Following up. The brake shop did my front brakes the day of my previous post, but put off the rears until last week. When they got the drums off (And they admitted that even they had difficulty with it), they found the wear was not as bad as they originally assessed through the inspection port. They said they were still in specs, and I probably wouldn't need the shoes replaced for another six months.

 

Yeah. Rear brakes last quite a while, especially since they aren't responsible for much of your forward braking. They are a pain but since the drum was just removed. The process shouldn't take as long the next time around.