You can pay for parking with your cell phone. It’s convenient, right? But there are fewer of those moments when you pull up to a parking meter and you’re about to scrabble for a loonie, when you find an hour still on the meter. It’s such a great feeling when that happens — like karma just came and kissed you. And now it happens less often.

I was thinking something similar about e-books this week. When I finish a book I’ve enjoyed, I almost always set it aside to lend to someone. My sister, or my mom, or a friend who will love this particular title. Plus, there’s the occasional pleasure of a friend or relative arriving at my house with a book to lend me. I love that!

My mom and my sister are coming to visit next weekend, and I have barely anything set aside for them. My newest books are locked inside the Kindle, and even though it’s theoretically possible to share titles with my mom’s Kindle (I know — how hip is my mom?), the books I’ve bought don’t appear share-able.

I think Mom and Sis will be stuck buying their own books. Probably paying for their own parking, too.