The saga of the seven-inch plunger and other LA challenges

We were curious to see what we would think of L.A. after being gone for a few years.  There have been some positives and negatives, but what fun are positives?  The first and most immediate challenge we faced was parking.  As you can see from the picture above, the Odyssey does not fit exactly comfortably in our parking spot.  The width of the odyssey (including side mirrors) is probably about six and a half feet.  The garage spans all of seven feet.  The additional six inches is not very easy to maneuver, and it doesn't help things that there is only about fifteen feet to work with to straighten out the car.   
I bet there's a lot of confusion after looking at this picture, but oh, is there a back story.  If there's one thing Meghan and I have learned over five years of marriage, it's that a plunger is an indispensable element of family life.  Imagine our surprise, then, when we learned that our new apartment did not have a plunger in it!  I immediately took off for Target, determined that not a day would pass without the assistance of a trusty plunger. 

As I scoured the plunger aisle at Target, a sturdy, green, seven-inch option caught my eye.  And unlike the others, which were closer to $15 or $20, this one came in at a cool $7.  I was sold!!  In my rush to take advantage of this outrageous deal, I failed to consider two major unfortunate consequences of using a seven-inch plunger.  As you are probably aware, in order to operate properly, the bottom of the plunger must be flush against the hole of the toilet.  As you may not be aware, the distance from the hole of the toilet to the top of the toilet bowl (at least in our case) is right around seven inches.  And so there I was, 11:30 at night, struggling to stay awake, trying to plunge a clogged toilet that was full to the top.  I don't think I need to explain my hesitation as I plunged (no pun intended) my hand into the water.  As I strenuously worked to generate enough pressure to free the flow of water, the second problem associated with a seven-inch plunger showed its ugly head.  Seven inches is simply not enough to generate enough power to unclog a toilet (in hindsight, I am forced to wonder what possible use there is for a seven inch plunger.  Anyone?).  Several minutes passed before a third, and simply improbable, consequence of using a seven-inch plunger emerged.  As I struggled and struggled, I suddenly heard a popping noise.  As I lifted my hand, I slowly realized that the plunger had now snapped into an inverted position, looking uncannily like a bowl.  And I think you know what that bowl was full of.  I worked to return the plunger to its natural position, but was a bit too successful, for as it popped back into place, I was sprayed with a significant amount of toilet water.  I threw the plunger to the floor in disgust and went to bed.  

You probably thought the saga was over, didn't you?  The next day, one of the adults of the household (who shall remain unidentified) was forced to use the other toilet.  Despite a tremendous amount of diligence and care, the toilet (which, like its sister in the other bathroom, suffers from a lack of sufficient water pressure) became clogged.  Thus, the Mouritsen household found itself faced with two clogged toilets and a powerless seven-inch plunger.