Bob Schaffer, Visiting Professor of Engineering, HMC
When asked why he is participating in DWCS he replied: "I'm doing DWCS because I like dancing. I've never been able to get my Latin hips working. I figured that competing in the Cha Cha would give me a chance to change that. I'm looking forward to the thrill of competing, dancing for an audience, learning a routine and interacting with new people." When he’s not dancing Bob Schaffer has been preparing for his first half-marathon, which he will be running next weekend, and, in the past two years, has been skydiving, SCUBA diving, caving and canyoneering.
Prof. Schaffer also happens to have a move named after him, though it’s not a dance move (yet!). When explaining it he said:
"My friends call it "pulling a Bob" when you do something stupid and, even though nobody notices it, you make everyone aware of it. The original "pulling a Bob" moment happened when I was on the phone with a friend of mine and we were ending the conversation. He said "I'll talk to you later" and I said "you too" and then hung up. Of course, that didn't make any sense, I thought he was going to say "take care" or "have a good night". So, I called back to inform him that it didn't make any sense and that I clearly meant to say something else. He cracked up and forever calls similar situations "pulling a Bob." Apparently, I do things like this a lot. A few years ago, back when people still had landlines, I called my cell phone from my other phone to check my messages - then my cell phone rang, so I answered it and actually said hello THREE times before I realized that I had just called myself and that it was me on the other end. Of course nobody else was around and I would have gotten away with it... except since I have a move named after me, I'm kind of obligated to "pull a Bob" and share that story..."
