Lollapalooza ’92 was awesome in every way. My buddy Chad and I drove up to the ‘Natti from Knoxville the morning of the show and drove back when that same night. No way I would attempt that now!

The lineup was set before Pearl Jam blew up, and by the time July 28 rolled around, they were pretty huge. I’d argue they were 2nd only to RHCP by that time. So it wasn’t one of those situations where people straggle in as the day goes on. The place was packed in from the get go. Not video from this day, but it gives you a sense of what it was like:

What a time to be young and free. Affordable tickets, no phones, no need for metal detectors, everybody was cool with each other, and the music was even better and more important than we realized at the time.

Main Stage Lineup

• Red Hot Chili Peppers – Headlining alternative rock band.
• Ministry – Industrial metal headliner.
• Ice Cube – Hip-hop artist and prominent performer.
• Soundgarden – Grunge/alternative rock pioneers.
• The Jesus and Mary Chain – Alternative rock/noise pop band.
• Pearl Jam – Rising grunge icons who gained massive traction that summer.
• Lush – English shoegaze band.

Additional Acts & Sideshows

• The Jim Rose Circus Sideshow – Famous traveling sideshow act.
• Arson Garden
• Bronx Style Bob
• Porno for Pyros
• The Vulgar Boatmen

The post And It’s Not Even Close first appeared on Scott Adcox.

But every now and then, there’s something SO on point. For example…

I’ve seen this happen so many times to so many people. And, without fail, the “leaders” are always shocked when these folks leave. Meanwhile, everyone else in the org who is worth their salt says, “Well…yeah…anyone could have seen this coming. How’d you miss it?”

The post The Rare Nugget first appeared on Scott Adcox.

The post End Of An Era first appeared on Scott Adcox.

So many things that seem really funny to me now.

A House With An Upstairs

Most of the houses where I grew up were either one story ranches or farm houses. I knew a couple of people who had a basement, and some of them even had a finished basement, but that didn’t have the gravitas of a home with a staircase and rooms upstairs. Now I know that basements are where it’s at.

A Pool. Any Pool.

Big Tennessee/Florida difference here, but having a pool was for the wealthy in the time and place I grew up. Even in Christmas Vacation, it was a big deal that the Griswolds would be getting a pool. And they already were rich in my eyes…what with that house that had an upstairs and all. Even an above ground pool was pretty swanky in my eyes. Now I know that creeks and rivers are infinitely more fun than pools.

Pay-At-The-Table Restaurants

When I was a sophomore in high school, a bunch of us went out to eat at a restaurant where your server brought the bill, you paid them, and they brought you change. I’d never been to a restaurant like that before, and I wasn’t really sure how to navigate the situation. I feel the same way about valet parking now–I’m not sure how it works. Anyway, I thought that was the fanciest thing I’d ever done. Also, I learned that night that big group gatherings planned in advance weren’t my thing.

Flying On A Plane

I was 21 the first time I flew on a plane. That was for rich people, and there hadn’t really be an opportunity or reason for me to fly anywhere up to that point. I’d been some places like Florida and Gatlinburg on vacation, but never far enough away to need to fly. We went on a school trip to New York and DC when I was a junior, but that was on a chartered bus. Did some travelling around the Southeast and Midwest playing rugby, but we always drove. My first plane ride was from Nashville to New Orleans on Southwest airlines, and I had “Ramblin’ Man” playing in my head the entire way. We stopped in Birmingham to let some people off and some others on.

I’m on my way to New Orleans this mornin’
Leavin’ out of Nashville Tennessee
They’re always havin’ a good time down on the bayou, Lord
Them delta women think the world of me

Car Phones

This came about a little later, but a car phone was crazy fancy. Just…mind blowing. Would love for all phones to now be inoperable in a vehicle.

Cable TV

We didn’t have cable available out where I lived. When I went to someone’s house that had MTV, I was blown away. We eventually got one of the huge satellite dishes after my mom’s business was doing well. But I’m not sure if they ever ran cable out to our place. Luckily, I liked to read, and I’m glad now I didn’t have all those channels to distract me from it.

Shrimp

My grandfather would go to Florida a couple of times a year to fish, and he would always bring back shrimp and boil them up for me. I’d make myself sick on them…nothing but shrimp with cocktail sauce and saltine crackers. It wasn’t the fanciest food I was aware of (I knew about lobster from TV), but it was the fanciest food I’d ever had. It’s funny that there are lots of things I eat pretty regularly now that I didn’t even know were a thing. Back then, sushi was the most exotic food imaginable. Now you can buy it at the grocery store.

I should keep this list running.

The post Twitter Question – September 3, 2026 first appeared on Scott Adcox.

Multiple times.

Once got a haircut and put on a suit to go to an in-person interview right after the dot-com stuff blew up and I was between gigs. During introductions I talked about my background as an engineer and the guy says, “Well we’re about to save your life–you won’t have to do that anymore!”

And from there I knew it was either a pyramid scheme or some kind of sales. I was actually pretty irritated that I’d showed up under false pretenses and they were wasting my time. I wasn’t shy about letting them know either. Not shy. At all.

Another time was just a few years ago. By this time, work from home was standard and pretty much all interviews were happening on Teams/Zoom. I put on a nice shirt and joined the meeting with my camera on. There were a couple of people interviewing me. They never turned their cameras on, and the conversation had a weird pace to it. No verbal queues made it even more strange. I basically told them, “I don’t think this role is a good fit for me, and I don’t want to waste any more of your time. Thanks for considering me, and good luck finding the right person.”

I did let the recruiter I was working with know the main reason though. I don’t expect people to be on camera all the time or anything, but if you have it available, it’s common courtesy when you’re first meeting someone. It definitely says a lot if you don’t use a camera in interviews–probably not the culture I’m looking for.

I wish this guys had asked, “Have you ever interviewed for a job you already knew you didn’t want, but went anyway because you needed a job?”

The post Twitter Question, August 13, 2026 first appeared on Scott Adcox.

Hmm. The first check I ever got, I think I saved. I really wanted this Alesis Drum Machine, and they were ~ $300 at the time if I remember correctly, and it took me a while to get it.

My first job-job, like career job after college, I remember exactly what I did. I stopped at the Kroger at Cedar Bluff and Kingston Pike and bought ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING I WANTED. Good steaks, fancy ice cream, and the biggest jar of Grey Poupon they had.

That was/is the definition of rich to me. When I look in our pantry/fridge and see several types of peanut and almond butters, options for chips and crunch snacks, fresh berries and vegetables, and choice of different coffees and teas, I can’t help but feel wealthy.

I don’t even bother with the freezer because it is so full I can’t get it open without upsetting the delicate balance of ice creams, taters, plantains, and meats.

The post Twitter Question For August 12, 2026 first appeared on Scott Adcox.

In the early 80s, my cousin and I played “baseball” every day in my Gran’s front yard. It was 1v1 with ghost men, and we used a tennis ball and some modified rules:

• One defender, so we have to keep this ball in play. If you hit it over the fence, you’re out.
• One defender, so we threw the ball at each other kick ball style. If you get hit between bases, you’re out.
• Of course, 4 foul balls and you’re out

We got to play on a full team, on a real field with uniforms and everything for 6-8 weeks each spring. It felt like big league baseball to us. The league’s uniforms were basically just separated by colors. They were polyester so they could be used for multiple years. Your cap and stirrups were yours to keep. No logos on the caps, and teams were sponsored by local businesses. The sponsors had a patch with their name sewed on the back of the jersey, probably by someone’s mom. They were super itchy and annoying.

Every kid who played wore their colored trucker hat on the bus (no hats allowed in school), especially at the beginning of the season. Once the pecking order started sorting itself out, the teams who struggled wouldn’t have as much representation.

Here’s my team when I was in 3rd grade. We were the “red team” in the league. The year before I played on the green team–“Greenbrier Insurance”. You literally went by the name of your sponsor. We weren’t the “Cardinals” or “Reds”. We were known as “Corner Drug”.

Just like the post said, shared helmets, team catcher’s equipment (including the mitt), and about 7-8 bats for the team. Everybody knew the green Easton 29″ had magic in it.

I knew all my Corner Drug teammates except for two or three all the way through high school. Our official high school team was pretty good, and I wasn’t on it. But we did have a pickup game at lunch every day. It was also played with a tennis ball and modified rules:

• One out per team per inning
• A teammate pitches to you, but wouldn’t field. So a fielder stood right beside them
• Four foul balls, and you suck. Let someone else try
• Hit by the ball (kick ball style), you’re out
• Anyone can play. No limit on team size
• But it was Juniors vs Seniors–no underclassmen
• No leadoffs
• No stealing
• Game ends when the bell rings
• There was no rule against girls playing, but only boys played

If you hit the ball in play, you were likely to make it to first base–a school bus that took kids to trade school in the next town over after lunch. We didn’t even call it “first base”, we called it “Bus”. It was parked in roughly the same spot every day, and some days it was basically parallel to home. Any part of “Bus” counted as the base when you were running to it.

Once you were safe on “Bus”, you touched the right front fender for base running. The space between “Bus” and “Pole” (flag pole, 2nd base) was a lengthy and perilous distance to cover. Almost every out happened on a fly ball or a runner trying to make it to “Pole”.

The corner of third base (a huge section of concrete, maybe 25 sq. feet) was only a few steps from home plate, which was really just a general area where people were hanging out waiting to bat. If you made it to third you always went for home (unwritten rule) and almost always made it.

We used a mini-bat someone got as a promotional item from a minor league game for one-handed batting. There was only one, and it stayed out in front of the school next to “Pole”.

It sounds so silly, but this game was taken seriously, and it mattered to us. The unapologetic Southern accents made the chants and chirping absolutely amazing.

“WE WANNA PITCHER, NOT A CUPPA WATER!”

You wanna talk about some fun? Son, we were having it.

The post On Youth Sports first appeared on Scott Adcox.

Your perspective may be different, but this is about my perspective…

How It Should Be: Rewording this post a little bit, true IT/data/digital fluency should be a requirement for the next generation of leaders in most companies.

How It Is: Often, even IT leadership doesn’t understand the technology they are leading.

The gateway to the C-level job used to be an MBA, but maybe it should be an engineering degree. Instead, we give the engineering leadership jobs to MBAs. I think it’s because they are abundant, and they speak the language of those making the decision.

It’s bass ackwards.

The post Wrong Direction first appeared on Scott Adcox.

You know what that mall is like in 2026. No one is there. The food court is…well, we can find something to eat when we leave. The primary function of the restroom is to give homeless people a safe place to clean up. It’s mostly void of activity, but there are still a few stores open and refusing to understand that people aren’t going to show up again tomorrow to rekindle the mall magic of the 1980s.

The guy with the big office at work is like the big box store. He can’t get his mind around the fact that things have permanently changed. Anything he’s selling can be bought online (from my house) at a better price. Some are still handy for administrative things in the same way that Kohl’s is handy for Amazon returns, but that’s about it.

The folks who sporadically populate the cubes, forced into hybrid work, are like Spencer Gifts and Foot Locker. I mean, yeah…they’re still there, but it doesn’t feel like that they feel like they belong.

Then there are the die-hards that come in every day and decorate their cubes as if nothing has changed. Their entire operating system is built around the in-office model. These folks are GNC.

I’d like the mall to make a comeback, but the biggest reason is so that my kids could have that experience and we could share it. I’d probably go once or twice myself for nostalgia, but would probably get my fill pretty quickly.

That’s how I’d feel if this office was full and bustling again: “Yeah, great…I remember this. But I don’t need it anymore.”

The mall is the way it is because no one wants the mall. You could make the argument that we need the mall (or something similar to it) as a society I guess. But the problem is that people don’t believe there’s a need.

It’s a sales problem. And the mall and the office are not doing a good job of marketing their products.

The post The Cubicle Mall first appeared on Scott Adcox.

D has hit on something here, and I want to expand on it. Or…at least give a different perspective on it I haven’t heard anywhere else.

Sure, we can give agents only the access they need (role based, least privilege, etc.) or lock down user created agents if we don’t like them. But still this agentic stuff doesn’t sit well with me. Especially now that Anthropic and OpenAI have cyber security focused models. They’ll only give access to a small number of “defenders” at first. But someone will come up with an open source version and then…

His post starts off with the questioning why we say “please” and “thank you” to chat bots. My question is, do we actually buy it when a chat bot responds with a polite tone? Or, I guess…do you believe it? Because I sure don’t.

Let’s say, hypothetically, you operate a business on a set of core values. These values drive your culture and dictate the way your employees interact with your customers. You’d probably include things like: empathy, compassion, respect, integrity, accountability, commitment to honesty/truth, etc.

It’s tough to find people who can consistently meet these standards 100% of the time, but it’s not too hard to find people who agree these things are important and are to be pursued.

But what about AI? It knows the dictionary definition of all those things. Well, it doesn’t actually “know” the definitions inherently the way we do, but it can look them up quickly. It can even find examples of writing (on Reddit?) that conveys these qualities.

But it possesses NONE of these qualities inherently. And because it has no soul it cannot develop these qualities. It can only fake them.

Now…let’s say I’m exploring a job with this organization and they bring up the importance of these core values in my first interview. What if I respond with, “I don’t actually possess any of the foundational qualities you’re looking for. But I’m awesome at faking them.”

Think I’m getting an offer?

The post Hiring AI first appeared on Scott Adcox.