Update - still at Newport Pagnell or whatever it's called. I've exhausted all the QI videos on YouTube and am moving onto humorous cat videos. Supply of Jaffa cakes is running perilously low.
Re: the AA I am a little disappointed with my experience today. There was 0 attempt to do any kind of fix, or even to pour some steering fluid in to see where it was leaking or if it would work... In 2010 my v8 disco had a fault with the fuel pump. The chap from the AA stayed with me well past the end of his shift and we pulled the pump out, drilled a hole in the top and rewired it to bypass the faulty connection. I have always used them because of that one mechanic but perhaps he was the exception, not the rule.