Well, it is now nearly a whole week before American Idol comes back on, and all we have are our memories and blogs to read, detailing what everyone thought about Gina having to go–and the wacky Sanjaya not even being in the bottom three this time. My very favorite blog about American Idol is Television without Pity, which tells me every single thing that happened on the show, just as if it were being dictated by my hilarious friend Deb. It does a lot of other shows, too, not just American Idol, but since I don’t watch those kinds of shows where you need your full mind and attention (like “Lost”–I don’t have ANY IDEA what that’s all about and won’t let anybody tell me), I don’t need to read recaps of those shows.  I save a lot of time that way.

Which brings me to the dirty bathtub.

I have been meaning to write a post about this for some time, because I have been going around telling people this, and each one I tell says, “Why don’t you write this in your blog?” (I think there are now people who would rather read a paragraph by me than actually talk to me, which is a discussion for perhaps another day.) 

But–here is my news: THERE IS A WAY TO CLEAN YOUR BATHTUB WITHOUT, YOU KNOW, HAVING TO CLEAN YOUR BATHTUB.

This has been kept a secret from all of us, or many of us, at least. It’s called Method Daily Shower, and it is sold at Target in a large clear bottle. And the liquid inside it is clear, too. It just SCREAMS,  ”I am only a bottle of water, and if you pay $2.99 on your hard-earned dollars, you will be so mad at yourself.”

But then you take it home and spray it in your shower–and all the gunk that collects in there just melts away! All the brown mildew colonies that have become so familiar to you that you’ve practically given them names–Edna and Pete and Ralph. They all just ooze right out of there, along with the blue streaks that people with wells (and hard water) get in their tile grout.

The best part is: you spray it on right when you get out of the shower, when the wall and tub is still wet, and then you leave the house without looking back, and the next time you go in there, Edna and Pete and Ralph are gone, along with all of their offspring, and the place is just sparkling clean.

I have to tell you about the smell. It’s got a name. It’s called “ylang ylang” scent, which is code for something, but I don’t know what. It’s not a smell I ever smelled before. Not like horrible cleaning chemicals, not even like that terrible grape-smelling stuff they scour public restrooms with. It’s kind of light and almost-but-not-quite pleasant-in-a-no-nonsense-herbal kind of way, although once your shower is clean, you love it so much you think you might want to start dabbing a little ylang-ylang around your ears.