I came to the dawning realization about two years ago that I really didn't want to code anymore. For me, perhaps the most important thing that's allowed me to stay in the tech biz is shifting my career to an area of interest where I haven't burned myself out--in my case, data, or more specifically, data analysis. And the main reason I like the work is that it puts me chest deep in statistics. Developers, especially database developers, are expected to be fairly fluent with basic data analysis techniques, but of course coming to the work as an analyst casts everything in a new light. A much deeper emphasis on math and stats has been a breath of life.

A new role also brings new tools to the forefront. One of the more interesting for me is the graph database, namely Neo4j. It offers a fascinating way to deal with data, and can make easy work of problems that would be confounding in either a spreadsheet (even the powerhouse that is Excel) or a relational database. I'm still learning how to use this new tool, and it's a wonderful challenge because I know the reward will far outstrip the investment.

But when dealing with technology, I also constantly have to remind myself that we're still very much in the infancy of our digital revolution. When an automated voice system can't understand the words coming out of my mouth, or when my smartphone takes a steaming dump in my hand (rare, but it happens), I try to remember that in a very large sense, everything's still in alpha. It doesn't help solve the situation, but it makes me feel less like a victim and more like a live systems tester (for which I receive no compensation).

Can I ever picture myself eventually saying "enough is enough?" Technology is a never ceasing barrage of newness. It's fun for a while, but eventually that fades and gives way to "manageable." When that fades...I guess enough is enough.