[TheEnemy]

Your fan is fine. When you jumped battery power to it and it ran confirmed that.

I have seen more bubbles, in fact I saw one that when I revved the engine a little it hosed me down with coolant.

There should be a thermal switch on or near the thermostat housing, pull the connector and jump the terminals on the connector, this will be low current so a small wire will be fine. You will have to have at least the ignition on, (some run even with power off). If the fan comes on replace that switch. They can fail intermittently which can make troubleshooting a nightmare.

My experience with PepBoys was when they screwed up they blamed the customer and said it needed something else.

Edit: The head gasket can cause low compression, and with the proper tools and experience can be changed in an afternoon. We did so on Ugly a time or two. Though I suspect the engine is just worn out as well.