Are they trying to piss me off?

Last Thursday I lost my wallet. That's bad enough, but since then it would seem that everyone I talk to had a big party last night, got hammered and really aren't up to speed today. I've got the new PIN for my credit card, but no credit card, I've got the new debit card, but no PIN. DVLA have a recorded message saying that you don't even have to tell them that your diving licence (does that mean that I need one at all?) has gone missing and the one set of competent people that I have spoken to (the Police) just weren't that interested.

But since my debit card was here I can at least use that to make telephone purchases, right? Nope. I rang up to activate the card and the automated system got it's knickers in a twist, twice and told me that the card was valid but not valid. This justified every bad thought that I have ever had about automated telephone systems (and there have been many, I assure you) so I rang a real person. They assured me that my card was now activated and useable. So I tried to use it. That didn't work; the card was rejected. So I rang my bank again. They accused me of having called them on Monday to cancel the new card that I didn't have yet. I assured them that this was not the case, obviously and so they did a little digging to find the problem. Firstly, it appears that one of their operators decided on Monday to cancel the card that they had issued to me. No one knows why except the operator who isn't available for comment. Secondly, the woman that I spoke to this morning didn't check the card numbers and has now activated the new 'new' card that is currently in the post on it's way to me. A lot of good that will do me.

So, I still can't pay for my motorbike insurance. But since I can't pay for the bike without a credit card, all a bit accademic really...

Getting my new company up and running is going much more smoothly, even though I am still completing more forms than you can shake a stick at to complete the process. My company has existed less than a week and I have already had three items of junk mail. It doesn't bode well, does it?

I'm not even going to start on the request I made to find out my National Insurance Number a couple of weeks ago or the hassle it is getting a new driving licence. Government websites are only there to give us grief, I'm sure of it.