A mystery solved

This mysterious piece of plastic came with the apartment that Tanya and I rent in Lausanne. We had no idea what it was. Stranger still, the first apartment we stayed in had one too!

What's this?

I thought up an elaborate solution to this problem in which the one area of inefficiency in Swiss life was in keeping track of vacuum cleaner parts. There would be worse foibles for a society, wouldn't there? Who hasn't lost the odd vacuum cleaner part? I once lost most of a vacuum cleaner and was left with only the long tube and a bag. Together they made a kind of contraption with which I would puff hopelessly at dust. The dust laughed in my face and then formed horrible lumps to spite me. So it was with a certain sympathy that I thought Swiss people couldn't keep hold of vacuum cleaner parts.

But, this turned out to be the kind of mystery that is solved at a dinner party - a lot like those old movies or a game of Cluedo, except that it involved a vacuum cleaner part and nobody got hurt. Tanya and I were at a friend's house for dinner when the friend casually produced one of these and then stuck it in the sink as a plug. Revelation! It's a plug!

It's an ingenious plug!

And it's an ingenious plug too. You can't overfill the sink when you're using one of these. Plus, while you're doing the dishes you can still pour liquid down the sink through the plug, which is kind of mind blowing if your mind is extremely easily overwhelmed. You can also use it as a vacuum cleaner attachment. Never underestimate the Swiss.