So the latest in my never-ending saga of van problems - I got in to go
somewhere today, and my gas pedal is broken.  The bottom end of the pedal,
which apparently should be attached to something in the floor, is not
attached to anything.  So I have no leverage to push on it, it just flops
around.  It actually looks like the plastic at the bottom end should be able
to bend flexibly when you push on the gas, but it has simply worn out and
broken.

Has this happened to anyone before?  How do you fix it?

In the very short run, I think I can jerry-rig something by attaching a
piece of some sort of slightly-pliable plastic to the pedal, and wedging it
in the hole in the carpet through which the pedal used to go, so I can get
my van somewhere besides where she's sitting right now.  But I think that
will only be a very temporary fix.

Is this very weird, or a normal problem?  I've never heard of such a thing
happening!

Joy