Western Maryland

So I was thrilled to link up with an eager Zach Oler to talk about Strong Intention.

Growing up in Western Maryland, a place I almost died, which I believe I chronicled on an episode of the podcast because it did happen in the space that this program has existed.

So maybe you remember it too.

But for my money and because I don't know of anything else, strong intention is the best thing to come out of Cumberland, Maryland.

But first, a song from Strong Intention.

This is Slash and Burn from 2002's Extermination Vision.

Well, Zach, where'd you grow up? I grew up in Western Maryland, which is Cumberland.

You know, I thought you were going to say that, which made me think.

I think voting in PG County than there are on the entire eastern shore.

You know, the eastern shore has more in common with western Maryland than it does Prince George's County.

And, you know, I live in a rural area and I choose to live in a rural area.

People live in Prince George's County because they have a better chance of getting a government job.

I used to be in the second when Helen Bentley – with the Congresswoman.

They redistrict.

We were thrown into Western Maryland.

It would take me an hour if I needed to go to Westminster, which was the closest local congressional office.

The Capacity Auction How your electricity bill became a line item in someone else's business model.

You are a retired teacher in Western Maryland.

You have never heard of a hyperscaler.

You do not use AI chatbots.

But specific numbers have shown up.

Pepco residential customers in DC saw bills rise by an average of about $21 a month starting June 2025.

Western Maryland residential customers pay roughly $18 more monthly in capacity costs.

Ohio, about $16.

exactly yeah it's like you know your brain goes through like okay it's this wait no it's not that okay it's what what else realistic can this thing be you know you go through the checklist and you're like nope okay like okay this is one time i was this is a new reality for me

many times I've been in an Airbnb in Western Maryland in this like very ski resort kind of area but it's in it's pretty wilderness and like there's bears all over the place and one of these times everyone starts screaming at me Ross Ross you gotta take out the trash because someone else was you know we had like a duty tour roster so I go out there and there's like a like a raccoon had gotten into the trash can because they all have like bear trap like bear protections on there and someone must have left it up and everyone was losing their mind about this what was i don't know a 20 pound animal so when you start talking about an owl bear being like you know how much the bears weigh a lot two thousand pounds something like that a ton or more uh yeah yeah it's like that's a big deal man

Yeah.

Yeah.

Does anybody remember mischief night? Did you have it? I know my people in New York had it.

I don't know if you had it in Maryland or in Louisiana or Mississippi or wherever you're from.

I don't know if you had mischief night the night before Halloween.

People used to go out and just do stupid, dumb things.

I mean, I've seen more bald eagles in the last five years than I saw in the first 45 years of my life.

You know, in the wild, not like jungle habitat or something.

You know, I mean, I'm seeing them in the wild, you know, up in Western Maryland, over here, down somewhere near like one of the creeks in Baltimore.

You know, it's just in Washington, D.C. And what I mean by that is, why not? That's my whole approach to conservation and energy and all of this.

Northern Baltimore County.

Eastern Shore or Western Maryland? Eastern Shore.

Yeah.

Snowball or ice cream? Ice cream.