Surprise!

People asked me, almost as soon as I arrived back Down Range, if I noticed any differences from when I left. Now, from my perspective, three weeks is not *really* all that long to be gone, as compared, say, with having been gone from home for six months. Just as a f'rinstance.

It seemed like a somewhat weird question each time it was asked.

Especially since there really wasn't anything different. It felt a bit surreal to be back, seeing how much I loved my time with my family and friends in the States, but everything looked pretty much the same.

Now it's true that things will change here -- that's just the way life is. (Reminds me of a song from about twenty years ago, "Everything Must Change," a really beautiful tune with some lovely, but melancholy, lyrics.) But I was only gone three WEEKS, folks.

Anyway, there were a couple of changes that I noticed almost immediately after going in to the office the first time upon my return. Here's a photo. See if *you* notice anything:


Not only did they take away my "secret squirrel" computer, they took away my non-secret-squirrel computer, and replaced the latter with the one pictured above which is missing the key for the letter "g" (and "G," too, when you think about it).

I can't remember what value "G" has in Scrabble, but it's probably not much more than 1, which leads me to believe it's probably a fairly commonly-used letter. Granted, a quick review of what I've typed so far (on a different computer, of course) indicates I've not used the "G" very often in this post, but why let facts get in the way?

If nothing else, the letter "G" is strategically placed on the keyboard, so that the kinesthesia of attempting to use that key, and not having it there, is very discombobulating. Not to mention that it takes several jabs at that gaping wound to make a "G" (or "g") appear on the screen....

Moreover, when they took away my computers to have their hard drives wiped clean prior to shipping them elsewhere, no one appears to have thought to have backed up the email files I had on those machines. Nor any of the other files, either.

Sigh.

Additionally, the "new" computer functions more slowly than an old 386 MHz antique I used when I was in priest-school more than twenty years ago now.

(And to think I'd been led to believe I was joining an organization that routinely used cutting-edge technology. Though, maybe the paper-cut-like lacerations (small, granted, but present nonetheless) I've received from the tiny, sharp metal spikes sticking up from the keyboard are what is meant by "cutting-edge"....)

I guess there have been some changes since I went home on leave.

Surprise!

Blessings and peace to one and all,


Fr. Tim, SJ

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