Britain occasionally sucks ass

So at the beginning of the month, I lost my passport. I wasn't really concerned, as I wasn't going anywhere soon. I toodled along to the American Embassy, paid a stupid price for specific pictures that are only taken at certain places in Britain and cost double what passport photos should, paid my fairly reasonable admin replacement charge, and received my passport today, 10 days after I applied.

Another thing that I have to do because I lost my passport is to get my residency visa replaced. I can't really come back into the country without it now, because I need to prove that I'm allowed to live here. I somehow forgot the 3 month nightmare that was applying for the visa, and called to see what I needed to do. Apparently, I can only get a "new" visa (an extention of the old one) by paying the same fee as I did when I applied, providing a police statement saying that my passport was stolen (well, it wasn't. I lost it. So...what now?), and it will take 4 weeks maximum (yeah, right. Guess what they said the first time?). So, I am not happy. Sometimes this country really, really, REALLY, sucks.