My thoughts exactly. At present 65% of registered voters in Alaska are not affiliated with any political party. Republicans who want to repeal open primaries and ranked choice voting are 23%. They want tyranny of the minority. They know it. Vote no on the repeal initiative.

Who'da thought?

Dan Sullivan is challenging Sen. Dan Sullivan for Dan Sullivan’s senate seat. I’m not making this up. #Alaskasky #Alaska

Driving down a rando street in North Pole that I’ve never been on before and hey look, two more churches. Also, recommendation from Google Maps.

It’s good that we’re having a cold miserable spring in Fairbanks. It’s making up for the cold miserable winter.

Bad news.

Personally I wouldn’t cut off a semi with inches to spare like that guy in the 1990s Honda Civic did, but I’m probably overly cautious.

Sometimes I wonder if I"m of any use at all to the spouse. Then this morning the hot water is out. I installed the boiler and can usually fix it. Real simple this time. A zone valve wire got knocked loose, probably by me last night. Two minute diagnosis and fix. No need to call a tech. Money saved.

Morning Mood

The world keeps getting worse. “It’s difficult to picture the fabled, bat-eating Prince of Darkness—who once called a TV remote ‘fucking space-age shit’ – being amenable to...spending his postmortal time as a mascot in an AI-generated detergent commercial on Hulu. “

Ziggy Marley and Lyle Lovett are both scheduled. I've never attended the State Fair in all of my 36 years here. But this might be enough to draw me in.

“Despite the lofty promises of pharmaceutical companies, there’s simply no evidence to suggest that vaccines provide more immunological benefit than punching a few holes in a horseshoe crab’s carapace and slurping its blood directly,” said Kennedy.

Rosie Creek trails are dry.

Remembering being at the Kantishna Roadhouse in summer 1992 and meeting an older woman who told me her son was a professional bassist. “He’s touring with someone named Henry Rollins. Is that good?” “Um, yeah, that’s really good.” One of those chance encounters that happen. @nehoc.bsky.social

I feel this.

She was born awesome and has forever remained so.

Quiet Memorial Day paddle on Chena Lake.

Bomb, announce an imminent peace agreement, bomb, threaten absolute destruction, announce an imminent peace agreement, bomb, announce an imminent peace agreement, threaten absolute destruction, announce an imminent peace agreement, bomb, add water, stir, here we go again.

The third party vendor that was hacked isn't named. It damned well should be. This is a major reason why I got out of the UA Healthy Roads program. PersonifyHealth, the current vendor, has been hacked and this has been reported. These systems are not safe and you shouldn't trust any data to them.

I miss the days when we thought Dan Quayle was as bad as it could possibly get. We had no idea how good we had it.

“We need to remember that people dropped things in toilets then, as now,” historian Katherine Weikert says on the “HistoryExtra” podcast. “It lands in a smoosh, then it gets covered up. If that cesspit doesn’t get cleared out or gets abandoned, it’s just there waiting to be found, which is amazing.”

Wickersham Dome trail and the season’s first wildflower. Not much green up there yet.

Rode my thumb into Alaska in 1990. Got picked up in Tok. Redneck said a gas pipeline would be built soon. Just get the government out of the way. I was skeptical but kept it to myself. I needed to get to Fairbanks, not get thrown out of his truck. Also, I noticed this sticker on a lot of cars.

The spouse was appalled at how much Ovaltine I was pouring in my milk. "You're always telling me to eat beets. Ovaltine has beet sugar in it. It's healthy. I'm getting me vegetables!"

@matt.akmemo.com breaks down the pipeline dream.

Alaskans, as I’ve worked on my Day One Delhi story I’ve had an idea for a book. Alaskans Abroad. Stories of overseas travels where Alaska in some way influenced the experience. Alaska needn’t be a focus, just an element. Does anyone think this might be a good idea? Would anyone want to contribute?

Hey @saltine-1962.bsky.social, remember when we stumbled on this one at Ace Records and bought it for the cover alone?

Trigger Warning: They’re trying to get men to use soap.

I feel this.

Antivaxxers kill children.

Investment advice. “While you may be tempted to dive into the stock market now, the real test will be in the future when civilization as we know it collapses and the only currency will be strength, dominance, and a thirst for blood,” said a spokeswoman from Northwestern Mutual, Patricia Larson.

Credit Given Where Credit is Due Dept. I have to hand it to the designers of the Cybertruck. They created something that makes the Subaru Brat look attractive and functional. I didn't think it could be done. Never say never I guess.

They're still trying to make it go away, but we so far haven't lost our First Amendment yet. And the post that landed him in jail was entirely factual.

First Tuesday ride of the summer. Bonanza Creek. A repeat of Sunday’s ride when two of us scoped out conditions to see if it was dry enough. We did the down and up and about five additional miles on another road tonight. After losing two seasons to hip replacements, I’m hoping for good times ahead.

I feel this. “Living room sources confirmed that Palacios, whose face grew red as he accelerated, produced rhythmic, involuntary guttural noises each time he lurched upward and fell back down into the seat cushion, failing in his repeated attempts to reach escape velocity.”

The #mansplainers are blaming smartphones for declining birth rates. (Note: teen pregnancies have plunged in America, lowering overall birth numbers. Mansplainers, unhappy about this happy statistic, are blaming TikTok for distracting 15 year old girls from having babies, which they think is bad.)

Chicken in a chimichurri sauce, sweet corn on the cob, cabbage salad, and ice water. Don’t hate my wife for coming home to this.

A bit overcast, but still a good day to take the mountain bikes down to the Tanana River overlook. First summer ride of the season. First Tuesday ride is this week and on the same route, so it was a scouting mission on trail conditions with @grarmstrong.bsky.social and a pleasant Sunday afternoon.

For my fellow Franklin fanatics.

Actual convo: "She's at the door again. I think it's your turn to take her out." [heavy sigh] "This dog is a lot of work." "You're the one who fell in love with her the moment you saw her." "It's not the first time that's happened and gotten me in trouble."

I’m remembering that time I was out in North Pole, AK (Fairbanks’ answer to Wasilla for those unfamiliar) and the kids were young and in the backseat of the truck and bickering so I told them to count the churches and that kept them busy until we drove away. “Why are there so many churches, dad?”

They’ve banned “Roots.”

The conversation is said to have progressed with each member of the group privately contemplating a totally different appalling situation while saying they were increasingly ashamed to be an American...For four very different reasons, the group enthusiastically agreed this shit was getting scary.

Never argue with Mencken. You'll lose every time.

Ants in space? Image date: 1 February 2001, 15:00 From ground-based telescopes, the so-called "ant nebula" (Menzel 3, or Mz 3) resembles the head and thorax of a garden-variety ant. This dramatic NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image, showing 10 times more detail, reveals the "ant's" body as a ...

“A portion of a cranium was found near Hunts Fork and archaeologists and communities in the area wonder which people it could have belonged to. Meanwhile it sits on a shelf in a museum.” Ch’igiioonta - Ïyaġaaġmiut: People Who Live Among the Rock Caches