Time to chillax.  Everyone’s been a little too wound up here lately, including your’s truly.  I’ve been preparing for Halloween.  When I was a kid, Christmas was my favorite holiday.  I still love the religous aspect to Christmas, obviously, but Halloween has taken over as the most fun/relaxing “holiday” for me.  I like it because it is a time when people are allowed and some even expected to be creative with their costumes.  Please don’t email me with the history of “All Hallow’s Eve”, the evil Druids, how bad it is, blah, blah, blah.  I don’t care.  I’m dressing up this time.  I’m going to work dressed up, taking the kids trick-or-treating all dressed up and taking lots of pictures of us just having fun.  Samantha and I went to the Halloween store the other day.  Some of the things they’ve got these days are plain hillarious and clever.  If anything, send me some pics of your creativity.  I’m going to post some of ours and maybe some of yours. Boo!!  Happy Halloween!  -caleb

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Chaos, chaos, chaos.  These are the worst times in the America that I can remember in my 32 years of being on this earth.  Uncle Sam is into more areas of business than ever before.  These days, what is the difference between a Democrat and a Republican?  Republicans have been virtually spineless since Reagan.  Democrats have been brilliant in finding a superstar and getting the young, ignorant voters to vote him in office.

President Obama is the most “feel good” president we have ever had.  People voted him in (I think) because he made them “feel good”.  Children do what feels good.  Adults are supposed to be more responsible. 

This economy is tanking because (I think) business owners are scared to death that Uncle Sam is going to take over them too.  Why would a business owner invest time and money into a business that is going to be taken away from them?  People are holding on to whatever they have left and not spending money except for the bare essentials.  This is what happens when chaos is present.  Keep in mind…this is “by design”.  These elected officials want the American people scared to death, so they will turn to government for safety and security.

How many million laws, regulations, torts, ordinances, etc. are on the books?  How many departments of government are there?  Every time Congress meets, more and more and more and more laws are passed.  Uncle Sam hires more and more and more people and puts them on the payroll.  Really, how many more laws to we need?  Every single one of us has probably broken at least one of these laws and we didn’t even know we did it!  It makes criminals out of even most outstanding citizens.

They ALL need to be voted out!  Every single Democrat.  Every single Republican.  We need all new, fresh faces running our country.  Over the next two election cycles, every single seat needs to be replaced.  Laws need to be repealed and the size of government needs to be cut in half.  Let the private sector hire more people. 

I live in Texas.  I will be voting for Debra Medina for governor.  Rick and Kay have been in office far too long.  Mrs. Medina seems to stand for everything I stand for.  Things like doing away with property taxes, letting “ISD’s” actually BE independent and managed on a local level, etc.  I don’t claim to have all of the answers, but I will vote only for fresh faces.  I will not vote for ANY incumbents.

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I posted a video on this website on March 11, 2009 of my kids and I field dressing a deer (scroll down to see the video).  Just to clear the air a bit, the video was POSTED in March of this year, but it was taken (courtesy of me) a day or two after Thanksgiving Day in 2007 (too bad there is no way to capitalize the digits in the year 2007).

My divorce was final in October of 2007.  I am a joint managing conservator of my four kids.  My kids and I ate Thanksgiving lunch at my ex-in-law’s house in November of 2007.  After eating, we loaded up and went to my family’s ranch to go deer hunting and four-wheeling.

Notice in the video that my daughter (London) in only two years old.  She cannot even pronounce her “R’s” correctly.  London is now four years old (at the time of this publication).

Also notice in the video that I am not wearing a wedding ring, which would make sense because I was not married at the time.  I didn’t even meet my new wife until February of the following year (2008).

There is one more thing I would like to point ourt.  The shirt London is wearing says, “My Dad Survived Sturgis”.  Now I love to watch Jesse James build those motorcycles on television, but I have never been into the street motorcycle thing and I have never been to Sturgis, though I hear it’s a lot of fun.  Coincidentally, I have a shirt that says, “I love NY”, but have never been to New York.

I have not been deer hunting since this video was taken.  It’s not that I wouldn’t love to go.  It’s that it is too expensive these days, given our economy.  My kids and I love the outdoors, so instead, we have started going to Junction, TX on the Llano River.  My new in-laws have a place there, so it is a lot more economical for us to go there.  We fish, go inner-tubing and canoeing.  The kids also love to catch fire-flies and geckos.

I point these things out because of the polarizing effect this website seems to have (on a local level).  People either like it and compliment me on it, or they hate it and use its content to attack me.  Either is fine with me.  I’m used to it.  I learned a long time ago that it is impossible to please everyone.  Just ask any politician… or even Jesus Christ, for that matter… and NO I am NOT comparing myself to Him (I can hear it now… “man, aaaaah that Caleb Leverett compares himself to aaaaah Jesus”).  This website is the only thing I have left from the mechanic days, other than a few hand tools.  I don’t really know what to do with it now, other than have fun with it.  It is my website, so I guess I’ll post whatever I wan to post, as long as I am not breaking any laws, of course.  Then again, I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before someone, with nothing better to do with their life, finds something “horribly wrong and offensive” with my little hobby.

As always, for questions, comments or even interviews (for those of you who need further clarification), I can be reached at crankmycat@gmail.com.  My life is pretty much an open book.  I hope everyone is having a great day, but be sure to thank a veteran for insuring your right to complain, if you are not.   -caleb

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Please go to WirelessAMBERalerts.org and sign up for this.  This the first Amber Alert I have received since giving them my number several months ago.  “AMBERALERT: Andrews, TX VEH: 93 Whi Niss Max TAG: TX KWF247 or KBK966 CHILD: 9M W/M Eyes: Bro Hair: Bro SUSP: 28Y W/M 5FT6 185LBS Eyes: Bro Hair: Bla CALL 432-523-5545″.   I have never received any kind of solicitations by signing up with these guys. It costs nothing.  All you have to do is be on the lookout.  The nine-month-old in this situation would be very appreciative, I’m sure. God Bless.  -caleb

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In this clip, the kids show off their deer. They then give a plug for CrankMyCat in this hillarious deer hunting video.

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This guy has got balls of solid steel.

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This is from Rush’s show on 3/4/09.  Rush talks about how President Obama ambushed Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens.  He also discusses how the US Representative Aaron Schock from IL learned of this and discussed it at a Heritage Foundation bloggers meeting.  To read the entire transcript, click here.

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Find out all about Lori Darlin’ here. She is the most wanted hardhat sticker in the oilfield. Everybody loves Lori Darlin’.

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Check out our “forums” section.  We cranked on it a little bit, making it easier to navigate through.  Our goal is to create a place where Caterpillar enthusiasts can ask others question, post Caterpillar equipment related items you need or may have for sale, tell your stories, etc.  Whether you are into oilfield diesel engines, natural gas engines, tractors or trucks, feel free join and tell others!  Caleb and Samantha want to hear from you and it costs absolutely nothing to join.  Also, feel free to email us any time at crankmycat@gmail.com

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That’s a quote from Caddyshack 2 by Peter Blunt (played by Randy Quaid). It’s 2009 and Barack Obama has just been given the controls of the most powerful, most sought after diesel engine ever created. She’s beautiful for her age. She was commissioned in 1776 and has been running for almost 233 years (that’s over 2 Million hours) and has never failed in the long run.

In the beginning, she was a low compression, slow speed engine. She was constructed from the finest recourses of her land. A naturally aspirated, simple engine, she was able to provide for most. She has had some 44 different styles of governor controls in her lifetime, some better than others.

She started out as a 13 cylinder chugger and has grown to a 50 cylinder powerhouse. In the 1920’s, turbochargers were added to her combustion system. Her power output was doubled in just a few years and she became much more efficient. However, in the 1930’s she was faced with awful problems. The rings around her pistons could not stand the intense heat from the high boost pressure produced by the turbos. They began to crack. The gasket material was not capable of withstanding the intense heat from the high combustion pressure. She began to smoke and had an enormous amount of blow-by, which resulted in a severe loss in horse power. She was sick and tired of being abused, but did not know what to do about it.

Then, on December 7, 1941, an outsider kicked her radiator fins in. This made her really angry. She realized that she could not depend on anyone but herself, so she did something about it. She put herself to work. She troubleshot her weaknesses and began to make herself stronger adding innovation and technology to her structure. This overhaul would last almost 20 years.

As with any diesel engine, she has had her fair share of problems. This cycle has been in motion for a long time now. Every economic high is a result of a fresh overhaul and every downturn is due to either normal wear and tear or lack of maintenance (usually both). She just happens to be in another downturn and it’s time for another overhaul. She is going to be down for a while, but don’t worry, she’ll be back.

Day after day, year after year she has been running on her fuel of choice called the American people. As with all fuel, there is always the possibility of contaminants. These contaminants have wreaked havoc on her unit injectors, due to their extremely close tolerances.

It’s going to be a very rough ride. We’ve all screwed off at least a little bit over the last few years and our engine is worn out. We are all going to have to cut back in order to make it through this. Case in point. We would usually be making a cool video about this, but instead are having to type it out. Everyone is going to have to learn to take personal responsibility for their own actions and stop blaming everyone else their problems. It is YOUR responsibility to take care of YOU and YOURS, no one else’s. If you have got yourself into a mess, get YOURSELF out and don’t expect someone else to do it for you. Fairness is keeping what you’ve earned and using it at your own disposal, not spreading misery equally, dragging down the producers (that was borrowed from Rush Limbaugh).

The bottom line is, the economy has taken a severe dump, but don’t get discouraged. It will come back just as it always has, even though it may take a while. Look on the bright side. Humiliation is a wonderful character-building tool. Maybe we all needed this reality check so as not to forget where we came from.

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