sMMAshzilla

Yeah, it was metal. I saw it. Kinda rectangular shape, about the size of my hand. No issues at all with the pumpkin since then. It's having a full service on Tuesday. Drove it up to Milton Keynes on Thursday night, and even though the weather was terrible (thunder storms at times), and the traffic was quite dense (rush hour), the car itself was still plenty of fun. Had a Lamborghini and a GTR checking me out.

So there I am, happily driving along a dual carriageway. The sun is setting, I could probably hear some birds singing if it wasn't for the fact that The Pumpkin is very loud...then all of a sudden I hear a god-awful scraping sound coming from the back!! Scraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaape for what felt like an eternity (probably 3 seconds), then CLUNK. I look in my mirror and see a lump of metal bouncing across the road. Probably the size of my hand. This is not good, and of course there is no hard shoulder at this point! I check my brakes, and they are fine. Car sounds the same. I pull into an industrial estate, get on my back and look under the car. I know nothing about the underneath of a car, but it all looks normal to me. I book my car in to a local Nissan specialist the next day. They spend 10 minutes under it and can find nothing at all missing. The theory from them, and people from work is that I probably just picked up some debris and dragged it along for a bit, then spat it out. My heart has just about recovered. The car is booked in for a full service in 2 weeks time. I wonder if any other lumps of metal will be picked up in the meantime! And the guys at Nistec (Portsmouth) didn't even charge me for having a look

Myself and jay parked up in Glasgow to have a chat with my mate at a protein shop and you wouldn't believe how many people took photos of the two cars! Even ladies on their own were taking photos! Brilliant feeling seeing people do that. There was a girl, whilst driving, taking a photo of me! We have noticed one major issue with The Pumpkin though People tend to get level with, or just to the side of the car, and stare. I mean stareeeeeeeeeee. But they do this and don't let you out of slip roads etc. Just because they are mesmerised!

"What's the top speed" is the most common. I think every other time I've been out in the car, I've had comments. Normally kids going "WOW". Lots of people asking me plenty of questions about the spec and giving me advice on it. The ladies seem to like it as well

It's not my fault, honest! I washed it 2 weeks ago and it was perfect. The following weekend it chucked it down and the Mrs needed it Saying that, even when filthy, I'm still getting loads of comments. My favourite was someone who, whilst in traffic, reversed down the other lane to get level with me to say "Sick car mate, SICK car"

Nope, not me. Not been to Winchester for quite a while. How come the car has been spotted twice, neither time with me driving it!! (and thankfully no-one has seen me in it this weekend as it is filthy.

Yep, that was the Mrs. Just been dropped off at MMA and she took the car out in that filthy weather

Nah. Wouldn't want to take the risk. I know people who've been stung using that type of thing. Not for me, but good idea. Also, Condit had the fight easy. No idea why there is hate towards him!

ESPN are doing a free weekend. BUT not to Virgin customers (me). Most annoying. Should be a fantastic event though. al

Sorry, one final long post from me. Then that's it, reminds me of work too much!! (wish I never stumbled across this topic) At no point have I said that I don't understand why people are annoyed. I don't understand why you think you should be rewarded for creating a very successful business. You have your rewards do you not? Benefits does not reward people for not working, or for having extra kids. It supports them. And yes you could claim benefits. If you are unemployed with capital of less than £16k, you can put a claim in for Housing / Council Tax Benefit. If you have more than that, then the government has decided that people who work and pay tax like me, should not be supporting you. The problem with the answers here is that we are dealing with people and not cattle. -Yes, the husband should have an some insurance policy / life protection in place before he died. But he didn't. -Yes people should think about whether they can afford to have a kid before they have s*x, but some people don't (I know, hard to believe that not every birth is planned). Sometimes even safe sex fails. It is a cruel sickening world out there and I know of cases where they were the victim of rape, and that is how the child came about. I also remember speaking to a woman who grassed in her ex-partner/drug dealer/ rapist for benefit fraud. A couple of weeks later she was found dead. That was a nice phone call to take. -Yes there should be enough affordable housing for everyone, but there isn't. -Yes moving people to a cheaper area does make sense, but if someone loses their job, do you really think that it's going to cheap and sensible to move them all the way from London to another city? It all costs money to administer, it will take time, you will need to find a new property, give notice on the old one and pay for the removals before it can actually happen. Let's assume this takes 3 months, if on the day before they are set to move the customer finds a new job, then all that money is wasted. What happens if surrounding London all the housing is full and the closest place is Blackburn. That is a big and costly relocation. It would also turn some cities into ghettos as only the poor are moved their. People won't go for it, so there will be more court costs as well. If you own a business which employs lots of local people, and you were to close that business. Any of your former employees who couldn't pay their rent that month, should be forced out of the city, to somewhere which is cheaper. That is the logic here! But if they are unemployed, then they can't afford rent anywhere, so they would be instantly homeless. I would like to point out that the maximum Housing Benefit that will be paid is governed by something called Local Housing Allowance. If you want to know the very maximum that you could get you need to look up the LHA figure for your area (available on your Council website). It is not based on the size of the house you are in, but the size of the house you are eligible for. Even though I may live in a 2 or 3 bedroom house, I would only be able to get Housing Benefit for the rent of a 1 bedroom place based on my circumstances. So I can't just lose my job, claim Job Seekers then move into a £1000pm penthouse suit. Also with LHA, if you are a couple who are unemployed, have a kid, you can get up to the rate of a 2 bedroom house (or whatever your rent is, whichever is lower). If you have another kid (didn't keep your legs closed), you are still only going to get the SAME rate! So you will not be getting any more Housing or Council Tax Benefit. That is because children are seen as being able to share the same bedroom (same sex up to 16, opposite sex up to 10). Yes people should just get a job, but there aren't enough jobs for people. Also, if you are a single parent with a baby, even if you do find a job you need to find a babysitter. If the only work available is a night shift, then the cost / availability of a babysitter will be even worse. -Yes kids should pay attention in school and understand Maths and English, but some don't. There isn't always enough low skilled jobs to cater for these people. But education schemes are being run to get people skilled up (City and Guilds, NVQs etc). They are also plenty of schemes to help older people understand how to use computers, as these weren't taught when they were in school. In regards to the part about Pension Credits, it is NOT a VIP pass to full council tax benefit and housing benefit. Another example of wrong information which leads people to wrong reputations. Pension Credit Guarantee will give you full housing / council tax benefit, however Pension Credit Savings credit does not. I do not think that the benefit process is perfect. Far from it. I am not at all saying it is right, I am just trying to give our correct information. But as the benefit system is not perfect, you must remember that people are not perfect which is why it ends up being so complex. Those who will not work frustrate me, but I am trying to highlight that there are those who cannot work because of other commitments (single parents with a very young family or caring responsibilities) the disabled (who really can't work), ill, complete nutters who shouldn't really be around people, and those where there are no jobs available to them. There are also those who do work and claim benefits because there is only part time jobs available. People are tarnished with the same brush which is not right. People and the media also give out wrong information, or a lack of information, which creates problems. As for the pay day loan companies, regulation should be coming in around May next year. At no point have I blamed a bank or "the bankers". If I owned a bank, and someone had been in a lot of debt with me, I wouldn't give them a bank account. Simple. That is what the banks are doing. It was suggested that people should just set up a direct debit / save money etc, but they can't, and that's what I was highlighting. I am not blaming the bankers. Moving on from the benefit system, I have a problem with really fat people, drug addicts, people who can't handle their drink and smokers who use up all of my tax money by clogging up in the NHS. And people who let their dogs sh*t everywhere, wasting my council tax as it has to be cleaned up. Right no more from me. If you really want to understand the regulations of Housing / council tax benefits, wait until April time and buy the new copy of this: http://tinyurl.com/7ahuqtt If you enjoy several hundred pages on regulations tuned put in an understandable format, you are in for a treat! And I picked the 2010 version because the girl on the front is fit. I'm not responding to any more.

Welcome Tom, Only a couple of months ago I was looking at houses in Warsash. Plans changed so won't be looking any more, but that is a nice area you live in. al

Yes, you have guessed correctly as to where my knowledge comes from. Unfortunately this is my specialist subject matter (I really do wish it was something like engineering or computer programming which was my expert area). I wanted to make clear what benefits is all about. I used to have no idea what it was, I mean I had never heard of Job Seekers Allowance or Housing Benefit. They never told me about any of this stuff at school. I come from a bog-standard family, 2 parents, both worked, I went to school, uni, got a job. I have met lots of people on benefits, which is why I know who does and doesn't claim. Single mother who's husband has just been killed, she claims. Disabled person from birth, they claim. Pensioner with no family, they claim. BUT also, the scum of the earth who are the stereotypical benefit customer, they claim as well, and I would never want to pretend that they don't. But not everyone is to be tarnished with the same brush. I've had several customers say to me "There is no point in working." To which my response is "If that's the case, why am I getting paid to speak to you?" (though I would like to add that this isn't the best way of managing conflict or giving customer service). As I try to point out, if you have a job, you can get a promotion. If you are on benefits, that is it. You've reached your peak. And as has been highlighted, that peak is very darn low. I've had just as many people who are ashamed to be claiming as I have had who see claiming benefits as a job. As for that whole "How do people afford big flat screen TVs" etc, the Credit Card and lots of debt is almost certainly the answer. Along with fraud. ITV just ran a programme tonight about pay day loans (that'll pay for a new PS3 game). Also, you have the shops that will let you have a new tv or a sofa on finance (29.8% over 5 years was the going rate when I was in sales). In regards to people getting big houses, well, that's not the case if there are not big houses available. Housing Benefit will not go higher than the rent, and in my city along with many others, you'll be lucky to find anything bigger than a 4 bedroom house. So that'll be mum, dad, the 6 kids, and maybe even granny all in the same flat!! Benefit fraud is too easy to do. Claiming that you are a single mum, and the farther of your children doesn't live with you (therefore you don't need to take into account his income), is just so hard to prove. Especially if his parents will testify that he still lives at home with them. Very frustrating. I've seen so many cases that are so clearly fraudulent get ruled out by the courts. It is very annoying. But people do get prosecuted and prison has happened. Someone said something to the effect of "No-one should be homeless". You are right, they shouldn't be homeless, and I've also thought that it was very strange that people lived on the street. But I can understand why they are homeless. They might get put in a hostel, where everyone else in their room is an active drug addict. They might have their things stolen by someone else in the property or the room. A lot of people have been in the system for many years, and were abused by those who should have been helping them when they were children...how do these people trust the system to help them again? There are also a crazy number of people who are attacked by their partners, and live in fear of violence. They don't want to report it to the police, can't go home, and don't want to tell the council why they can't go back in their old property. With claiming unemployment benefits, you can't just quit your job and sign on. There are waiting periods for people who quit work. So if they were bullied and harassed at work, they quit, they then have no money. Housing Benefit will cover the rent, but who pays for the food / water etc? There are training programmes to try and get you back into work, I feel that voluntary work should happen more as people might realise that they enjoy it and enjoy the social aspect of getting out and meeting people. There are also some financial incentives (other than the wage) to going back to work.

And here in Portsmouth, if you are a single person who is under the age of 35, the maximum Housing Benefit you will get is £281. You almost certainly won't get any Council Tax Benefit as you will be living in shared accommodation (a HIMO) meaning that the Landlord is liable for the Council Tax. So your rent will be £3,300 a year. JSA is £53.45 a week for under 25 years old. £67.50 for over 25 years old. So that is a maximum of £3,500 a year. As a single 25-35 year old you are looking at £6,800. This is WAY BELOW the minimum wage, which would be about £12,000. Any of you wishing to give up your job, enjoy!! I don't know how you'll afford to run the 350z, but enjoy yourself

When the benefit system is worked out, a lot of the time it is a joint claim (e,g, husband and wife). So for instance, a claim for Housing and Council Tax Benefit is for the entire household. If you are a couple for 4 children, then you will probably need a 3 or 4 bedroom property depending on the ages and sex of the kids. Imaging living in central London and finding a property of that size. I would guess it would be about £1,800 a month just in rent. Council tax would be about £150 a month. Next add on the Child Benefit, which was probably used in the media. Up until very recently, if you have a child then you can get Child Benefit, regardless of your wage. Even now it's something like under £40k (as an individual) which allows you to have Child Benefit. In this case, you would be looking at about £70 a month. Next is your unemployment benefit. As a couple, this could be £500 a month maybe. Next would be Child Tax Credits, which is probably about £2k a year. I can't be bothered to add it all up, but I'm sure you have about £26k (or more) with just those figures. Of course if you live in a city with lower rents such as Derby, Mansfield, Peterborough, then this figure will drop quite dramatically. Benefits ARE very low in general, it is the cost of rent which makes them go so high. If we had more social landlords (charities who didn't want to make profit from rent, just break even), then the Housing Benefit bill would reduce. You need to understand that you can claim Child Tax Credits and Working Tax Credit, if you are employed. It will all depend on how many children you have and how much money you earn. So if you say that benefits should never be above the minimum wage, you are correct, because they are NOT above the minimum wage. A single person, on the minimum wage will not get benefits. A lone parent on the minimum wage, probably will get benefits as the minimum wage is not enough to support them and their child. What you need to consider with regard to benefits is who is claiming. Benefits is not just for the unemployed. It is for low income families. This is means tested. So if you have several children, you will gain more benefits than someone without kids. This is because it obviously costs more to feed them, buy clothes etc. You might be on £30k as a single person, which is a good wage in my mind. But £30k as a couple isn't so good, though it's still pretty decent. £30k as a couple with 4 kids is very low with that many mouths to feed. In theory, I could be earning £70k a year and still receive benefits. I would need to have a lot of kids and be a single parent, but yes I (or you) could claim. We all have an image of what a Benefit Claimant will look like, and this stereotype is often true. But picture the scenario: Husband (works) and wife (stays at home), 4 kids (just given birth to twins), all going perfect, husband get's killed on the way home from work whilst driving his 350z. Suddenly the wife is now a single mother, with 4 kids to raise and support. She can't afford the rent by herself, if she doesn't pay it she is homeless. Housing and Council Tax Benefit will now kick in to support her. The rent in some areas is very high, but is telling her to move out (husband just killed) a realistic option? 2 new babies on the scene. 2 other kids are in school and moving will mean that they need to be relocated. Her friends / family are in the local area, moving will cause her to loose this network of support. As for the option of tokens to buy food and clothes only. I have posed this question before to the Department for Work and Pensions, and the answer was that there would be a massive social stigma attached to claiming benefits (more than exists). I also thought that vouchers might have been a good option. Imagine if you became disabled as you were attacked in the street. You lose your job because of the injuries you suffered. Not only are you mentally in a bad situation, you then have the humiliation of only be allowed to shop in certain places and having to pay with tokens / vouchers. A black market would actually be created with people trading in these vouchers in exchange for cash (at a loss) so that they didn't suffer the humiliation. Think about someone who lives in a small village which has only the local Spar shop. If this voucher is not accepted here, then it could be a long drive (without a car) to purchase food. If people were not allowed to purchase alcohol or cigarettes, they would still have the want / desire / addiction. They may turn to theft. Would petrol also fall into this category of banned purchases? If so, how would people drive to work, drive to the hospital etc? People would also not have a social life, as they have no vouchers to go to the pub, cinema, anywhere else. If you were injured at 18 years old, you could be on (or on/off) benefits for the rest of your life. What about birthdays and Christmas. Do they children not get any presents, or only presents from certain shops? Think about the bullying at school as a result of this, which could result in reduced attendance, no education, then limited to no employment choices. I remember the "poor kids" who had the free school meals at school. I didn't know anything about benefits or unemployment, or even what a job was, but I knew that these kids were poor because they had a free meal. Even if you wore the wrong trainers at school you were bullied. Kids don't need much to pick on you, and the knock on effects can affect the rest of your life. A lof of pensioners are on benefits as well, with Pension Credits (launched on 6 October 2003 as a replacement for Income Support for pensioners). Pension Credits was launched as a lot of pensioners didn't want to claim Benefits. They felt ashamed. This meant that they would not be able to afford their rent, or they would not eat or have heating etc. This resulted in them having a very poor quality of life and often dying early as a result, or ending up in hospital. They would not have enough money to use a taxi or bus, and with their reduced age related mobility, not be able to see friends / family, and ultimately not leave the house for many days / weeks. A voucher system is not the answer. You also need to remember that things like opening a bank account and setting up direct debits might seem logical to us, but some people will have a terrible credit history and not be able to open up a bank account (though the Post Office over the last few years has tried to help people overcome this). There are some dodgy landlords out there as well, which screw people out of the deposits that they've placed on a property, meaning that if they want to move, they can be out of pocket by £500+. There is a solution out there. Work with more businesses to get a clearer understanding of skill sets needed for employment. Target those who can work, help find suitable employment (the current system at the job centre is just not good enough), and deplete benefits over a period of time. Housing Benefits for single people aged 25-35 has just been reduced, which should make more people want to find work. There should be more work done on Benefit Fraud, as it is too easy to do at the moment, with harsher penalties applied. The issue with fraud is often that people are not scared of the punishment. I've seen people in court, who are clearly their too often. It's just day out to them. What penalties would work is questionable, but preventing it in the first place is what is needed. I've seen cases worth over £50k. More advice should be given to people about debt and more regulations put in place on these Pay Day loan companies that offer you £50 with a 4000% level of interested attached to it.

UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller is on ESPN TONIGHT. It is scheduled as "Live: Boxing", but it is the UFC. Starts at 2am. There is UFC Unleashed on before it. My predictions (or lack of) for the event are here. http://www.smmash.co.uk/1/post/2012/01/ufc-on-fx-guillard-vs-miller.html Also, there's a funny video of Pat Barry kicking one of those fairground Punch Machines. al

And if you are liking the UFC at the moment, have you seen how many events are coming up?? Jan 20, 28, Feb 4, 15, 25, March 3, 24...and into April. That's my Saturday nights / Sunday mornings sorted out most weekends

Fantastic event. Seriously good. Felt for Etim, but what a highlight knockout. I do love spinning body kicks, so I might have to work on my stretching to allow for the spinning heel kick!! Can't fault the event at all. The crowd were psyched up for it, and the Aldo ending just put the icing on the cake. My full post on it is here: http://tinyurl.com/7w6qnyl Complete with details on how I messed up my betting!! al http://www.facebook.com/pages/Smmash-MMA/136474463090120

The website is telling me that I'll be doubled in March / April time. Sweeeeeeeeeeeet.

Used to have ESPN, but cost too much. ESPN on Virgin is free this month. You NEED to check it out. I'll source it from somewhere else though normally, Sunday morning. Takes a little while for me to get a good quality version, but it's worth it (there's a definite element of hit and miss). Have it all watched by Sunday evening (normally whilst doing the ironing). Just about recovered from some luta livre training on Thursday night (it hurt). UFC 142 will get me in the mood for some more Belfort vs Johnson is gonna be good. After the controversy at the weigh-ins and with Belfort in front of the Brazil crowd, it's gonna be explosive.

UFC 142 tonight. Here are my predictions: Featherweight Championship: José Aldo © (win) vs. Chad Mendes Catchweight (197 lb) bout: Vitor Belfort (win) vs. Anthony Johnson Middleweight bout: Rousimar Palhares (win) vs. Mike Massenzio Welterweight bout: Erick Silva (win) vs. Carlo Prater Lightweight bout: Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim (win) I've actually put some money on Aldo, Belfort and Palhares to win. Yes, actual cash has been placed on these guys (though I'm up with my UFC bets so far). Full predictions from me are here: http://www.smmash.co.uk/1/post/2012/01/ufc-142-aldo-vs-mendes-predictions.html Just need to now avoid the internet until I get to see all the fights!

It is important to name a child appropriately as to avoid / reduce the chance of bullying. "The Pumpkin" just describes the car perfectly

I'll be there Saturday afternoon, so you may see The Pumpkin briefly then. Alternatively, if you see a bloke with a big ginger beard sat at a coffee shop, that'll be me

I occasionally go to Winchester, so you may see me driving past you at some point. Well done with the purchase.

Welcome

As a very new owner myself, I'd like to welcome you as well