Percentage of American consumers who compare prices when shopping for anything, according to a LendingTree survey: 96

Percentage who obtain just one home loan quote: 39

Percentage of homeowners who recognize they could save more than $100 a month by reducing their mortgage rate by one percent: 23

Source: Lending Tree.

With winter officially under way, record low winter temperature among continental U.S. cities, held by Bismarck, N.D., according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 44 degrees below zero

Absolute coldest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. was in Prospect Creek, Alaska: 80 degrees below zero

To put a different perspective on the word "lowest," -- record low temperature in Honolulu, Hawaii: 53 degrees

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of Americans who said that they would give up their bed before giving up their computer or television, according to a survey sponsored by Aaron's Inc.: 42

Percentage who said they would give up their computer last: 28

Percentage who chose their TV over a bed and a computer: 14

Source: Aaron's Inc.

Median number of years that full-time workers stay in their jobs, up slightly in 2010, and continuing a slow increase in job tenure that began in 2004, according to a report by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute: 5.2

Median job tenure for women in 2010, an increase from 4.2 years in 1983: 5.1 years

Median job tenure for men in 2010, a drop from 5.9 years in 1983: 5.3 years

Source: EBRI.

Rank of Subaru overall on the list of 2011 brand vehicles recognized for their projected retained value five years from now, according to Kelley Blue Book's Best Resale Value Awards: 1

Rank of BMW on the list of best resale value for luxury brands: 1

Source: Kelley Blue Book.

Percentage of Americans making $25,000 per year or less who use the shower to relax and escape, according to a nationwide study conducted by Delta Faucet: 41

Percentage of men who say their dream shower would include more room for significant others: 40

Percentage of women who say their dream shower would have ambient music and lighting: 45

Source: MSL Group.

Percentage of workers who reported they put in more than 40 hours a week, according to a study from CareerBuilder that looks at indicators of being addicted to work and what workers can do to find a happy medium between work and personal time: 52

Percentage who work more than 50 hours: 15

Percentage who bring home work at least once a week, with 1-in-10 bringing home work at least every other day: 31

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of drivers who say they engaged in distracted driving somehow, whether by texting, talking on a cell phone -- even kissing, according to a poll conducted for InsuranceQuotes.com by GfK Roper: 93

Percentage of American adults who acknowledge that being distracted while driving caused them to do one of the following: swerve into another lane, slam on the brakes, get a ticket, almost get into an accident or have a minor or major wreck: 40

Source: GfK Custom Research North America.

Rank of Marrakech, Morocco on the list of British Airways' top 10 destinations for 2011: 1

Ranks of San Diego, New York, and St. Kitts and Nevis on the list: 2, 3, 4

Source: British Airways.

Percentage of small- to midsized businesses that predict sales will increase or remain the same, according to a survey conducted by Zoomerang: 84

As a result of the positive outlook anticipated by the majority of respondents, percentage who indicated they are planning to hire new staff in the next 12 months: 25

Ranks of software (29 percent), hardware (24 percent) and the company website (17 percent) on the list of areas of focus that companies are preparing to update in 2011: 1, 2, 3

Source: Zoomerang.

When asked what kind of help they would most appreciate if they were facing a serious health problem, percentage of Americans who said help staying connected with and updating other family and friends, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of CaringBridge: 58

Percentage of Americans who choose "Told you so!" as one of the three things they would least like to hear from family and friends when facing a health challenge or illness: 84

Percentage of respondents who chose "I love you" as one of the three things they would most like to hear from family or friends: 73

Source: CaringBridge.

Idle Thought

"No matter what side of the argument you are on, you always find people on your side that you wish were on the other." -- Jascha Heifetz, violinist (1901-1987)

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

Percentage of Americans who have tried a retail store, restaurant or hotel for the very first time after having received a gift card for it, according to findings of a survey commissioned by Givex: 41

Percentage who later returned to the business: 72

Source: Givex.

Percentage of Americans who plan to return at least one holiday gift this season, according to a Consumer Reports holiday shopping poll: 20

Source: Consumer Reports.

Estimated year that revelry and resolutions first rang in the new year, when Babylonians held semi-annual festivals around the spring and autumn equinoxes: 2000 B.C.

Fast-forward a few millennia to New York City -- the year that Adolph S. Ochs, publisher of The New York Times, commissioned the construction of a 5-foot iron globe studded with 216 electric lamps that would fall from a 70-foot flagpole at midnight in Times Square on the last day of the year: 1907

Weight of the sphere clad in Waterford crystal with 30,000 watts of light-emitting diodes that will descend this year on Dec. 31: 1,200 pounds

Source: "Dream It. List It. Do It. How to live a Bigger & Bolder Life" by Lia Steakley Dicker, a Seattle-based journalist, editor and author at 43Things.com.

Percentage of senior managers who said their employees are less productive the week before a major holiday, according to a survey by Accountemps: 34

Source: Accountemps.

Percentage of decisions and reactions made behind the wheel that depend on good vision, according to a survey commissioned by Essilor of America Inc.: 90

Percentage of eyeglasses wearers who sometimes drive without their prescription glasses and instead wear non-prescription sunglasses: 20

Source: KRC Research.

Percentage more waste -- an extra 5 million tons -- that is generated during the holidays compared with the rest of the year, according to a survey conducted on behalf of Plastics Make It Possible: 25

Percentage of U.S. adults who plan to reduce their impact on the environment over the holidays this year: 86

Percentage of those adults who know how they plan to reduce their impact on the environment over the holidays that will do so by recycling the plastic shipping, mailing and packaging materials that protect the gifts they receive: 66

Source: Plastics Make It Possible.

Percentage of men who would opt to toast with beer vs. champagne if given the choice, according to a survey conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of Samuel Adams: 60

Number of ingredients demanded by the rigorous standards of the Reinheitsgebot, the historic German beer purity law that states all beer must be brewed using only these ingredients: 4 (malt, hops, water and yeast)

Source: Samuel Adams.

Percentage of women who have had their mood affected by wearing an ill-fitting or unattractive pair of underwear, according to a poll published by ShopSmart magazine: 25

Number of pairs of underwear owned by the average woman: 21

Percentage of women who own 35 pairs or more: 10

Source: ShopSmart.

Ranks of Sophia, Charlotte, Ava and Addison on the list of most popular baby names for girls in 2010, according to BabyNames.com: 1, 2, 3, 4

Ranks of Aiden, Liam, Noah and Jackson on the list of most popular baby names for boys: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: BabyNames.com.

Percentage of Americans who plan to spend more on leisure travel in 2011 than they did this year, according to TripAdvisor's annual travel trends survey: 36

Percentage who plan to take two or more leisure trips next year -- a slight increase over the 89 percent who said they have done so in 2010: 90

Source: TripAdvisor.

Idle Thought

"New Year's Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual." -- Mark Twain

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

If one were to assume that Santa works in the realm of standard time, estimated length of time he would be able to spend visiting each home, according to NORAD: 2 to 3 ten-thousandths of a second

Length of time Santa's Christmas Eve trip seems to take to us: 24 hours (Though, to Santa it may last days, weeks or even months in standard time because he functions within a different time-space continuum than the rest of us do.)

Source: NORAD.

Percentage of travelers who feel pressure to travel to see family for the holidays, according to the results of a TripAdvisor survey: 22

Percentage who have cut short a holiday family trip because they were "family-ed out": 17

Source: TripAdvisor.

Percentage of survey respondents who start at the top by eating the head of a gingerbread cookie first, according to the results of the annual holiday survey by Dunkin' Donuts: 64

Percentage who go straight for the gingerbread man's legs: 20

Percentage of cookie eaters who begin with a farewell to the arms: 16

Source: Dunkin' Donuts.

Percentage of consumers who will buy less-expensive gifts this year, according to a study by Ogilvy Chicago in partnership with consumer insight firm Communispace: 53

Percentage who are setting a budget: 45

Percentage who are making gifts: 24

Source: Ogilvy & Mather.

Percentage of respondents who believe being together with family and friends is important, more so than getting a raise (51 percent), having a career (47 percent) and having the best of everything (30 percent), according to survey by Bacardi: 64

Percentage of those with high togetherness who also have high well-being: 84

Source: Bacardi USA Inc.

Year that the first Christmas tree debuted at Rockefeller Center, standing only 20 feet tall -- about a quarter of the size of this year's holiday specimen -- and erected by construction workers eager to receive a day's pay in the depths of the Great Depression, according to Time Magazine: 1931

Height of the 2010 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree: 74 feet

Weight of the tree: 12 tons

Source: Time Magazine.

Year that the first Christmas seals went on sale at a table in the Wilmington, Del., post office for a penny apiece, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1907

Initial goal of the first Christmas seals sale: $300

In 1908, value of the Christmas seals sale: $135,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentge of U.S. adults who would want to contact Santa Claus if given the chance, according to a survey sponsored by WhitePages.com and conducted by Harris Interactive: 80

Percentage of adults who would want to contact Saint Nick in person: 26

Percentage who would send him an e-mail: 24

Source: Harris Interactive.

Date of the probable first flight of Santa's sleigh, a versatile, all-weather, multipurpose, vertical short-take-off 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 Kringle & Elves Inc., with a home base at the North Pole: 75 candy canes or 150 lollipops

Weight at takeoff: 75,000 gumdrops

Maximum speed: Faster than starlight

Source: NORAD.

Average number of years it takes to grow a Christmas tree of typical height (6 to 7 feet), according to the National Christmas Tree Association: 7

Source: National Christmas Tree Association.

Idle Thought

"We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done." -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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