"The Nutt Sack Affair"

Is "The Nutt Sack Affair" the finest name ever for a political embarrassment?

And why do I have a sudden urge to look for Man From UNCLE slash about their fight against thrush THRUSH? (I don't really. But I bet it exists.)

(P.S. I wouldn't much mind politicians saying "other considerations result in our following a different policy from the one our science advisors recommend". But they should be honest that that is what they are doing, and the advisors should be free to say that their advice was different.)

Central heating

We have working radiators. All over the first floor[1]. They get hot. I'm not going to be killed for putting the family through a third Christmas with no heating upstairs. Hurrah.

There's room for a lot of improvement, and I need to fix a couple of small drips, but still - working radiators in the bedroom.

Coming soon much later, plans for adding solar heating. We had calls from http://www.britannicpower.com/ recently. I'm reasonably impressed by their kit (thermal store with multiple heat exchanger coils), much less so by their salesmen. Better than the last lot (whose name I forget) though. The existing use of a thermal store and requirement that the (remaining) underfloor heating be a separate circuit is what rules out most simple solutions. But I'm currently thinking maybe one of the existing stores could be converted to a preheat store.

Also, a newer more efficient boiler. MicroCHP would be fun.
http://www.eonenergy.com/At-Home/Products/Technology-And-Initiatives/WhisperGen.htm

But better controls, and not running the pump off a timeswitch on the landing with a flex across the floor into the airing cupboard is probably the first thing (after fixing the drips).

[1] Except the one in the guest bathroom. Picky. Between the wall of the airing cupboard and the pipes to the radiator in the hall not being insulated yet, the bathroom is fairly warm anyway.