The guys started the drywall today; the basement is now starting to look like a proper place with rooms. I’m told the dust will be unbearable, which is already evident on the floor. This is a job which I have dabbled in as a homeowner—not hanging full sheets but doing some patchwork. Those small jobs were enough to leave me certain that drywalling will never be in my future. Replacing toilets, yes. Basic wiring, yes. Weeding mosquito infested gardens, sometimes.

So this is an interesting combination: today is Women’s Equality Day, National Toilet Paper Day, and National Dog Day. I’ll leave it at that. Hubby brought home flowers for me, which will grace our kitchen island for days to come. While eating my breakfast at the counter, I can enjoy the beauty and think about how much I’m loved. It got me thinking about the thousands of Afghan refugees that arrived at my local airport a few days ago and how they will likely never return to the comfort of their homeland, let alone their homes. Here we are dry, comfortable, and safe in a nice home where we have the luxury of finishing a basement. Granted, part of that space will be rented to a tenant, so we’re doing our part in a way, but one can always do more. Something to think about after the remodeling is completed. Humanity.

Whenever I log into my website, I’m asked to “Prove your humanity” by solving a simple math equation (8+5, that sort of thing). It’s intended to prevent bots from logging into my website, but honestly, I have to prove my humanity by doing math? I can barely do math on a good day, let alone at the end of the day when I sit down to write this blog—which is sometimes, quite frankly, tiresome—and my brain is fried after being on the computer all day for work. (And yes, I have resorted to using the calculator once or twice to get passed this security checkpoint.) There are so many other ways we can prove our humanity, such as offering spare rooms to Afghan refugees. How about the website host asks for proof of humanity by asking us website owners to answer a few basic questions:

1. If you see you a person in distress, would you
   1. Stop to help
   2. Smile as you walk past, because after all you’re not a complete jerk
   3. Cross the street to avoid all contact

2. If your neighbors lost their house in a fire, would you
   1. Offer to put them up in your house
   2. Volunteer your sister’s place
   3. Close your blinds, turn out the lights, and pretend you’ve left the country for a while

3. When the local Girl Scouts are selling cookies at the entrance to Home Depot, would you
   1. Buy as many boxes of Thin Mints as you can fit in your cart
   2. Politely decline on the grounds you’re gluten intolerant and pre-diabetic
   3. Avoid all shopping excursions until Girl Scout Cookie season is over

In case anyone was wondering, a, b, and c in that order for me. Would that allow me to access my website?