Welcome to my little corner of the Internet. Here you will find different musings and descriptions of the various happenings in my life. Anything from political and religious opinions to fantastical writings that have absolutely nothing to do with anything important. Some days I may write about my educational adventures and others I may be writing about the rising price of gasoline, you just never know. So, if this is your cup of tea or if you are just looking for the entertainment of reading other people's thoughts, I welcome you and invite you to subscribe to my blog (look for the link in the sidebar). Thank you for your visit and please feel free to invite your friends!

Christmas Greetings!

Posted on December 24, 2010
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Greetings and Merry Christmas from our family to yours! This is going to be a small newsletter to let you, our friends and family, know what all has transpired with our immediate family in the 2010 year. So prepare yourself for the somewhat boring adventures of the Jack and Jean Corzine family as we look back on the year 2010!

Back in January of 2010 we brought in the New Years by attending a party at our daughter and son-in-laws house. This was a theme party done in a mystery theatre atmosphere (it was a murder mystery in which my lovely wife was the murderess). It was a lot of fun and I think that everyone was pleased with both the roles they were asked to play and the fun that was had by all. I started my regular school schedule of going to Heartland Community College two nights a week. In February Nikki and Tim took a trip to Ireland with some friends of theirs (the Turner clan) and spent 10 days traipsing across the Irish country. Nikki and Tim seemed to have a great time doing so and they even brought me home some real Irish Guinness!  While they were in Ireland our son, Michael, was house-sitting for them when he was involved in a serious accident on old route 66. It put him in the hospital for 3 days and he suffered relatively minor injuries (although he did give us quite a scare), the most serious was an ACL and Meniscus tear of his right knee. He healed up nicely from most of the minor injuries and has since had the ACL and Meniscus repaired (in October).

In April Mike turned 21 and Nikki turned 24. In June we received the news that we were going to be grandparents (Nikki and Tim). Jean and I are both quite excited about this although we exhibit that excitement in different ways. Jean and I celebrated our birthdays in June as well so this was a welcome birthday present to us both.

In July I started looking into doing an internship through Heartland Community College, not so much for academic reasons as I don’t have to fulfill that requirement, but more to get me some much needed experience in the Information Technology field. Work so far has been virtually non-existent in the ironworker field around here so I started seriously thinking about the career change move I’ve been planning.

August and September came with a few surprises. First I ended up at prompt care and then the emergency room with what was suspected as a heart attack but then was diagnosed as heat exhaustion. This came after a week of working through some serious heat but not anything I had not worked through before. After taking a few days off I was once again laid off. Jean went back to work at her regular job at the school and week later I went  back to work for one day and ended back in the emergency room that evening. This time it was much more serious and everyone was convinced that I was undergoing a massive heart attack. The E.R. doctor was not convinced of this though and through his diligence and some further testing it was determined that I had pancreatitis (a condition just as serious as the cardiac one if not more so). After a week of being in the hospital I was released to go home and had to rest up for an additional 2 weeks time.  Unfortunately after I was release there was once again no work to be had. I was back in school going one night a week and doing an online course. I also was able to determine that I should graduate in the Fall of 2011 if all goes according to plan.

October Nikki and Tim celebrated their 4th wedding anniversary. We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary (don’t know how she puts up with me) and went to St. Louis for the weekend. November saw us at Nikki and Tim’s for Thanksgiving ham (don’t worry, I smoked two turkeys at home for us to eat later on).  I also started working at Bloomington High School’s Technology Department as an I.T. intern which is very exciting and educational. There are many aspects of this job that I find challenging and exciting.

This brings us to the present month of December and the upcoming Christmas celebration. We hope and pray that the Lord has blessed each of you as much or more than He has blessed us. We ask that you take a few minutes of this busy holiday season to truly reflect on what Christmas truly means and the reason that we celebrate this holiday. May the Lord bless you and keep you throughout the upcoming year. Love to all…….

Merry Christmas!

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Hunting outing 10-16-1020

Posted on October 16, 2010
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A deer hiding behind branches is eating grass
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Unsuccessful but interesting none-the-less.

Started out as a beautiful crisp fall day. Forty degrees at 06:00 a.m. with no clouds in the sky, like I said, a beautiful morning for my walk to my hunting blind. I drive out to my parking area which is about 200 yards from where I’ve situated my blind and start my walk into the field. As luck would have it I’ve once again chosen the wrong route (seems like no matter which route I choose it turns out to be wrong) and halfway to my blind I spook up a doe and her fawn (late season). No chance at a shot as they were both over 50 yards away and it was way too early to even think about seeing my sight pins. So I satisfied myself with watching how beautiful these animals that God has bequeathed to us are as they bound over the landscape. Deer have a certain grace that unless you have witnessed it first hand is really rather difficult to describe. All of their parts move together to provide a showing of majesty that exhibits the raw power and grace inherit to all such wild creatures. But I digress, I was telling a story wasn’t I?

So, I continued to make my way to my blind without further mishap and settled in for the morning. There is a peacefulness that tends to take over when I get to my blind or stand. Oft-times this is when I choose to take a more pro-active prayer life and to focus more on my walk with God. I should take more time in my regular life to do this but at least I am able to take this time to forget my troubles and to give justice to God’s work in my and my family’s lives. Today was no exception to this routine of mine. Listening to nature wake up (or go to bed, depending on the species) is quite relaxing and enjoyable. If  you have never experienced this then I suggest you go to your nearest wildlife area and try it sometime. Especially this time of the year because the bugs are almost dormant and you can enjoy the outdoors without fear of many of the biting insects that may otherwise convince you to retreat indoors.

Watching the finches and the other birds collecting the late season seeds, the squirrels running around gathering nuts and other materials to fortify their winter homes, the o’possum wandering his way back to his hiding spot for the day after a night of foraging (scavenging?) for some nutritious meal, brings forth a heightened awareness of one’s surroundings. After numerous hours of sitting in my blind and contemplating just how a 3 pound squirrel sounds so much like a 180 pound deer as it crashes through the underbrush, I decide that I’m probably done with my blind hunt for the morning and that I want to go and check out my tree stand which I left in a nearby tree. I exit the blind, taking time to close it up, and start the slow walk that is common to deer hunters all over the place. Take two to three steps and pause, look carefully for the movement of antlers or possibly the flick of an ear as it is the movement that you will usually pick up first before you actually see the deer itself. The pause varies dependent on the terrain and the speed you can safely (and stealthily) move through the underbrush, sometimes taking an hour to transverse what would normally take you  10 to 15 minutes to cover otherwise. This is what you need to do though if you plan on having a somewhat successful time in stalking deer or at least not spooking them while you move from one spot to another.

So, here I am, slowly making my way to the area where the landowner crosses the small stream with his 4 wheeler (this is the easiest place for one to cross on foot) and I have to move to the west side of the clearing to cross over. Once across the stream I once again start to move towards my tree stand. I hear a splashing in the stream on the other side of the clearing. As I peer into the shadows of the trees over the stream I see a doe and another fawn in the stream and decide to try to stalk up on them to take a shot at the doe. I slowly creep across the clearing, stopping every time I see the doe change position and end up about 15 yards from the two deer which is plenty close for a good shot with my bow. By this time the doe has moved behind a small shrub and is partially obscured from my vision but I have a good site on the fawn who is slowly moving away from me in the stream bed. I decide to wait at this spot to take my shot when the doe moves back  out from behind the shrub.

I bring my bow up and put tension on the string without actually drawing it as I don’t wish to be holding my bow at full draw for an extended length of time. The doe inches forward in what seems to be a very lengthy time but in reality is more likely just a matter of moments. Anticipation builds as I feel that familiar rush of adrenalin as I prepare myself physically and emotionally for the upcoming shot. All of a sudden I hear quite closely a series of snorts off to my right. There in the trees (hidden amongst the folliage) is another more mature doe! I realize that I’ve been busted because where my intended target was unable to see me due to the backdrop of scrub and trees, this new doe can see me clearly skylined with the horizon! Too late I realize that my opportunity is over with my first target as my mind races to find a solution to bring a favorable solution to the situation. The original doe and fawn are streaking down the stream with their tales flagging the all to familiar white underside flapping in the breeze while the new doe exits her cover to confront the threat (me). She steps out to my right and stomps violently on the ground as she snorts her dislike of something that she is not sure of as dangerous. My only thoughts are just how can I resolve a shot upon this new, older doe and save my hunt! The only chance I have is to stand still as a granite pillar and hope that she cannot completely make out what I am. The only good thing that I can think of is that the wind is in my favor and I’m downwind from her. If I am truly lucky she will think that I’m just a bush in the clearing and once she has taken her attention off of me I can attempt to get turned for a shot on her. Alas though, she is much too wise for that and takes no more chances. With a parting stomp in conjunction with a resounding snort she exits down the same path as her friends as I’m left to consider my mistakes. To add insult to injury, I realize that in their hurry to leave me behind they actually pass within FEET of my blind!

Lessons learned today; always be mindful of my background from all available angles, a little more patience may have shown me the larger doe before moving in for the kill on the easier prey, maybe a little more time in the blind would have shown some results as well.

At least I learned something today so it wasn’t a wasted day and I enjoyed this adventure even though it did not turn out the way I wished for it to. Have a great day and if you are a hunter I hope you can take something from this as well.

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A Very Close Call for Me

Posted on September 8, 2010
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A medical student checking blood pressure usin...
Image via Wikipedia

Well as some of you know, I have had a very uncomfortable time in Advocate/BroMenn Hospital in Normal, IL last week. Needless to say it is an experience that I truly hope to never, ever have to experience again. I guess to tell the story correctly I had better start from the beginning.

I guess it all started a little over a month ago while I was working at the new Normal, IL Multi-modal Transportation Center. This was an extremely hot week and I had been off of work for an extended period of time so by the end of the first day I was dead tired. Of course I attributed this to just the head so I went back on Tuesday to continue working. By noon I was about all done in, sweating like there was no tomorrow and getting dizzier all of the time. Upon the suggestion of my co-workers (thanks guys!) I went over to Jimmy John’s and rested through our lunch period. I felt moderately better and continued with work until 2:30 when I started having cramps. I knew I was in some trouble and decided to pack it up for the day and go home and rest and hydrate which I did. Wed was much the same as Tue except I only made it 4 hours at which time I was light-headed and dizzy whether I was standing, sitting, or laying down. Before anyone suggests it, YES I was hydrating all day long (the water bottle was never farther away than my bolt bag on my tool belt and it was refilled numerous times). All to no avail as the heat had me and was not going to let me go. On Thursday I showed up for work, made it 2 hours and was sent home by the site superintendent. After being home for about 2 hours my wife insisted I go to OSF Prompt Care on Ft. Jesse Rd. Upon arrival there I was examined by the doctor and he assessed me with a low heart rate (50 bpm, that was after about 3 hours of rest so who knows how low it actually got) and did not like the EKG readings he was getting so he had me transported to OSF St. Joseph Medical Center. Once there the ER doctor diagnosed me with heat exhaustion (which the Prompt Care doctor stated he did not believe I had) and decided it was due to one of my blood pressure medicines. So, I was taken off of this particular medicine and placed on a new medicine instead. This is where the more dangerous problems began and is why I had to give you all of that background information.

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Lincoln Balloonfest 2010

Posted on August 28, 2010
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Videos of the long glow and the “flicker”:

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Water wall almost complete

Posted on August 28, 2010
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