“The man behind a good beverage at Avianca’s stand at Air Cargo Americas earlier this month—whether you wanted a cup of coffee, a colada, or a cappuccino—was a particularly sweet-faced gent, Octavio Ramos.
   “I keep the machines working,” 80-year-old Octavio said.
   “We have a snack machine, a coffee machine, a sandwich machine, and a soda machine,” Octavio smiles.
   “Wasn’t like that when I came over here 50 years ago from Cuba,” he recalled.
   “But today, everything is up to date in Miami, my adopted home, and I love it.
   “I am going back to Havana to visit soon,” Mr. Ramos said.
   We offered that he might see some of the same cars that were there half a century ago.
   “Yeah, but I am not sure what to expect otherwise,” Octavio replied.
   “My grandson here, Ricardo Contregas, who came to Miami just two years ago, tells me about life in Cuba, but I will go there and see for myself.”
   No doubt, the Cuban skill to keep things going against all odds—whether making a successful life in a new country, keeping vending machines operating, or pumping life into the 1950s-era cars (“Los Almendrones,” the locals call them) that still cruise around the the island in every day use—will continue to serve this gran hombre well.