The Mason Minute

Fried chicken has been around for hundreds of years. In the 1950s, Harlan Sanders focused on his eleven herbs and spices to create the first fast-food chicken restaurant. But McDonald's in the early 1980s popularized chicken nuggets with the debut of McNuggets. Since then, it has become the go-to meal for kids. Now, you can find variations in nuggets, fingers, strips, and planks. But the key to th...

My nephew, Ty, got his driver's license the other day. Or should I say, finally got it? He turned 16 last January and wasn't in any hurry to get it done. He wrapped up driver training and the coursework a while ago but held off on taking the final tests. Many young people today hold off on getting their licenses. And some never get one at all. That makes no sense to me. I know baby boomers like me...

Yesterday was one of those days here in Nashville. It's not something that happens often, but when it does, you feel it. Yesterday was dark and dreary all day. Time change definitely plays a factor. And, of course, the weather plays into it too. We had a few scattered showers, but it never turned into a rainy day. It was almost like there was a dark cloud hanging over the city. Technically, there...

Doctors will tell you that proper rest is the key to good health and a long life. We've always been told we should try to sleep eight hours nightly. But many of us know that getting the proper rest is nearly impossible. Doctors and researchers say that our realistic goal should be somewhere between six to nine hours. They also say that while too little sleep can shorten your life, getting too much...

So much of the talk leading up to the election is about the Presidential race. And while that's a big deal, it's not the real story this year. Control of the Senate and House of Representatives are likely more important. Very little has been accomplished in Washington over the last 10+ years because of Congress. They're constantly pitting one party against the other. When people complain about not...

For decades, you know that the holidays are upon us when Rudolph And Frosty hit the small screen on CBS. But after 50+ years, they're making a move to NBC. In recent years, when most TV programs leave one of the major networks, they usually move to one of the streaming services. But that's not the case here. In fact, NBC didn't even guarantee that Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reind...

It's taken me a long time, but I've come to appreciate alone time, when things are quiet. It took forver, but I now understand the desire for solitude. I don;t know if this is just my world, or if it's everyone's situation, but there are times when I just want to sit around and do nothing. But in recent years, I have found that I have less time for myself. I used to hate when there was nothing to...

You hear people talk about how much simpler life was in the good old days. In many ways, that's true. It's easy to get nostalgic as we age. Recently, I was thinking back to my good old days. And I often wonder why some things we remember fondly seem to disappear. Perhaps they haven't, and we just don't see them in the world we live in today. For some reason, I was thinking about bake sales from da...

I've never considered myself to be a typical romantic. I'm not the kind of guy who buys my wife flowers regularly. I don't go all out for Valentine's Day. But every year, on November 1st, I put together a love note for my wife. This year, it marks our 27th wedding anniversary. And while most men would simply buy a greeting card, I prefer to share my thoughts with the world through the podcast. Eve...

Recently, I've noticed something strange just after sundown. People seem to forget how to drive. Driving around Nashville is always challenging as we grow by leaps and bounds. But this is something different. People are afraid to change lanes, have a hard time making turns, and drive at a consistent speed. This issue is something new. It hasn't always been this way. Perhaps the upcoming time chang...

When I was younger, Halloween was a celebration that lasted a few hours. If lucky, we might have a party at school and then a few hours of trick-or-treating. Over the years, many have added a weekend party or two. But now, Halloween has turned into an extended holiday. But is it really a holiday? Banks are open, the kids go to school, and we get mail, too. Recently, I've noticed that what was a da...

Every company and business is looking for ways to boost sales. For some, you just need to serve your existing audience better, and that effort will help boost business. However, many companies must look for new customers by expanding their audience. Toy manufacturers not only constantly need to come up with new items, but today, they're also looking at a new audience. This audience is known as kid...

A recent study finds that humans aren't meant to be awake after Midnight. Our bodies function better with a schedule that includes daylight. Anyone who works the third shift should understand. As humans have evolved, our bodies and minds function better during daylight hours. After Midnight, our emotions get darker, and there's not much we can do to change this. People who work the third shift, or...

I come from a family of collectors. I've had interest in numerous things throughout my life. My mother has been collecting elephant statues and figurines for decades, and they've even featured her collection in a couple of newspaper articles. So, I always try to stay up-to-date on the latest collectibles. I recently learned about something people have collected for less than 25 years. And it's som...

I usually try to handle things I don't like head-on. But I put off a couple of things as long as I can. One of those is buying a new cellphone. Some friends update theirs every time a new model comes out. But I only upgrade my phone whenever I'm forced to. The money isn't the issue; it's the time lost in getting my new phone set up correctly. It will take me weeks to get the new one up to speed. P...

Like the old saying, you learn something new every day. There's a term for people who try to board an airplane before their boarding group. They're called gate lice. Who knew? Since airlines started charging for extra baggage, people are looking for ways to carry on as much as possible. And the key to getting the best overhead bin storage is to board a plane as early as possible. So naturally, air...

If you've ever tried to cancel a streaming service or cable company subscription, you know how frustrating it can be. The Federal Trade Commission has heard your complaints and wants to help. They're working on new click-to-cancel legislation that will make ending a subscription you no longer want much more straightforward. The FTC feels you should be able to cancel any kind of subscription with j...

I'm sure you've seen the announcements for the new Kathy Bates series on CBS. It's called Matlock, just like the show starring Andy Griffith in the 80s and 90s. When I first saw the promos for the show, I wondered how they would reference the original show. Would she be his daughter or some other relative? Or perhaps it will be an updated version where the home-spun lawyer is a woman rather than a...

This year's World Series is finally set. The Yankees and Dodgers will face off in a best-of-seven series. It's another matchup pitting two of baseball's most successful franchises. They've both been there tons of times, or have they? I'm a lifelong Cubs fan, so I'm programmed to dislike both teams. And since they're always in the series, they're easy to hate. But even though I thought they were al...

Long before Walmart was the biggest of the big box stores, Kmart was the king. But even if your fond memories include waiting for another blue light special, it started disappearing from most towns nearly a decade ago. The last Kmart in the Nashville area closed its doors six years ago. And this week, news broke that the final Kmart store in the US is closing. The chain's demise was a longtime com...

Some of my earliest memories are from taking road trips with my father along two-lane roads in Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota, and Nebraska. I joined him as he drove from town to town, covering high school football and basketball games. I love taking road trips. And once I turned 16, I loved getting behind the wheel for hours. Through the years, eight- and ten-hour drives have been no big deal. B...

I grew up in a world where we didn't have a remote control to change our TV channels. Can you imagine that today? I was the human remote. If I were playing in another room, I'd often hear my father yell my name. When I came in to see what he wanted, he asked me to go to the television and change the channel for him. I bought my parents their first TV set with a remote control soon after graduating...

As a child, my parents never went down the candy aisle at the grocery store. They didn't want to tempt me. But like nearly every kid, I loved candy. Today, I still try to avoid the candy aisles at the grocery store or big box store. Even though it's been decades since I went door-to-door begging for treats, I still remember the joy of those full-size chocolatey treats. If you've been shopping for...

Growing up, it felt like a drugstore was on every corner. There were the big chains and the small mom-and-pop pharmacies. I realize it only seemed to be that many. But in the 80s and 90s, a new store was under construction every time you turned around. I even lived in a few towns with examples of four competing chains on the four corners of a major intersection. Thanks to online selling and big bo...

My wife and I went out for dinner the other night, and everything seemed off. The service was slow, the food wasn't up to its usual standards, and the limited staff wasn't good. I've noticed this a lot recently. What happened? Many want to blame the COVID-19 pandemic. And while that could be part of it, there has to be something more. As a society, while we are different now, we haven't changed th...