Odyssey of Disabled front End

I had replaced the CV axle in my '88 Subaru a couple weeks ago with some help but had damaged the castle nut on the ball joint and was unable to cinch it down when installing the new one. The ball joint popped out of the mounting knuckle when I was driving through New Hampshire and the CV axle pulled apart, leaving the wheel twisted and the car disabled. I had a few tools, but I didn't even have a scizzor jack in the vehicle. Fortunately, I was able to borrow a jack locally, and with some help from a local fellow was able to get it back together, though broken, put it into 4 wheel drive, and drive it back to my friend's house to get yet another new CV axle. Tire warehouse/Double Discount said that their supplier would not be giving them any deposit on the separated axle (just weeks old), but gave me around $40 anyway as a courtesy...It would be interesting to hear any other problematic breakdowns that would have involved $$$ in costs had the vehicle been towed to a garage for the usual repair charges...