Date of the probable first flight of Santa's sleigh, a versatile, all weather, multipurpose, vertical-short-takeoff-and-landing vehicle capable of traveling vast distances without refueling and deployed, as far as we know, only on Christmas Eve (and briefly for a test flight about a month before Christmas), according to NORAD: Dec. 24, 343 A.D.

Length of the sleigh, built by the North Pole-based Kringle and Elves Inc.: 75 cc (candy canes), or 150 lp (lollipops)

Weight at takeoff: 75,000 gd (gumdrops)

Propulsion: 9 rp (reindeer power)

Armament: Antlers (purely defensive)

Climbing speed: One "T" (Twinkle of an eye)

Max speed: Faster than starlight

Source: NORAD

Ranks of Peyton Manning, Tony Romo and Tom Brady on the list of of quarterbacks who men said they would want to play on their team but wouldn't want near their girlfriend, according to a survey by Avalanche LLC: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of Tony Romo, Philip Rivers and Eli Manningon the list of quarterbacks who women would want to play on their team, and then tackle later: 1, 2, 3

Source: Date.com.

Percentage of Americans who report that they personally need an "underwear overhaul" this holiday season, more than anyone else on their shopping list, according to a survey by Jockey International: 43

According to a previous Jockey survey, percentage of Americans who own underwear that's 5 or more years old: 25

Source: Jockey International.

Percentage of travelers who plan to see relatives over the December holidays, according to TripAdvisor's Holiday Travel Survey: 80

Percentage who have cut a family trip shorter than planned because they were "family-ed" out: 19

Source: TripAdvisor.

Approximate number of real Christmas trees sold in the U.S. every year, according to the National Christmas Tree Association: 25 million to 30 million

For every real Christmas tree harvested, number of seedlings that are planted the following spring: 1 to 3

Percentage of artificial trees worldwide that are manufactured in China, according to the U.S. Commerce Department: 80

Source: National Christmas Tree Association.

Average price for evergreens this year, making it difficult for tree vendor to break even, according to IbisWorld research: $25 to $30

Source: IBISWorld.

Percentage of American grooms who do the proposing, according to about.com: 99

Percentage of proposals that occur in December: 15

Source: About.com.

Percentage of Americans who celebrate Christmas who get six hours or less of sleep the night before gifts are exchanged, according to a new Ipsos Public Affairs conducted on behalf of sleepbetter.org: 49

Percentage of Americans who use the Christmas vacation to sleep in more than usual: 43

Percentage who say they sleep better than usual over the Christmas vacation (even though many are deprived the night before the gift exchange): 22

Source: Ipsos Reid Public Affairs.

Percentage of renters who say they are trimming back their holiday budgets this season and are spending less on gifts, travel and entertainment than they did in 2008, according to Apartments.com: 65

Percentage of renters who said they are pinching their pennies due to the loss of a job or taking a pay cut at work: 30

Source: Apartments.com.

Percentage of moms who plan to shop at mass merchandisers/supercenters for the holidays, down 2 percent from 2008, according to a survey conducted by The Marketing to Moms Coalition: 85

Anticipated holiday shopping percentage increase for department stores this year: 10 to 47

Source: Marketing to Moms Coalition.

Idle Thought

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." -- George Bernard Shaw

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

This holiday season, amount very generous "True Loves" will pay for all 364 gifts in the holiday classic "The Twelve Days of Christmas," a mere 0.9 percent increase compared to last year: $87,402.81

Percentage decrease in the cost of a partridge in a pear tree this year over last: 27.3

Source: PNC Wealth Management.

Percentage of Americans who never express their gratitude for what they have or to the people in their lives, with men being more likely to fall in this category (13 percent vs. 6 percent of women), according to a survey commissioned by the Chinet brand: 10

Percentage of adults who said that feeling grateful inspires them to give to others: 90

Source: Chinet brand.

Reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 27 days of the November-December 2009 holiday season, according to comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world: $10.57 billion

Percentage increase this represents versus the corresponding days last year: 3

Dollar value in online sales on Black Friday (Nov. 27), making it the second heaviest online spending day to date in 2009 and representing an 11 percent increase versus Black Friday 2008: $595 million

Source: comScore.

Projected amount of money moms will spend on holiday gifts this year, according to a survey conducted by The Marketing to Moms Coalition: $672

Rank of toys, clothing, books, movies and video games on the list of hot gifts for young children: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Rank of video games, toys, books/clothing, movies and music on the list of gift choices for children aged 7 to 12: 1, 2, 3(tie), 5, 6

Source: Marketing to Moms Coalition.

Year the first ever electric blanket went on sale in Petersburg, Va., according to the Census Bureau: 1945

Cost of the blanket in 1945: $39.50.

Value of the electric housewares industry today, of which electric blankets are a part: $2.2 billion

Source: Census Bureau - Bernstein.

Percentage of professionals who said they are not planning to shop online while at work, according to an Accountemps survey: 77

Average number of hours a week those employees who will be hunting for holiday bargains during business hours say they are likely to spend (down from 2.7 hours when the same question was asked in 2007): 1.9

Source: Robert Half International.

When asked about the primary mission of high school, percentage of low-income parents who rank preparing students for college the highest, according to the Deloitte 2009 Education Survey, conducted among high school teachers and low-income parents and students: 42

Percentage of high school students who agree with the statement: 48

Percentage of educators who think preparing students for college is their most important mission: 9

Source: Deloitte LLP.

Percentage of men who believe they have a soul mate, according to an AskMen.com survey: 36

Percentage who say they have found her: 32

Percentage of men who said the most important personality trait that makes a woman "relationship material" is a sense of loyalty: 30

Percentage who said intelligence: 20

Source: AskMen.com.

When asked in an open-ended question to name the most important financial problem facing their families today, percentage of Americans who said low wages and a lack of money, according to a Gallup poll: 17

Percentage who said health-care costs: 14

Percentage who said "too much debt": 10

Percentage who said the cost of renting or owning a home: 9

Source: Gallup Organization.

Percentage of parents with grown children who say one of their adult sons or daughters (social scientists call them "boomerangers") has moved back home in the past year, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center: 13

Percentage of adults ages 18 to 34 who say the poor economy has forced them to move back in with Mom and Dad: 10

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

Idle thought

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." -- Mohandas Gandhi

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

Percentage of Americans who have felt some sort of physical discomfort during an intense day of shopping, according to the Blistex Holiday Shopping survey: 63

Percentage who complained of sore feet: 40

Percentage who complained of back pain: 33

Source: Zeno Group for Blistex.

Percentage of people who say their spouse is the hardest person on their gift list to shop for during the holidays, according to a survey by Zogby International: 29

Percentage who said a parent was the most difficult to shop for: 28

Source: Zogby International.

Percentage of workers who expressed unhappiness regarding relationships with their boss, according to the Adecco USA Workplace Insights survey: 48

Percentage of workers who are not satisfied with the level of support they receive from their colleagues: 59

Source: Adecco.

Percentage of small-business owners who intend to give client gifts, according to the American Express OPEN Small Business Holiday Monitor: 47

Percentage who will give employees gifts: 35

Percentage of business owners who said they'll continue to give holiday gifts to customers because they have done it for so long that it would seem strange to stop now: 26

Percentage who said they do it to say "thank you": 82

Source: American Express OPEN.

Median age for a Twitter user, according to a Pew Internet and American Life Project poll: 31

Median age for a Facebook user: 33

Median age for LinkedIn: 39

Source: PEW Internet and American Life Project.

Percentage of CEOs who are "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their current positions, according to a study conducted by ExecuNet and Finnegan Mackenzie: 63

Percentage of other C-level officers who are "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their current positions: 52

Percentage of vice presidents who say the same: 41

Source: ExecuNet.

Percentage of business leaders who say they spend three or more hours a day reading, writing, sending or receiving e-mail, according to a survey by NFI research: 45

Percentage of senior executives and managers who say they access their e-mail from both computer and phone: 63

Source: NFI Research.

Percentage of women who said their confidence is their main weapon to attract men, according to the results from the second-annual AskMen.com Great Male Survey: 34

Percentage who said they use their looks as their secret weapon: 17

Source: AskMen.com.

Percentage of dog owners who said they had pampered their pets by buying them holiday or birthday gifts, according to a survey of dog owners on behalf of ALPO: 38

Percentage who treat their dog to special meals with gourmet dog food: 18

Percentage who cook for them: 17

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of Americans who find it frustrating waiting at their doctors' offices or hospitals, according to NCR's 2009 Self-Service consumer survey conducted by BuzzBack Market Research: 76

Percentage who are fed up with completing paperwork and filling out multiple forms: 50

Percentage of respondents who said they were more likely to choose a health care provider that reduced frustration by providing the flexibility to interact easily via online, mobile and kiosk: 70

Source: NCR Corp.

Percentage of Americans who are above their ideal weight, according to a Gallup Poll: 60

Of the majority of Americans who report being heavier than their ideal weight or say they would like to lose weight, percentage who are seriously trying to lose weight at this time: 27

Source: Gallup.

Idle Thought

"He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it -- namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to obtain." -- Mark Twain, author and humorist

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