Community Spotlight: Welshsteve76

[Martin-O2]

Hey everyone,

It's Friday and what better way to see in the weekend then a community spotlight! This time around the spotlight is on @welshsteve76! Welshsteve76 joined the community back in 2012 and he's kindly agreed to answer a few questions for the spotlight. 

Check out his answers below and feel free to ask any follow up queries you may have! 

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What’s your name and where are you from?

Steve. Originally from South Wales (about 17 miles west of Swansea).  Moved to Cheltenham (uni) before moving to Leamington Spa nearly 20 years ago now.

Why did you join and stay in the O2 Community?

Initially joined back in 2012 to find out why I had no mobile signal at the time. Took a look around the forums and decided to get involved in other discussions. I sporadically used it on and off since, before becoming more regular in recent years. Unlike many other forum boards around the Internet, where the regulars and admins can be, shall we say "abrasive", and unhelpful, the O2 community regulars and admins are very helpful and friendly, and instead criticising somebody's post for not being in the "correct format", they go out of their way to assist.

What was your first mobile phone and which phone do you currently have?

Nokia 5110 (the one you could replace the fascias and buttons). I currently have a Huawei P20 Pro.

If you were CEO of O2 for a day, what would you do?

Allow free upgrades for anyone with a Huawei device plan 

Seriously though, the huge drop off in customer service in recent years needs addressing (it was the very best of all industries until a few years ago in my opinion). It's still better than EE & Vodafone though. The customise your plan isn't flexible enough (you should be able to select data packages 1GB at a time). But one thing I think would really help customers is to make O2 recycle clearer and fairer. If you have a device plan and wish to trade in, there should be a minimum payment amount you get which equates to premiums paid.

Favourite movie/TV show/actor?

Movie = Back To The Future or The Shawshank Redemption

TV Show = Quantum Leap (all time), Supernatural or Lucifer are my favourite current TV shows.

Actor = David Tennant

How do you take your tea/coffee?

Tea = Strong, no sugar, drop of milk

Coffee = Strong, sometimes half a brown sugar, shake the milk so it froths up.

Do you have any pets?

No. I do get a robin coming down to my back door regularly every day asking for food though  (some of you may have seen the pictures I have posted on the community).

Which future development in tech are you looking forward to?

Quantum Computing becoming the norm.

If you could have a conversation with any famous person, dead or alive who would it be and why?

Brian Cox (scientist). He just makes difficult things sound so simple.

What's your dream house like and where would it be located (if you could choose anything!)?

I'm not really into huge with 10 bedrooms etc. As long as it was reasonable roomy with a couple of guest rooms (3 or 4 bedrooms in total). I'm more about outside space. That would do me. It would have to be detached without any noisy neighbours  and far from a busy road. However ( ), I'd love it to have a cinema room, games room (snooker, pool, games consoles), swimming pool and a small gym (rowing machine, exercise bike), tennis court, nice garden with flower beds etc. I wouldn't want it to be in the UK though. Probably Lanzarote.

Any hobbies besides the Community?

Music is a big love of mine, and I listen to and collect a lot of music, as well as going to gigs whenever I can (it's expensive these days). I can also play guitar, although I don't get it out that often these days (I used to play in bands). I like to play snooker, and used to run the local snooker league and was a team captain for over 10 years. Although since I stopped playing in a team I don't play much anymore.

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Thanks for sharing a bit about yourself Steve!  Much appreciated! 

[TallTrees]

Hello @welshsteve76 

Thank you for your spotlight.

Liked your vision of "dream house"

[sheepdog]

@welshsteve76 you need to do Canada at least twice: once in the summer & once in the winter. Once you try a winter in Canada, you'll just laugh at the pitiful moans about UK winters.  Well worth going from Alberta through to Vancouver around the Rockies (we did by car) though you won't be disappointed by Toronto/Ontario (recommend you do that first). 

[pgn]

I think being able to chat with Brian Cox would be ace!  Brian Cox *and* Quantum Computing...

[Mi-Amigo]

Great Spotlight @welshsteve76 .

It is nice to learn more about you and your interests - particularly your taste in music and bands.

[Anonymous]

Wonderful spotlight @welshsteve76 

You say you'd like to live in Lanzarote

I too like the Canary Islands ... & ... understand why you like Lanzarote ... the climate & outdoor lifestyle

[welshsteve76]

@sheepdog- Drives me nuts when people complain about the weather. It's too hot, or it's too cold etc. There's quite literally nothing anybody can do about it LOL

@pgn- yeah that would be awesome

@Mi-Amigo- I have a varied taste in music, although the vast majority of the bands and artists I listen to are heavy rock/metal

@Anonymous- It always just seems so chilled out there. I love it. I've never been to any of the another canary islands though. Just Lanzarote

[jonsie]

I've been to all 4 main islands and I've always favoured Tenerife. Try the island hopper that a lot of the local travel agencies do in Lanzarote on a three day excursion. 

[Glory1]

I've also been to Tenerife and loved it. Also, while I was there did a day trip to La Gomera which, at the time, was unspoilt and beautiful. Never made it to the other islands, unfortunately.

[Cleoriff]

I went to Gran Canaria about 35 years ago with my youngest son. Unless it's changed dramatically, I hated it. The apartment complex had a pool, other than that there was nothing in the way of entertainment close by. All shops etc were in small complexes.

With hindsight I should have booked into a hotel but money was short so I did things on the cheap.

The beach was a long way from the apartment.

I expect it has changed now, although I have no wish to return.

[jonsie]

No, I wasn't impressed with Gran Canaria nor Fuerteventura. Lanzarote we went to in January, two months before my wife passed away so I look back on that holiday with sadness as she wasn't well at the time. For that reason I wuld never go back there.