Gulfstreamaviator, fair comments, but then your situation is relatively unusual and you would be catered for as 'exceptional'. I usually book within the 30 days and print my boarding pass after finalising the booking.
I hope the idea of closing check in desks is to speed the flow generally - that needs to be done at several of easyJet's departure points - and to free up more staff to assist passengers who, like yourself, have a slightly different situation. It will be interesting to see how it works.