I have been having exactly the same problems as 2ge... except mine haven't resolved themselves.
My situation is literally identical, so I won't re-write what he's said. However, I've also tried creating a new account, and logged in using both Firefox and Chrome, but no change.
Can anyone help??!
Haha! OK, I see. So for others encountering the same issue: you need to post a message (probably an introductory one somewhere) before the functions all free up. Doh.