Lightening the load doesn’t lighten the load

This is the time of year when I find myself looking for stuff to do. Football has been over for a while and golf, basketball and bowling on television just doesn’t grab my interest. The weather is improving with longer days and warmer temperatures, so snowmachining is actually coming into the best time to go riding, if one is allowed to.

This neck surgery I recently had has put me on the shelf for a while. The doctor said no snowmachining or bouncing around and no lifting of anything heavier than about 10 pounds for six to eight weeks. That “no lifting” clause is what really puts a crimp in things.

With the warmer weather, I could be out in the storage building doing a bunch of finish work that still needs to be done on the support structures on the building ends. The permanent overhead garage doors have yet to be hung, but that was going to be a summer job anyway.

After the end work is completed, I have some pegboard to hang and some racks to construct to hold the canoes and snowmachine tow-behind sleds. I’ll need to lay out some electrical plug-ins too. Then there’s the shelving necessary to get stuff organized and off the ground. And then comes the work of getting all the items scattered around the yard and in the house/garage out and actually into the building in an organized manner. I suspect when I finally get that done, I’ll be amazed to see the stuff I have.

I also could be working on the riverboat getting ready for another season. The main thing I plan to do to improve the boat this year is install a permanent battery charger system so all I have to do is plug in a power cord and the batteries will be kept up over the long winter months. I also need to fit a wider strap to the trailer winch for pulling the boat onto the trailer.

I have some finish work to do inside the ATV/snowmachine utility trailer as well. I have to mount tie-downs on one side of the floor and then install the plastic floor guides for the skies and material for the track to provide traction into and out of the trailer. I’m also thinking about adding a small wall cabinet somewhere inside just to have a place to put the odds and ends, like tie-down straps, that would be part of using the trailer.

Most of what needs done to the RV will be accomplished by the dealer later this spring, just to keep the warranty up to date. Other than a good washing and wax job, I’m off the hook on that item.

That’s some of the outside stuff. For indoor projects, I’m behind on my reloading, both for myself and a couple of friends whom I help out. Until I get a good bullet casting session going, I’m out of luck even shooting a couple of my blackpowder cartridge rifles. I need to organize the shooting magazines I save for reference and I still haven’t put away the various reloading supplies I’ve purchased over the last year or so. I hope that guy selling ammo cans out on the corner comes back — I need a few more cans to get organized.

The doctor told me to get out and walk. I know just where to do that. The Palmer Lions Club gun show is happening this weekend at Raven Hall on the state fairgounds. I think they open at 10 a.m. Check today’s paper for an announcement of the exact times and admission costs. Maybe I can convince my wife I need to go to the gun show on doctor’s orders.

The Alaska Gun Collectors Association (AGCA) is also holding its spring gun show at Raven Hall. The AGCA show will happen the weekend of March 27-28, so if you don’t find something you’re looking for this weekend you’ll have another chance in three weeks.

If you’re looking for something to do between gun shows that’s still gun related, the Wasilla branch of the Friends of the NRA is holding its annual fund-raising banquet at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center on March 13. Tickets are available online by going to www.friendsofnra.org, and click on “finding an event.” Click on the Alaska map and a page will come up showing all the banquets statewide. You can then purchase tickets online with a credit card.

If you prefer a local contact for tickets, give Neil Moss a call at Neil’s Lock and Safe in Wasilla at 373-0961.

I’ve been to a couple of these banquets and they are a lot of fun. You’ll have numerous chances in drawings and raffles to win a firearm or two. I always enjoy looking at the silent auction items and I always end up bidding on at least a couple. The regular auctions, likewise, are fun and some of the art items are gorgeous. The best auctions are for the various dessert items donated by ladies in the audience. Some of those desserts are works of art in themselves.

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. You can leave him a message by e-mailing sports@frontiersman.com.