Percentage of self-employed workers (from small business owners and consultants to fishing guides and freelance writers, private contractors, artists and construction workers) who say they are "completely satisfied" with their jobs, (compared with 28 percent of all wage or salaried employees), according to survey by the Pew Research Center Social and Demographic Trends project: 39

Percentage of all workers who are their own bosses who say they are dissatisfied with their employment situation, half the proportion of other workers who are dissatisfied: 5

Source: Pewsocialtrends.org.

Savings achieved by consumers using packaged goods coupons last year, according to The Promotion Marketing Association Coupon Council: $3 billion

Estimated number of dollars worth of packaged goods coupons that are offered annually: $400 billion

Source: Promotion Marketing Association.

When on a first date, percentage of respondents who say they will decide in just a half hour whether they will see the other person again, according to a survey conducted jointly by American Way, the in-flight magazine of American Airlines and by specialty dating service It's Just Lunch: 66

Percentage who say they make the decision in the first five minutes: 16

Source: It's Just Lunch/American Way.

Approximate number of hours per week that are lost by Intel's knowledge workers due to information overload, according to Basex research: 8

Annual cost this represents for a company the size of Intel: $1 billion

Source: Basex Inc.

Rank of strategic thinking on the list of the most important qualities for leadership competency, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive: 1

Percentage of directors and vice presidents who have never had training on strategy: 90

Source: Harris Interactive.

Percentage of business people who feel attention spans are shorter today than they were three years ago, according to a survey by Connie Dieken, a leadership communication coach: 99

Source: Comcast.

Percentage of Americans who think the government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses, according to a Gallup Poll: 57

Percentage who think that government should do more to solve our country's problems: 38

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of small business owners who have a positive view of the economic environment and its impact on their ability to grow, according to the American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor: 55

Concurrently, percentage of firms that are at risk of going out of business due in part to personal funds being tapped out (up from 11 percent six months ago): 17

Percentage that are using personal or private funds to manage cash-flow challenges (up from 23 percent six months ago): 32

Source: American Express OPEN.

Number of school-age children (ages 5 to 17) in the U.S. who speak a language other than English at home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 10.9 million

Number of those children who speak Spanish at home: 7.9 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of all participating food banks that reported a significant surge in demand for emergency food assistance over the past year, according to a survey by Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger relief charity: 99

Percentage of food banks that report that the increase is particularly driven by first-time users of the food assistance system: 98

Percentage of food banks that reported that they are seeing more children as clients: 56

Source: Feeding America.

Idle Thought

"In the youth of a state, arms do flourish; in the middle age of a state, learning; and then both of them together for a time; in the declining age of a state, mechanical arts and merchandise. " -- Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher and statesman

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

The mean answer provided when Americans were asked how many cents of every tax dollar that goes to the federal government in Washington, D.C., is wasted, according to a Gallup Poll: 49.7 cents

The mean answer provided when Americans were asked how many cents of every tax dollar that goes to their state government is wasted: 41.9 cents

The mean answer provided when Americans were asked how many cents of every tax dollar that goes to their local government is wasted: 36.6 cents

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of men who would prefer to be in a relationship with a corporate ladder climber who could significantly contribute financially to the family, according to a survey by date.com: 88.9

Percentage of men who say they would be proud to be married to a woman who is more successful than them: 85.7

Percentage who say they wouldn't want to be in a relationship with a woman who is professionally more successful than they are: 10.3

Source: date.com.

Percentage drop in the average price of a hotel room in the U.S. in the first six months of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, according to hotels.com's Hotel Price Index: 17

Average cost of a hotel room in the U.S. (down from $139 in 2008): $115

Ranks of New York, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Wyoming, (whose ski tourism helped boost hotel prices in the state) on the list of the most expensive U.S. destinations: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: hotels.com.

Percentage of Americans who say their favorite lad from Liverpool is Paul, according to a Zogby poll: 27

Percentage who picked John: 16

Percentage who said George: 10

Percentage who said Ringo: 9

Source: Zogby International.

Percentage of workers age 65 and older who say the main reason they work is that they want to, according to a nationwide survey by the Pew Research Center's Social and Demographic Trends: 54

Percentage who say the main reason is that they need the paycheck: 17

Percentage of adults who are working past the median retirement age of 62 who say they have delayed their retirement because of the recession: 40

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

Percentage of online shoppers who invest time to find the lowest price for commodity products, according to the e-tailing group/WinBuyer research study "Comparison Shopping Is a Way of Life": 94

Percentage of consumers who currently visit at least two Web sites before finalizing a purchase: 95

Source: WinBuyer.

Of Americans who are married, percentage who say they would be able to get by on just their spouse's income if they lost their job, according to a survey by Country Financial: 47

Percentage of men who would feel secure in relying on their spouse's income: 39

Percentage of women who would feel secure in relying on their spouse's income: 57

Source: Country Financial.

Year the first death sentence by electrocution was carried out in the United States (William Kemmler of Buffalo was the first person to be electrocuted), according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1890

Since 1930, total number of prisoners who have been executed under civil authority: 4,958

Number of those who were women: 43

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of consumers who think it is more important to find ways to save money today than it was last year, up 5 percent from the same period in 2008, according to the results of Red Plum's coupon and savings survey: 93

Percentage who cited saving as "the intelligent thing to do": 84

Source: RedPlum.

In 2009, percentage of business organizations that offer a performance bonus to recruit and retain top talent, down from 80 percent in 2008, according to research conducted by ExecuNet: 71

Percentage that offer a performance review within the first six months, down from 56 percent in 2008: 42

Source: ExecuNet.

Idle Thought

"In my youth I thought of writing a satire on mankind; but now in my age I think I should write an apology for them." -- Horace Walpole

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

Percentage of workers who were laid off in the last 12 months who said they have changed their appearance to make themselves more attractive to potential employers, according to a survey by CareerBuilder: 28

Percentage who have changed their hair color or hairstyle: 8

Percentage who are dressing to appear younger: 5

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of Americans who owe more on their mortgage than their homes are worth, according to the Bankrate Financial Literacy series on Families and Finance: 25

Percentage of Americans who aren't sure how they'll save enough for retirement: 70

Percentage who fret about their ability to afford college for a family member: 50

Source: Bankrate Inc.

Average tuition, room and board (for in-state students) at the nation's four-year public colleges and universities for an entire academic year (2007-08), according to the U.S. Census Bureau: $14,915

Average tuition, room and board at the nation's four-year private colleges and universities for one academic year (2007-08) -- more than double the 1990 figure: $40,640

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of U.S. workers who are simply happy to have a job, according to survey by SnagAJob.com: 24

Percentage of U.S. workers who are happy because they gain personal satisfaction at work: 41

Source: SnagAJob.com.

When American adults were asked their opinion on what was the best way to improve kindergarten through 12th grade education in the U.S. today, percentage who said quality teachers/better educated/more involvement/caring, according to a Gallup Poll: 17

Percentage who said we should go back to the basic curriculum (reading, writing, arithmetic): 10

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of U.S. adults who have given away more than 10 percent of their belongings because these were no longer needed, according to a Zogby Interactive poll: 22

Percentage who said they purposefully gave things away in the past year because they have too much: 17

Percentage who said they have a normal amount of belongings, and when they become useless, they give those things away: 60

Source: Zogby International.

Percentage of respondents who admit to having used a cell phone to text or e-mail while driving in the last 12 months, according to the results of a CarGurus survey of automotive consumers worldwide: 52

Number of states that already have laws barring texting while driving: 14

Source: CarGurus LLC.

Percentage of American workers who are currently unsatisfied with their compensation as a result of pay cuts, lack of bonuses or stagnant salaries, according to the Adecco USA Workplace Insights survey: 66

Percentage of American workers who are not satisfied with their company's overall retention efforts: 87

Source: Adecco.

When asked what thoughts crossed their minds when making decisions to purchase food or household and personal products on their most recent grocery shopping trip, percentage of global consumers who indicated value for the money, according to findings from a study conducted by Ipsos Marketing, Consumer Goods: 64

Source: Ipsos Marketing, Global Consumer Goods Sector.

Percentage of a senior-level accountant's time that chief financial officers (CFOs) predict will be spent five years from now on issues outside of traditional accounting functions, according to a Robert Half Management Resources survey: 40

Source: Robert Half Management Resources.

Idle Thought

"No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be." -- Isaac Asimov

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