The act of going to HD, parking, and going to find that tape measure probably takes about 5-10, maybe 15 mins depending on how far off of your route home the st

The act of going to HD, parking, and going to find that tape measure probably takes about 5-10, maybe 15 mins depending on how far off of your route home the store is. Do you consider the cumulative time spent performing those tasks to have been wasted if you leave empty-handed? You're over-analyzing this. None of that matters in any way here. Humans are not homo-economicus - obsessively rational creatures who roam around minimax'ing every decision. At least I'm not.