All in the Timing OR 29/365

In every car, there is a timing belt. And every 100,000km or so, you are required to change it. And it's not one of those things where you can ignore the gradual build up of wear-and-tear until you can't take the rattles and bumps any more and decide to bite the bullet and replace it. No. You just replace it every 100,000km, because if it breaks on you, your engine's pretty much toast--or, as Wiki states, you experience "catastrophic engine failure" (why, yes, that would be a justifiable use of the term "epic FAIL").

So my timing belt came due for a change. My car is driving strong at 222,000km, so if you do the math you will quickly deduce that this is, indeed, the second time I've changed the timing belt. I must really love my car.

The guy who works on my car left the timing belt (and some other worn-out parts that were due for replacement) in my trunk for me to take to the eco-station. To this point, I had never actually seen a timing belt. Perhaps I should have wiki'ed it earlier and saved myself some of the shock. But when I opened the trunk and pulled out this:

I must say I was a tad disappointed. Timing belts are not cheap (really, what car part is?). And given what it's responsible for under the hood, and the damage it can cause if broken... well, let's just say I expected something a little more... industrious looking. Not this thin loop of rubber.

Don't I continue to be surprised?