Stephen Mizell

Have you seen the movie "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?" I have at least a million times. In the movie, Willy Wonka had shut down his factory due to corruption within the ranks (a prevalent issue in our times as well). People walked by the factory for years and years waiting for its return, until one day, the lights on the smokestack came alive, signifying a rebirth of the factory. The world went nuts because of the reopening and the fact that Wonka was letting five people into the factory who found golden tickets in their Wonka Bars (candy bars, not pubs). It's a delightful story if you get a chance.

This post feels like the lights on the smokestack turning on. I'm sure there have been people sitting on my site, hitting refresh over and over, looking for a new post and coming up wanting. I apologize to you, and regret to inform you there are no golden tickets, only a new post. To those who have never seen "Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory," disregard these first two paragraphs.

A good deal of things have changed since the last time I wrote here, one change being the cosmetics of this site. To keep the streak alive of updating the look of the site more times than the content, I scrapped the previous version and started from scratch using Blueprint CSS. It turned out to be a great choice and made building a grid layout easy and fun! If you are in RSS land, head on over and look at the simpleness.

There have also been quite a few other changes outside the world of binary. On the intellectual side of things, I have tried to make myself a reader. I have never been a reader, so this was a big step. I did so by making myself sit down for a certain amount of time each day and read. When I began, I would read 20 pages and not be able to tell you one word from it. As time progressed, I began to be more focused while reading and able to read larger sections of books and actually tell you what it was about. I've probably ready 10 or so books in the past few months, which is probably more I had read (for leisure) in my entire life. Reading and learning are gifts from God, and I really took them for granted.

In the physical arena, I've been working out five days a week. Each day I hit the weights, run, and swim. It is amazing how much it helps me throughout the day and keeps my neck from feeling broke from staring at a monitor for eight hours straight. I've gotten to where I can work out on the bench with over 175lbs and swim over a half mile without stopping. I neglected my body for my entire college career and I've decided it's time to try and change that.

So that's the skinny. See you in another three months.

Yesterday, like every other work day, I got up at the same time and drove the same way to work. I was listening to the news on the radio as I pulled in the parking lot a minute or two before 8am, and jumped out saying hello to a couple of my fellow coworkers. We walked to our own separate corners of the building and went about our days just like usual.

Work was going very well that morning. I was solving some problems, fixing some issues, and adding some features. I had just been issued a PDA to use for work and was installing ActiveSync so I could put my calendar on it. About 11:30am, something really funny happened that I will be telling my grandchildren one day (FYI: I don't have any yet, I'm only 24).

The phone rang and the caller ID on it said, "MSU Police." I picked it up slowly, wondering what they would be calling me for. The lady came on the line and said, "Mr. Mizell, do you drive a tan Dodge Avenger?" Yes, I drive a car like that, so I'm thinking at this point someone has smashed my car or broken into it. "Well, sir, your car is running. It has been running for several hours." Both my hands quickly slapped my pockets checking for the keys. They were no where to be found. I think at that point my face turned bright red with embarrassment.

I'm not sure how I did it, but I got out of my car at 8am and left it running and unlocked. It ran until about 11:30am. Luckily, no one had stolen it or anything in it while it sat there just hanging out. Students walk by that lot all morning and are just feet away from my car, someone had to have noticed.

I'm very thankful it turned out like it did. No one stole my car, very little gas was used, and the officer at the scene told me it happens quite often, so I wasn't that embarrassed. I feel really bad about the way I treated my car, though, and hopefully I will not be reported to social services.

So it's been a long time since I've posted on here. I know that, and I also know you should never start sentences with the word "so". The lack of posting can really be attributed to a lot of things. First off, I've been the busiest I've ever been in my entire life. Secondly, posting on this website in the past was always a hastle because of the way I had it set up. I had hand built everything on this website and had a pretty crummy way of making posts. On the outside, everything was fine, but on the inside this website was having serious issues.

So what's different? Well, with this website, I completely removed everything I had previously done and installed SimpleLog. SimpleLog was exactly what I wanted and very "simple" to install and use. Everything about it I love, and SimpleLog and I are very happy together, thanks for asking.

So what's going on in my life? Well, since I wrote my last post about getting a new job, I got another new job. I now work for Murray State University doing web development for the KATE department and the Murray State University College of Education. After leaving my previous job, my previous employer decided to kept me around to build them a cool little web application to improve their legal department and make them super efficient. I've built it and am still building, using Django. So that means I have two full time jobs, which also means I'm very tired.

Could there be any more? Yes there can. I'm also taking two courses at MSU in hopes of getting an MBA in the next couple of years. Two jobs, two classes, too much. And I know what you are thinking about it all, "Too bad." Thanks.

There has been a whole lot of things happen since I last posted on here. I last wrote on here about using a laundry mat and how I looked forward to the day when I would leave there and never return. The day came and passed and I am still faced with the same issues as before, mainly that of having dirty laundry piled up in the laundry basket (and sometimes in the corner). It is a huge relief, though, having your own washer and dryer because you can just set it and forget it.

We've moved from our basement apartment where spiders and squirrles ruled to a super nice duplex apartment with two full baths and a fridge with an ice maker! We even upgraded to the fastest internet connection so we can download our email and instant messeage chats four times faster than before.

In addition to a new living arrangement, I am working at a new job with some great people. I wear a lot of hats in my position, which brings new surprises every day.

Last but certainly not least, I bought a new motorcycle, a Kawasaki Ninja 250. It's not the fastest bike in the world, but people always think a guy with a bike is cool. That's really the number one reason I bought it.

Well, that was a quick recap of what's going on. I have been working on the computer here quite a bit the last few days getting XGL and Beryl working in Ubuntu (which are awesome!), so I had some extra motivation to post on here. Maybe this motivation will contine into the coming weeks.

Thanks, bye.

So, yeah, it's hard to type up something when you've done one post in a two month period. I'm just going to give you random facts about me you probably don't want to know, because it's my site, and my name is the domain name. Here we go.

1. I have a talent where I can lay on the floor, shirtless, and move my back in a way that makes a VERY realistic farting noise. It has been called "The Back Fart." I got extra credit in a high school class for doing it for a teacher every one of his periods.
2. I can drink a 12 oz bottle of water in under 7 seconds. That's 12 fluid ounces if you were confused.
3. Keeping the theme of flatulence, I once passed gas (audibly) in class and was told on by a fellow classmate. The teacher stopped class, quietly grabbed a paper towel, rolled it up and said "Cork it." He was mad when he said it, but he and I still laugh about it until this day.
4. I could once run 3.1 miles in 19 minutes. Now I have love handles.
5. I've been in one fight. I hit the guy hard in the jaw one time and he walked away. You now know not to mess with me.
6. I've had pneumonia 8 times, all before I was 15 years old. That's more than one every two years. I did that math in my head for those keeping track.

It's 10:57pm and it's way past my bed time. I guess that means I'm officially in the real world.