The Mason Minute

In recent years, postal theft has become a severe problem. Thieves steal both incoming and outgoing mail in your home mailbox. Plus, there has been an increase in theft from those big blue mail collection boxes. The postal service thinks they have a solution to the problem. They've created a high-tech mailbox. But they won't tell us where the new and improved collection boxes are or how they're im...

For years, scammers have been doing what they can to access our private information. Sending bogus emails has been a lucrative venture through the years, as many people still don't recognize these phishing attempts. The criminals have followed along as more people have transitioned from email to text messaging. Security experts tell us that smishing messages are becoming a severe problem. Smishing...

Most NFL fans know that the Tennessee Titans were once the Houston Oilers. While most teams that move from one city to another, like the Raiders, Rams, and Cardinals, retain their nicknames, the Titans' owners decided to change their name once they moved to Nashville in the late 1990s. But for some reason, the team has embraced their Houston history. That was very apparent yesterday when the team...

The holiday season always reminds me of a catalog that we used to get in the mail. No, it's not the Sears Wish Book or the J.C. Penney Christmas Book. The holidays always remind me of the Fingerhut catalog. The company still exists online but stopped mailing the catalog many years ago. We always looked through the catalog to find gifts for my mother and father. My dad still displays a Christmas gi...

The other day, I was driving to work and saw my first set of car antlers for this holiday season. I've always wondered why people want to decorate their vehicles for Christmas. Sure, they can be cute, but they're actually just silly. Over the last decade, I would see dozens of cars, if not more, decked out with those antlers and a red nose attached to the grill. But here we are, just ten days away...

Last weekend, a couple of Nashville suburbs experienced deadly tornadoes. As the climate changes, our area is dealing with more of these violent storms. In the last four years, tornadoes have caused death and destruction within five miles of my home. We're frequently under tornado warnings here in Middle Tennessee. And I'm stunned by the number of people unprepared for these storms. While we never...

The holidays are here; for many like me, it's time for the office holiday party. For most of my life, I dreaded company parties. But my office has adapted the annual party into something that is honestly lots of fun. We don't hold just one big party for everyone; we do things differently. We break our office into smaller groups and have multiple concurrent parties at restaurants around town. Most...

While many people drink coffee daily, more are becoming coffee snobs. Perhaps the increased number of coffee shops in towns big and small has made us more obsessive. I fall into the category of casual coffee drinkers. But I'm amazed at the extremes that some people go to searching for the perfect cup. The other day, I read that sometimes, just a drop of water can make a difference in coffee brewin...

We all know that exercise is the key to living longer. But do people who exercise heavily live longer than those who only do so moderately or even just a little? Researchers from Finland found that extreme exercise is of little benefit to living a longer life. While exercise is essential, smoking and drinking also play critical roles in living longer... Click Here To Subscribe Apple PodcastsSpotif...

The college football season is winding down on the field. The bowl games are all left to play over the next month. I have a few friends that are obsessed with college football. Of course, they have a favorite team with nothing to do with where they went to school and have a fantastic knowledge of the game. I've always paid attention to the game but don't follow too closely. But I started paying cl...

The holidays are upon us, and for kids of all ages, there are a few special treats usually found only during the holiday season. Reindeer corn, peppermint bark, ribbon candy, and cherry cordials are some of the most popular Christmas candy we see yearly. Some of these are beloved, while others are barely tolerated. Some people detest Christmas Peeps, while many like me wouldn't mind if that red an...

This week, a song released 65 years ago finally hit the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. No, it hasn't been a long, slow climb; it's been seasonal. Every December for the last 65+ years, Brenda Lee's signature tune, Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree, has reappeared on the music charts. While Christmas songs get treated differently thanks to their seasonal nature, it's still a fantas...

As Nashville continues to grow, the congestion on our highways is getting exponentially worse. But this is more than just a problem here in Middle Tennessee. Our large metropolitan areas, including Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga, are struggling with increased traffic congestion. The state government thinks that it has the answer to many of our highway hassles. They're called choice lanes and...

Work-life balance continues to be a hot topic in the post-COVID world. We're searching for one solution that will work for everyone. But researchers are finding that's not possible. There is no single solution; it's all about the power of choice. The optimum work solution varies by person. For some, in the office, every day is right. For others, remote work is just right. Then, some in the middle...

Did you know that there are two words of the year? Yesterday, we discussed authentic, the Miriam Webster Dictionary's top word for 2023. But not to be outdone, the Oxford University Press, the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary, have announced their word for 2023: rizz. The older you are, the less likely you know anything about rizz. It's slang predominantly used by Gen Z and is discussed he...

With the new year just a few weeks away, many will begin to issue their year-end and best-of-2023 lists. The company that brings us the Miriam Webster Dictionary has weighed in with their Word of the Year. In recent years, they've spotlighted keywords like feminism, gaslighting, pandemic, they, and vaccine. Many think that this year's word is a left-field candidate. For 2023, the word of the year...

This time of year, people are lighting up the neighborhood with Christmas lights everywhere you look. And every year, these holiday displays are getting more ornate. It's more than hanging a few wreaths and several strands of lights. Americans are acting more like Clark Griswold every day. We're not only trying to outshine our neighbors, but we're trying to outdo ourselves. And even with the advan...

I saw a story the other day highlighting some of the new postage stamp designs for 2024. Since the US Postal Service introduced the forever stamp fifteen years ago, you see few unique stamps anymore. And since most of us send so little snail mail these days, you rarely pay attention to stamps. What has that done to the hobby of stamp collecting? I'm sure it's another part of our life erased by tec...

The restaurant industry needs help. Those who survived the COVID-19 epidemic are having a hard time making up for all of the money they lost over those two years. The big chain restaurants have closed many of their locations to remain profitable. Some have brought back once-popular promotions to increase foot traffic. Red Lobster brought back their fan-favorite Endless Shrimp promotion. And it per...

We all have little things that drive us mad, but they may be no big deal to others. We could call them pet peeves, but I don't even know if they matter that much. For me, one of these grievances would be when a couple sitting in a restaurant booth sit side-by-side rather than across from one another. It's one thing to sit that way when two couples are dining together, but it's creepy when it's jus...

It was 66 million years ago that dinosaurs last roamed the Earth. And for as long as man has studied their demise, the leading theory surrounding their extinction was an asteroid hitting Earth. But now, researchers think the asteroid theory is only partially correct. The primary factor in their deaths was climate change. A change in the Earth's atmospheric conditions was first triggered by a volca...

I've been exhausted over the last few months, and recently, at times, I've felt fatigued. There are many factors that contribute to this exhaustion. Of course, my age and my size play a significant factor, But I've also been pushing myself to limits at times when my body reminds me I need to rest. The cold I caught over the holiday weekend has been challenging. My cold has become a sinus infection...

The way we watch television has changed in recent years. These days, we no longer watch TV; we consume it. The streaming services have caused both the cable channels and television networks to make profound changes. Some of these changes are good, while others are loved and hated by others. One of these changes that is getting mixed reactions is movie marathons like the ones that ran over the Than...

I've always tried to be as organized as possible through the years. I do my best to plan ahead and prepare for every situation. But I sometimes drop the ball and don't work through every detail. This omission usually happens when I'm in a hurry. That happened as we headed out of town for the holidays. While I'd packed my luggage, my toiletries, and my computer, I soon realized that I should have d...

Hip-hop icon Snoop Dogg was in the news the other day and had the word buzzing. He wasn't announcing new music or even a new TV venture. Snoop announced that he was going smokeless. Since he's known for his marijuana consumption, the internet wondered what it could mean. Something smelled fishy to me. And, of course, I was right... Click Here To Subscribe Apple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicGoogle Po...