I get it... I do not live by this... but I get it...

years ago... a lifetime ago ... 
what seems like forever ago...
which is more than a lifetime ago I guess,I lived in Breckenridge Colorado
it was only two ski seasons
just under two years

two seasons of snowboarding
each with that rookie goal of over a hundred days

housing and jobs were scarce
it was a competitive situation

a high percentage of college graduates competing for entry level service industry jobs

during that time I lived in a wide variety of places
with a wide variety of people
all of those people were interesting and unique
everyone of these people were a hoot a holler and a scream

the powers of Facebook has allowed me to maintain contact with a handful of these people from this era of my life
while many others have not been heard from since

during that time I had a friend\housemate named Alec Wheeler
Alec had a vibrant personality... a charisma of sorts... a goodness that came through with his smile

Alec Wheeler was a stellar snowboarder
a stellar snowboarder and a nice than your average nice guy

one thing that was an oddity of Alec's personality was that within his goodness was some unintentional selfishness
he seemed to take more than he gave
but I think he thought that he personality was his payment\rationality for his taking


Alec and another friend named Doug had a few moves out of that Steve Martin film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels 

it was all in good fun
but there was a little bit of that "you get the groceries and I will help in the kitchen" or "can I get you another drink"  there were moments that were not intentional inconsiderate... it had occasional backlash

neither of them had season passes... which put other people's passes at risk... only borrowed... never stolen....

and beer...
well... it was hard to "store" any liquor
as liquor was to be enjoyed rather than stored
I understood this notion for my own liquor rather than others

it was all subtle
it was all in good fun
but it was there 
there was this aspect to which it was as if you were at risk of losing on the deal

but really... we all have friends who drove more
or someone who never kicked in for gas
the guy that ate more of the pizza or drank more of the beer
okay... that last one could have been me


one of Alec's actions that was both amusing and annoying was his effort to have a soundtrack to his day
Alec loved music... he loved a tune in his head... he loved to move to the music... he loved snowboarding with that song in his head
Alec would try to implant a song in his head at the start of his day... to be pumped... to be able to carry that song through out the day

easy enough... start the song... 
play the song... turn up the song...

Alec would turn on the stereo and CRANK it
he really wanted to feel the music as he prepped for his day
but... he wanted that music to stay with him when he left
so rather than turn it off before he left out the door
Alec would leave mid song... so that the song did not stop... so the music stayed with him

no matter who remained in the house
no issue if someone was still in bed
or if someone was trying to read in the other room
or if that person had no interest in hearing what Alec was interested in listening to

THE MUSIC WAS STILL PLAYING AND IT WAS TURNED UP TO ELEVEN!

Alec was a good guy.,. more than likely Alec is still a good guy
last I heard he was on Nantucket building boats with his father
or something to that effect
I think that there is also a child that was spawned by Alec's goodness
not sure of his involvement in that kid's life
or as so I learned when I told this exact same story on my blog a few years ago

Alec Wheeler... amazing snowboarder and a really good guy
Alec Wheeler a lover of Mr Bungle
a lover of life
a person who lived in the moment

would love to catch up with Alec Wheeler again some day... Alec had an infectious smile... laugh... personality
fun to snowboard with as well... he was always pumped!
fantastic energy

Wheeler on the Gwadzilla Page
http://gwadzilla.blogspot.com/search?q=wheeler
http://gwadzilla.blogspot.com/search?q=whitehouse