Unto the breach

You can never really live unless you have faced your own mortality, which naturally occurs when driving a 1999 Buick LeSabre well above the speed limit for two hours on a barren interstate while the vehicle's electrical system shuts down every 10 miles.

Many times the collapse was momentary, dimming the lights and slightly lurching the car's random assortment of contents forward a bit. The truly enlightening moments transpired during the brief intervals between the engine completely dying and my quick attempts to revive it.

My reaction always began with a girlish scream, of course, followed by throwing the car into neutral and restarting it at 80 miles per hour. By doing so each time, I once more pushed back my date with death at the hand of a machine.