The "good enough" tap water thing is such a trap because it really does depend on where you live. I moved from Portland to Tucson a few years back and my negs went from clean to looking like someone sneezed on them. Hard water is brutal for that final rinse, all those minerals just dry right onto the film. Distilled plus a drop of Photo-Flo is the move, and honestly a gallon lasts me months since you're only using a little at a time. One thing that helped me too was not squeegeeing, just a slow pull between two clean fingers, since those spots can also come from the water sitting in the sprocket holes too long. Glad you got it sorted, 8 rolls with zero spots is a solid streak.

Not sure this is the big deal you're making it out to be. Poles snap. That's kind of what happens when you buy a cheap tent and take it out in a storm at Tahoe. Sounds like you handled it fine with the stick and tape, kids probably thought it was fun. A tent caving in for one night is annoying, not some kind of crisis. If this was your worst camping story you got off easy.