Dr. Yan's response: "Sounds like one needs the dérailleur hanger twisted by hand."

Sigh.. what a bummer. Seems barbaric, but w/o the specialty tool, looks like i'm outta luck. Called an LBS, and they said it would take 3 days to get my bike back.

Trying to decide if I should:

1. Try to bend it back by hand (is this safe? Where exactly do I grab to bend? The hanger seems like it's pretty thick metal...)
2. Take it to the LBS and wait 3 days
3. Find a place to buy an alignment tool (this is $50-$70? Is this worth owning? How often would I use this thing?)