We haven't kept a car since we moved to Brooklyn - public transit and walking get us where we need to go 99% of the time. When we're outside the city is a different story, but luckily Yuko's parents are kind enough to lend us a car when the need arises. And then we went and did this! I'm sorry, Yuko's parents. You are very nice to us. 

This happened a couple of weeks ago, on the way home from an Art Fight. Jami dropped us off at Yuko's car, which was parked at a remote location ... Yuko was tired and isn't much of a night driver, so I offered to drive. We hopped onto the beltway and we were about 15 minutes away from my house when the engine started hesitating. The hesitation built into a rumbling, and then the engine groaned. We got off the beltway as the speedometer forcibly dropped from 30 to 20 to 5.