Right-o, but the problem is that I don't know whether that means the clutch mechanism itself is toast (knock-on-wood) or whether the mechanism that disengages the clutch (the hydraulics, in my limited undertstanding of what's going on) is toast (ojala!).

I was kinda hoping someone would see the symptoms and be able to jump in and say "you idiot, that's obviously a slave cylinder problem," but perhaps it's not so simple as all that?

cheers,
r