iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Forget a banquet or a trophy.. this is enough of an award for me. I ran on Ashley Carrick’s relay team for the Equinox Marathon, and for a guy who doesn’t run much, it seems I can still turn on the motor when needed.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Happy Labor Day, everyone! I marched with my union (Fairbanks Education Association, local chapter of NEA-Alaska) in our local Labor Day parade! Good times.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Bird enthusiasts of Bluesky: any ideas what kind of raptor this is? Spotted in my backyard, central Fairbanks. I perused my copy of Sibley’s and I think it’s a northern goshawk, but not sure.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Wife’s out of town for a trip and I’m watching 11.22.63 on Netflix with the dogs. Or rather, pausing every 10 minutes to think about it. I think it’s a great series because of the sense of dread, but the scenes with JFK get me overcome with emotion - for the United States that could’ve been..

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

I’m watched my hometown’s baseball team (the Alaska Goldpanners) play at the National Baseball Congress live on YouTube the past 3 nights. the Panners played well & made it to the final round. I wondered for a bit “Man, this is so easy to watch, why doesn’t MLB do this?” Answer: “Money!”

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Well, Ester Dome demands a blood sacrifice every year for good trails, and my lottery number came up last night. I was riding my Enduro, minding my own business, and overcorrected trying to dodge a trees (it came right at me!) and ended up with an ER visit. I learned that.. a. No broken bones!

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Finally have time to clear my garden plot and plant the seedlings I started in Spring (it’s been a cool start to summer in Fairbanks), and I found a Wood Frog! I set it loose in the woods nearby.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Anybody here into Softball? I’m part of a local Rec team and am enjoying it enough to invest in my own bat and practice. One question: what’s the difference between the one-piece bats and the two-piece ones?

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

As a year-round resident of House District 32, I have endorsed a candidate for House: this ham sandwich. It’s nourishing, made with sourdough bread baked in my house, is spicier than the competition with the Calabrian pepper spread, AND is better for me than either Rep. Stapp or Mr. Church.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Oh look, it’s my House Rep, Will Stapp (32-R) chatting with a Glenfarne representative as his committee amends legislation for the proposed LNG pipeline. That’s totally fine and not sketchy at all.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Also, the Cubs lost today.. to the Astros! Sigh, better luck next time…

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

My go-to cocktail is an Old-Fashioned. I’ve tried it with Bourbon, rye, and Japanese whiskey. A colleague of mine from Wisconsin told me that in the Dairy State, an OF is usually made with brandy. I was skeptical, but I tried it tonight and.. I have to say I like it the best of any I’ve had so far.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

The Cubs lost today! I can accept that, but they lost to the Rangers?! Sigh..

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

I recently discovered my school has a bag of 20+ plastic practice Cricket bats. Next year, I may introduce students to the sport and who knows, maybe this will be the start of the Farthest North Cricket team?

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

One of my brand-new baseball cleats went missing this weekend. I searched our house and yard upside down, went back to the ballpark to see if I left it behind by accident, no luck. Guess what my wife found in our GSD’s box?

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Had my first practice for my Rec Softball team today. My right shoulder’s sore from throwing, I need to practice sprints more, but my swing is pretty good. I’m happy with the start of the season and will post more as it goes on.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Dad’s back in the ER (for those just joining our program, my Dad is bed-bound and has had a whole bunch of health issues in the past year, including a stroke). He’s awake and talking, but it’s a lot to take in first thing on a Sunday morning.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Part of aging for me is a newfound interest in “safer” sports. Hockey? I didn’t grow up with it & have too many dreams about lost teeth to be excited about adult rec league, but Floorball (floor hockey designed by the Swedish Fun Police) is appealing to me now. Ditto for gravel bikes and pickleball.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

It’s 6:19 AM in central Fairbanks: it’s -35 F, with the outdoor temperature rising, AND the ice fog has lifted!

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

Greetings from Fairbanks, where our outdoor thermometer quit (it stops after - 40 C), I’m on my 2nd week of Winter Break, and I’ve dusted off the cast iron tea pot Heather and I bought in Japan. It now lives on the wood stove.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

I am revisiting Quake (the video game). It never ceases to surprise me that, with its turbulent development and lots of elements that shouldn’t mesh on paper (fighting chainsaw & grenade-launcher wielding ogres in castles with shotguns to a soundtrack made by Trent Reznor?!) but it all works out.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

Birch Hill looks mighty spooky this October..

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

Preparing for the Golden Days Parade tomorrow! If you’re in Fairbanks, come on downtown to see the floats and familiar faces, such as yours truly!

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Hello friends and family across the Fairbanks North Star Borough! I’m running for Assembly this Fall to strengthen our public schools, work on lowering energy costs and promoting more affordable housing, and supporting our seniors. See my website for more information: www.armstrongforassembly.org

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

So one of my eggplants has a bud, which is really cool. It’s my first year growing eggplants in my garden, and boy was I surprised to learn that not only do they grow thorns, their flowers look like they’re from a nightmare realm. Just look at it!

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

I just finished filling envelopes with thank you letters for donors from my campaign last year. Whew! It takes a while. Even a modest 71 letters took 2 hours. I can only imagine what it was like to pack envelopes for political campaigns in the days before the Internet.

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Reposted by Garrett Armstrong

Pat Race @pat.alaskarobotics.com · 17/06/2025

#akleg Our state constitution says "All civil officers of the State are subject to impeachment by the legislature." If Adam Crum has been obstructing legislative audit and giving away hundreds of millions in sweetheart deals to his buddies at the oil companies, it might be worth considering.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Last week, my school’s PTO gave me an entire Kirkland pizza for showing up for an open house (lesson here: it pays to show up. I was home alone, so I ate it all by the next day. My warning: if you finish an entire Kirkland pizza alone in 24 hours or less, you may never crave another pizza again.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Prayers, thoughts, and good vibrations for my parents. I just took my dad to the ER. I’m glad he’s going (he’s bedbound and needs more medical attention than my mom and I can provide ) but I’m worried about him and my mom.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Is it just me (and my wife), or is Microsoft Office becoming increasingly difficult to use? I just noticed that the first thing I see in Word is an invitation to use the AI. I don’t want it! I just want Word’s toolbar to look like it did in the XP era OR find a modern version of Open Office.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

In addition to teaching PE, I do some reading tutoring at my school. My 3rd grade boys and I had fun reading this - kind of a Malcolm in the Middle type chapter book. I like that the boys reading it were engaged, asking questions, trying to predict what happens next. Good times!

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

It took a long time of lying in wait to catch this snapshot of Oaken in his true state - being a weirdo. Do not peer into his eyes, or else you will start hearing didgeridoos, see new colors, & you’ll wake up tomorrow with your clothes on backwards and a lot of dog treat charges on your credit card.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

God, our future is starting to look even more like CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077, but much lamer. No cybernetic implants, no cool cars, no simulacrums of dead rockstars/terrorists hanging out in your head, just easy access to guns, an uncaring political class, and corporations run the world. Sigh.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

I am excited to put in an order for .. a new washing machine. I am now officially middle-aged. That said, it’s a Speed Queen, so you know that baby’s staying put for a good long while!

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Reposted by Garrett Armstrong

Heather Aruffo @haharuffo.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Looks like @lisamurkowski.bsky.social just lost my vote I hope she recognizes that the blood of thousands will be on her hands if vaccines are revoked and FDA approval for lifesaving medications becomes political Shame on you Lisa

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Reposted by Garrett Armstrong

Heather Aruffo @haharuffo.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

@lisamurkowski.bsky.social are you aware that vaccine data are readily available on clinicaltrials.gov already? That regulatory decisions are already made based on science that is publically available? All of RFK Jrs concerns are patently false Shame on you Lisa Signed- a regulatory med writer

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Reposted by Garrett Armstrong

Heather Aruffo @haharuffo.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

We arent going to “Make America Healthy Again” by banning seed oils and red food dye. We’ll make American healthy again if we raised the minimum wage so no one has to work 2 jobs to survive, if we got rid of our car dependency, had universal healthcare and supported working families

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Meanwhile in my mom’s home state, sorghum is piling up because Musk and Trump shut down USAID and it turns out a) sorghum is great for dry farmland like western Kansas and b) there’s no significant domestic market for sorghum. Bad choices abound.

cjonline.com

Without USAID's Food for Peace, Kansas grain elevators have no market for sorghum

President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk have shut down USAID and Food for Peace, meaning Kansas sorghum farmers lost a market for their crop.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

I’ll also add that Art Matthias, who is also a pastor in an Anchorage church, threatened legal action against Andrew Halcro in 2023 for just reporting this on his podcast. However, Kevin Clarkson couldn’t even get the mailing right - he sent it w/o certified mail and to the wrong address.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

I recently found a copy of Ray Troll and the Ratfish Wranglers’ CD “Fish Worship” at my library, and let me tell you.. fish worship is alright.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

Sunday afternoon suburban cozycore vibes at our house today. House is clean, Zoya the dog is dozing, and the wife and I are enjoying the Great Indoors.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

I recently started watching the Sopranos (I know, what took me so long? It was hottest when I was in high school and my parents didn't want to pay for basic cable, much less HBO). I really like it, but one thing I noticed: I really identified with Tony being Mr. Sandwich Man. 1/

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

I’ll brag about something I did last week: I baked my own birthday pie. For the past 5 years, my mom has baked me a custard pie (following strictly an Irish-Catholic-American recipe my granddad loved). She’s been so busy this year I baked my own. If she asks, it was alright, but hers is better!

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

I have seen Fairbanks’ resident cyber truck, and let me tell you.. I think it’s the ugliest automobile I’ve ever seen, and I lived in Ukraine for 3 1/2 years! In fact, I’d rather be seen driving a Lada than one of the polygonal enemies from a PS1 tank wars game.

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Garrett Armstrong @grarmstrong.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

My Dad’s home from his 7 week stay at Denali Center!

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