A journal full of blogging topics and ideas and here I am at a loss as to what to write.  Nothing feels right – and it hasn’t for months.  That in and of itself is the reason for the silence.  It needs to end.

A few months ago, I joined an active Facebook group focused on Xennials, those of us born between 1977 and 1983.  I am smackdab in the middle, and I definitely belong to that micro generation.  I mention it because there is one recurring theme in this particular group that resonates deeply with me at this point in my life:  When did we become the adults?  I imagine that particular thought crosses everyone’s mind once they hit 40.  Frankly, it sucks.

On a brighter note, I’ve really enjoyed the Xennial Facebook group.  After working with teeneagers day in, day out, it is nice to chat online with a crazy group of people who actually get your cultural references.  It is reassurance that it isn’t just you, the world is incredibly different from the one in which you grew up.  That brings me to tech.

As I’ve been working from home as a long-term online substitute teacher over the last few months, I rediscovered my love of tech.  At one time, I thought that I would have a corporate career in the semiconductor industry.  I interned at IBM and completed a co-op position with Applied Materials as an undergrad.  Applied Materials, a leading manufacturer of capital equipment for the semiconductor industry, still fascinates me.  It wasn’t meant to be; however, tech still runs deep in my soul.

Of course, as Xennials, one thing that completely separates us from Gen X and Millennials – we are both and neither – is technology.  Gen X learned most modern technology as adults, while Millennials are digital natives.  Xennials grew up right along with tech and adapted as we grew.  We had an analog childhood (praise God!) and a digital adulthood.  That is what makes us unique, and frankly, it is at least in part why I feel our experiences need to be preserved.

No one else experienced the growth of tech quite like Xennials.  Our parents, mainly Boomers, turned to us as their personal tech support.  We could program VCRs, set up gaming system and computers, and recommend a good cell phone without batting an eye.  Growing up, my sister and I were the first to navigate the internet in our household, not our parents.  I could feel just as at home on an old Apple II as with a 2023 Acer with the latest 2 TB solid state AMD harddrive.   By some accident of history, I witnessed unprecedented changes in technology that have fundamentally changed the way we live, work, and play.  Eerily, I believe it is just getting started.  AI is next.