What to blog on a rainy morning?

It's a rainy Monday here and now, which is ok. I've no idea what it is back in Alberta. We are drinking coffee and relaxing. The plan is to visit a museum in a little bit. We've been having a lot of fun, in case you were wondering.

Meanwhile I thought I'd work in a bit of a rant, since I know my readers are pining. My big question here is, if these guys can have a public transit card that works on buses, trains, and ferries, why can't we? It works like this. Buy a card and feed it some money. Show it to a scanner on the afore mentioned transit option as you get on and off, and it deducts the fare from your account. Top up periodically, and you can set this to happen automatically, so you need never worry about it. The system is fast. A row of people getting on the ferry barely break stride. The machine beeps and you're good to go. At the train stations at least, it opens the gates, and also shows your remaining balance, which is handy for tourists. There is a huge savings on the regular cash fare, so buying the card for $10 is a deal. We made that back and more on one ferry trip. Even better, we stay in their database for 6 years from the last transit trip.

London has the Oyster card. Milan and Rome have transit passes that work in a similar way. This isn't some alien technology. So why is Calgary dicking around spending millions trying to reinvent the wheel and not succeeding? How hard can it be? License it, buy and install some hardware, train some people, and get on with it!

Anyways, enough of that. Here's one of the pretty flowers in the botanical gardens. As always, don't ask me what it is. I gasped when I saw them on my laptop screen in lightroom, and can't wait till I see them on a desktop.

My mom might like this one as a puzzle, let me know and I'll send you a higher resolution image.

These lilies are not part of the botanical garden, they are in a private yard, but they are HUGE!

The back yard in our rental house has some huge hibiscus as well.

A lovely example of don't ask me what. This was in a garden beside the street near some of the sculptures. I think the locals think it's a weed.

Even though I'm basting myself with sunscreen practically hourly, I'm still seeking shade. This is what you get looking up sometimes.