Lazy Susans, Black Friday, and Pesky Creatures – Thoughts from December 6, 2025

Patti and I are continuing to work on the kitchen. We have two lazy Susans that are only slightly less difficult than the sink is going to be to install. Attaching them to the wall is the hardest part. You must attach 2 x 4-inch pieces of wood together on the wall and for the base of the lazy Susan. If you don’t know what a lazy Susan is, look it up like I had to. Finishing it gave me enormous satisfaction. It was stable and ready for the future counter. I must thank several YouTube videos that showed me how to do it correctly.

We recently had Black Friday, and I saw my opportunity to get a miter saw. I have several types of saws, including a table saw. When I needed to trim a long board, I used my handsaw or sawed it by hand. There was a portable miter saw on sale for about $100. Patti and I had to drive to Riverside to pick it up. The next day I had off, I broke out the saw and put it together. It went together relatively easily. My first project was to build a base for an upper cabinet to convert it into a lower cabinet. I brought out the table saw and went back and forth between the saws to get the exact pieces I needed. Just call me Brian the Builder.

This new miter saw was going to be my new oscillating tool. When I got the oscillating tool, I very quickly looked for ways to use it. Cutting into weird places was my new hobby. The miter saw wasn’t as versatile as the oscillating tool, but it made my life much easier. We had old counters outside with a section of our old countertops sitting on it, which made a perfect workspace. I put the miter saw on it and set two sawhorses beside it for the rest of the up to 8 feet of wood hanging off. This makeshift workbench has been the place where I measure things and cut them. The miter saw fits nicely in the new shed we built out back.

Patti found out that our mobile home park had traps available to catch the pesky creatures that were stealing Archie’s food. We’ve seen raccoons and opossums in the neighborhood. They put the trap by the front door and Patti brought it to the backyard. It was sitting in the grass when I saw it. I took a picture of it because it looked odd. It seemed like it was upside down. I found out later that it was. Looking at it, I saw where the trap could be set. The other side of the trap was just a metal door that was hanging open. It was closed because it was upside down. Putting it upright, the door just dropped open.

I figured out how to set the trap side, but the other side was just hanging open. There was something that was supposed to hold the door closed that wasn’t there. I asked Patti if we had any wire hangers, which reminded me of my friend I’d known from grade school who was obsessed with the movie Mommy Dearest. In the movie, the mom says, “No wire hangers!” Our house adhered to that rule. The best she could find was a plastic hanger that had a metal top. I wound it into the metal of the door. It would have to do for now. I put the trap by the opening under our porch that I suspected the animal was inhabiting. Putting my apple cores from past breakfasts, I hoped they would not interest any cats, especially Archie.