On 10/11/2013 10:09 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
> I had to call the plumber again today. And only now in retrospect am I
> piecing together what may have happened.
>
> Was cooking or baking something the other day. Can't remember which.
> Needed my nail brush. The one that I keep in a little plastic basket
> behind the sink is a clear, hard plastic in a kidney bean shape.
> Hmmmm... It wasn't there. I picked the basket up to look. A piece of
> plastic broke off of the basket when I picked it up but... The basket
> is old. Nope. Brush wasn't in there but there was a cheap one that I
> had put in the Christmas surprise ball one year. I could picture a
> broken nail brush in my mind. A clear one in a kidney bean shape. But
> I had thought that one had been in the bathroom. I just sort of
> shrugged and dismissed it, thinking that I had remembered it wrong.
>
> Also, I picked Jetta out of the sink the other day. Jetta is our
> kitten. None of our cats have ever gotten *in* the sink before but some
> have stood beside it. I do not allow cats on the counter but she has
> only just now discovered that she can get up there and behind the sink
> where the garden window is. Our former kitten, Bali, loved to get in
> that same spot too. Now, I can't remember where this was in terms of her
> being in the sink and the nail brush being gone.
>
> Fast forward to dinner yesterday. Husband usually comes home quite late
> on Fridays. I had some fish in the fridge for him and was making
> daughter's dinner which was some Chik'n (soy and wheat based faux
> chicken), mashed potatoes, gravy and wax beans. Husband came in just as
> I was about to fix stuff. I put his fish in the oven. Finished the
> rest of the stuff, served them, then got the cats some canned food.
>
> Noticed later that daughter hadn't quite finished her food. Now I know
> that I am supposed to put food in a Biobag and dispose of it but there
> was gravy and some mashed potatoes. Stuff like that doesn't do well in
> a Biobag. Wet stuff makes the bag begin to break down. So I flushed it
> down the sink, turned the garbage disposal on, then headed towards the
> stove to get the pan from the fish and the Chik'n. That's when I heard
> the horrible noise. Dang! Why did I leave the sink? But the damage had
> been done.
>
> I then did what you're not supposed to do and reached into the disposal.
> And what was in there? Yep! The missing nail brush!
>
> The plumber surmised that it may in fact have fallen in there days ago
> but landed in such a spot that it didn't come in direct contact with the
> disposal until just then. I don't normally use the disposal for human
> food unless it is just small amounts rinsed from a pan or something.
> But I do use it daily to rinse off the cat dishes from the soft food.
> So I do turn it on several times a day.
>
> Almost the entire long side of the brush was shaved off by the
> disposal. I only managed to retrieve what was left of the brush and one
> large chunk. He got another chunk and then had to go back in there with
> a flashlight to get the remaining piece that was wedged between the
> impellers and causing the unit to overheat. Oh joy! Now I have a
> little more than $200 less in my wallet. So here on a week when I was
> trying to save money, I spent more! And I got my dinner late to boot.
>
> I told daughter that she should be a plumber but I don't think she'll
> take me up on that.

You didn't need no stinkin' plumber. All you need is a wooden broom
stick to shove down into the impeller blade and pry that sucker free. If
the impeller then spins freely, you're good to go. If it doesn't, reach
in there and pull out the obstruction. Then send me $20.