Samsung S10

Back in Feb I treated myself to a new Samsung S10 mobile phone.

This is the first since coming back to the UK I've bought a phone out of contract. Basically the list price was £799, I got £289 to exchange my S8 and £32 from a cash back site. the total for the phone was £478 plus I also got a free pair of the new Samsung Ear Buds worth £149.

Put this against the £30 per month I'll save going down to a sim only contract and basically I'm quids in, it also gives me more freedom to go with any provider.

The plus's of the Samsung are many:

Three camera's on the back, superb wide screen option

No notch for the camera

fingerprint sensor in the screen

Great battery life

New Android operating system

Good tie with my Samsung watch
Definitely more interactive than any other phone I've used

Waterproof
Dual Sim
SD Card up to 128GB

Downside:

You wouldn't want to drop it, glass back very expensive

Took a while to get rid of some of the in built pre sets

That's it really.

The pictures it takes are amazing, the wide angle feature and the super slow mo are great photographic tools.

Ratings

Performance 8/10

Battery 8/10

Value 8/10

Am I glad I bought it? Yes...

Derby County Ladies Football Tournament 2019

Elizabeth and I had a great day yesterday. During the day we attended the U12 Football Tournament put on by Derby County Ladies.


In the five round robin games, Belper Sports won 3 and drew 2, this put us in 1st place going in to the semi final. In the semi's we played Coalville Ravens. Coalville are a very physical side and at the end of full time then extra time it was 0-0.

Penalty shootout it was, this Elizabeth's 2nd penalty shootout, the first she saved an all important penalty. Against Coalville, it was 1-1 after the first set, then 1-1 after the second round of pens, our Midfielder scored to make it 2-1 and then Elizabeth saved their 3rd penalty.

and breathe......

In the final we played Derby County, they really pressured Belper for the first 5 minutes, but in the 2nd part of the match Belper scored a superbly worked goal and just controlled the rest of the game. WINNERS....

It was great to see the girls enjoying themselves.

In the evening it was their Football prize presentation, its always a good night. the girls all receive a trophy for the work they've done through the season and there are three awards from the manager, Players and most improved player.

Brilliant day, brilliant evening....

  

No Social Media

Time to air out the old Blog again....


This time its because I'm taking a break from social media. The issue I have with social media are many as are the benefits I can see from using it.


So during July I'll be coming off Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and deleting Snapchat. The only two I'll be keeping is WhatsApp for news on Elizabeth's football and Messenger. I use messenger for my video chat, although I will be trying outs WhatsApp video calling during the month.


Its the continual snooping that is really getting me down, no sooner do I look at something on eBay and my Facebook stream is full of those same products, Twitter isn't so bad and is my main form of news, so I will miss Twitter the most, but the different factions on my feed are just shouting at each other, they are both right and both wrong but there is no common ground at the moment.


Snapchat is easy to delete, I never go on it, not sure why I joined. Instagram is something else I've never really got the hang of.


The only people who will miss my posts will be my family and a few close friends, if at the end of July I want to go back on the Social Media circus I will have to look at who the are that really interact with me and delete accordingly.


So should any one feel the need to contact me during July, the best way will be through this blog.


See you on the other side..........

Wild Pheasant Hotel & Spa Llangollen

I stayed at The Wild Pheasant on business, I've never really stopped in Llangollen before, been through it many times and I was looking forward to looking round the town. Obviously, its June in the UK and it was pissing it down so any thoughts of walking the half mile in to town were out.

The Hotel as a Spa and leisure facilities but I didn't use them. I was given the key to my room upstairs. The room for £80 was not bad, modern and not too shabby. Unfortunately the remote wouldn't work and there was a noise of water filling from the bathroom which would have kept me awake all night.

I spoke with the reception and they were very good, just straight to change my room. The new room was huge and very well set out, the remote was a bit dodgy again but by then I was past worrying.

I decided to eat at the hotel and as usual decided on the bar. The menu was a little light and the prices a little steep. I settled on bread and oil for starters, my usual burger for main. The burger arrived about 20 mins later without the bread, when I asked for the bread, it was "oh yes, I'll just bring it out" no apologies for not being bought out earlier. I wish I hadn't bothered! the bread was hard, cold and there was less than a table spoon of oil.

The burger was actually very nice, well put together and not a strong sauce.

I couldn't resist a dessert so I had a Hot sticky date pudding, not bad....

Ratings

Hotel 7/10

Food 6/10

Breakfast 6/10

Would I visit again? Probably.

 

 

 

Tafarn y Gader Tapas Bar Dolgellau

This restaurant was a bit of a surprise on my visit to Mid Wales. The B & B I was staying in recommended it so I tried.


The service was a bit lack lustre at first, but once it started everything flowed really well. The menu is very good, plenty of tapas to have a go at. The prices are around £6 each, for two people 5 portions would be fine.


I had deep fried cheese..

Croquettes...

Potato bravas in garlic...

Plus dessert, obviously.

A special mention to the 3 fine lagers that were on sale, Stella, Mahou and San Miquel, I love all three.

The total bill was around £30

Rating

Service 6/10

Food 7/10

Value 8/10

Would I visit again? Definitely

 

 

 

Mawddach Trail

One of the few perks of staying away with work is that I sometimes take my bike with me.

Today I was staying in Mid Wales at Dolgellau, I've know the area very well and there is a trail from there to Barmouth on the coast called the Mawddach Trail.

It follows an old railway line and you are taken all the way by the estuary and then you ride over the amazing wooden railway bridge into beautiful Barmouth itself.

The ride is very flat and easy. The distance on the trail is around 10 miles each way. I didn't stop in Barmouth, but you could easily have a stopover there. Plenty of places to eat and relax, if the mind takes you the beach is fantastic.

I rode back on the road and over the toll bridge at Fairbourne. The whole trail is super scenic and if your into bird watching its a must.