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Day’?s Verse:
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.
Philippians 4:6
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Tonight is Life Group night, which means all you NaNoWriMo addicts will have to suffer withdrawal for another 24 hours. Sorry.

I haven’?t said one single word about a gigantic change in my life: My group at work has finally moved to Shrewsbury. This long- and highly-anticipated move means that I can at last commute directly to and from work, cutting out the irritatingly untrustworthy middleman. The new commute is 13 miles, with an emphasis on elevation gain in the last three miles (my conservative estimate: about 1,000 feet up, give or take). Sadly, the train ride had been the time I did my Bible reading and praying. Now I find myself forgetting to do it in the bustle of the day, and I miss that time.

The facility itself overwhelms me with its hugeness. Worcester, although old, much-abused, crappy, thrown-together, and maze-like, kept us all in intimate spaces within easy distance of our most frequent collaborators. Now the project scientists, who remain handily split between Worcester and Shrewsbury, are a long walk away; the Data Unit, while not up 37 stairs, requires a ten-minute trek. The facility has an odd, impersonal feel, with its stark walls unrelieved by artwork or anything. There are no landmarks, no way to describe my cube’?s location. My cube is one of 100 this vast room, and they are bounded by 66 small offices for managers and study directors. The facility’?s layout continues to confuse me, and one day I got lost for 15 minutes trying to find my way to the amphitheater. Our whole area — the 166 work areas — is served by a woman’s bathroom with two stalls.

Frankly, my biggest complaint: THERE IS NO HOT WATER IN THE SHOWERS. I took three cold showers in three different stalls, thinking perhaps changing location would help. I waited for minutes on end. Finally, I asked if there some hot-water-obtaining trick had eluded me. Then I learned that when people are using hoses (presumably to clean out animal cages) there simply is no hot water in the showers. One animal tech told me she thought there was hot water later in the day; another sounded unsure as to whether showers ever provided the luxury of warm water. All I have to say is, they spent how many millions of dollars on this facility, and still failed to provide hot water in the showers. [Speechless]

However, my desk and storage space have probably doubled, and my cube is very spacious. I work among all the other Report Services people, which lets us feel a little more like a cohesive department, rather than splinters working individually. My boss and my associate director are in offices nearby. There are four refrigerators and two microwaves, plus hot water in the sinks to wash dishes. Our phones are incredibly cool, and some time this week I will get a new computer with two monitors. This is all very sweet.

I think, given enough time, I will adjust to the facility’s size and configuration. Enough riding up those hills will build muscle so I can do it more easily. And, frankly, I have no choice in this matter, so I might as well buckle down and adjust to it.