Raccoons are Confusing Dumpsters and Cybertrucks

Briar learns multiple things throughout her day.

Welcome to Briar’s daily journal. This is where Briar writes about everything she learns daily, mostly for her own personal record. Never stop learning ♥

04/13/2025

Today was a lot, but it was fun!

I went to church this morning, and afterwards my family went out to eat. While at the table, I learned a couple of interesting things from my dad:

-He made a handle for a knife blade he purchased, and he’s currently putting coats of linseed oil on it. I got to learn all about linseed oil in my small farm tools class. He puts 10+ coats to finish the wood and make it shiny. I never realized that you needed to add so much.

-He said that some people use other finishes like polyurethane or polyethylene. Linseed oil is a much healthier option, and polyethylene can look plastic and chip.

-Oral Allergy Syndrome(OAS). There are a lot of plants with similar protein structures, so people with pollen allergies can sometimes also get reactions to common raw plants. The immune system mistakenly triggers an allergic reaction even though you aren’t technically allergic to those things.

-I was going to write everything out, but instead I’ll drop in a handy dandy chart:

-I also heard that ragweed and oregano tend to be cross-reactors.

-This is a relatively common syndrome. One of every three people with seasonal allergies is bound to negatively react to similarly structured plants.

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After lunch, I came home and crammed for my Apprenticeship test tonight, what else is new? It was quite fun. I still remember the Bible verses I learned, so I did not immediately forget them.

I also had to memorize the “common language” we’ve been going over for the last 8 weeks. There were 8 acronyms, and I needed to know what each one stood for and what each of the words actually meant. I had limited time, but I had an idea to cement everything in my brain.

I wrote a short story, and I incorporated all of the acronyms. I can honestly say I didn’t even know where the story was going while writing it. The characters just did their own thing.

I sent the story to the Apprenticeship group chat, and they thought it was pretty great. I was told I was “clutch.” I can honestly say I had no clue what that was supposed to mean.

It turns out that it means either excellent/awesome or something useful that was done in a high-stakes situation.

I have heard the word “clutch” used, like, “She came in clutch.” But I’ve never been described as clutch. XD.

Either way, college kids and their slang, I cannot keep up anymore.

You guys probably want to read the story now. It was done on a time crunch and is unedited, so please enjoy my spur-of-the-moment typos. (Hopefully the PDF will open; if not, you’ll have to imagine a story instead)

Common Language in an Uncommon Story

Believe it or not, it worked splendidly, and I may never forget what those acronyms stand for.

Note: You’ll notice Henrietta miraculously stopped stuttering towards the end. I like to imagine it was because the shock from Phyllis teleporting scared the stutter right out of her.

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Once I had studied up, the class all went to McDonald’s together. We have been making it a point to eat together before class, and this was a celebratory end-of-Apprenticeship outing.

Did you know McDonald’s is doing adult Happy Meals now? They come with little toys and everything, no, I did not order one.

At least three conversations were happening at once. I was facing towards the window, and all of a sudden, a few of us exclaimed, “Cybertruck!” as it rolled past.

And of course, as is customary after you acknowledge the existence of a Cybertruck, everyone goes around the circle and expresses their distaste for the design.

This is when I learned that there is a theory going around that raccoons are mistaking Cybertrucks for dumpsters and are trying to break into them.

Yes, there have been some raccoon Cybertruck attacks, but the general evidence points to them just trying to find potential food sources, not mistaking the vehicle for a dumpster.

Wouldn’t it be pretty funny if they truly were confused, though?

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After McDonald's, I took my test, and now I am here writing this post!

-Briar Albaugh