Dear piece of wood

This week, I needed a small decorative piece of wood, roughly five-inch square and two-inch thick with a faceted top, to replace a missing one on a building. I went through the Yellow Page (yes, I sometime use those) to find a woodworker that could fabricate that replacement item for me. I found a few, emailed them a sketch of what I needed, asked for an estimate based on 1, 2 or 6 pieces.

I was expecting to pay a reasonable price for it, but after two bids came in, I quickly realized that the cheapest offer was at $65 and the most expensive one was topping... $275! Of course, I'd get a dozen pieces (which I didn't really need) with that latter estimate. I could have redirected my search towards Mexico and Indonesia and requested the piece mailed to my U.S. address when ready, but got spooked by the “carbon footprint” this would create, so instead, I drove my car to Home Depot, picked up a piece of wood that ended up costing me $2.15 from which I intend to carve the missing ornament. So much for “supporting” my local economy!