Three County Officials Showed Up, You Can't Make this Up

Added: 2026-06-04

[00:00:00]Today's video is sponsored by Camel City Mill. So, it's first thing in the morning, a beautiful morning, by the way. But this section of lawn right here, this was all torn up for the construction of the swimming pool. I moved the road over. I took several trees out of here. I pruned these big oaks right here. And I regraded everything, spread some top soil, seed, mulch, and now it's ready to be mowed.

[00:00:34]All right, first mowing looks really nice. I like to pride myself on, you know, I am a expert at growing grass, but to be honest, there's not much to it and it's pretty easy to do around here.

[00:00:48]You just kind of grade things up. Make sure you have top soil. Prep that top soil, seed, mulch, water, and it does this in a couple weeks. And while I was cutting the grass, we are currently getting the first oil change on Eva's Bronco. We get uh Ford points. So, you end up getting the first couple oil changes. Doesn't cost you anything. And a little hack that I discovered last year. I called for an appointment to get my Superduty serviced and it was like two, three weeks out before they could get me in. And then they asked, "Do you want to have the mobile service come out and do it at your house?" And I'm like, "How much does that cost?" Doesn't cost anymore. They come right here to the house. They can rotate your tires, do whatever. It's a uh it's pretty nice service. So, we'll probably get two, at least two, maybe three oil changes out of the points that I have built up through Ford. And as a added bonus, I just talked to him. I got my first little hiccup with the Superduty check engine light came on the other day and I have an appointment at the dealership next week for that, but he's going to hook it up to his computer and at least diagnose what the problem is. So, uh, hopefully it's not much. I'll report back on that. All right, the uh Ford Tech, he just pulled out, but he plugged in the truck for me and it's showing a bad glow plug. Well, not necessarily.

[00:02:19]It could just be a wire.

[00:02:23]Could be a couple different things, but I have an appointment on Monday for that. Hopefully, that won't be a big deal. And I do have the 100,000 mi warranty on that truck supposedly bumper to bumper. So, we'll see how that goes.

[00:02:39]But right now, headed down to the woodyard. I've got this uh 18-in bit.

[00:02:46]I got this couple weeks ago whenever the wheel loader came.

[00:02:51]I got this from Mesics and it worked out good because I said just put it on the truck delivering the wheel loader and I didn't have to pay any shipping. But anyway, when we get down here, I got a I got a good story for you. I don't know if it's a good story, an interesting story, I should say.

[00:03:35]Now, you may or may not be privy to this, but nine times out of 10, I don't plan my videos. You know, it's not like I sit down on the weekend and say, "On Tuesday, I'm going to make a video about this. On Thursday, I'm going to make one on that." And there are exceptions, but generally speaking, I don't plan my videos. I don't like make a script. I know a lot of people do that. I just make videos on what I'm doing, when I'm doing it, and if I think it's interesting enough to share or if I have what I feel is a good topic to discuss, I will then edit the video and publish it. And today is no exception. And I often don't even know what the video is going to be about once I get started, which is the case with today's video.

[00:04:25]And then I remembered I've got a great subject. The other day I went to pick up nephew Christian's buggy at the uh Kawasaki dealer. And I was on my way home and Melissa called me and she said we had some visitors from the county stop by. And I said, "What they want?"

[00:04:47]And she said, "They wanted to measure the swimming pool." Here was the county assessment office and they wanted to come out to measure the swimming pool to make sure it was the same as what the permit said.

[00:05:03]The real reason they came out is to see if the swimming pool was complete so they can now raise our taxes. Now, here's the kicker. How many people do you think came out to measure the swimming pool? One. No. Two. No. Three people to come out and measure the swimming pool. I would be embarrassed.

[00:05:25]And I probably shouldn't even say this because I know a lot of local people watch this. This is going to get back to them, but it needs to be said. Three people to come out and measure a swimming pool. That is a perfect example of the inefficiencies of government. And when I when I talk about stuff like this, I don't want you to think I hate all government or anything like that, but I do believe local, state, and federal over time, you know, they start off with good intentions and then over time it becomes selferving and self-preserving. It's like anything else. You know, our cell phones, they're great. You know, we can look stuff up.

[00:06:09]You can call people. You can watch YouTube videos. You can do all kind of stuff on your cell phone. You can get pretty much any information you need from this phone. That's the good part.

[00:06:19]The bad part is it's a time waster for a lot of people. It lets scammers and spammers into your lives. Uh people gamble on their phones. They're they're they're not good for people with different types of addictions.

[00:06:32]The internet in general, same way. You know, it brings people together. I'm sitting here talking to you guys and you're commenting, you're emailing, I'm replying. Brings people together. Learn information. Find out what's out there.

[00:06:48]The internet's great on one hand. The other part of it is horrible. It's like anything else. And the same can be said for local government. So, they came out to measure the pool. And I'm sure it works the same way where you're at probably, but around here you got to get a building permit to do a swimming pool.

[00:07:09]And they say it's for your own good, you know, because they're going to make sure that your pool is built correctly. Well, they don't have any skin in the game.

[00:07:18]You know, it cost me, I think, 650 bucks to get the permit. The pool could, you know, the walls could collapse today and all the water drain out and they got nothing in it. It's not like it's an insurance policy, but what you get for your $650, you get two inspectors that came out. The first one, nice guy, but uh it would have been like me looking, it would have been like me inspecting a SpaceX rocket. He didn't know what he was looking at. Uh he just wasn't familiar with that style of swimming pool or pools in general. So Mike from Alpine gave him a a nice lesson on the construction of the pool, why we were pouring the footers around the walls, went over everything with him, and he just looked at us and said, "Okay, you are good to proceed."

[00:08:12]That's what we got with that inspector.

[00:08:14]The next one was a young lady, and she was actually pretty good. She was pretty knowledgeable. But, you know, we have Andy, the electrician. He especially when it comes to swimming pools. I mean, the guy's a wizard when it comes to all things electrical, especially around pools. So, Andy spent some time with her. She looked at a couple things and he kind of explained everything to her.

[00:08:38]She was okay. But we got two inspectors.

[00:08:41]Now, the real reason for the permits, in my opinion, it creates a paper trail, you know. So, the township, you give them the money, they get the permit, they send someone out, and then you're supposed to feel like you got something for your money. Then that paperwork paperwork goes to the county, and then some paper pusher at the county. Hey, hey, these people built a new pool. Send out the hounds. You know what I mean?

[00:09:06]So, they send out three people to come measure the swimming pool. And I don't know if I mentioned this, but I would be embarrassed to show up at someone's house with two other people and say, sorry about that.

[00:09:22]That was Melissa. But I was saying I would be embarrassed to show up at somebody's house and say, you know, with two other people and say, I'm here to measure your swimming pool. But they're okay with it. So township permit goes the county. Now it's time to raise our property taxes. And I expected that, you know, that's just the way it is. But nobody has ever been able to answer this question for me. And that is why do you pay more in property tax when you put money into the local economy? Even the federal government has it figured out.

[00:09:59]You know, if you buy equipment or invest in your business, you can deduct that money from your taxes so you don't have to pay as much in taxes. And they do that so you're putting money into the economy. Well, our swimming pool, for example, uh all local contractors, almost everything we spent was sourced locally. and the county, you know, if they're really looking out for the taxpayer, they would reward people, give them an incentive to build things and do things and add onto their property, build an addition, a swimming pool, whatever it is. If more people that had a few bucks did that, that's more money in the economy, local economy. It's good for everybody. But when it comes to property taxes, I think it just comes down to this. You can buy a swimming pool, we want ours.

[00:10:59]You know what I mean? I think that's all there is to it.

[00:11:02]I don't know. It's getting out of control. And I think I don't know. I think local government I I have to get more involved. Matter of fact, I am going to a school board meeting on Monday. I'm going to go down.

[00:11:18]Not that it'll do any good, but I'll feel better about going. Our school district is out of control. Four years in a row, I believe they rose they raised property taxes, school tax, and now they're building this Taj Mahal.

[00:11:36]They've got debt. We live in an area around here that's been growing for decades. They've got a huge tax base and they still have I mean they got a cash reserve and they want to raise our taxes but they have a huge debt. I think it's over $und00 million as well and they're building this big Taj Mahal to only gain 20 classrooms. It's like $150 million.

[00:12:00]So I'm going to go down and voice my opinion on that. A lot of people are up in arms about that. But here's where my fear is.

[00:12:08]the federal government. Yeah, you can have some problems from the feds, but I think as far as affecting our daily lives, uh you really got to pay attention to local government and and I have been getting more involved and going to continue to do so cuz what's going to happen the next couple years with AI, you know, they're coming right out and telling us that 50% of white collar jobs are going to be gone. Well, if that happens, there's a lot of people, probably the majority of the people that live around here have white collar jobs.

[00:12:46]Say even a say 20% of them lose their job. They have these big houses, big mortgages. First thing they're going to do is start dipping into their retirement to try to pay the mortgage.

[00:12:58]When they run out of that money, they're going to try to downsize and sell their property. So, two things will happen.

[00:13:04]Number one, a lot of people be pulling money out of the market. Number two, home values will drop. And that's good if you're buying, bad if you're selling.

[00:13:15]It's really bad if you bought your house back in 2020 for say $600,000 and in 2030 it's worth $450. That's really bad. But my point is local government is still going to want their tax money, you know, because they they build this machine, three people to come measure a pool and they spend spend spend and they're going to want their money and it's going to get very interesting. It is. But I don't know. Times are changing, that's for sure. There'll be some good things and there'll be some bad things just like everything else.

[00:14:12]Heat. Heat.

[00:14:35]All right, that is a nice little jag of cherry and maple right there. Beautiful stuff. Guaranteed to keep you warm in the winter. Just the same as Camel City Mill socks, but these do something that firewood can't do. They keep your feet cool in the summertime. I got to tell you a story about these. This is a good story. The other day I stopped at a gas station. Guy walks up to me. His name is Jim. He watches our channel. Really nice guy. Building a barnaminium up north. He retired a little bit early. Got a superduty K Cabota excavator. Does a lot of the same things that I do, including wearing camel city mill socks. He pulled his pant leg up to show me and he said, "I tell everybody about these socks. I just love them." And I feel the same way. And that's the way it's supposed to work. A great American company. They make a great product. I talk about it.

[00:15:28]People that get them, they talk about it. They're a win-win. They keep your feet warm in the winter, like I said, cool in the summer. They wick sweat.

[00:15:36]They stay up. Made right down in North Carolina. And they have a 10-year durability guarantee. made from marino wool. Fantastic product. But anyway, save 10% on my favorite work socks from Camel City Mill with code Morgan's 10.

[00:15:52]There'll be a link in the description.

[00:16:29]Heat. Heat.

[00:16:57]So, all I wanted to do was bring the brush cutter out here to the barn, but you can't put this on the any skid and not mow something. You know, you just can't do it. And I'm glad I did.

[00:17:11]I kind of learned something here. I mowed about half the field out here real quick. That's that's rye that you see growing. But underneath that rye, that Japanese stilt grass is coming in strong. And I was afraid that was going to happen. Uh, I don't normally spray, but I don't see any alternative.

[00:17:34]I don't You have all this invasive stuff that just takes over. The deer, they don't eat the Japanese stilt grass.

[00:17:42]Nothing does. And it just takes everything over. So, sometime in the next couple weeks, what I need to do is get the rest of this wood cleaned up.

[00:17:53]Yeah. Get that done. I'm I'm thinking out loud here. Get the wood cleaned up.

[00:17:57]I got a big pile of top soil on the other side of the barn. Fill in some low spots in here. Make sure it's all graded up the way that I like it. And then I think I'm going to have to spray it, wait a couple weeks, and then plant buckwheat. That's what I did last summer. Uh that stuff crowds out the Japanese stilt grass and I that'll get me till next year, you know, cuz the stilt grass comes up early summer and then it dies out in the fall. So if I plant that buckwheat, the deer love that stuff, the bees, everything like the turkeys, everything likes the buckwheat and it's real good for the soil. And then in the fall, just mow all that down, overseed it with winter rye. Same thing as I did last year. I think that's what I'll do. But right now, I'm going to head back to the house. The hunt man is ready to go somewhere.

[00:18:56]And then when we get back, I'm going to go somewhere that I think will be pretty cool, and I will uh bring you guys along. All right. I went to a farmers market. This is in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. There's grandson Bo, but Levi has a uh a booth here or a tent set up. Levi's Trees. He's selling native plants, uh native trees, fire starter. That's his little setup right there. But this is a nice event. They have it every Friday for most of the summer. That right there is the old schoolhouse.

[00:19:34]Uh it wasn't originally built in that location. They moved it from about 4 miles away to this location right by the municipal building. But that schoolhouse, I don't know when it was built, but that served the community back in the day.

[00:19:53]And today there are 7,000 students in the school district. But it's a nice little event. It's not like your traditional farm market. kind of kind of fancy, kind of upscale or something. I don't know. It's nice, you know, a lot of vendors, but it's not like a regular farm market, but a lot of local businesses, and I met a lot of interesting people and uh really nice people. But Levi's going to be there uh most of the summer, I believe. But it's Cranberry Township. They've got a band here. Uh if you're in the area, you know where this is at. And I'll probably be out there on and off throughout the summer stopping in his booth if you want to come out. And like I said, he's got fire starter, he's got uh native trees, native plants, and plus there's a whole bunch of other vendors. It's uh Friday afternoons from 3 till 7. But yeah, lots of food trucks, too.

[00:20:59]So, it is first thing in the morning and it's a beautiful morning once again.

[00:21:05]It's only about uh 45° this morning, but the pool temperature it's about 82.

[00:21:15]Feels really warm.

[00:21:18]Little test strip here.

[00:21:22]Chlorine a little bit on the high end, but it's still in the green zone.

[00:21:31]PH could come up just a bit.

[00:21:37]Alkalinity right on the money.

[00:21:42]Stabilizer, just a touch low.

[00:21:47]It's the way I see it. A lot of people were asking if we went with salt water or chlorine. We went with chlorine.

[00:21:55]There's like chunks of chlorine come in this automatic water treatment chamber.

[00:22:01]This goes in upside down. This one lasted about well since we put the pool in. This is the first that I've changed it. And I learned something. Saltwater pools are basically chlorine pools as well. Now I am by no means a pool expert. Not at all. But I looked this up just to confirm what I thought. Saltwater pools actually use chlorine to sanitize the water. Instead of adding chemical chlorine tablets or liquids, a piece of equipment called a salt chlorine generator converts dissolved pool salt into pure active chlorine. We went back and forth on that and I heard good and bad on both. I think as long as you stay on top of it, uh, either system will be fine. I did hear from a couple different people that with the saltwater pool, uh, things like the auto cover, the guts, and certain parts of the pool, even though they are aluminum and not supposed to corrode, they found over time the saltwater pools are corroding some pieces and parts. I don't know, just what I heard. We went with chlorine and so far so good.

[00:23:20]Start a little fire here. It's only like 45° and everyone will be swimming by this afternoon.

[00:23:36]All red oak.

[00:23:39]Heat up here.

[00:24:05]A Heat.

[00:24:40]Heat.

[00:25:03]Heat. Heat.

[00:25:24]Heat. Heat.

[00:25:32]Heat. Heat.

[00:25:55]Heat. Heat.

[00:26:04]Heat.

[00:26:19]Heat.

[00:26:33]Well, it is now 9:30 in the evening.

[00:26:38]Just sitting here by the fire. Melissa just went in the house a little bit ago.

[00:26:42]But I had a good day today. I'm ready to shut her down, though. I'll tell you that. I got up about 4:30 this morning.

[00:26:48]Had a really good day, though. A buddy of mine called me a little bit ago and he said, "Uh, what did you get into today?" And I said the easier question to answer would be what didn't I get into? I uh I did some mowing, ran the brush cutter, cleaned up the woody yard, put a bunch of baskets away, moved some stuff out to the barn, did some firewooding.

[00:27:15]Me and the huntman, we ran out a couple times today. Did some work here around the pool. What else did I get into? I uh sawed some board and batten for the barn.

[00:27:30]I know there's more, but that was a good day. And and the weather was just perfect. And it looks like it's going to stay like this for the next week or so.

[00:27:42]I mean, it gets chilly in the evening, it's cold in the morning time, but you know, they're all swimming in the pool by 1:00 in the afternoon. gets into the 70s, bright sunshine, no humidity, just absolutely perfect. But speaking of the pool, I got a funny story. I don't even know if you can see me, but you can see the fire, which is which is probably good thing. It's nice just sitting by the fire, you know, but I was on on the phone the other day with Doug from OneEyed Customs, and I told him this story, and he said I should share it.

[00:28:15]It's it's a funny story. So, my mom and dad had a swimming pool and this was years ago. Hunter was just he was pretty young and we were up here at the house and we were all going to go down there swimming and Melissa can be a bit competitive and so can I. So, I told her I would race her down to my mom's place.

[00:28:38]She was going to get in a car and drive around and I was going to get the four-wheeler out. We had a little Kawasaki bayou and I would run down through the woods. I had a trail not as good as the trail that I have now. And and the catch was the four-wheeler was in the garage. So I had to, you know, open the door, move a couple things, and whenever I said we'll bet, you know, first one in the pool wins, she jumps in the car, they're gone. So I open the garage door. I'm trying to get the four-wheeler out, throwing stuff out of the way. I jump on the four-wheeler and I'm just getting after it, you know, down the trail and I saw Melissa going up the driveway. Well, I cut up through the yard. At this point, I know I have this thing one, you know.

[00:29:30]I pull cuz she's got to get out of the car and all that. All I got to do is hop off the four-wheeler. So, I pull right up by the pull. And here she's I mean, she's coming. She jumps out of the car and she's running, but I'm ahead of her and I run through the gate and I jump into the pool. While midflight, I remembered I had my cell phone in my pocket. So, with my cat-like reflexes, I pulled that phone out of my pocket and I literally just throw it in the air and it hit like a raft.

[00:30:04]It didn't even hit the concrete. hits a raft, bounces up in the air, and just lands gently on the concrete, and I splash down into the pool. Crisis averted. Or so I thought. Melissa comes in, realizes that she lost. Hunter, he's walking over. Hunter is probably, I don't know, 15 or something at the time, and he sees all this unfold, and I have no idea why he did it. My cell phone's laying there in the concrete. He walks up to it, picks it up, and just chucked it in the swimming pool.

[00:30:42]No idea why. So, the phone was ruined anyways, but I beat Melissa, so that was worth something. That was uh that was something.

[00:30:54]But anyway, a couple things before we wrap this up. Don't forget, uh, International Firewood Expo, that'll be coming up next week, June 5th and 6th, I think it is. I better check that. It's Friday and Saturday, you know, over in Trumble County, Ohio, Trumbull County Fairgrounds, but you can look it up.

[00:31:14]International Firewood Expo. Uh I'm not sure if I'm going to be there both days or not. And I'm not going to be at a particular booth. It's not huge. If you want to come say hi, I'm sure we'll run into one another. And also the Cranberry Township Farmers Market. Levi will be out there uh every Friday from 3:00 to 7:00. I'll probably be there at least at least every other Friday, if not, you know, a couple in a row. But, uh, yeah, International Firewood Expo, Melissa and I are donating an MS 362 chainsaw that will be raffled off for a local charity there. Joe from Ohio Woodurners is handling all that. He runs a uh a smooth operation. and it'll be a nice show if you can make it. And I think that's about it. Got a lot coming up, a lot of good things. But I appreciate you guys being here. I really do. and I will catch you on the next