for the love of dead alternators

The alternator died on the 4runner the other day and I started replacing it last night.
I say started, because I didn't get it finished.
of the two bolts/nuts that hold the alternator on, I dropped one of the nuts. and of course, it was never to be seen again. I spent 30min looking for the stupid thing.
it didn't go through and land on the ground.
it didn't stop in the frame anywhere.
it didn't land on the skid plate.
it didn't wind up on the axle anywhere.

It just plain vanished!

so off to the local parts house for a replacement. they were closed.
Ok, so I'll run into town and get one there.
Lowe's didn't have one, spent 20min looking.
the other parts place didn't have one
Home Depot did have one, but I had to track somebody down to find the stupid thing for me.
So I spent over an hr and a half trying to find this thing and by the time I got home, it was too dark to bother working on it. so I'll work on it this afternoon.

oh and how much did the stupid nut cost? $0.38