GONE FISHING (TOTA, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?)

Above is a lantern entitled Jiang Tai Gong Fishing.  According to the brochure, Jiang Tai Gong was an expert in military affairs, and hoped that one day he could help overthrow the evil Shang ruler.  He waited patiently, fishing with no hook, believing that the fish would come to him of their own volition when they were ready.  (Please don't try this technique, you would be waiting for a long time!) Eventually he was made prime minister by King Wen of Zhou, who gave him the name Jiang Tai Gong.  He later helped Wen's son, King Wu, overthrow the Shang dynasty.

I am sure you know that the reasons I have not been blogging not because I have gone fishing in Montana or have gone on bass catching trip in Canada.  There is a major fundraising event coming up at my new job and by the time I got home after a hard day of working (or hardly working - haa haa), I did not have much energy left to write or even post cheesy photos (I sure have lot of those)!  Of course, some of you might be aware that the Stanley Cup Finals between the New Jersey Devils v. the Los Angeles Kings are still going on.  The Kings won the first 3 games, the Devils came back strong and won games 4 and 5 to force game 6 back to LA on Monday.  My husband said that I am probably the only person in St. Louis or the entire state of Missouri, still watching hockey.

Also from the brochure - The Shang dynasty lasted from the 16th through the 11th centuries B.C.  The Zhou dynasty lasted from 1046 to 256 B.C.

I have been working 9+ hours almost everyday.  I even worked 6+ hours last Saturday.  At the new job, I am willing to give 100% and remembered from the interview that there would be long hours as part of my responsibilities.  However, at this point in my life, I no longer get excited about the potential of being noticed for possible advancement.  My attitude is "been there done that".  That rat race no longer is part of the competition I want to spend the rest of my life reaching.  In my previous employment, there were many times I put in 60+ hours, weekends, took work home, and always trying to make things better, and after 11 years of dedication, I was thrown off the bridge!

So the lesson for today is to go fishing or do whatever brings you happiness!