Well, that could have gone so much better

I took the car over to the shop first thing in the morning, when they opened at 8 am. Apparently the noise was that a mechanism that adjusts the brakes had broken off and was spinning around inside the drum. I need new drums and shoes on the rear of the car. I also need to have a ball joint replaced, an alignment as a result of that second one, and new windshield wipers. I can't even do the brake job at this point--it'll be over $500. In fact, it'll take everything I have to put everything back so that it's not dragging and I can go back in a couple or three weeks and get the brakes done properly. :( They're open the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, when I'm off. I'll also check with my normal mechanic, who's only open weekdays, to see how much he would charge and see if they're open on the Friday after Thanksgiving, when I'm off. My goal is to try to have the car running in the interim, as we have a lot of appointments next week.

Also, I'd signed up for Amazon Prime last month, but as a month-to-month subscription, not yearly, and found that instead of charging me $11, they charged me nearly $105. So that was less money for the repair. I called Amazon while I was at the shop and they took care of it, and I called the bank, and since it was in pending, should be okay by Monday.

So, I've had a day. At 10:30 he told me that it would take about an hour and a half to fix the car, and he offered me a ride home, so I'm home now and I've eaten for the first time today. The stress is clenching up the muscles in my neck and shoulders, which isn't helping on that front. I had to text a friend to let him know I couldn't pick them up from their appointment, that they'd have to find another way home, and they had to take the bus to get there this morning). But hey, you do what you can, and I couldn't be sure the car wasn't dangerous, and had to have it looked at, and the adjuster has to go back where it needs to be; I can't be driving with it inside the drum. So that's how my day has gone so far. I think I'm going to go lie down on the heating pad for a little and try to relax, then get up and do some things around the house. But boy, today could be going better. If you factor in the ball joint and everything, the total will be nearly $1000. I'll have to do it over time, there's no way around it.