Hanging by a thread...sort of...

This is a picture of the engine of my little car.

Yes, that is the serpentine belt.

Yes, it DOES appear to only be half as wide as it SHOULD be.

Why? Because, in a baffling mechanical situation, the belt split in two, and one of the two halves of the belt snapped and shredded away, leaving the other half to run the vehicle.

When did I first notice this? I HEARD it happen, but thought I ran over a piece of tire on the highway. The sounds are similar, rubber bouncing around for a second under the hood before going away.

But I didn't NOTICE it was my belt. The car was still running well, so there was no need to check anything.

Until I had my friends father look at it for some work I need done before the vehicle goes for inspection in August. Then I saw this problem.

The kicker?

I was over an hour away from home at my friend's wedding, with no money to buy the part. I HAD to drive home with it like that.


I mean, I MADE it there like that. In fact, had been driving with it like that for nearly a week, without realizing it.

So, regardless, I made it home, and parked that car until today.

The guys who fixed it, never saw anything like it...and were decently surprised when I was explaining how far it had driven(approximately) like that. Normally they just SELL the part, it's a DIY job, but, being as pregnant as I am, they didn't feel right letting me try, especially when the alternative was me driving away with it like this.

So, they replaced the belt for me, free of charge.

Stand up guys, seriously. I feel MUCH safer now!