Mitleid

Nello,
I've had a '97 Civic now since it was new, and it recently made a trip
across the country from Ohio to northern California. Before leaving, my
fiance and I had some work done on the car: a new timing belt/water pump
AND new rear brakes.
So first, the timing belt. I noticed the timing belt was making noise
after being replaced, I took it back to the mechanic and they told me
they also heard the noise, checked it out, but not to worry as it was
only the timing belt sort of correcting itself with the new engine. They
told me this is pretty common with a Honda. They said if it doesn't go
away in a week, to bring it back and they'll take another look. I got
the work done pretty last minute before we left for our move, so it was
only about 4 days after the repairs that we actually left. We got out to
California without any mechanical problems at all, but it's now been
nearly a month since the work was done and the timing belt is still
making a noise. It's a sort of whining noise; like the engine is
straining a lot harder than usual. Needless to say, I can no longer take
it back to the mechanic for any further investigation (mny mistake, of
course), but I was curious to know if anyone had any suggestions as to
what is going on and whether or not I should worry.
Then we get to the next problem, which regards some nasty screeching
noises from the rear of the car when braking. Now, this only occurs
after the car has been sitting for an extended period of time; maybe a
few hours or more. After the car gets moving for a while and after a
first initial complete brake and stop, the noises cease. The only thing
I can really suspect is causing this has to do with the PARKING BRAKE. I
can honestly say that while in Ohio, I probably used the parking brake a
total of 5 times, if that. But since being in the more hilly and dynamic
landscape of Northern California, I've been using the parking brake all
the time. So, my suspicion is that maybe from lack of use or something
the parking brake is out of whack, but I'm no expert on this kind of
thing. Any ideas?
So, if anyone has any ideas or needs any more information to help me
diagnose these problems, please don't hesitate in letting me know.
Thanks in advance, and take care.