On the subject of ******* NewTech (see my last, ("New Phone"), above):
I managed to renew my Driving Licence yesterday online.
I found (to my astonishment) that I'd also done this in 2023, and it was a perfect doddle. (Before seeing the actual proof on the Gov.uk site [much later in the current process] I had had not the faintest memory of that event.)
Not a doddle this time: I didn't have a "GOV.UK One Login" [sic - which btw
****s up the syntax of any sentence in which it appears) [1]
Having clicked "Continue" (on my Mac - where I feel nice and cosy) I was swept into a world run by an AI-bot (I figured), which started giving me orders, and telling me to do one thing after another, including telling me to switch to my smartphone midway through the exercise, downloading the GOV.UK One Login app, and then following more orders, including photographing my passport, and soon afterwards taking a selfie.
The whole process (because previously I had been unprocessed) took about 45 minutes (including getting my new phone (qv) to read the GOV.UK One Login QR Code, and also later using something called NFC (and after trying to get that to work about 20 times, I still don't know what I did to make it work - probably Linda (see below) leaned over my shoulder and did it for me.
It all ended with something like "Congratulations: you now have your GOV.UK One Login". I think that that was delievered in an email but I have an eery feeling that actually it was Linda from Ann Droid who spoke it to me -- I was too dazed to be sure.
All good! Personally I've always been a supporter of the National Identity Card (which I believe now they've leapfrogged).
Another John