Melinda
@akbumpkin.bsky.social
Retired nerd, glad to be shed of it. Spending my time with dogs, fishing, and beautiful Alaska trails. Owner of what's probably the largest collection of distance dogsled race data.
Reposted by Melinda
would love for people not in the South to stfu about the South and its alleged backwardness. on this MLK Jr. Day, ask yourself where the civil rights movement started, and then maybe look closer to your own house to find the racists who are there in abundance. go shout at them instead.
January 19, 2026 at 5:30 AM
would love for people not in the South to stfu about the South and its alleged backwardness. on this MLK Jr. Day, ask yourself where the civil rights movement started, and then maybe look closer to your own house to find the racists who are there in abundance. go shout at them instead.
Kind of a wacky race weekend coming up in a week: Kusko/Two Rivers 200/Knik 200. TR 200 starts Friday at 11am, Kusko starts Friday at 8pm, and the Knik starts Saturday at 11am. If you're coming out to Two Rivers, the Missing Moose Cafe (best logo anywhere) will be open until 9pm
January 19, 2026 at 2:25 AM
Kind of a wacky race weekend coming up in a week: Kusko/Two Rivers 200/Knik 200. TR 200 starts Friday at 11am, Kusko starts Friday at 8pm, and the Knik starts Saturday at 11am. If you're coming out to Two Rivers, the Missing Moose Cafe (best logo anywhere) will be open until 9pm
Reposted by Melinda
Remembering how the Homeland Security secretary wrote about how she got mad and killed a puppy for misbehaving and presented her choice to shoot the puppy like it was a proportionate and relatable decision
January 18, 2026 at 10:24 PM
Remembering how the Homeland Security secretary wrote about how she got mad and killed a puppy for misbehaving and presented her choice to shoot the puppy like it was a proportionate and relatable decision
Reposted by Melinda
Alaska Survey Research was preparing to field our latest survey last week, when it happened. Renee Good was shot and killed.
Our survey shows that Alaskans don’t think her killing was justified.
Alaska Survey Research
February 8-11, 2026
N=2,132 Alaska adults
MOE +/-2.0%
Our survey shows that Alaskans don’t think her killing was justified.
Alaska Survey Research
February 8-11, 2026
N=2,132 Alaska adults
MOE +/-2.0%
January 16, 2026 at 1:04 AM
Alaska Survey Research was preparing to field our latest survey last week, when it happened. Renee Good was shot and killed.
Our survey shows that Alaskans don’t think her killing was justified.
Alaska Survey Research
February 8-11, 2026
N=2,132 Alaska adults
MOE +/-2.0%
Our survey shows that Alaskans don’t think her killing was justified.
Alaska Survey Research
February 8-11, 2026
N=2,132 Alaska adults
MOE +/-2.0%
Reposted by Melinda
Remembered I have free will so I’m busy bedazzling my tv tonight
January 16, 2026 at 6:42 AM
Remembered I have free will so I’m busy bedazzling my tv tonight
Reposted by Melinda
specifically, gubernatorial candidate Dave Bronson, who once wrote *this* about Adolf Hitler
January 15, 2026 at 2:42 PM
specifically, gubernatorial candidate Dave Bronson, who once wrote *this* about Adolf Hitler
Reposted by Melinda
got new art put up today! my nephew won this painting ‘snerks’ in a raffle and i’m absolutely in love with it 🥰
artist: sacred layers by aviuk, an inupiaq artist from utqiagvik, alaska
artist: sacred layers by aviuk, an inupiaq artist from utqiagvik, alaska
January 15, 2026 at 6:25 AM
got new art put up today! my nephew won this painting ‘snerks’ in a raffle and i’m absolutely in love with it 🥰
artist: sacred layers by aviuk, an inupiaq artist from utqiagvik, alaska
artist: sacred layers by aviuk, an inupiaq artist from utqiagvik, alaska
Our new candidate for lieutenant governor. Granted, he's a good match for the gubernatorial candidate he's running with
January 15, 2026 at 6:43 AM
Our new candidate for lieutenant governor. Granted, he's a good match for the gubernatorial candidate he's running with
Reposted by Melinda
the problem with an untrained secret police squad that shoots people in their cars isn’t that they’re untrained
January 15, 2026 at 1:19 AM
the problem with an untrained secret police squad that shoots people in their cars isn’t that they’re untrained
Reposted by Melinda
The president said "Fuck you" to a citizen and only the citizen will face any consequences
UPDATE: TJ Sabula, the worker who shouted "pedophile protector" at Trump, has been suspended - WaPo
WATCH: Trump shows his middle finger and appears to say "fuck you" after Ford worker yells "pedophile protector" - TMZ
January 14, 2026 at 2:59 AM
The president said "Fuck you" to a citizen and only the citizen will face any consequences
1/ The thing about being in the back of a distance dogsled race is that you're just out there longer, which means you experience more weather, more variability in trail conditions, etc. - in a lot of ways it's tougher than being in the front.
January 13, 2026 at 8:13 PM
1/ The thing about being in the back of a distance dogsled race is that you're just out there longer, which means you experience more weather, more variability in trail conditions, etc. - in a lot of ways it's tougher than being in the front.
The National Weather Service forecasts are the most accurate, but I ignore them because they're the most pessimistic.
January 13, 2026 at 6:54 PM
The National Weather Service forecasts are the most accurate, but I ignore them because they're the most pessimistic.
By way of a "hey, how about that?" in the Copper Basin, Cody posted the fastest time on the last three legs (and there were six total, so fastest on half of them)
January 13, 2026 at 2:55 AM
By way of a "hey, how about that?" in the Copper Basin, Cody posted the fastest time on the last three legs (and there were six total, so fastest on half of them)
In the Copper Basin, Cody made that last run two minutes faster than Jessie. I'm really looking forward to the Isquidarod!
January 13, 2026 at 2:12 AM
In the Copper Basin, Cody made that last run two minutes faster than Jessie. I'm really looking forward to the Isquidarod!
It's -30F again in Two Rivers, but you know what? We can definitely feel the days getting longer, and there are temperatures above 0F forecast for the end of the week.
January 13, 2026 at 1:32 AM
It's -30F again in Two Rivers, but you know what? We can definitely feel the days getting longer, and there are temperatures above 0F forecast for the end of the week.
Wade Marrs just posted that Ryan ran into overflow in the Copper Basin and waited for Sarah to help her across. Didn't say anything about why he's still in Tolsona and Sarah is gone, but maybe he figures that since he isn't competitive this time he can take it easy. Dunno.
January 13, 2026 at 1:30 AM
Wade Marrs just posted that Ryan ran into overflow in the Copper Basin and waited for Sarah to help her across. Didn't say anything about why he's still in Tolsona and Sarah is gone, but maybe he figures that since he isn't competitive this time he can take it easy. Dunno.
A fun thing to keep an eye on in the Copper Basin is Alex and Deke. Alex has closed the gap to about 5 minutes and has plenty of room to catch and pass Deke, but if Deke knows he's back there he can kick things up a notch by poling, etc.
January 13, 2026 at 1:15 AM
A fun thing to keep an eye on in the Copper Basin is Alex and Deke. Alex has closed the gap to about 5 minutes and has plenty of room to catch and pass Deke, but if Deke knows he's back there he can kick things up a notch by poling, etc.
In other "well, that's not good" action from the Copper Basin, Ryan appears to still be in Tolsona 40 minutes after arriving, and after that bad run in. He has his 18, so he's not taking mandatory rest.
January 13, 2026 at 12:24 AM
In other "well, that's not good" action from the Copper Basin, Ryan appears to still be in Tolsona 40 minutes after arriving, and after that bad run in. He has his 18, so he's not taking mandatory rest.
In the Copper Basin, Erika Loebrich scratched after two of her dogs tested positive for parvo. Apparently they've been vaccinated; one of the benefits of vaccination is that in the unlikely case that your dog does become infected the disease is milder. It can be devastating.
January 13, 2026 at 12:18 AM
In the Copper Basin, Erika Loebrich scratched after two of her dogs tested positive for parvo. Apparently they've been vaccinated; one of the benefits of vaccination is that in the unlikely case that your dog does become infected the disease is milder. It can be devastating.
Can't help noticing the word "abundance" suddenly being abundant in Peltola's campaign material. I think she can beat Sullivan and I'm looking forward to ranking her second, behind whoever has a better policy platform.
January 12, 2026 at 10:46 PM
Can't help noticing the word "abundance" suddenly being abundant in Peltola's campaign material. I think she can beat Sullivan and I'm looking forward to ranking her second, behind whoever has a better policy platform.
Also in the Copper Basin, Cody is continuing to travel a hair faster than Jessie but won't catch him unless something goes very wrong for Jessie. He's currently about 20 minutes behind him. Deke is moving slowly, as well, and it's looking like Alex will catch him if he doesn't pick up the pace
January 12, 2026 at 10:42 PM
Also in the Copper Basin, Cody is continuing to travel a hair faster than Jessie but won't catch him unless something goes very wrong for Jessie. He's currently about 20 minutes behind him. Deke is moving slowly, as well, and it's looking like Alex will catch him if he doesn't pick up the pace
In the Copper Basin, Ryan Redington's speed suddenly cratered (check out the race flow chart). If you look at his page you'll see that he stopped for a bit before getting back underway at a slower speed. Stuff like this often means that he's carrying a dog, but there are other possibilities
January 12, 2026 at 10:38 PM
In the Copper Basin, Ryan Redington's speed suddenly cratered (check out the race flow chart). If you look at his page you'll see that he stopped for a bit before getting back underway at a slower speed. Stuff like this often means that he's carrying a dog, but there are other possibilities
Turns out that in Copper Basin, Cody actually was a minute faster into Tolsona. It's looking pretty good for Paige's Iditarod! Also, it says a lot about dog care and good management to have a team faster in the second half of a race than the first - I love to see that.
January 12, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Turns out that in Copper Basin, Cody actually was a minute faster into Tolsona. It's looking pretty good for Paige's Iditarod! Also, it says a lot about dog care and good management to have a team faster in the second half of a race than the first - I love to see that.
A thing I like to do to figure out how far apart teams are is to zoom in on the race flow chart and pull it down to the x-axis for time or over to the y-axis for distance. Here, we can see that Cody is about 15 minutes behind Jessie coming into Tolsona, and Dave is less than two minutes behind Cody
January 12, 2026 at 7:34 PM
A thing I like to do to figure out how far apart teams are is to zoom in on the race flow chart and pull it down to the x-axis for time or over to the y-axis for distance. Here, we can see that Cody is about 15 minutes behind Jessie coming into Tolsona, and Dave is less than two minutes behind Cody
Reposted by Melinda
expectation: you will walk down the street hailed by beautiful white women thanking you for Saving The Homeland
reality: a woman who looks exactly like your mom calls you a whiny bitch and the cute cashier gives you the finger and tells you to go fuck yourself and everyone laughs when you fall down
reality: a woman who looks exactly like your mom calls you a whiny bitch and the cute cashier gives you the finger and tells you to go fuck yourself and everyone laughs when you fall down
January 12, 2026 at 6:32 PM
expectation: you will walk down the street hailed by beautiful white women thanking you for Saving The Homeland
reality: a woman who looks exactly like your mom calls you a whiny bitch and the cute cashier gives you the finger and tells you to go fuck yourself and everyone laughs when you fall down
reality: a woman who looks exactly like your mom calls you a whiny bitch and the cute cashier gives you the finger and tells you to go fuck yourself and everyone laughs when you fall down