Spain and more!

Hello all, I am back! I promised I would write, and here I am, keeping the trust flowing well between us. How are all of you MUNKY-heads (Oh I will definitely keep using that one)? I am very jet-lagged right now so forgive me if my grammar isn't up to your standards.

Spain, was wonderful!

Lucky for us our flight was mid-day, so there was no waking up really early to rush to the airport ordeal. Those are never fun, and totally not worth it in my opinion. So you arrive at your location when it is still light out, big deal! You are cranky and no-one wants to hang out with you, so what's the point?

The only problem is that because Spain is around 7 hours away, and the time difference is 6 hours ahead, our mid-day flight turned into a red-eye. It didn't help that we were stuck on the runway for over an hour...ugh!

So we arrived in Marbella, Spain, and everybody was ready to kill one another. There were a few moments where I was glad no-one was carrying any form of weapons. We got the sleep we so desperately needed and all became well, despite an attempted attack by a bottle of suntan lotion. We stayed at the Marriott Playa Andaluza, in Estepona.

I would like to take this moment to comment on Spain, or at least the area we stayed in. When we were all cranky and tired from our flight, the last thing I wanted to do was to drive awhile to our hotel. But that's how it ended up.

Driving in Spain was....interesting. Since I speak minimal Spanish, trying to find your way around was pretty difficult. Europeans do not care if you are lost or confused, they were yelling and honking and flashing their lights, I might as well have been back in NYC.

There were two days that top the list as the best parts of my vacation. First was Gibraltar; This British territory was one of the most fascinating days of my entire life! We got a cab to take us up the Rock of Gibraltar. This was the entire reason I decided to go on the trip in the first place. At the top of the Rock, you encounter the Barbary Apes! They were everywhere! Monkeys on buses, on railings, on my shoulder! They had no problems hanging out with humans, they were not afraid at all. My goal was to have a monkey on me and that goal was reached!













The second highlight of my trip to Spain was a day trip to Morocco. This was a spur of the moment event, but well worth it. I rode a camel, ate Moroccan food, all while following what had to be the Godfather of Morocco, Hazam was very tall and imposing, spoke around 8 different languages, and did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted to. I could have sworn I saw him give evil looks to various locals. He was definitely the guy you wanted watching your back. Oh yea, and my dad fell off of a camel, no big deal.

Overall, Spain was a wonderful trip, even though most of the great moments were not spent there. If I could change anything about the country, it would have to be the freeways. Misplaced exit signs, but I loved the "Cambio de Sentidos"! They were the exits you got off of to turn around. Apparently they are aware of their ridiculous roads and are attempting to fix the problem. Glad to hear it!

Goodbye MUNKY-heads! Be on the lookout for new items coming soon on OMUNKY site!

Time to Restock

I have made a ton of sales in the past few days. I have sold almost
double my total shirts in the last couple of days.

This, of course, means I am running out of shirts. I'm out of stock in
a few different sizes. It is time to order more!

I am approaching the obtaining of my merchandise a little differently
than I did the last time. Up until recently I was getting my shirts
tagged and printed at the same place far away from me. They were then
shipped to me all ready to belong to one of my customers. This time
around I am getting the shirts from one place and I am having them
printed at another place very near me. I chose to do this so that I
could be more involved in the creation process. I want to meet my
shirt printers face to face, to get a feel for how they operate. I
would also like to be able to talk to someone personally in case there
are errors with my printing.

I have everything all set up for my next run and I am very excited. I
am pleased to announce that OMUNKY will now be offering women's sizes.
A lot of my facebook fans are women, so this was a logical choice. I
will also make available other clothing items (that is all the info
you will get on that for now :-).

I am leaving for a trip to Spain this Friday. I have never been and I
am really excited. I will tweet about it when I am there and I will
write about it when I get back. Do not worry, I am leaving OMUNKY in
capable hands until I get back.

Feel free to leave comments on this blog, I would enjoy your feedback.
Ta ta for now!

Rick Waters

Ways to Save the Earth

I was wandering around my house this evening and came across an amazing book that I never knew I had! 365 Ways To Save The Earth by Phillipe Bourseiller has found a special place in my heart. As I continue this blog, from time to time, I would like to include passages from this read. This book, published at the beginning of the big environmental movement, basically has useful tips for living a greener life. Little tidbits of Eco-knowledge.

What better time to start than now:

"Reduce the amount of water flowing into your toilet's tank. Any water that has been used in the homes, except water from toilets, is called graywater. This water-from dishwashers, showers, sinks, and laundry machines-accounts for at least half of all residential waste water and may be used for other purposes, especially in yards and gardens. While some ecologically oriented buildings in the United States have installed graywater systems, it has yet to make an appearance in this country on a larger scale.

By placing a bottle filled with sand in your lavoratory cistern you will reduce the volume of water used with each flush, saving the volume of the bottle each time you flush. Don't use a brick-pieces of decaying brick can get into the toilet's system and cause leaks" (7).

If you don't have access to sand, just make sure the bottle is filled with something that will weigh it down. There! Doesn't that make you feel better?

I would like to point out that while I respect those who live extremely environmentally-friendly, I am not as hardcore. I feel that being an environmentalist should not be a title; it should be something we all are, regardless of the degree we act upon. If I see someone throw their plastic bottle into the trash when the recycle bin is just a few feet away, I am not going to go yell a them about it. I would simply try my best to put the bottle into its proper location. I don't want to push my values upon anyone; I just want to give people tips and advice on living a greener life. I think we can all do our part to help our planet. I chose to use environmentally friendly fabrics in my clothing because it is an easier way for others to make a difference, and it just makes sense! I didn't have to write a huge essay about it, nor did I have to jog ten miles. It was a simple decision that I am happy I made.

Little things like putting a bottle inside the back of your toilet should not be a problem. You do it once, and from then on, the planet is better for it. I am not here to make you tie yourself to a tree, or to stand in front of Silver-back Apes that are being poached (I mean if you are willing to that would be great). Just know that there are some things you and I can do to help the planet we live on that will not take up a whole lot of your time. I love you all ;-)

Source: Bourseiller, Philippe. 365 Ways to Save the Earth. Paris; Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 2005.

Our first interview!

OMUNKY has been running for barely a month and already I was
interviewed. Awesome. Check it out at http://brandstack.com/blog/2009/08/11/buyer-profile-rick-waters/
.

New Shirt!

Has anyone ever been to Northport, NY. If so, where have you all been hiding this little paradise!? I had the pleasure of visiting today with the gf, and we had a wonderful time.

The new shirts have arrived and I have decided to make them available to you instantly! Isn't is exciting to know you will receive your new shirts a day early? I think so...

Going to get chocolate cake to celebrate!

Things are picking up...

Hello MUNKY-Heads! Can I call you MUNKY-Heads??? No? Sorry...

Ahem, I am going to try and keep all of you updated as often as I can. When I have big news, I will try my hardest not to keep it from you. This is how all bad relationships start, me not being honest, you having your doubts etc. etc.

Anyways good news! A new shirt is on the way! Everyone, meet Harry-Hippo! Harry is really digging his new digital music player. He has spent countless hours making playlist after playlist to help him enjoy his sun-bathing down by the river. The only problem is the word is out! Now Harry can't stop annoying ox-peckers from swiping his music! They keep messing with his playlists, changing the default language on the player, and just causing endless pandemonium. I mean what is a Hippo supposed to do!?

HAHA, anyways, this shirt will be printed on a recycled-blue tee. It will look awesome and will definitely attract the famous OMUNKY double-take from passerby's.

I am also in the process of creating the second phase of OMUNKY, belts. I am not looking to just make another t-shirt company, there are plenty of those. I want to eventually have OMUNKY pants, button-downs, hoodies, jackets, you name it! So the belts will be the first step, and man are they ever going to look awesome!? I cannot reveal anymore on this subject until I have some actual word from the manufacturer, but we shall see...

Anyways have a good week MUNKYHEADS! Yea, that's right! I said it again!