Emily Riedel takes a dive on 'Bering Sea Gold'; Sarah Palin appears on game show with Alec Baldwin

There are only nine days until the "mining shutdown" on "Bering Sea Gold." By "mining shutdown," they mean when it's too dangerous to be on top of the ice, and the state kicks them off.

Aside: This did cause me to go to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources website again just to read the letter they wrote to viewers who contact the agency about becoming gold miners. Give it a read, because it is hilarious. Shoutout to the bureaucrat who wrote that gold seekers be "prepared to find very little gold compared to what you'll spend to find it" before traveling to Nome.

Anyway, Shawn Pomrenke was figuring out how to purchase new gold claims in Nome that cost $25 million. While contemplating this he was also making coffee with a Keurig machine. Nothing says "you fancy" like drinking single-serve coffee while talking about spending tens of millions of dollars on gold. Also, there is another dude at his house drinking coffee with him. Just make a pot, brah.

Meanwhile, Emily Riedel went on her first underwater dive in years. For those who are unfamiliar with this television program, it features a motley crew of mining teams that use suction dredges to pull up gold from under the Bering Sea. Apparently, Riedel hasn't been underwater for three years because every time she dives she has a panic attack.

As she's preparing to go underwater she says, "I don't trust my ability to respond well if something happens. I don't trust that I can get myself out of it. That's why I haven't been doing it."

Yep, if that is your concern it's probably best to let other people dive, and stay above the water where there is oxygen.

Finally, the greatest thing to happen this week was the Kelly brothers making their mother a birthday "cupcake" out of some busted-looking snow, sprinkles and a lit cigarette. Nothing says "we love you, mom" like a lit cigarette on some nasty snow.

In other news, I wasted 10 valuable minutes of my time watching the 10th season of "Ice Road Truckers" — which The History Channel lovingly refers to as "IRT X" in the opening credits — only to find that "Ice Road Truckers" no longer takes place in Alaska. It's now in Northern Ontario. As soon as I heard the word "Ontario" I switched the channel to whatever nonsense was on Bravo. All these years I'd just assumed it was still in Alaska.

Last but not least, apparently Sarah Palin, Alaska's former governor and reality TV OG, was on an episode of the game show "Match Game," which has had another revival and is now hosted by Alec Baldwin. In it, four contestants compete to win $25,000 by matching the answers of six celebrities in a fill-in-the-blank game. A) Who knew "Match Game" was a thing again? B) Why is Alec Baldwin hosting it? C) If you want, you can actually watch the episode online here. I feel like online streaming and the "Match Game" are two things that don't go together. But what do I know? I thought "IRT X" still took place in Alaska …

Emily Fehrenbacher lives in Anchorage, where she reviews Alaska reality TV. You can reach her at realitycheck@alaskadispatch.com or on Twitter @ETFBacher.