Cleaning out the garbage disposal was fun a few weeks ago. A pebble got into it, probably when someone was planting cat grass in a pot. We use such pebbles for drainage.

The trick I came up with was to use a pair of chopsticks to grab the pebble. But in order to do that, I had to spread the rubberized safety gasket. To do this I fashioned a sturdy ring and pressed it into the drain opening.