Percentage of American white-collar workers who say they feel "inundated with information" at their workplace, according to a survey conducted by LexisNexis: 70

Percentage who say they feel they are headed for an information "breaking point": 41

Percentage who say they wish they could spend less time organizing information and more time using what information comes their way: 68

Percentage who say that not being able to access the right information at the right time is a "huge time-waster": 85

Source: LexisNexis.

Percentage of all stories carried by newspapers, television and the Internet last year that were about Iraq or the 2008 presidential election, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism: 26

Percentage accounted for by news about countries aside from the U.S., Iraq, Iran and Pakistan: 6

Source: Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Percentage of homeowners who take on their own do-it-yourself projects, according to a national survey by Floor and Decor: 67

Percentage of respondents who ranked painting walls as the most common household remodeling project completed within the last five years: 70

Ranks of installing plumbing fixtures (25 percent) and installing cabinets (24 percent) that home owners perceive as the most difficult remodeling projects to do yourself: 1, 2

Source: Floor and Decor.

Percentage of parents who know their family should eat a balanced diet, according to a national survey by YMCA of the USA and Eli Lilly: 91

Percentage who say their household actually does: 56

Percentage who know their family should exercise regularly: 93

Percentage who say their household does: 45

Source: YMCA.

Percentage of HR executives worldwide who say that the "war for talent" is and will be a key and enduring business issue over the next 10 years and beyond, according to a survey conducted by Resources Global Professionals: 82

Percentage of HR executives who say they are planning to hire external resources: 90

Percentage who say they are looking offshore for talent: 60

Source: Resources Global Professionals.

Percentage of U.S. executives who say they believe markets will recover from the current recession this year, according to a survey conducted by TheLadders.com: 56.5

Percentage of U.S. executives who say they are concerned a recession will have an impact on their income growth: 59.7

Source: TheLadders.com.

Number of low-income children across the U.S. who take part in the Federal School Breakfast Program every month, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 10 million

Estimated number of children who take part in the National School Lunch Program every month -- either at no cost or at a reduced price: 30 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Ranks of Prague, Budapest and Lisbon as the best bargain European cities, according to the results of the annual worldwide European travel survey by TripAdvisor: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of London, Paris and Rome as the most expensive European cities: 1, 2, 3

Source: TripAdvisor.

Percentage of sales professionals who say they are happy with the way they are managed, according to a survey by SalesDog.com: 70

Percentage who say they feel adequately recognized for their achievements: 64

Percentage who say their management's sales expectations or quotas are realistic: 75

Source: SalesDog.com.

National rank of Ohio in new business development and expansion, meriting the 2007 Governor's Cup Award, according to the Ohio Business Development Coalition: 1

Number of years that Ohio has been awarded the Governor's Cup, tying Texas for the most wins when compared to other states: 6 (1993, 1994, 1995, 2003, 2006 and 2007)

Source: Ohio Business Development Coalition.

Idle Thought

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." -- William James, psychologist (1842-1910)

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

4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111; (816) 932-6600

Percentage of U.S. workers who say they have become very sleepy or fallen asleep at work in the past month, according to a survey conducted by the National Sleep Foundation: 29

Percentage of U.S. workers who say they have arrived late at work in the past month because of sleepiness: 12

Percentage of U.S. workers with more than one job who say they get a good night's sleep only a "few times" a month or less: 43

Number of Americans who chronically suffer from sleep problems and disorders: 50 million

Source: National Sleep Foundation.

Ranks of Warren Buffett (net worth: $63 billion) and Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu ($60 billion) among the world's richest people as of Feb. 11, 2008, according to a study conducted by Forbes: 1, 2

Number of Americans among the world's 20 richest people in 2006: 10

Number of Americans among the world's 20 richest people in 2008: 4

Number of Indians among the world's 10 richest people (more than any other country): 4

Source: Forbes.

Cost of traffic crashes each year in the U.S., according to a study conducted by the AAA that calculates cost based on property damage, lost earnings, medical costs, emergency services, legal costs and travel delays: $164.2 billion

Cost of car crashes each year in New York and Los Angeles, the two largest U.S. cities with the highest cumulative annual car crash costs, respectively: $18 billion, $10 billion

Source: AAA.

Percentage of small-business owners who say they plan to retire and stop working completely in their businesses in the long run, according to the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey: 11

Percentage of small-business owners who say they expect their small businesses to keep going after they stop working: 62

Percentage who feel their businesses will stop: 33

Source: Gallup.

U.S. homeowners' equity in their homes in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve: 47.9 percent

Year in which Americans' equity in their homes last fell below 50 percent, based on data tracked since 1945: Never

Source: U.S. Federal Reserve.

Percentage of employees who live paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent study by the American Payroll Association: 67

In 2008, a leap year, number of extra paychecks that employees paid on Tuesdays or Wednesdays can expect to receive: 1

Source: American Payroll Association.

Percentage of Americans who filed their tax returns by mid-February 2008, according to a survey conducted by BIGresearch: 28.5

Percentage of Americans who will prepare their tax return using a computer software program: 31.5

Percentage who will do it by hand: 14.7

Percentage who will use an accountant: 23.5

Percentage who will use a tax preparation service: 18.7

Percentage who will have a spouse, friend or other relative handle it: 11.6

Source: BIGresearch.

Percentage of workers who said their jobs would be more difficult if they did not work in the same office as their supervisors, according to a survey developed by OfficeTeam: 48

Of this group, percentage who felt it would be much more difficult: 27

Percentage of managers who said it is important that all staff members work in the same location: 58

Source: OfficeTeam.

Percentage of college students seeking jobs who say they expect it will take them only three or fewer months to find a job, according to a poll conducted by CollegeRecruiter in March 2008: 74

Percentage who said the same in January and February 2008, respectively: 69, 65

Source: CollegeRecruiter.com.

Dollars invested in 221 "clean technology" deals worldwide in 2007, according to data released by Dow Jones VentureSource: $3 billion

Percentage increase from the $2.1 billion invested in 173 similar deals in 2006: 43

Percentage of global clean-technology investment in 2007 accounted for by the United States, according to the report: 83

Source: Dow Jones VentureOne.

Idle Thought

"Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself." -- Tom Wilson

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

4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111; (816) 932-6600

Percentage of divorced Americans who report losing weight during or right after a divorce, according to a study by divorce360.com: 36

Percentage who changed jobs or got a new job: 33

Percentage who bought a car: 30

Percentage who bought furniture: 28

Source: divorce360.com.

Average number of hours that Americans are putting in at work each day, according to NSF's 2008 Sleep in America poll: 9.5

Estimated number of hours of additional work they do at home: 4.5

Percentage of those surveyed who say they only get a good night's sleep a few nights per month: 32

Source: National Sleep Foundation.

Percentage of open positions in 2007 that were filled by internal movement, according to CareerXroads Annual Sources of Hire Study: 30

Percentage of all external hires that were made based on referrals: 28.7

Percentage of external hires that were attributed to job boards: 25.7

Percentage of hires that were made from traditional print sources: 5

Source: CareerXroads.

Percentage of female middle managers who aspire to senior level positions, according to a Hudson research study: 77

Estimated percentage of women who ever achieve that goal: 25

Source: Hudson.

Ranks of London, New York and Moscow as the world's most expensive cities for residential apartment buyers, according a survey by the Global Property Guide: 1, 2, 3

Cost range per square meter of residential apartments in Prime Central London (includes Belgravia, Chelsea, Mayfair, Notting Hill, Knightsbridge, Regent's Park, South Kensington, St. John's Wood and St. James): $21,800 to $36,200

Cost range per square meter of residential apartments in Upper Manhattan: $13,270 to $22,923

Source: Global Property Guide.

Estimated percentage of the world's online population that has used the Internet to make a purchase, according to Nielsen Global Online Survey on Internet shopping habits: 85

Number of people this represents: 875 million

Percentage increase in the market for online shopping in the past two years: 40

Source: Nielsen Media Research.

Percentage of U.S. males who say they have snooped on someone else's e-mail, according to a survey conducted by Google: 21

Percentage of women who say the same: 27

Source: Google.

Percentage of executives who said the CEOs of their organizations are very or completely willing to embrace strategies necessary to attract, assess and retain new generations of employees, according to a survey conducted by Stanton Chase International and Birkman International: 55

Rank of baby boomers as the most stable and loyal workforce in history with average employee tenure of 15 years in 1980 and 10 years in 2000: 1

In 2000, average tenure for Generation X (born 1965-1977): 5 years

Source: Stanton Chase International.

Rank of Nevada as the nation's fastest-growing state, with a population increase of 2.9 percent between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau: 1

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Idle Thought

"A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams." -- John Barrymore

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

4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111; (816) 932-6600