People of Rochester - Rob
My friendship with Rob spans several decades. We met when I was a student at SUNY Geneseo, and he was a student at RIT. Rob and his roommate, Bob, were looking for a lead vocalist for their rock band, and they posted a sign on a bulletin board in the Geneseo Student Union, soliciting prospects. I applied, got the gig, and worked with the band, "Hoover," for a few years. Although we drifted apart for several years after the band split up, Rob and I have remained friends.
In the band photo, which was captured during a gig we played at the Geneseo Student Union, Rob is on the left, wearing American-flag bellbottoms and playing the bass guitar (that's me with the microphone). For the featured (current) photo, Rob came out of his house and sat on his front porch.
Rob was one of the first people to share with me his concern for the seriousness of the coronavirus. Even before the COVID-19 lockdown, Rob had been spending many hours a day surfing the web. He was well-informed about what was coming, and was already practicing social distancing before the New York State mandate that all non-essential businesses be shut down.
Rob continues to avoid going into stores. He spends most of his time at home, alone. He has a tenant who's renting a room in the attic of Rob's house, but he rarely sees his tenant. Rob is a social person, who interacts with friends and associates in person, regularly. He misses being able to spend time with his friends.
Although he's aware of the benefit of regular exercise, Rob has found it difficult to stick to a routine. But the quarantine has inspired him to work out on an exercise bike for 30 minutes a day. He says he hates using the exercise bike, but he's stuck to the routine and has lost 12 pounds.
While he’s exercising, Rob chooses not to watch movies or TV shows, or listen to music or read. These things might be pleasing distractions from a tedious workout for others, but Rob says they amplify his awareness of time passing. Instead, he sets an old-fashioned oven timer for 30 minutes, and turns it away from him, because seeing how much time is left would also make the time drag for him. Instead, he says he just lets his mind wander for 30 minutes.
When he's not exercising, Rob says he spends about 16 hours a day surfing the Internet.
Rob has attended Burning Man several times, an annual art festival held in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. It's a dusty environment, and some years ago, Rob had purchased around 500 filter masks to take to Burning Man. He was going to give them away to fellow "burners," but he wasn’t able to attend the event that year, so the masks have been in storage. He recently donated all of the masks to local medical professionals who are dealing with the current coronavirus pandemic.