A few days ago I was at the airport in Barcelona filling out paperwork to get VAT refunds for purchases made in France, Germany, and Spain The Spain administrivia was handled by a machine scanning a receipt and my passport — the refund hit my credit card before I landed in NYC — but the France and Germany refunds required forms that needed to be stamped, put in envelopes, and dropped in a mailbox right next to the processing area My oldest (27) watched as I tried three times to lick the envelope before realizing that that is not how envelopes are sealed anymore Feeling my age, I felt compelled to offer some history lessons, starting with "When I was a kid, luggage didn't have wheels..." Here's a pic of me and my boys having lunch at 9Reinas