In a couple of weeks, Bill and I will be traveling to Scotland and taking a cruise on Hebridean Princess.  We have cruised on this ship before, back in November 2012.  We were celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary.  It was actually a rather bittersweet journey because one of our dogs got very sick while we were gone.  Despite MacGregor’s sickness, we had a wonderful time in Scotland and especially on Hebridean Princess.  Scotland felt very comfortable to me, probably because a number of my ancestors were Scots and my earliest memories are of living in England.

Anyway, when we took that first cruise, Bill brought his dress blues and wore them for the galas on the ship.  These are special meals where haggis is served.  The men wear tuxedoes and the women wear cocktail dresses.  Bill made many people, including the ship’s officers, stop dead in the their tracks when he showed up wearing his uniform.  The Brits love it when people dress smartly for a special occasion.  It was one of a few times when it seemed like Bill was so much prettier than me.  Lots of people congratulated him for looking so sharp.

I hope we can get a nicer shot on this upcoming trip…  Yes, we were a little hammered.  We needed some Scotch courage to try the haggis.

As it happens when guys get older and retire from the Army, Bill has gained a little weight.  Although I have been nagging him for weeks about trying on the uniform, he finally did it today.  And he found out that his uniform no longer fits him properly.  It’s enough that he needed to invest in a new shirt and jacket.  We went to Panzer today to shop for uniform essentials so he’ll be all spiffy on our cruise.  He lucked into the last jacket in his new size and found a shirt with no problem.  Sadly, clothing sales was missing the piping that he needed for the jacket sleeves and no one there could help him.  He’ll either have to get the piping off of his older jacket or go on a crash diet for the next two weeks.  Maybe he’ll find someone who can help him before we take off in a couple of weeks.

While he was buying the jacket and shirt, I took note of some “fresh fruit” being offered for sale…

I think it might be time for banana bread…  Also, at least one of those apples has seen better days.

We stopped by the PX for a potty break and to pick up some feminine hygiene essentials, then we went to the Auld Rogue for a late lunch/early dinner.  Bill tried the chili, which was pretty good but not very spicy.

I might be persuaded to order this sometime, though my chili is much better.  I’m not a big fan of lots of heat, but this was pretty bland for chili.  I liked the cheese.

This was pretty good, as usual.  I couldn’t finish it all, though.

After we ate and had a few rounds of Guinness, we went to Patch to pick up a couple of things from the Shoppette.  I took the opportunity to use the bathroom because I knew that if I didn’t, I’d really regret it on the way home.  Folks, I’m here to tell you that despite AAFES’ promises of a clean restroom that is inspected every hour, the potty in the Shoppette was even grosser than usual today.  It looked like someone’s abnormally large turd was stuck in the commode.  And there was also no toilet paper.  It’s a good thing I had some Kleenex with me.

Clean restroom promise… HA!

I have ranted about the nasty bathrooms before, but I just figured today’s experiences represented an unusually high level of suckitude.  It truly makes me sad.  I’ve seen some really gross toilets in my day, but they were in developing countries.  I think we should be able to do better in a place like Germany, where there is plenty of running water, people get paid regularly, and detergent is affordable.

Oh well…  Somehow, we’ll get Bill in his uniform so he can be stunning to our friends the Brits.  I’ll try to keep up with his natural beauty.