A Conversation with Timid Tomm
Victimization and Parasitic Nature: The narrator feels seen as a "cursed gypsy, bruised and torn," emphasizing their vulnerability and the damage inflicted upon them. In contrast, the other person is portrayed as a "parasite sworn" who "feast[s] on
A Conversation with Timid Tomm
The Cuban Art of Making Do
The streets of Havana showcase a magnificent anomaly – fleets of vibrant 1950s American classics still functioning as everyday transportation. But behind this colorful facade lies something far more profound than automotive nostalgia. These vehicles embody "resolver" – Cuba's extraordinary cultural approach to making things work against overwhelming odds.
Through the stories of third-generation mechanics working magic in converted carports, we discover a world where carburetors are fashioned from cooking pots, distributor caps carved meticulously from wood, and Soviet tractor parts find new life in American V8 engines. This isn't just mechanical tinkering; it's a profound understanding of how things function at their core, knowledge passed down through generations like precious heirlooms.
Resolver extends far beyond automobiles. During Cuba's "special period" following the Soviet collapse, this resourcefulness became essential for survival – washing machines powered by motorcycle engines, balcony gardens in old bathtubs, neighborhood rainwater collection systems. Even in the digital realm, Cubans developed remarkable workarounds like "El Paquete Semanal" – physically distributed hard drives functioning as an offline internet, and homemade neighborhood networks built with repurposed equipment.
What makes resolver truly remarkable is its evolution from pure survival mechanism to cultural identity and potential blueprint for sustainable innovation. Young Cubans now combine this inherited ingenuity with modern approaches, using 3D printing with recycled materials to create replacement parts, developing nationwide apps to connect problem-solvers, and imagining eco-friendly adaptations. In a world increasingly concerned with sustainability and resilience, this Cuban philosophy offers a powerful reminder that sometimes the most creative solutions emerge not from abundance, but from making the absolute most of what you have. What could we learn by bringing this mindset into our own lives?
can I pet that dawg songwriter / listen anywhere
Okay, so picture this you step into Havana, cuba, and amidst all the color and life, there's this incredible sight. Just the seemingly endless stream of classic 1950s American cars. You know Chevys, pontiacs, buicks.
Speaker 2:Big ones, yeah, studebakers even.
Speaker 1:Exactly, but the thing is they're not just museum pieces, they're actually driving around part of everyday life, like like a rolling museum, but, wow, working.
Speaker 2:It's really more than just a cool visual.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It says so much about ingenuity born out of well necessity.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:These cars they're not just relic, they're woven into the city kept running against some pretty serious odds.
Speaker 1:Right, and that's exactly what we want to dig into today how this amazing ingenuity of the Cuban people has kept these cars and, honestly, so much more going for decades with really limited resources. We're looking at this through the idea of resolver.
Speaker 2:Resolver. Yeah, that's the key concept, isn't it? It's this, this cultural drive, almost, and a real skill to find solutions to make things work, no matter what you don't have.
Speaker 1:Right, it's not just about being nostalgic for old cars. It's a testament to human grit, really, and the kind of creativity that just bursts out when you have to make do it goes way beyond the cars.
Speaker 2:It really does. But starting with the cars, their sheer presence in Havana is well, it's striking. It's not some niche hobby, it's basic transportation for many.
Speaker 1:And behind every one of those classics it's striking. It's not some niche hobby, it's basic transportation for many. And behind every one of those classics there's this incredible story of just sheer effort. We learned about a mechanic, Louis, third generation guy, his workshop. It's basically a converting carport and getting original parts. Forget it Almost impossible, but he keeps these machines running. How.
Speaker 2:Well, the sources we looked at describe this amazing level of resourcefulness. These mechanics are essentially reverse engineering things, making parts from scratch whatever they can find, often using old tools too, like lathes from the 1940s still chugging away. Wow, it's this mix of really deep knowledge and just pure improvisation.
Speaker 1:It sounds like alchemy almost. We heard about Lewis's father. Apparently he made carburetors out of aluminum cooking pots.
Speaker 2:Cooking pots right.
Speaker 1:I mean, a carburetor needs to mix fuel and air. Just right To manage that with kitchenware. That's well, that's resolver in action.
Speaker 2:Precisely, and you see that kind of thing all over the car Transmissions rebuilt using parts from, say, old Russian tractors.
Speaker 1:New tractors, seriously yeah.
Speaker 2:Or rewiring entire electrical systems using old Soviet era telephone lines. These aren't just quick fixes, they're fundamental workarounds. It takes a deep understanding and a willingness to try completely off the wall stuff.
Speaker 1:And this knowledge? It isn't just written down somewhere, is it? It's passed down mechanic to apprentice, generation to generation, like an oral history of keeping things alive.
Speaker 2:A living history. Yeah, happening right now in workshops across Savannah.
Speaker 1:And this resolver spirit, it wasn't just about cars. It really spread into every part of life, didn't it? Especially during what they call the periodo especial.
Speaker 2:Yes, the special period.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:After the Soviet Union collapsed. That was a time of extreme hardship, massive shortages of pretty much everything.
Speaker 1:Right, so the need to improvise just went into overdrive.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. It intensified everything.
Speaker 1:The examples are just wild, like turning a bicycle into a blender.
Speaker 2:Right understanding the mechanics of rotation power.
Speaker 1:And applying it to make smoothies, or taking a motor from an old washing machine to build an electric fan. It shows such a fundamental grasp of how things work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and sometimes it was much more basic Survival stuff, like people making gardens in old bathtubs on their balconies.
Speaker 1:Bathtub gardens just to grow food because the usual ways weren't working.
Speaker 2:Exactly, it was about getting by, fundamentally.
Speaker 1:And the community aspect too, like during power outages, people figuring out how to collect rainwater manually, how to store food without refrigeration, setting up, you know, informal barter system.
Speaker 2:Collective ingenuity kicking in when the official systems failed.
Speaker 1:You hear about TV antennas made from coat hangers or using a fridge motor to somehow power a rooftop irrigation pump.
Speaker 2:These aren't just quirky little hacks. They're about maintaining some semblance of normal life, some essential services, despite huge limitations. One source called it resistance through invention.
Speaker 1:That's a great phrase for it. It really makes you think, doesn't it? About our own throwaway culture? We want the newest thing, discard the old. There, it's just not an option. So they repair, they maintain, they squeeze every last bit of life out of things.
Speaker 2:Which interestingly connects to that Japanese idea of wabi-sabi.
Speaker 1:Wabi-sabi Finding beauty in imperfection.
Speaker 2:Exactly In the weathered, the worn, the transient, and you really feel that in Cuba.
Speaker 1:You do these cars, these objects. They are perfect and shiny. They've got dense, mismatched paint patches. But those aren't just flaws. They're signs of history, of survival. They tell a story.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm, a story of resilience. There was a quote in one source Las casas no se hacen artistas, scarcity makes us artists, ah nice.
Speaker 1:And this resolver thing. It even finds a way into the digital world right, despite limited internet access, like at the pocket SMNR.
Speaker 2:The weekly package? Yeah, basically a massive USB drive or hard drive loaded up with well everything Movies, music, news, apps, software updates.
Speaker 1:Passed hand to hand.
Speaker 2:Physically distributed Person to person, week after week. It's a super effective, very Cuban way to share digital content offline, a kind of sneaker net.
Speaker 1:A physical internet, almost built on community. And then there are stories of people building their own local networks like actual intranets.
Speaker 2:Yeah, grassroots efforts.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Using secondhand routers, sometimes homemade antennas, linking up maybe a neighborhood or apartment building, sharing files, chatting, creating their own offline digital spaces.
Speaker 1:Wow, the technical skill involved in that.
Speaker 2:It just comes back to that core idea, doesn't it? If it doesn't exist or you can't access it, you figure out how to make it yourself, you resolve her.
Speaker 1:But it's really important to stress, like our sources did, that this isn't, you know, a lifestyle choice.
Speaker 2:No, absolutely not.
Speaker 1:This scarcity comes from complex factors. The long running US embargo is a huge one, plus internal government restrictions.
Speaker 2:We're not trying to romanticize hardship here. Not at all. The point is the response to that hardship. The really extraordinary thing is how Cuba keeps functioning, how people innovate across the board despite these massive pressures. That's the key takeaway.
Speaker 1:It makes such a stark contrast with, well, the global obsession with newness, always upgrading.
Speaker 2:Right. Cuba is almost an example of you could call it radical continuity, placing huge value on keeping the old going, adapting it, driven by necessity, sure, but also, I think, a real sense of ownership.
Speaker 1:That makes sense. If something's been in your family for generations or it's essential for your income, you're invested in keeping it alive. It's not disposable.
Speaker 2:Exactly, you develop a different relationship with things.
Speaker 1:We found some amazing specific examples of this Mechanics managing to fit engine parts from like Russian Ladas into classic American V8.
Speaker 2:Totally different systems.
Speaker 1:Or using starter motors from tractors in old Plymouth, I mean, the level of mechanical mix and match knowledge is just staggering.
Speaker 2:And remember that story about the distributor Capra DeSoto, hand carved from wood.
Speaker 1:From wood, a critical engine part needing real precision. That just speaks volumes about the skill, the dedication, the refusal to give up just because the official part isn't available.
Speaker 2:And these cars. They're often heirlooms, but they're also livelihoods, Essential for the tourist economy, providing income for so many families. Its heritage and practicality all rolled into one.
Speaker 1:And it goes right down to the household level. We heard about old GE fridges kept running for decades because someone figured out how to retrofit a compressor from a much smaller, newer Chinese mini fridge.
Speaker 2:Or those old Soviet era Eureka, washing machines, clunky things. But people keep them going, sometimes by rigging up a motorcycle engine to power them.
Speaker 1:Motorcycle engines. These Frankenstein appliances are everywhere, apparently.
Speaker 2:Testaments to relentless problem solving.
Speaker 1:And it's not just the big stuff, even small things. Lighters get refilled and repaired endlessly. Shoes get resold with bits of old tires. Nothing gets tossed easily.
Speaker 2:You see it in farming too. Farmers building their own irrigation systems out of bamboo and recycled bits, Musicians patching up instruments with whatever they can scavenge. It's everywhere.
Speaker 1:You know this constant need to fix things, to take them apart, figure them out. It must give people a really deep, fundamental understanding of how stuff works.
Speaker 2:Absolutely A real respect for materials and mechanics that maybe gets lost when everything is sealed up and disposable.
Speaker 1:And it sounds like it's often a community thing, right? Not just one person struggling alone.
Speaker 2:Very often. Yes, People share knowledge, tools, spare parts, whatever they have. Helping neighbors fix things is part of the culture. It's a collaborative resolver.
Speaker 1:Now, obviously people would probably prefer easier access to parts and new things.
Speaker 2:The sources suggest that, of course, it's born of necessity.
Speaker 1:But that very necessity has forged these incredible skills, this ingrained adaptability.
Speaker 2:And it shapes the whole feel of the place, doesn't it? This visible history constantly being pashed and kept alive, it creates a unique atmosphere. You don't find many other places.
Speaker 1:But what's really cool is seeing how the younger generation is taking this resolver spirit and mixing it with new tech, like that guy Yosvany with the YouTube channel.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, Teaching people how to 3D print replacement parts for classic cars.
Speaker 1:Using recycled plastic. That's just brilliant. It's the same ingenuity just updated.
Speaker 2:It's a perfect example Using modern tools, sustainable materials, but to solve that same old problem, keeping the classics running. Old needs new methods, still Resolver at its heart.
Speaker 1:And things like that. App Hachu in Cuba, connecting mechanics across the whole island.
Speaker 2:Right taking that local community-based problem solving and scaling it up using digital tools, Like a nationwide collaborative workshop.
Speaker 1:It makes you think of Professor Marquez's comment about families using, like old furniture, springs or even melted down plastic toys for household repairs.
Speaker 2:It just shows how deep it runs, across generations, finding creative uses for absolutely everything.
Speaker 1:And Leela calling mechanics, doctors doing transplants on cars.
Speaker 2:It's such a perfect metaphor. It captures the skill, the improvisation, swapping parts between completely different patients and the everyday stories stick with you too.
Speaker 1:Elena's 50-year-old GE fridge still going after 10 years with a swapped compressor.
Speaker 2:Or farmer Carlos Macias building his irrigation setup from bamboo and whatever scrap he could find. It's the same principle, big scale or small.
Speaker 1:Even art gets involved Ana Lopez making sculptures from old car parts.
Speaker 2:Giving them a new life, a new meaning.
Speaker 1:Or Diego Salazar, the musician using a piece of a Cadillac hood as a soundboard for his guitar.
Speaker 2:See, it permeates everything. Repurposing is just second nature.
Speaker 1:And Camila's idea about the future, focusing this ingenuity on green energy. Maybe eco-friendly classic cars?
Speaker 2:That suggests this mindset isn't just about survival anymore. It could be a driver for future innovation, sustainable innovation.
Speaker 1:Which brings us back to what Ricardo said, that resolver is just, it's part of their soul.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that sums it up pretty well. It's more than just coping. It's become part of the Cuban identity.
Speaker 1:So those iconic cars you see in Havana, they really aren't just relics, they're symbols, aren't they? Symbols of this ongoing revolution of resourcefulness.
Speaker 2:Absolutely A living, breathing testament to what people can achieve, how they can adapt even with severe limitations.
Speaker 1:So next time you see those pictures, those beautiful old cars against the colorful buildings, try to look past just the image.
Speaker 2:Yeah, remember the story behind them.
Speaker 1:It's a story about people who've mastered making do, finding value where others might not see it, and just figuring things out. Ingenious solutions against the odds.
Speaker 2:In a world that's so focused on the next new thing, it's a pretty powerful reminder, isn't it, about the value of repair, of adaptation, of the sheer resilience of the human spirit.
Speaker 1:It really leaves you with a sense of wonder and a whole lot of respect.
Speaker 2:Definitely. It reminds you that sometimes the best innovations, the most creative solutions, they don't come from having everything. They come from needing to make the absolute most of what you've got.