I took out the venturi from the water softener to clean the iron and
crud out of it, and a little tiny part jumped out and hit the floor.
(Kenmore calls it a "flow plug". There's two of them, and this was the
lower.) I saw where it landed, but it still managed to disappear. I
just spent about an hour on my hands and knees with a flashlight, but no
luck.

I hate it when this happens.

I'll probably have to order a whole venturi assembly, and it'll take at
least 2 weeks to get here.

Bob