(... note to self ...)
git status
Happens to be a useful command.
A very useful one, especially when you're amidst an interactive rebase that you were keen to forget about in roughly 5 seconds after intiating it.
So when the stuff goes incomprehensibly missing, especially committed files ... don't try to make it a late night adventure recreating things from memory :)
Just git status.
GIT STATUS
gIt StAtUs
...
Well not sure if git cola displayed that bit somewhere though, didn't catch my eyes ... could be a valuable feature to request if not.