Working on Your Own Car = "The SUCK"

I owned a Chevy S-10 ZR-2. The pickup with the off-road package...kevlar shields underneath, big 31" tires. I bought it new, with the intention of "running it into the ground." BAD maintenance issues started cropping up a few months before I paid it off, when I had to have fluid leaks fixed to the tune of $2,500!! (well, I paid a lot less, only because they made a deal with the regional service manager, but it would have cost that much).
Fast forward 16 months. I replaced the tires ($800), and while they were doing that, they found it needed a new front lower ball joint ($400) and a front bearing assembly ($600). $1800 later, they told me they found everything it needed.
Well, obviously not. 3 months later, I was planning to sell it, partly because I couldn't carry the whole family and partly because I wanted to drive a fast sedan. So I took it to the dealer and asked them to find EVERYTHING it needed. In no particular order, they found it needed:

Well, I decided I don't want to list all of it. Suffice to say it totals $2,800. Ish.

So, I decided to sell the truck. But the brakes (at least the rear brakes) HAD to be done...they were scraping.

The Reader's Digest version of what happened:

Father in law loaning me the jack and jack stands. Finds out they're at my brother-in-law's. 2 hour round trip to pick them up.
Jacked it up, took off the wheels...rotors won't come. Sledge, sledge, sledge...they won't come. After 2-3 hours of this, sprayed some break-free in, and finally get them off. Find I need new parking brake shoes...$80 for the pair. Trip to the Chevy parts department and back. Get the shoes on, CAN'T get the new rotors on. Rubber mallet, rubber mallet, rubber mallet. Finally use lug nuts W/washers to move it on, over the new parking brake shoes. Cross thread (slightly?) one lug nut!!! Go to put one caliper on...won't go on. Little piston in the caliper bracket is rust-frozen!!!. Hammer, hammer, hammer...NOTHING. 3 different parts stores...none carry them. Thank God I let my fingers do the walking. Chevy parts is closed. SCREWED for the day now. Borrow father-in-law's car, drove him home. Truck is in the garage minus one caliper, on all 4 wheels, ready to be jacked up again another day. Have to get the caliper bracket from a Chevy parts counter.

I realize what my father-in-law said...this was just unusually difficult. But I think this has cured me from EVER fantasizing about having my own jalopy and doing the work myself. EVER. EVER EVER EVER!!!

UPDATE: Well, day 2 of working on the truck started promising. I had the caliper bracket I needed; just needed to swap that on and be done with it. Weeelllll, the piston on the cliper was popped out, and when I went to push it back in, "squirt!", brake fluid. Ugh. Well, couldn't reseat the caliper, so I just swapped in the new one I had. Attached the brake line, and "drip, drip, drip." No matter how much I tightened it. Step on the brake pedal, and "SQUIRT" LOTS of brake fluid.

So I threw up my hands, gave up on it, and used my free AAA tow to get it towed. A mechanic finished it up.