I can say I tried

Those that know me, would say that I'm not afraid to take chances. However there are some things in life I like to be a little more certain about before I pull the trigger and jump in with both feet. You know, because you shouldn't always jump in the water, sometimes you have to just stick your toe in for a little bit to test the temperature and make sure that everything is kosher before proceeding. Well I took the toe test, and quite honestly I left the toes in longer than I normally do, because this was a more delicate situation than most and I wanted to be 100% certain before getting fully submerged in the water. 
Then one night, I found myself all the way in the water.  I wasn't quite certain how it happened, but it had happened.  The good thing is that I was right.  I was taking the right chance.  I was happy that I went out on the limb and took the chance, even if it took a little prodding from Mr. Jameson. 
Unfortunately, that is not where the story ends, and even worse it doesn't have a happy ending.  A little while after jumping in the water, I found myself back on the side, and this time I didn't even have a toe in the water.  I was left out to dry, and it sucked.  I found myself confused and saddended by what had happened.  They say everything happens for a reason, I just wish I knew what the reason was behind this. 
I'm an extremely logical person.  This time though, I let my emotions over ride logic.  The logic was telling me to wait, but my feelings were saying get in the water.  I know that hindsight is 20/20, but I should've listened to logic.  The writing was on the wall, but I started running with blinders on.  Seeing/hearing things the way that I wanted to, and not necessarily the way they were meant to be heard.
In the end though I'm glad that I took the risk, even though it didn't work out the way that I had hoped.  Like in sports, where you learn more from a loss than you do a victory, I've learned a few things from this experience.  So I'm happy that I took the chance, even though it didn't work out.  I was able to gather some valuable insight, that I can use in the future.  Don't get me wrong, I still wish this situation would've turned out differently, but I'm not giving up on it completely.  I think I'm going to stay on the outside for a little while, but pay closer attention.  What I want hasn't changed, but the way of getting to the end result has.  Maybe I failed for a reason, and maybe that reason was that I needed a better perspective on this whole situation.  Well I got a better perspective on it now.  I'm still confused by a few things, but I'm sure with time, like everything else in life, it will all work out. 
I'm ready for the next challenge.  Bring it on life, you might be able to win a few battles every now and then, but I'm going to win this war. 

I'm just one man and this is my opinion.
Thanks for reading,
Dustin Dominiak

song story

Last Friday I took an over night trip to Pittsburgh.  It was one of the more interesting days I've had in a while, not just because of the trip, but because life has been anything but boring the last 2 months for me.  More about all that later. 
So last Friday I met my boy from Detroit half way in Pittsburgh to get away from it all for a night.  Well more like to get all fucked up in a different town away from the people that annoy the shit out of us.  No matter how you want to describe it, the trip was epic, everything a guy could ask for.  While we were hanging out in the room my boy was DJ'ing, and he played some Big Sean.  I loved the album, so I got it for myself this week, and it's quickly moved it's way into the regular rotation. 
In one of the songs, Big Sean says "what's the point of a perfect girl if it ain't the perfect time".  I really dig this line because it's so true.  To me it really speaks of the complexity of finding the perfect person.  Everything has to be right, or it won't work.  If it's not the right time, do you even notice that they could be the perfect one for you?  Or are you to distracted by everything else that's going on in your life that you just let them keep on going? 
Maybe the better question is if there really is such a thing as the perfect girl.  This can obviously be answered differently by everybody.  I feel that there is a perfect person for everyone out there, but if there is only 1 then they would be just about impossible to find.  Something along the lines of having a soul mate.  With over 6 billion people in the world, what are the chances you find the one that is perfect for you?  Maybe that's why the divorce rate is so high, people get tired of waiting/searching for their soul mate, and they settle for the person they are with.
I don't think someone should ever settle.  It does no good in the long run.  Settling is a short term fix that increases complications in the long run.  Perhaps that is why I'm still single, because I don't want a short term fix, I want the real thing. 
But back to the perfect girl/perfect time dilemma.  What do you do if you found the perfect person for you but the timing is wrong?  Timing can be wrong for many reasons, to name a few; job complications, moving, lingering feelings from past relationships.  Can you let the wrong time keep you from your perfect person?  Can you push through it and make it work?  I suppose if you want something bad enough you should never give up on it.  You can't be afraid to chase your desires.  It's easier to do nothing than it is to go after something.  When you say no or do nothing life doesn't change, it all stays the same.  When you say yes, or go after something, the outcome is unknown, and that can be terrifying.  My advice, don't give up.  If you think they are perfect for you, then don't let everything else that's happening in your life keep you away from them.  The outcome is usually worth the wait.

I'm just one man, and this is my opinion.
Thanks for reading,
Dustin Dominiak

to many thoughts, not enough time

Do you ever feel like you’re drowning?  Not physically drowning in water, but mentally drowning from all your thoughts?  Where it feels like no matter what you do, you can’t come to one conclusion about a single issue, rather before you can work through the issue in your head, you’ve already moved onto something else.  That’s how I feel right now.  That’s how I’ve been feeling for about the past 6 weeks.  It’s not that I can’t formulate a thought or an opinion; I just get too distracted by something else. 

All of these thoughts have made it hard to concentrate, to be able to break down some of the barriers that are now holding me back from achieving goals that I have.  I’m not talking about big goals either; I’m talking about little goals. 

I’m usually pretty good at being able to control my emotions/thoughts, but these past 6 weeks have proven to be a new challenge that I’ve never experienced before.  Now I just feel lost.  Like I’m stuck in the mud in the middle of nowhere and can’t see anybody for miles that will be able to help.  It’s like I’m starting to second guess all of the decisions that I’ve made in the past couple of years.  I’m not saying that the decisions I’ve made were wrong, but more along the lines that they aren’t suitable for the new feelings that I’m having.

A lot has changed in the past 5 years, and I did recently turn 29.  I know that leading up to being 29 I started thinking about where my life is and how different it is than what I expected it to be 5 years ago.  Maybe that’s it, maybe it’s the thought of being older, and being off path from what you expected that is causing these thought problems for me.  More likely though, I had some unrealistic expectations for myself at the age of 24, hell probably at the age of 18 they were unrealistic.  How do you know if your expectations for yourself are too hard, or if they are too easy?  I don’t think you can.  What I do know is that I’m probably way too hard on myself.  Do I have issues?  That is an understatement. 

But what do we need to do when we start to feel that we’ve made some mistakes in the past that have derailed us from our ultimate hopes and dreams?  Do we drop everything and revert back to a time when life was easier?  Is there such a thing as life being easier?  Was life ever easier?  Maybe it was when we were young and dumb.  Or maybe we pack everything up and move away.  Try starting over someplace else, with different people and a different perspective.  But does that solve anything?  I mean you can’t escape your thoughts.  Last time I checked it didn’t matter where I was at, I still had the same thoughts running through my head.  Maybe it was just easier to deal with them because I was sitting on a beach.  Or maybe it was because of the sun in my face. 

I ran away to the east coast 5 years ago, set on finding myself and breaking down the barriers that would give me the life I wanted.  What I didn’t expect to learn was that 5 years ago the barriers I wanted to break down are not the same ones that I desire to destroy now.  While I could sit here and second guess the decisions I’ve made, I’m happy that I made them, even if they weren’t the right ones.  How can I say that?  Well, if I hadn’t made those decisions, I wouldn’t know what I know now, and knowing what I know now has given me a different perspective on life.

So while I struggle with my thoughts eluding me, struggle with trying to figure out where to go from here, and struggle with how to get there, at least I know that I gave it my all, and nobody can take that away from me.  I just have to remember one thing at a time, and the one thing that you need to accomplish first is the thing that means the most to you.  While I know what #1 on my priority list is, I also know that it will be the hardest to accomplish.  But if I can cross #1 off my list, I feel that everything else will fall into place.  But then again time hasn’t stopped moving, so perhaps #1 will change again.  I guess it’s a never ending battling in the struggle of life, but I’m happy that I have a chance to go through it all.

nothing to write about

I'm not really sure what I want to write.  I enjoy posting blogs, but for some reason haven't had much motivation the past 6 months to do so.  The blog gives you the ability to express yourself without censorship.  It can be utilized in many ways.  Some people use it as a diary of some sorts, others use it as a way to track progress on a project or to talk about how their diet is going.  No matter what you use your blog for keep using it.  I like to write about things that are on my mind.  Different thoughts that I have throughout the day, and want to explore a little further, so I'll come home do a little research and type away.
But lately, nothing.  No blogs.  It's not like I haven't had the motivation, I've been wanting to write a blog really bad for the past month or so.  But what to write about?  Some of my thoughts lately have grown into more than a 3 or 4 paragraph blog can hold.  Should I write it anyway, not caring about length?  Should I break it out into 2 or 3 parts depending on how long it is?  Or should I not write about it at all?  Not sure why, but I've been going with the latter.
Not writing anything at all, is definitely the path or least resistance.  Humans have a tendency to travel this path, and I've fallen in line with the general society.  But why do we take the path of least resistance?  Are we lazy as a whole?  Do we just want to get it over with?  Or is there something better for us to do that we don't want to take more time to do something than we actually have to?  I believe it's the last one.  You know, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence type of thing.

Wow, that was a bunch of crap, sorry if you took the time to read this, but thanks.
Dustin

Nets make a brilliant trade!!

In case you can't tell by the heading of this post I'm a big fan of the trade the New Jersey Nets made in acquiring Deron Williams.  They set the tone for this franchise for the years to come.  In today's NBA, the only way you can get a superstar to sign with you is if you already have a superstar to pair them with, or they are signing together.  New Jersey was not going to be able to convince two superstar free agents to sign with them in the same off season, and as I just said, without having one, they will never get the other.  This forced them to make a trade for a superstar.  After the Carmelo deal fell through, they stuck with it, and got a superstar that they can use in the next off-season to market to other free agents.  All of a sudden the New Jersey Nets are formidable players in the new age NBA.
We know that they have a billionaire owner from Russia, that probably sees this team as another one of his toys, and who isn't afraid to spend money.  I've read a few articles about basketball in Russia.  If you're a superstar, especially in women's basketball, you get treated like one.  They don't draw big crowds, but all the teams are owned by billionaires, and it's more of a bragging rights ordeal than about making money.  But this isn't Russia, and just because you have the money to spend, doesn't mean you can convince someone to take it.  I don't care how much money you have.  If your team is a continuous cellar dweller and the doormat of the league, you can't get people to sign with you. 
Now they pull off a blockbuster trade, and land that first superstar.  They no longer had to convince the first one to sign there, they just had to sweeten the pot enough to his current team.  It's simply a brilliant move.  Now they have a chance to get that second superstar to pair with him.  Is it a big gamble, and could end up quite costly?  Absolutely!  But the Nets are just a toy right?  A hobby, that allows him to brag to his other billionaire friends in Russia.  He said it himself, it's just money, and he has plenty of it.  Why not take the gamble, you already knew you were going to lose going down the path you were currently on.  So Bravo New Jersey.  I look forward to your future moves.

Thanks for reading,
Dustin Dominiak

Peace in the middle east?

Are we really about to see peace in the middle east?  I doubt it, but it seems that the people of middle eastern countries are finally standing up for themselves and demanding equal rights.  It makes sense that this all starts now.  With the technological advances that are in place, they can see how people live in already established governments, and then compare that to there current situation.  What makes us better than them?  Absolutely nothing, they are people to.  They just have a disadvantage because of where they were born. 
Us that are born in the U.S.A. are spoiled, and we have high expectations of privileged lives.  People in middle eastern countries don't have those same feelings.  They are starting to stand up and fight for their rights though, which is the first step in progress.  Democratic rule in the middle east would be good for the U.S.A. in multiple ways.  We can get cheaper oil, and we can exploit those people into their industrial age. 
Right now oil is going up, which in return is causing the price of gasoline to increase as well.  This rise is because of the unrest that is happening in the middle east right now, specifically Libya, which is the 18th largest oil producing country in the world.  When all of the unrest settles though, and we are left with peace, the production will return to normal levels, and the price of oil will drop, which then in return will allow the price of gasoline to drop.  Here is why I think peace will cause cheaper gas here though.  Without a greedy dictator lining his pockets with the money from oil production, the money will be used on different aspects for improving the lives of people in those countries.  That is more expensive than lining the pockets of one man, so those countries will need to produce more oil, to get more money to handle all of the community projects.  If the supply of oil increases, but demand stays the same, then that will cause the price to drop. 
Now about there industrial ages.  I'm not sure of the current production capacity of countries in the middle east, but if we promised to create jobs that will stimulate growth in there country then the production will increase.  Essentially if we can convince 2 or 3 of these countries to produce textile goods, that will decrease our dependency on China.  Without being dependent on China for cheap goods, that will decrease our current trade deficit.  As long as China is our largest trade partner we will always have a trade deficit because they peg the Yuan to the Dollar and don't let it float naturally.  This is done on purpose by the leaders of the Chinese government so that they can become the largest exporter in the world.  So if we don't have to depend on China for cheap textiles, and we can get other countries were we will have a greater influence over, that will decrease the cost of imports.  Decreasing the cost of imports will lower our trade deficit, which is good.  It will also decrease the growth of China, which will stall there growth because they won't have as much revenue flowing in. 
Everything that is happening in the middle east is making life more expensive now, but in the end it will be for the greater good of the world, and the people of the U.S.A.  We just need to figure out which one of these countries we can turn into a mutant China.  One that we can control, and won't peg there currency to the Dollar.

Thanks for Reading,
Dustin Dominiak

Don't hold it in

Life is a complicated game.  It's full of decisions that have to be made on a daily basis, some more difficult than others.  You interact with people, and carry on conversations.  Most of the time we just hear what the person is telling us and take it at that.  It's hard to tell if the person really means what they are saying or if they are just blowing smoke up your ass.  We can't read there mind, so truly knowing what they mean can be difficult.  If you want to really understand what the person is saying, or what they think of you, you'll need to observe them.  You can tell a lot about a person by their actions, and maybe they say one thing to your face but their actions mean the opposite.     
So what do you do when somebody does something that hurts you with either their words or their actions?  Do you hold it in, or do you say something?  I feel most people hold it in.  Then after bottling up all the small things, you explode over something else, and everything comes out at once.  It can get quite messy, and feelings can be hurt.  But what if you speak up when the actions happen?  Will that change the end result?  How many times can you confront somebody about there actions towards you?  At some point you have to draw the line, but life would probably be easier if you confronted people up front, at the time of the action.  This way it doesn't build inside of you, and you can discuss it while the topic is fresh in both minds.
What if you confront the person though, and they don't want to deal with it?  How can you build a better working relationship with that person if you don't ever resolve the differences between you?  You can't.  In these situations you have 2 choices; talk out your differences, or never speak to the person again.  Walking away is always easier than working things out.  And with all the other difficult decisions we have to make in life, we like to travel the path of least resistance, which means we walk away. 
Talking about your feelings is hard, especially in the world we live in now.  Working out disagreements with someone can be even harder, because you have to open yourself up to that person.  But the bottom line is you have to take life by the horns and confront your feelings.  Will you hurt other peoples feelings along the way?  I'm sure you will, but at least you were honest with them.  It's always better to be upfront and honest with a person, so don't hold it in, let them know how their actions/words made you feel.

Thanks for reading,
Dustin Dominiak

Why the Jets lost

Ok, so I know that I'm over a week late with this analysis, but I've been busy (a.k.a. lazy) the last couple of weeks.  If you follow the NFL then you know that the Jets are notorious for trash talking there opponents before the upcoming game.  However, in the week leading up to the AFC championship game against Pittsburgh the tone of the Jets was altered.  It was replaced by a complimentary attitude towards the Steelers, and this led to there demise.

At the end of the Divisional round game against the Patriots, the Jets linebacker, Bart Scott, gave an emotional interview to Sal Palantonio of ESPN.  When Sal said to Bart, "I'll see you next week in Pittsburgh."  Bart Scott replied, "Can't Wait!"  We now know that the Jets could wait. 

Instead of feeding off of the passion that Bart displayed at the end of the Jets/Patriots game, the Jets organization turned the "Can't Wait!" into a laughing matter.  They worked it into press conferences, and even let Sal create a piece around it for ESPN.  All of a sudden, you have an emotional charged team, full of passion and looking for blood, turned into a bunch of guys cracking jokes about "Can't Wait!"  Add in the new found respectful attitude they have for the Steelers, and you get a recipe for disaster.

The Jets came out in the game flat, and the Steelers drove down the field, 4 yards at a time, taking up most of the first quarter.  The drive ended with a touchdown.  In the game against the Patriots, the Jets came out looking for blood, they said they hated those guys and it showed on the field.  All they wanted to do was hit a Patriot, and hit them hard.  Against the Steelers, it looked like they were to worried about respecting them, and they didn't want to hit them.  It was almost as if the Jets were afraid of the Steelers.

Only the Jets know if they psyched themselves out mentally with the way they talked about the game before hand, but the way they came out and played it was clear that they did.

Thanks for reading,
Dustin Dominiak

Office Romance

I've always heard the stigma that you shouldn't date someone that you work with.  I'm not saying that I agree or disagree with this, but I can tell you that I've followed this rule so far in my life.  Most work places have some language in the employee's manual that is kept in HR, but those are usually vague and are added to protect the company in case things turn ugly.  Usually the HR employee manuals say that you can't date your boss or someone that has influence over your future in the company, and if for some reason you do it has to be reported so that person can't be involved in the decision making pertaining to your future.  However, they don't usually say that you can't date someone that is of equal level and in a different department, but it is frowned upon.
The problem I have with all of this is, we spend most of our time awake at the office each week.  If we're going out each night looking for someone then we probably won't be performing our best in the office, and probably won't be employed much longer.  I've heard lots of stories of people who met at work and began dating.  Most of the time it has worked out, and one of the people in the relationship leave the company and take another job.  But what if they stay at the same company and get married.  Do they drive to work together?  What if they keep different working hours, or one has a deadline.  It does seem silly for them to drive separately from the same place to the same place, but then you have to wonder if they are spending to much time together.  If you marry someone you work with, it seems likely that you'll never have time away from each other. 
I'm not saying that spending time with the person you're dating/married to is a bad thing.  I just think that all solid relationships require some personal time.  We are built as individuals, and we yearn for companionship.  However, to much companionship can be a bad thing.  I'm all for the union of marriage, and having a family, but you also need some time of your own to reflect about what is going on in your life. 
After saying all of this it seems that I'm not big on dating inside the company, or as some people call it "shitting where you eat."  But I will never say never, you just don't know who is going to start tomorrow.  He/she could be the person of your dreams, and if that is the case then I don't know how you don't at least attempt to make it work. 

Thanks for reading,
Dustin Dominiak

Instant Millionaire's

It seems like everybody is talking about the obsessively large mega millions jackpot tonight, myself included.  I don't usually play the lottery, but like most Americans, when the jackpot gets over $200 million I start buying tickets.  Today's jackpot was most recently increased to $355 million, an astounding sum.  The thought of being a hundred millionaire overnight is mind numbing.  It's easy to fantasize about what you can do when money doesn't matter.  You always hear the horror stories about lottery winners going bankrupt, but those are the only ones you hear about.  The winners that are smart with the winnings kind of fade into the sunset, never to be heard of again. 
You should be able to spend some of the money though.  You'll need to splurge, you have to get it out of your system.  In my opinion, you should take 10% of the winning and just go buy shit.  It can be boats, houses,  cars, a new wardrobe, or whatever your heart desires. 
Before you spend the money though, you'll need to hire a good money manager, preferably with a reputed company so you don't have to worry about embezzlement.  Have the money manager place 25% of the winning's in stocks and bonds to insure that you're well taken care of into the future.  He can also ensure that the 10% you're spending on whatever you want is readily available.  The next major step is eliminating all of your current debt, but I don't see that taking up much of hundreds of millions of dollars.   
That only accounts for 35% of the winnings, what will you do with the other 65%?  A friendly gesture would be to donate a large portion to charity, and I agree with this.  However, I don't think you should just give it to a specific charity, I would recommend starting your own non-profit charitable foundation.  This would be beneficial for a tax purpose for years down the road.
I would also create a for-profit corporation, and then use that company to invest in other potential business ventures.  I'm lucky on this part, I have a lot of highly qualified friends that have a broad range of expertise and are highly qualified to run their own business.  This is also another potential source of future income to go along with the capital gains from the stocks and bonds that were purchased.  Also, if you start a business it will need building to operate out of, so this leads to the investment in land and commercial property.
Finally, have your money manager put you on a bi-weekly allowance, like a pay check.  It's not like you'll need to make any large purchases (that's what you blew the 10% on), but enough to take care of your day to day expenses.
And just like that the money is gone!

Thanks for reading,
Dustin Dominiak