I guess that means the brakes are fixed?

 

Affirmative. Stopping as good as ever, No rattles or squeaks from pads or calipers, and CV joints are quiet & smooth (amazingly, since the are originals...even the boots are still good).

Of course, the wife returns in a few days, and will again inflict her destructo-driving habits upon the HHR, so I've made a note to self (actually on my phone's notepad), to inspect the brakes every 5k miles from now on, and try to head off having metal-to-metal brakes , again.

 

If you installed the "skreetchers" correctly tell her to report the "whirring" sound when the brakes are applied, sometimes even when not applied. If the groove in the pads is gone the pads are worn out, most people just let it go until they get really thin. The groove has a function, it collects the dust.
Never "top off" the reservoir. The fluid level indicates brake wear. A half full reservoir means you better look at the pads, quickly.

The "skreetcher" The belong on the inner pad.

 

I left them off, when I had trouble getting the pads to slide in the new hardware. They didn't want to stay clipped in, unlike on A/C Delco pads which I normally prefer to use., and I didn't want to chance their getting loose, jamming in the caliper bracket (I've had that happen on my old S-10). I bought a cheap all-in-one set in a hurry, this time, trying to get it done overnight for her trip, but failed. That's why I'm going to visually inspect them, and/or replace the pads before they're worn down, with A/C Delco pads (with the noisy parts!).

My wife seems oblivious to all automotive tell-tale warning signs, sounds, smoke signals, burning smells. Dashboard gauges, flashing idiot lights, burning clutch smells, skreetching brakes all go ignored until she finally announces: "the (fill-in-the-blank) doesn't work anymore", as if it occurred instantly, with no advance warning. I've been neglecting my duties as a automotive baby-sitter for my wife for a few years, after my car-fever faded after retirement (low car budget, not driving much, not racing anymore).

 

My wife is the same. She ran the vacuum cleaner while it is making foul smelling smoke and screaming. I asked if she noticed she said "notice what?". She never mentioned that her car was pulling to the right severely; it had a flat tire for a few weeks.
I've had a few sets of pads that I had to toss the skreechers because they would not fit.