Figuratively Speaking

Percentage of women who said getting more sleep makes people more productive: 60

Percentage of men and women who agree that sleep and exercise play important roles in increasing productivity: 97

Percentage of Americans who feel most productive during the morning (between 6 and 11 a.m.): 62

Source: Crucial.com.

When asked, "If you found out tomorrow you were financially able to quit work, would you?" percentage who said they would, according to a survey from Ipsos Public Affairs' Omnibus Division: 40

Odds on winning the lottery: 175,223,110 to 1

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

If Canadians could vote in the U.S. presidential election, percentage who would hand the Democrats a victory over the Republicans (17 percent) and independent candidates (28 percent), according to a poll conducted on behalf of Global News: 55

Percentage who would have voted for Barack Obama in 2012: 86

Source: Global News.

Percentage of college students who prefer print textbooks to e-books, according to a survey conducted by Direct Textbook: 72

Percentage of textbooks purchased by students in 2014 that were print editions, according to the Student Monitor: 87

Percentage that were e-books: 9

Source: Direct Textbook.

In 2014, percentage of people who identified with the Catholic faith (down from 23.9 in 2007): 20.8

Percentage who identified with the evangelical Protestant faith (down from 26.3): 25.4

Percentage who identified with mainline Protestantism (down from 18.1) in 2007: 14.7

Percentage who stated they were unaffiliated (up from 16.1): 22.8

Source: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Percentage of Americans who believe travel is more enjoyable when experienced with their children, according to the results of a study by Expedia and Tinder: 33

Percentage who feel it is less enjoyable: 23

Percentage who report no meaningful difference: 42

Source: Expedia.

Percentage of workers who said they've experienced at least one work-related mishap when starting a new job, according to research from the staffing firm OfficeTeam: 54

Percentage who stated company technology (computer, phone, security access, etc.) wasn't properly set up when they arrived: 33

Percentage of HR managers who stated their company's process for bringing on new employees is "very effective": 50

Percentage who said it's "somewhat effective": 42

Source: OfficeTeam.

Percentage of American adults who say that a product touted as "handmade/handcrafted" strongly or somewhat communicates that the product is high quality, according to a Harris poll: 59

Source: The Harris Poll.

Percentage of lawyers who said they would have chosen business management or marketing careers if they hadn't become attorneys, according to a survey by Robert Half Legal: 20

Rank of academia/education, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and finance/economics on the list of chosen alternate careers: 2 (three-way tie at 12 percent each)

Source: Robert Half Legal.

Percentage of parents who say they frequently feel tired, according to a survey by care.com: 45

Percentage who say they feel stressed: 40

Percentage who say they never feel rested: 10

Source: Care.com.

Idle Thought

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." -- Arthur Ashe

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

Percentage of Americans who spend their vacation days dealing with personal obligations -- such as family emergencies, doctor's or dentist's appointments -- or attending sick children or loved ones, rather than actually vacationing, according to a survey of Princess Cruises: 54

Percentage of Americans who say they find it more stressful to ask for a few extra days off than to ask for a raise: 22

Source: Princess Cruises.

Percentage of U.S. adults who have a predicted heart age that is older than their actual age, meaning they are at higher risk for heart attacks and stroke, according to a new CDC Vital Signs report: 75

Estimated number of U.S. adults between the ages of 30 and 74 who have a heart age older than their actual age -- that's about the number of people living in the 130 largest U.S. cities combined: 69 million

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Percentage of American adults who say it is OK to use a cellphone on public transportation, according to a Pew Internet and American Life survey: 77

Percentage who say it is OK at a restaurant: 38

Percentage who say it is OK at a family dinner: 12

Source: PEW Internet and American Life Project.

Percentage of men who think they are more attractive than their best friend, according to Skout's National BFF Day survey: 52

Percentage of men who say their best friend is a woman (vs. 35 percent of men whose best friend is a guy): 40

Percentage of women who say their best friend is a woman (vs. 24 percent of women whose best friend is a guy): 66

Source: Skout.

Year that several counties in a vast territory appended to North Carolina combined to seek admittance to the United States as the state of Franklin, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1784

Year that Franklin fell short of the votes in Congress for admittance, but existed for a few years as an independent republic: 1785

Decade that it was reabsorbed into U.S. territory -- the area now forms the northeast portion of Tennessee: 1790s

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of advertising and marketing executives who say a fellow colleague has tried to make them look bad, according to a survey by The Creative Group: 31

Percentage who said the best way to deal with it is to confront the other person: 41

Percentage who said the best way to deal with it is to alert the person's manager or human resources: 40

Source: The Creative Group.

Percentage of citizens surveyed in 24 countries who say there are too many immigrants in their country, according to an Ipsos global poll: 50

Percentage who say that immigration is causing their country to change in ways they don't like: 46

Against a backdrop where 81 percent of citizens indicate that over the last five years migrants have increased in their country, percentage who say immigrants make their country a more interesting place to live: 30

Source: Ipsos Global.

Rough estimate of the cost incurred by the average consumer in checking account fees each year, according to research by WalletHub: $470

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of college students who admitted to skipping class, according to Core Principle's Class120 technology and Crimson Hexagon, which identified and analyzed more than 3.1 million tweets sent by students on the topic of skipping class: 87

Percentage of the Twitter posts that referenced skipping class to spend more time with their friends: 37

Percentage of students who tweeted that they were sleeping or too tired to go to class: 32

Source: Class120.

Percentage of Americans who say they drink alcohol, according to a survey by Gallup: 66

Percentage who report using a mood-altering drug nearly every day: 19

Percentage who admit to using marijuana: 7

Source: Gallup Organization.

Idle thought

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -- Thomas Edison

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

Percentage of U.S. employees who don't believe their bosses encourage them to take allotted vacation days, according to Randstad U.S. Employee Engagement Study: 39

Percentage who say their bosses don't help them disconnect from work while on vacation: 45

Source: Randstad.

Rank of Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg (who boasts a personal fortune of $41.6 billion) on the Wealth-X list of the wealthiest individuals under the age of 35: 1

Rank of Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz (with an estimated net worth of $9.3 billion) on the list: 2

Rank of Huiyan Yang (net worth $5.9 billion) and the richest woman on the list: 3

Of the world's top 20 wealthiest individuals under the age of 35, number who are from the United States: 11

Source: Wealth-X.

Percentage of more than 23,000 Laureate students and more than 4,000 non-Laureate students in 22 countries who believe that their course of study will give them the career skills necessary to succeed, according to a survey of student attitudes by Laureate International Universities and Zogby Analytics: 75

Percentage of students around the world who say that universities should work directly with employers to help teach students the skills they need to be successful: 93

Source: Laureate Education Inc.

In the United States today, estimated number of students at all levels of schooling -- some 41.7 million from nursery through elementary school, almost 17 million in high school, and about 19 1/2 million in college: 78 million

Percentage of young adults who have a high school diploma: 80

Source: Census Bureau.

Percentage of children who were more likely to "share" or "be helpful" in kindergarten who were also more likely to earn a high school diploma, according to findings of a 20-year study published in the American Journal of Public Health: 54

Percentage who were more likely to have a full-time job at the age of 25: 46

Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Percentage of people who said they would be willing to donate their kidney to a friend in need, if they are a match, according to a survey conducted by Skout: 81

Percentage who would be willing to skip alcoholic beverages themselves in support of a friend who's on the wagon: 59

Percentage of people who would drop whatever they are doing to help a friend with a broken-down car: 92

Source: Skout.

Percentage of Americans who don't know, even in general terms, what the nuclear agreement with Iran is all about, according to a poll from iMediaEthics: 75

Percentage who said it was to authorize Iran to have a limited number of nuclear weapons: 11

Percentage who said it was to allow Iran to use U.S. technology to build nuclear power plants: 9

Source: iMediaEthics.

Today, total number of wireless subscriber connections in the United States -- 36 million more devices than there are Americans and a wireless penetration rate of 110 percent -- according to the Wireless Association: 355 million

To meet the constant increase in Americans' demand for mobile devices and services, amount wireless carriers invested into the U.S. economy in 2014 capital expenditures: $32 billion

Source: CTIA -- The Wireless Association.

Percentage of Americans who have done at least an hour of yoga in the past month, according to a poll conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs: 20

Percentage who have done yoga on their own: 13

Percentage who have done yoga in a class or group setting: 7

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Average age of romance book buyers (down from 44 in 2013), according to Nielsen's Romance Book Buyer Report: 42

Percentage of these readers who are aged 18 to 44, which includes the coveted millennial demographic: 44

In the first quarter of 2014, percentage of romance books that were purchased by men, up from 12 percent in 2013: 15

Source: Nielsen Analytics.

Idle Thought

"The world is changed not by the self-regarding, but by men and women prepared to make fools of themselves." -- P.D. James, novelist

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

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