No one ever went to the store to buy a drill because they wanted to own a drill. What they wanted to own was a hole. If you want to do well in the heating business, stop selling heating equipment and start talking about what that equipment does. And to that point, I offer you this story. Sell holes.

This has absolutely nothing to do with heating, and we can thank subscriber, Eb Barth, for the heads up on it. It's an NPR audio file that tells the story of exploding maple trees. This is one of the craziest things I've ever heard of, and another reason why nature continues to scare the heck out of me. I'm staying on the bar stool.

If you've never heard that word, click here and learn more about what's going on. And if you can, follow the link to the New York Times story that's in the article. You'll have to register to do that. Scary stuff.

Too hot? Get naked. That's the advice from this article (Treehugger always has fun stuff). Seriously, though, this is a subject that really hasn't garnered much attention when it comes to conversations about insulation. Is it better to insulate the house, or the people in the house? I liked the article's approach to physiology and the whole perception of comfort. It reminded me of Robert Bean's terrific site. Bean rocks.

I keep looking at these folks because I think they're brilliant when it comes to getting things done, energy-wise. I just found this video about what they're doing with district heating and cooling. It's not overly technical and tells their story well. I'm inspired. Again!

Without getting into a political conversation (please, no!), I'd like to share with you, dear reader, a recent NASA study on what just might be the answer. Hey, anyone up for a limited nuclear war?

Or not. Check out this Yahoo! question from a very frustrated mom. I think the response from Anthony Thomas is a good one, but that's just me. This has me thinking about what my mother would have done to me had I messed with the radiators. Ouch!

Admittedly, Western Kentucky isn't a hotbed for steam heating, but should it really take this long to fix a busted return line? Just thinking about what all that fresh water is doing to their boilers makes me quake. Got chemicals? Hmm, maybe that's what the students are smelling. And their comments about the inconvenience alone are worth the read. Here's the story.

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Hug your kids.