Figuratively Speaking

Percentage of adult Americans who smoke, according to Gallup-Healthways Well Being Index data from 2009: 21

Percentage of adult Americans in Utah who smoke (lowest): 13

Percentage of adult Americans in Kentucky and West Virginia who smoke (the highest): 31

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of air travelers who said they had been surprised at the airport by unexpected fees for things such as checking bags, requesting a seat assignment, getting extra legroom or flying standby, according to a survey by the American Society of Travel Agents: 66

Percentage of travelers who said they were surprised by such fees often or nearly every time they travel by air: 29

Source: American Society of Travel Agents.

Year that people in lower Manhattan stood in awe when four streets, including Wall Street, started to glow with the light from 400 bulbs, the first public showing of electric lights staged by Thomas Edison, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1882

Even by 1940, percentage of U.S. homes that still were not electrified: 20

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Average percentage of money that can be saved on groceries by filling a shopping cart with store brands over national brands, according to a study from Consumer Reports: 30

In 21 head-to-head taste match-ups, number of times national brands won: 7

Number of times the store brand came out on top: 3

Number that resulted in ties: 11

Source: Consumer Reports.

Ranks of listening more intently, planning regular dates, and just turning off the television on the list of ways to promote passion, according to a survey of couples by the makers of Sensis condoms: 1(tie), 3

Percentage of respondents who say that ringing phones are a passion killer: 70

Source: Kelton Research.

Estimated cumulative perentage of the global lighting market by 2020 that will be made by LED (light emitting diodes) technology, according to The Third Cycle: 32 to 60

Estimated number of kilowatt-hours of electricity that will be saved in the next decade with the use of LEDs: 5 trillion

Number of full-size power plants that could be removed from the grid due to the energy saved by the full adoption of LED lighting: 559

Source: The Third Cycle.

In 2009, percentage more pay taken home by CEOs of the 50 firms that have laid off the most workers since the onset of the economic crisis than their peers at S&P 500 firms, according to the "CEO Pay and the Great Recession" study from the Institute for Policy Studies: 42

Average CEO pay at the 50 layoff leaders in 2009, compared to the S&P 500 average of $8.5 million: $12 million

Percentage of the firms that announced mass layoffs that did so at a time of positive earnings reports: 72

Source: Institute for Policy Studies.

Estimated number of TV households in the U.S. for the 2010-2011 broadcast season, an increase of 1 million homes from last year, according to Nielsen: 115.9 million

Ranks of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia on the list of the top local TV markets: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Nielsen Analytics.

Estimated percentage of the 139 million currently employed workers in the United States who suffered at least one spell of unemployment during the Great Recession that began in December 2007, according to Pew Research: 26 (or 36 million)

Percentage of the re-employed who say they are being paid more now than at their former job: 38

Percentage who say their current benefits are better: 28

Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Salary for a production worker, reflecting only a 1 percent increase since 2009, according to the 2010 Compensation Data Manufacturing survey: $29,400

Salary for a tool and die maker, 2.4 percent higher than last year: $47,300

Salary for warehouse workers, up from $28,800 in 2009: $30,200

Source: Compdata Surveys.

Idle Thought

"You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: Make use of suffering." -- Henri Frederic Amiel, philosopher

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

When American adults were asked if they would most want to be richer, thinner, smarter or younger, percentage who professed that they would want to be richer, according to the findings of an Adweek Media/Harris Poll survey: 43

Percentage of Americans who said they would like to be thinner: 21

Percentage who said smarter: 14

Percentage who said younger: 12

Percentage who said they would not want to choose any of the given options: 9

Source: Harris Interactive.

Percentage of kids who reported that they did have chores to do at home, according to the Highlights State of the Kid Report: 71.9

Reported average weekly allowance, down sharply from a decade ago, for which they overwhelmingly must do chores: $3 to $5

Source: Highlights Magazine.

Percentage of men who find a frugal blind date to be both "smart" and "sexy," according to a survey from ING Direct USA: 61

Percentage of women, on the other hand, who find a frugal blind date to be "smart" and "sexy": 44

In the financial battle of the sexes, when compared to men, number of times more likely that women are to be turned off and upset by a partner who spends too little on them: 2

Source: ING.

Percentage of full-time employees of companies with 1,000 or more employees who wish they didn't spend most of their work hours sitting, according to a study conducted on behalf of Ergotron: 75

On average, total number of hours per week that full-time employees of companies with 1,000 or more employees report spending seated -- at a desk (21), in meetings (3), working at home (4): 28

Average number of hours per week that full-time workers at large companies spend facing a computer or a mobile device: 25

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Year that one of America's favorite snack foods is said to have originated when chef George Crum -- irritated at a customer for sending back his fried potatoes because they were too thick and soggy -- decided to slice potatoes paper thin and stir-fry them as potato chips: 1853

Worldwide estimated annual value of the potato chip market: $16 billion

Estimated number of pounds of potatoes each American eats annually, a good part of which is made up by chips: 39

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Ranks of Singapore, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Canada and Switzerland on the list of countries with the highest potential net population gain through migration, according to Gallup's Potential Net Migration Index: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of Sierra Leone, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and the Somaliland region on the list of countries with the highest potential net adult population loss: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of employers who use social media to promote their companies, according to a CareerBuilder survey: 35

Percentage of these employers who said they are using social media to connect with clients and find new business: 25

Percentage who are using it to recruit and research potential employees: 21

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of pasta-eating Americans who prefer the traditional pasta sauces of meat, Alfredo or marinara, according to a national survey fielded by Olive Garden and conducted by Kelton Research: 74

When it comes to food, percentage of Americans who associate Italian cuisine with generosity and abundance, more than any other type of cuisine: 35

Source: Olive Garden.

Percentage of teens who feel students with home wireless (Wi-Fi) have an easier time completing school assignments, according to a home learning survey conducted for Cisco's Consumer Products: 90

Source: Opinion Research Corp.

Idle Thought

"A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor." -- Victor Hugo, novelist and dramatist

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

As they get ready to return to their classrooms, percentage of older tweens and teens (ages 11 to 17) who are most looking forward to a "fresh start," according to a survey by the YouthBeat insight service of Chicago-based C&R Research: 80

Percentage of kids (ages 6 to 10) who look forward to a fresh start: 39

Percentage of these kids who are most looking forward to seeing old friends at school: 80

Percentage of these same kids who are excited about seeing old teachers: 33

Source: C&R Research.

Percentage of adults ages 18 to 29 who say a landline phone is a necessity, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center's Social and Demographic Trends project: 46

Percentage who say the same about a television set: 29

Source: Pewsocialtrends.org.

Percentage of U.S. small- and medium-sized businesses that have fallen victim to cybercrime, according to a Panda Security survey: 46

Percentage of businesses that are operating without anti-spam: 31

Percentage that have no anti-spyware: 23

Source: Panda Security.

Percentage of moms who agree it's a struggle to get kids to the dinner table, according to a survey conducted by Weinman Schnee Morais Inc.: 70

Percentage who say their kids complain about what's for dinner at least once a week: 50

Percentage who say they wish they had more recipes their family loved: 66

Source: Weinman Schnee Morais Inc.

Percentage of HR managers who said their greatest staffing concern is employee training and development, according to a survey by OfficeTeam: 45

Percentage who said retaining top-performing employees was their greatest staffing concern: 27

Source: OfficeTeam.

Percentage of general market shoppers who report that they "always" rely on a shopping list while in the store, according to a study by The Integer Group: 43

Percentage of shoppers who said they were enticed to buy something not on their list by either a sale or special promotion: 78

Source: Integer Group.

From nursery school to college, number of American students who are headed to the classroom -- more than one-out-of-four of the total U.S. population age 3 and over, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 76 million

Of the 56 million elementary and high school students enrolled this fall, percentage who will attend private schools: 11

Percentage of students whose parents report that their children often like going to school: 66

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of travelers polled from across the world who said that London's black cabs were far and away the pick of the world's taxis, according to the annual Hotels.com taxi report: 59

Percentage who said New York cabs were their favorite: 27

Percentage who cited Tokyo as their favorite: 26

Ranks of Berlin taxis and Bangkok's tuk tuk taxis on the list: 4, 5

Source: Hotels.com.

Percentage of active women who say that when they are working out regularly they feel more inclined toward romance, according to findings based on a survey sponsored by Propel Enhanced Water and conducted by Opinion Research Corp.: 51

Percentage who say they are more likely to want to go out on the town with friends: 37

Ranks of feeling healthier, more energized, stronger, more confident and more accomplished on the list of advantages non-active women said they would gain by working out regularly: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Opinion Research Corp.

Percentage of employers who report that they are seeing experienced workers (those with more than 10 years experience) and mature workers (workers age 50 or older), apply for internships at their organization, according to a CareerBuilder survey: 23

Regardless of applicants' ages, percentage of employers who said they plan to hire interns during the remainder of 2010 to help support workloads: 27

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Idle Thought

"The world is divided into armed camps ready to commit genocide just because we can't agree on whose fairy tales to believe." -- Ed Krebs, photographer

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)