Approximate number of hours that the average American watches TV every month at home, a 1.2 percent increase from last year, according to the results of Nielsen's Three Screen Report: 153

Source: Nielsen Analytics.

When asked what they found difficult about taking time off from work for vacation, percentage of respondents who stated that it was their first day back after vacation, according to a Randstad Work Watch survey of full-time employed adults: 77

Percentage of participants who found the last day in the office before vacation to be difficult: 44

Source: Randstad-USA.

Percentage of business travelers who indicated wi-fi was the most important airport amenity, outscoring basic travel needs such as food by nearly 30 percentage points, according to a study conducted by American Airlines Customer Research and HP: 47

Percentage of frequent travelers who said a dead battery (41.4 percent) and no place to plug in (26.3 percent) were their largest complaints: 67.7

Source: Hewlett-Packard Co.

Percentage of consumers who are carrying non-mortgage debt, according to the 2009 survey of financial values and debt sponsored by Securian Financial Group: 82

Percentage of baby boomers in debt who owe at least $50,000 in non-mortgage debt, a 10-point spike from the 2007 survey: 20 (Boomers were the only generation in the survey -- which included Generations Y, X and the Silent Generation -- to add debt since 2007.)

Source: Securian Financial Group.

Year that two of the nation's most notorious -- and romanticized -- criminals, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, were killed in an ambush staged by law officers in Gibsland, La., according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1934

Estimated number of murders they were accused of committing during a two-year series of bank robberies from Missouri to Texas: 12

Across the country, number of such robberies that occur on an average day, with banks losing on average about $4,300: 27

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of Americans who believe their fellow swimmers participate in unhygienic pool behavior, according to a survey conducted by the Water Quality and Health Council: 84

Percentage of Americans who admit to one or more behaviors that contribute to an unhealthy pool: 47

Percentage who admit to peeing in the pool: 17

Percentage who are convinced their fellow swimmers are guilty of peeing: 78

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Year that Father's Day was invented by Sonora Smart Dodd, whose father had, as a single parent, raised his six children: 1910

Year that President Lyndon Johnson signed a proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father's Day: 1966

Percentage of fathers living with dependent children who are single fathers: 3

According to greeting-card maker Hallmark, rank of Father's Day on the list of card-sending holidays: 5

Source: Parents Magazine.

Percentage of executives who give their administrative assistants license to ghostwrite e-mail responses under their name without requiring approval, according to a survey by the International Association of Administrative Professionals and The ePolicy Institute: 28

Percentage who are authorized to use executives' electronic signatures: 55

Percentage of administrative professionals who know that an electronic signature is as legally binding as a handwritten signature: 72

Source: International Association of Administrative Professionals.

Estimated financial cost of disability for a 40-year-old single male earning $50,000 per year who suffers a long-term disability lasting until age 65, according to a study that was released by LIFE and America's Health Insurance Plans: $1 million

Number of times pre-disability earnings that this represents: 20

Percentage of Americans who admit they would begin having difficulty supporting themselves financially "immediately" following a disability: 27

Percentage who say they would reach that point within a month: 49

Source: America's Health Insurance Plans.

Percentage of Americans who reportedly live in a suburban environment, according to an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of SnagAJob: 32

Of these people, percentage who wish their community had a wider variety of offerings: 51

Percentage who mentioned a walkable environment: 22

Source: SnagAJob.com.

Idle Thought

"Only the madman is absolutely sure." -- Robert Anton Wilson, novelist

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

Percentage of car owners who reported being very satisfied with maintenance performed at independent shops (compared with 77 percent at dealerships), according to a Consumer Reports National Research Center survey: 84

Ranks of Lexus, Buick and Acura (with 85, 83 and 82 percent satisfaction rates, respectively) on the list of top scoring car brands in dealership maintenance satisfaction: 1, 2, 3

Source: Consumer Reports.

Percentage fewer graduates that employers plan to hire from the class of 2009 than from last year's class, according to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers: 22

Percentage of former American graduates whose advice to the class of 2009 is to pick a career because they like it, not because of earning potential (in other words, "to choose passion over money"), according to the results of the American Adecco Workplace Insights Survey: 71

Percentage of Americans who advise current students to pick a career based on salary alone: 13

Source: Adecco.

Percentage of consumers who are using the Internet more frequently to research products and prices, according to a survey commissioned by NCR Corp.: 53

Percentage who want to receive price comparisons, product reviews, coupons, promotions and store sales information online or via e-mail: 46

Percentage who are switching between retailers -- i.e., "shop hopping," to get better value: 49

Source: Brand Resources Group, NCR.

Percentage of buying power lost by seniors since the beginning of the decade, according to a new study released today by the Senior Citizens League: 20

Percentage rise in typical senior expenses since 2000: 58

Source: Senior Citizens League.

Year when one of the basics of most women's wardrobes, nylon stockings, went on sale for the first time, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1940

Number of pairs of nylon stockings that were sold that first year, though they soon became scarce as nylon production went to the war effort making items such as parachutes: 63 million

Estimated number of women's clothing stores across the U.S.: 47,000

Annual value of the apparel and accessories market: $31 billion

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Projected percentage of GDP represented by domestic health care costs by 2010, according to a Gallup Poll: 21

Percentage of Americans who would consider traveling abroad for medical procedures such as heart bypass surgery, hip or knee replacement, plastic surgery, cancer diagnosis and treatment, or alternative medical care, even though all are routinely done in the United States: 29

Assuming equal quality and significantly cheaper cost, percentage who said they would be willing to travel abroad for medical procedures: 40

Source: Gallup.

Number of domestic leisure trips during June, July and August of 2009 that Americans are expected to take, according to the annual summer travel forecast by the U.S. Travel Association: 322 million

Percentage decline from summer 2008, though leisure travel remains resilient in the current economic climate: 2.2

Source: U.S. Travel Association.

Rank of YouTube on the list of "Video Web Brands," according to the Nielsen Co.: 1

Total number of streams through YouTube in April: 5.5 billion

Source: Nielsen Analytics.

Among those who have not traveled outside of their country in the last five years, percentage who say that they see themselves as a global citizen as much as, or more than, a citizen of their nation, according to a WorldPublicOpinion.org survey of people in 21 nations from around the world: 29

Among those who have traveled outside their country at least once in the last five years, percentage who say they see themselves as a global citizen as much as or more than a citizen of their own country: 39

Among those who know people from five or more regions of the world who see themselves as global citizens: 47

Source: WorldPublicOpinion.org.

Percentage of executives who reported increased concern about potential violations of the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), according to a Deloitte survey: 75

As a result of FCPA concerns, percentage of respondents who indicated their companies had renegotiated or canceled a planned business relationship or acquisition: 42

Ranks of Russia/Commonwealth of Independent States and China on the list of countries eliciting the most concern about the potential for FCPA violations: 1, 2

Across geographies, ranks of subcontractors who don't add value, fraudulent training and travel expenses, and third-party foreign payers on the list of the most common bribery schemes reported: 1, 2, 3

Source: Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP.

Idle Thought

"Our heads are round so that thoughts can change direction." -- Francis Picabia, painter and poet

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

On average, amount by which the annual salary of workers with a bachelor's degree exceeds the salary of those with a high school diploma, according to figures announced by the U.S. Census Bureau that outline 2008 educational trends and achievement levels: $26,000

Average salary earned by workers with a high school diploma: $31,286

Average salary earned by workers with a bachelor's degree: $57,181

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Estimated number of worldwide e-mail users in 2009, according to a study from the Radicati Group Inc: 1.4 billion

Number of messages sent per day in 2009: 247 billion

Projected number that will be sent per day in 2013: 507 billion

Source: Radicati Group.

When asked which of four common investments is best for the long term, percentage of Americans who chose savings, according to a Gallup Poll: 34

Percentage who said real estate: 33

Percentage who cited stocks and mutual funds: 15

Percentage who said bonds: 12

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of Americans who indicated that a New Jersey Houston's restaurant was wrong for firing employee Doreen Marino for negative comments about the company and employees posted on a private MySpace forum, according to a study conducted by MediaCurves.com: 58

Percentage of respondents who say that this was an invasion of privacy on the company's part: 58

Source: MediaCurves.com.

Estimated number of households in the U.S. that had to replace computers in the past six months due to spyware, according to Consumer Reports National Research Center's "State of the Net" survey: 545,000

Estimated number of households that were victims of identity theft committed over the Internet in the past year: 1.7 million

Of those, percentage that said the incident occurred because of an online purchase: 66

Source: Consumer Reports.

Percentage of consumers who have used in-store or in-home technical support to solve a computer problem, up from 10 percent in 2006: 30

Percent of consumers who have used professional tech support for home networking problems, up from 6 percent in 2006: 15

Estimated revenue for PC and home networking troubleshooting services by 2013, due in large part to growing consumer demand and increased prevalence of connected devices: $2 billion

Source: Parks Associates.

Percentage of "echo boomers" (individuals born between 1982 and 1995) who would provide personal data (i.e., first and last name, age and city) in exchange for targeted advertising, according to a study by Q Interactive: 63

Percentage of baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) who would do the same: 53

Percentage of baby boomers who view advertisers "favorably" when they present an advertisement tailored to a personal interest: 56

Estimated total annual income of baby boomers, according to AARP: $3 trillion

Source: Q Interactive.

Estimated percentage of all marine litter that is made up of abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear, according to the study issued by the Media Office at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): 10

Weight of litter this represents: 640,000 metric tons

Source: FAO.

Percentage of working moms at companies that have had layoffs in the past 12 months who are working longer hours, according to a CareerBuilder's survey: 30

Percentage who have taken on second jobs in the last year to help make ends meet: 14

Percentage of these moms who reported that they are burned out: 34

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of American adults who have changed religious affiliation at least once during their lives, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life: 50

Age by which most people who change their religion leave their childhood faith: 24

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

Idle Thought

"It is one thing to show a man that he is in error, and another to put him in possession of the truth." -- John Locke, philosopher

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