Projected total consumer spending for Father's Day, according to industry research firm IBISWorld: $9 billion

Projected percentage rise in the sale of pampering services and products this Father's Day -- indicating many dads are going from handyman to dandy man: 35.7

Source: IBISWorld.

Percentage of workers who said a flexible schedule is the summer benefit they would most like to have, according to a survey by OfficeTeam: 38

Percentage who said they'd like to leave early on Fridays: 32

Percentage who look forward to summer activities such as a company picnic, pot luck, etc.: 6

Source: OfficeTeam.

Rank of the Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI on the list of best cars for a cross-country road trip, according to the Kelley Blue Book: 1

Rank of the Porsche Cayman S on the list of best cars for a solo flight: 1

Rank of the Ford F-150 on the list of best vehicles for a towing trip: 1

Source: Kelley Blue Book.

Year that one of America's all-time favorite celebrities, Donald Duck, stepped into the entertainment world -- short, both in stature and temper, wears a sailor hat, has a tendency to fly into a squawking rage whenever things don't go just right, and whose long-term living arrangements with his nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie, was unusual for the day, according to page 306 of "Chase's Calendar of Events 2009": 1934

Percentage of single parents today who are men, compared with 10 percent in 1970, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 16

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Amid concerns about the economy, estimated percentage of students who are looking at entering a different profession than they were before the economic collapse, according to a survey released by Higher One: 20

Percentage who are considering attending graduate school as a result of the economy: 20

Source: Higher One.

Percentage of leisure travelers who now use the Internet to plan some aspect of their travel (compared to 35 percent in 2000), according to the National Travel Monitorism: 66

Percentage who now report making reservations online: 56

Ranks of online travel agencies such as Expedia and Travelocity (42 percent), Web sites of specific airlines (41 percent), and meta search engines that compare fares (13 percent) on the list of sites that travelers visit first when selecting an airline: 1, 2, 3

Source: Ypartnership Public Relations.

Estimated number of types of food crops there once were, according to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization: 10,000

Today, number of plant species that feed most of the world's population: 150

Number of crops that provide 80 percent of the dietary energy derived from plants: 12

Percentage of this dietary energy that is provided by rice, wheat, maize and potato alone: 60

Source: FAO.

With the employment market feeling the effects of a global recession, percentage of executives who have updated their profile on a public networking site in the last three months, according to recent research from ExecuNet: 71

Percentage who have updated their resume: 60

Source: ExecuNet.

Percentage of Americans who are getting 30 minutes of exercise five or more days per week, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index: 27

Percentage who report exercising for at least 30 minutes on three or four of the last seven days: 24

Percentage who report exercising for at least 30 minutes less than three days per week: 49

Source: Gallup.

Number of devastating natural disasters, those designated as Category 5 based on their financial and human impact, that occurred in 2008 -- the highest number on record, according to Worldwatch Institute and based on Munich Re's systematic recording of natural perils that began in 1974: 40

Percentage increase in the annual average number of hydrological disaster events occurring since the 1980s: 300

Source: WorldWatch Institute.

Idle Thought

"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. -- Oscar Wilde, writer

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

In 2009, estimated percentage of all e-mail traffic that is spam, according to a study from the Radicati Group: 81

According to the study's projections, amount of money a typical 1,000-user organization can spend a year to manage spam: $1.8 million

Source: Radicati Group.

In a typical workplace, percentage of employees who are actively motivated and engaged in their jobs, according to the Gallup Management Journal's Employee Engagement Index: 29

Percentage who are not engaged at all: 54

Percentage who are actively disengaged: 17

Source: Comcast.

Percentage more money that men need than women to be happy, according to research by smile.co.uk ("the Internet bank") from The Co-operative Bank: 27

Source: Co-operative Bank.

When respondents were asked to describe what they thought about their car, percentage who said that it gets them from point A to point B, according to a survey conducted for CarMax: 71

Percentage who said that their car has to do it all without breaking the bank: 30

Percentage who said their car defines who they are: 20

Percentage who said their car is a taxi service for their kids: 14

Source: CarMax Inc.

Average length of an American engagement, according to about.com: 14 months

Average cost of a diamond engagement ring: $6,348

During the engagement period, amount spent by couples on furniture: $4 billion

Amount spent on housewares: $3 billion

Source: about.com.

Percentage of infected computers globally that are located in the U.S., according to Finjan's Malicious Code Research Center (MCRC): 45

Percentage in the United Kingdom: 6

Percentage in Germany: 4

Percentage in France: 3

Source: Finjan's Malicious Code Research Center.

Percentage of parents who say their children are couponing, according to a study from CoolSavings.com: 60

Percentage of adults who said they began using coupons "within the past year": 28

Source: Q Interactive.

Percentage of all baby boomers who believe they look approximately 10 years younger than their actual age, according to a survey conducted by American Laser Centers: 31

Percentage of respondents who said they think the reason that they've stayed or become better looking as they've aged has less to do with their physical body and more to do with maturity and mindset, and cite a healthier self-image: 66

Percentage who said it is also because they've become more stylish: 50

Percentage who said it is also because they care less about what people think: 46

Source: American Laser Services.

Percentage of small business owners who are planning a summer vacation of at least a week, according to the American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor: 56

Percentage of those not taking a vacation who said the primary reason is that they can't afford it: 40

Source: American Express OPEN.

Year that the U.S. began rationing gasoline to 3 gallons per week to help the war effort -- kept in effect until the end of the war, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1942

National speed limit for the same period: 35 mph

Estimated number of gas stations across the U.S. today: 131,000

Estimated number of gallons of gas they sell each year: 175 billion

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Idle Thought

"Power is only important as an instrument for service to the powerless." -- Lech Walesa, human rights activist, former president of Poland, Nobel laureate

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

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.)