I arrived at the Apple store just after they opened, and was relieved to see that there was not a terribly long line to check in.  Even better, I was able to get an appointment with a tech for 40 minutes later, and wandered the mall until I got the text that my turn was coming up shortly.

My tech, Angel, really was an angel.  

When it turned out that both of my cords were kaput, he switched them out for one good one... gratis!  

A new cord would have cost me $20, which I would have happily paid since it would be way cheaper than having to buy a new iPad!

  

Now that I'm back home my iPad is happily charging away.