There are a lot of things I like to do with my free time, but cleaning the house is definitely not one of them.
I have never been big on cleaning, though I do admit that the finished product – a neat, shiny, and good-smelling house – is a nice thing to have. I’m OK with keeping the general clutter down, vacuuming, and, of course, cleaning up after dogs, which are generally messy creatures. But when it comes to the intensive stuff – kitchens and bathrooms – I am pretty worthless.
I have for many years had someone come in twice a month and help me out with those. She also does the floors and dusts, which is immensely helpful, because, like I said, dogs are messy – even the kind that don’t shed. She brings her own cleaning products, which is fine with me, because she’s the one who has to breathe them in.
I think the products she prefers are natural and perhaps made in part with vinegar, which is widely known for being a powerful, eco-friendly, and, best of all, non-toxic cleaning product. The very distinctive smell wears off, but you can also address that by mixing in a few drops of essential oils – citrus is particularly nice, because it does double duty by helping to cut through grease.
There are some surfaces where you should avoid cleaning with vinegar – including your countertops and floors – since it is an acid, a weak one, yes, but an acid all the same, and could do damage over time.
Vinegar, of course, has a lot of other uses aside from cleaning.
First and foremost, it makes a great salad dressing and is an incredibly picking agent, which helps preserve a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Also when you add it to over-salted food it can help balance out the flavors. You can also use it to kill weeds in your garden and (when diluted) deter spiders and rats in your house. Vinegar soothes sunburns, can help remove wrinkles from your clothes, fight athlete’s foot, and much, much more.
Is there anything this liquid that is made through a fermentation process to become a mix of water and acetic acid CAN’T do?
There are about a dozen different kinds of vinegar, including the apple cider-based version that influencers claim can basically cure anything. (I don’t know if I really need to say this, but please don’t believe everything you read on the internet – drinking apple cider vinegar will not cure cancer or high blood pressure and can do a number on your tooth enamel, though it does have some health benefits).
Vinegar is so popular and useful that it has not one national day of recognition, but two – one of which is today, the other Nov. 1. There’s also a National Apple Cider Vinegar Day (Sept. 23) and a National Balsamic Vinegar of Modena Day (March 25). There may even be more of which I’m unaware, but I think you get the picture.
It’s going to be slightly warmer than yesterday, but nowhere near as hot as the weekend (again), with highs in the high 70s. Skies will again be mostly sunny.
In the headlines…
A preliminary deal to end the war in Iran that was touted by President Trump appeared to pause the fighting in the Middle East — but not the high prices and other disruptions that have hammered American families and businesses recently.
Though President Trump declared on Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen and be “permanently toll-free,” Iran indicated yesterday that it intended to charge fees for unspecified services in the strait.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a defiant address to Israelis, suggested yesterday that he did not feel bound by the newly reached cease-fire agreement between the United States and Iran. “The struggle has not ended,” Netanyahu declared.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer led a chorus of Democratic lawmakers who are trashing President Trump’s putative ceasefire deal with Iran and demanding the release of the text of the agreement.
While Schumer repeated support for ending the war, he said it was impossible to know if the emerging deal makes any sense without seeing the details. “(W)hat have we actually gained here from Trump’s war?” he asked.
Democrats demanded an immediate briefing and even Republicans conceded they had no information on an agreement the administration has declined to release.
Vice President Vance is taking center stage as the U.S. is poised to sign a preliminary deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, in what could prove to be a political opportunity or minefield as he seeks to tout his credentials ahead of 2028.
As President Trump arrived in France just hours after taking in a series of cage fights outside the White House, U.S. allies will watch to see whether he approaches the annual Group of 7 summit there as an opportunity for collaboration or yet another brawl.
The summit will bring Trump face-to-face with some European allies who have been openly critical of the U.S.-Israeli conflict in Iran, specifically British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Just days after the iconic Reflecting Pool reopened following President Trump’s $14 million renovation to seal the concrete bottom with an “American flag blue,” its familiar gnarly-looking green algae once again took over.
The pool was gleaming last week after the work, which was meant to fix two longstanding problems, leaks and algal blooms, before the country’s 250th birthday. But after several hot and humid days, the algae returned in force.
The cage match on the White House lawn wasn’t cheap — with lingering uncertainty about who would pay for elements of the extravagant celebration of the 250-year-old Declaration of Independence, which coincided with Trump’s 80th birthday.
Now that fight night is done, the UFC is paying $700,000 to fix the White House lawn — as part of roughly $60 million budgeted for the Sunday event, including to build the soaring “Claw” arena used for Sunday night’s Freedom 250 fights.
A DC government spokesperson told ESPN that the cost of extra policing on streets around the White House would approach $12 million — or about $38 per tax-paying residents.
A group of lawmakers warned the Trump administration that officials could face fines or even criminal prosecution if they push forward with building the president’s 250-foot triumphal arch in Washington without the approval of Congress.
In a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Democrats who oversee natural resources joined a Senate independent in writing that the administration would break at least three laws by moving ahead, and that Trump officials could be personally penalized.
Federal agents have questioned friends and associates of Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and his wife, Newsom said yesterday in a video in which he accused President Trump of using the Justice Department to punish a political enemy.
Newsom’s aides say part of the federal investigation appears to focus on his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Former employees of the governor and people affiliated with his wife’s nonprofit groups are among those who have been questioned by agents.
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case challenging a New York law enacted in 2021 that seeks to hold gun manufacturers liable if their products cause “harm to the public.”
Going far beyond ending Regents exams as a graduation requirement, the Education Department is now rethinking how all students learn in New York.
Longtime activists who recently staged sit-ins at the state Capitol say they were hit with misdemeanor charges — higher than the traditional disorderly conduct violations that the State Police dispense to Capitol demonstrators.
New York state lawmakers recently unanimously passed legislation that prohibits the sale of synthetic kratom. The legislation focuses on 7-hydroxymitragynine, also known as “7-OH” or “gas station heroin.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature are still using taxpayer funds for a COVID-era giveaway for Broadway flops — and even quietly boosted the pot by $150 million in this year’s budget.
After months of engagement with stakeholders, New York will seek to eliminate or modify 50 regulations that state officials determined add tens of millions of dollars in costs to residents seeking government services.
“We’re cutting red tape, making it easier to build housing and infrastructure, access healthcare and cut down on burdensome fees and paperwork — delivering a more efficient government for every New Yorker,” Hochul said.
National and regional disability rights organizations argue in a new lawsuit that the state’s Medical Aid in Dying Act unlawfully discriminates against people with disabilities by creating a separate legal process for patients deemed terminally ill.
A bitterly fought Democratic primary in New York’s Hudson Valley will determine who takes on Representative Mike Lawler, one of the more vulnerable Republicans this cycle.
New York and New Jersey are barreling toward more travel chaos for today’sWorld Cup game at MetLife Stadium as up to 30,000 train tickets remain unsold — but Mayor Zohran Mamdani is brushing off the looming disaster.
Mamdani said he cannot cancel school or reschedule regents exams so that New York City’s young basketball fans can attend a ticker tape parade for the championship-winning Knicks.
The news undoubtedly came as a disappointment to public school families and kids who have organized petitions urging the sports-loving mayor to cancel school or reschedule the parade set for Thursday.
“For our students, I will still encourage them to be studying hard for the Regents exam,” Mamdani said. “There will always be any number of people who will not be able to make it, no matter what day that we choose.”
According to the mayor, it will be the first ticker-tape parade in franchise history, despite the Knicks’ previous championships in 1970 and 1973.
Mamdani candidly dropped a major hint about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s forthcoming wedding while discussing security measures being taken for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Mamdani’s campaign team used some viral Knicks fan videos as inspiration for his own video strategy to convey a sense of urgency and excitement. For a brief moment after the team’s win, that feeling they were trying to convey became a reality.
The Mamdani administration is no longer looking to delay billions of dollars in payments owed on July 1 to hundreds of cash-strapped nonprofits that serve the neediest New Yorkers.
A controversial far-left insurgent congressional candidate backed by Mamdani only trails longtime New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat by eight points — just one week before the Democratic primary, a new poll claims.
Chuck Park, a former City Council staffer who is challenging Democratic Queens Rep. Grace Meng, is taking heat for trying to knock off the longtime incumbent — despite not even living in the district.
The city transportation department plans to install a protected bike lane to fill in one of the most glaring gaps in Brooklyn’s cycling network — and eliminate a hive of illegal parking in the process.
Veteran ABC New York news anchor Bill Ritter said he started “forgetting people’s names and places” two years before his heartbreaking Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
With passenger totals shrinking and only two airlines currently operating at Stewart International Airport, regional leaders are trying a new tactic to attract carriers: a minimum revenue guarantee.
Eight years after the City of Watervliet last had regular food and bar service at its Hudson Shores Park, a new outlet, albeit not floating, is being developed for a projected opening on Fourth of July weekend.
With the temperatures heating up, so is the bipartisan effort to find funding sources for the Martin Dunham Reservoir and Dam in Grafton Lakes State Park.
Video game producer Velan Studios and developer Luizzi Companies have proposed constructing a five-story, mixed-use building at 1 Monument Square. It would cost more than $50 million, take up 110,000 square feet, and, if approved promptly, open by 2028.
The New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced free giveaway items for the 2026 Saratoga summer meet, including pins, a kids plushie, a lawn jockey statue and a flannel shirt.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
