Going AWOL tomorrow
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (340470)
Rockingham, Australia
March 22, 2018 10:14pm CST
I will be AWOL for the next few days unless we come up with an internet connection which we may well do. AWOL stands for 'absent without leave' and first came into being when servicemen would absent themselves without first getting permission from their superiors.
We’re heading to Perth, Western Australia and our first stop will be at our grand-niece’s 21st celebration. We plan at arrive about 2pm and spend a few hours there before going to a friend’s unit in Fremantle for a dinner with two other couples. Our friend's unit is one of many in the converted wool stores on the wharf.
We will stay there four nights. On Monday we’re going to a ‘Friendlies’ soccer match between the Matildas and Thailand. If Samantha Kerr manages to score a goal, we might even see her do her backward somersault trick. In between times, we hope to visit a couple of friends who are battling in various ways and we might even get time for a board game or two.
If I don’t post while we’re away, I’ll tell you all about it when I get back. The photo is a statue which is on the Fremantle Wharf and commemorates the hundreds of children who were sent out to Australia to start new lives.
29 people like this
35 responses
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
23 Mar 18
Have a great time in Perth.
4 people like this
@Courtlynn (67083)
• United States
23 Mar 18
Cool statue! Sounds like a great trip ahead! Stay safe and enjoy
4 people like this
@snowy22315 (180979)
• United States
23 Mar 18
That is quite a statue. I hope you have a great trip!
3 people like this
@JudyEv (340470)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Mar 18
I wrote about these children last October. I'll add the link but basically some 3,200 unaccompanied children came out from Britain and 100 from Malta between 1947 and 1953. Some were treated well but some had miserable lives.
We had some time to spare when we were in Fremantle, Western Australia so we visited the Maritime Museum. Outside the museum was this commemorative statue which...
4 people like this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
24 Mar 18
hope the journeyand the game go well - terrofic statue
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
24 Mar 18
@JudyEv it should be better to see live than on TV
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340470)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Mar 18
@arthurchappell It was great. We were quite near all the action and there was a big screen we could watch as well if we wanted to. They did replays of bits and pieces on the big screen.
@Mavic123456 (21893)
• Thailand
23 Mar 18
have a great time.... one time I asked for a leave and my boss didn't allow me. (was never taken any leave yet so far that time) I told him I can't do anything about anything so I really need to take this leave he said I will be charged AWOL I asked him, what will happen if I get AWOL when I respectfully asked you
1 person likes this
@Mavic123456 (21893)
• Thailand
23 Mar 18
@JudyEv no... he can't explain what will happen if I will get AWOL because I was asking him politely and with respect and I have no absence at all even a sick leave, I just like to celebrate the Christmas day with my BF that's why I want to take a day off. He allowed me eventually.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340470)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Mar 18
So you know about AWOL. Did anything happen? I hope you didn't lose your job.
@xFiacre (13047)
• Ireland
23 Mar 18
@JudyEv My parents were evacuated as children during the war (WW2 to be clear!). Different situation, but rather traumatic being bundled into a train with a luggage tag tied round your neck, weeping parents left behind and not knowing where they were going.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340470)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Mar 18
@xFiacre I've heard that many of the English were sent off into the country to try to keep them safe. Were your parents in England during the war or Ireland? And of course, after a little cogitation I thought it would have had to have been WW2. 
One of Maeve Binchy's books is about an English lass that is sent to Ireland for the duration but in her case the parents had been friends at school so I don't know if that was common - Brits going to Ireland.
One of Maeve Binchy's books is about an English lass that is sent to Ireland for the duration but in her case the parents had been friends at school so I don't know if that was common - Brits going to Ireland.@JudyEv (340470)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Mar 18
It is isn't it? I can't even imagine what they would have been feeling at that point.
@moffittjc (121621)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Mar 18
You are going to have a very busy trip! Hope you are able to have lots of fun along the journey! And enjoy the soccer match! Don't be a hooligan! lol
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121621)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Mar 18
@JudyEv I look forward to that post!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340470)
• Rockingham, Australia
29 Mar 18
@moffittjc I don't think I'll put it in a post as it's a bit underhand. Don't want to lose my impeccable reputation! Vince bought a nice new 400mm lens for his camera and took it to the soccer. They inspected our backpacks then asked to look in Vince's camera bag. She checked with her superior who asked the lens size. Quick as a wink he said 100mm. I would have been ducking and diving but he looked them straight in the eye and 100mm. That is apparently the largest size you can have at the games. They are worried that amateur photographers will compete with the professionals and sell photos here and there. We weren't going to do that so Vince feel at all bad about lying and I didn't feel too bad that he lied.
Vince bought a nice new 400mm lens for his camera and took it to the soccer. They inspected our backpacks then asked to look in Vince's camera bag. She checked with her superior who asked the lens size. Quick as a wink he said 100mm. I would have been ducking and diving but he looked them straight in the eye and 100mm. That is apparently the largest size you can have at the games. They are worried that amateur photographers will compete with the professionals and sell photos here and there. We weren't going to do that so Vince feel at all bad about lying and I didn't feel too bad that he lied.1 person likes this
I'll save the story for a post.
@Morleyhunt (21744)
• Canada
23 Mar 18
Have fun. Monday I head back to Ontario....hope to be back there in the early afternoon on Tuesday.
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21744)
• Canada
23 Mar 18
@JudyEv for me it has gone fast. Hubby at home doesn't feel that way though. I'm looking forward to feeling his arms around me on Tuesday.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340470)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Mar 18
@Morleyhunt I guess you've had more distractions than he has had. 
I can remember looking forward to seeing Vince come through the doors at the airport last time he went to Nepal.
I can remember looking forward to seeing Vince come through the doors at the airport last time he went to Nepal.1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340470)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Mar 18
Gosh, your time is coming to an end there. It seems to have gone quickly.
@kobesbuddy (78882)
• East Tawas, Michigan
23 Mar 18
This sounds like a wonderful getaway, for you and Vince. Have fun, stay safe, and when you get back, 'please, do a backwards summersault for us!'
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340470)
• Rockingham, Australia
29 Mar 18
@kobesbuddy Oh dear, it was lucky you didn't do some real damage - or did you?
1 person likes this
@kobesbuddy (78882)
• East Tawas, Michigan
28 Mar 18
@JudyEv I learned to do a backwards flip, on a trampoline. Then, I landed one time on the top of my head, so that ended that! :(
1 person likes this
(Some told me about Perth Australia as a place where only the wealthy who have some connections with oils or big name in farming, reside. 
)
@Tina30219 (81978)
• Onaway, Michigan
24 Mar 18
Have a great time I look forward to hearing all about it when you get back.
1 person likes this
@Tina30219 (81978)
• Onaway, Michigan
24 Mar 18
@JudyEv Right. Photos are the best part of a trip.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340470)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Mar 18
Hopefully I'll remember to take some photos as well.
