I need a little advice on what direction to go to fix this

Go to a Harbor Freight an get at least two of the flexable grabbers, the ones that you mash the button and grabbers come out the end. Its about the handiest tool you can get, and when you need one, nothing else will work. It should be at least one in each of your tool boxes, and another one or two laying around is not a bad idea. Make sour your helper know that it is a "grabber thingie" so they can find it for you.