a Chinese place. Everybody went home with a good
feeling.
Life continued, Bob and I were on the phone often, I still worked for
the phone company and did not have to worry about international
dialing. I can remember he slammed the door 2-3 times and left "for
good", but there was too much Fido in him and the feeling of
camaraderie.
So he calls me again "Guess what? David Moufarrege is coming on
another visit..." ... so I was Datteln-bound again. No Chinese
restaurant this time, but one with its origins in the Balkan.
According to Bob there were only 2 decent eateries in Datteln.
Several years later, we had again another meeting, and I began to
call them DattelnCon. The drive from my place really wasn't that bad
and eventually GPS entered the scene. I don't recall what the
occasion was but we got together with a group of German sysops in the
Chinese eatery ... I was delayed driving but nobody left and I think
that everybody was able to interact. I think that my German friends
realized there's way less politics involved than I'm being accused of
(even these days). It was a pleasure meeting Alex Woick who was the
RC24 then, Sven Dueker and the others. The interaction with Uli
Schroeter went well, a guy you cannot help but like. And when the
time came for everybody to start the homeward bound journey, it was
with a bittersweet feeling ... having met some very interesting
people for the very first time away from the comfort zone of the
keyboard, maybe also for the last time ... It tasted for more.
And a next meeting happened in 2007. Present were Uli Schroeter, Kees
Van Eeten, Michiel van der Vlist, Alex Woick, Steven Leeman, Vladimir
Donskoi, myself and Bjorn Felten via video-link. And of thisone video
footage has survived, taken by Steven Leeman. That meeting lasted
until late in the night after which I agreed to take Vladimir to
Cologne on the way back, which was a serious detour. When I arrived
home and Steven still had to drive close to 2 hours, sun was already
up.
And then we converged for the very last meeting, I fail to remember
when it was, but this time it was at Michiel's place in Driebergen
(the Netherlands). I think 2nd half of 2010. Happened to be the first
time we got to meet Joe Delahaye back in the lowlands to visit
relatives.
Except Bob and Joe, we also had Wilfred Van Velzen there, and I think
Jan Vermeulen, former RC28, that would also be the last meeting with
Jan. We simply lost track of him.
When my father passed away last July, he had this to say about
son/father relationships ... it was going to be our final contact
August 5th ...
******************************
I was lucky. My dad took me along on some of his trips to oil well
drilling sites (which I regretted, since I managed to get stickers in
my feet), and we did some hunting on the farm. He also bought my
first guns (410 shotgun and .22 rifle).
I think the only thing he really regretted was that he didn't have
more time to spend with me, as he was frequently "in the patch" (on
an oil well drilling site) and so we didn't see each other much. I
was closer to my mother, who was nearly always at home, and only
regretted being closer to my dad later in life, when I would
understand him better. I might add that my mother was the "boss" of
the house, and my dad even had a good relationship to my grandmother.
That isn't often the case, but they got on very
well.
******************************
Over the years there have been discussions in Fidonet about the fact
it is a technical network. However there also was an important shift
towards the social aspect of things. For me, once technology had been
covered, the 'people behind the keyboard' have always been so much
more important and interesting ...
And that's what Bob did ... he built bridges based on the social
aspects of Fidonet. He could be strongly opinionated and draw blood
from under your fingernails. At the same time he could also be one of
the gentlest people I have ever known.
A true friend, or as close as one could be in Fidonet.
Bob and cats were synonymous. He used to have a nice one called
'Fang' and when we met at Michiel's place in Driebergen; there was
Michiel's cat which just had a litter and Bob looked at them as if
it were a love-affair ... These are his own words about his cats ...
**************************
Is the cat still there?
Unfortunately, no. He died of feline leukemia not too long afterward.
Was only around 6 years old, poor guy, he was one of the friendliest
cats I've ever owned.
We now have two pure white (deaf) cats, brother and sister, inherited
from Michiel van der Vlist. I brought them here when they were only 6
weeks old, and now they're close to 8 years old (end of June). How
time passes. They are nice "people" and I've never regretted taking
them both, although they had serious problems as long as we let them
outdoors - many injuries. I once spent 6 weeks caring for Wendy, the
female, who had broken her hind leg somehow. It was touch and go for
a while, but we saved her leg, and now she's in good shape. Peter
(the brother) later slept under a car and got his tail run over when
the car backed out (he didn't hear it). So he has a short tail (the
rest had to be amputated). Since they've been purely house cats - no
going outdoors - there have been no further problems.
Cheers, Bob
**************************
Maybe Bob was not the grandest of sysops, but in his own way he has
made Fidonet more enjoyable for some for a short while. He introduced
me to a lot of people and I had fun, I learned.
He will not be forgotten by me nor by many others for whom he meant a difference.
Don't forget to pay the ferryman, Bob !
Ward Dossche
Your friend
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Results 2018 moderator-election for FIDO_SYSOP
Ward Dossche - 2:292/854
During the time frame available for the moderator election only one
candidate stepped forward:
Janis Kracht
The posted election rules state the following:
************************************************************
If there is no candidate on 2018.12.01 23:59 UTC, the election
terminates without a vote and the existing moderator is confirmed
as the moderator for the next term of two years.
If there is only one candidate, the election terminates without
a vote and that person is confirmed as the moderator for the two year
term.
************************************************************
As there is only 1 candidate within the prescribed time-frame there
will be no voting.
As soon as "Vote Verifier" Ben Ritchey certifies this result Janis
Kracht can assume her position of Moderator.
Here ends my mandate, I hand it back to the sysop-participants of
this echo.
Ward Dossche
Election Coordinator -----------------------------------------------------------------
--- Azure/NewsPrep 3.0
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