Percentage of top performing high school students (those with grade averages of A and B) who used words like "lemony," "clean" or "baked goods" to describe the smell of their childhood homes, according to a study conducted by Dr. Alan Hirsch and the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation: 84

Percentage of lower-performing students (averages of C or below) who associated negative smells -- urine, fecal matter or mold -- with their homes: 34

Source: Clorox Company.

Amount of money the average person still owed in bank card debt at the end of 2010, according to data from Experian: $4,200

Average number of bank cards held by consumers (a drop of nearly 23 percent since 2007): 1.97

Percentage of their total available bank card balance now used by consumers since using fewer bank cards, a nearly 10 percent jump since 2007: 30

Source: Experian.

Percentage of managers who felt NCAA basketball tournament (March Madness) activities shouldn't be allowed in the workplace, according to an OfficeTeam survey: 32

Percentage who said group events tied to the playoffs are OK in moderation: 57

Source: OfficeTeam.

Estimated amount of total student loan debt, according to the College Savings Foundation: $850 billion

Estimated amount of credit card debt: $820 billion

Source: College Savings Foundation.

Ranks of recommendations from friends, online searches, online reviews from other travelers and travel books on the list of most trusted sources of information for people deciding on their vacations, according to a Smart Destinations survey conducted by Zoomerang: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Zoomerang.

In 1920, the number of standard signs on the nation's more than 3 million miles of roads, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: Zero

Year that state and federal officials met to solve the problem and came up with standard signs and numbers -- highways running north and south had odd numbers and those going east and west were given even numbers: 1925

Today, estimated number of miles of roads in the U.S., including about 47,000 miles in the Interstate Highway System: 4 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of drivers who drive at least one hour a week, own a smart phone and have a valid driver's license who admitted to using the Internet while driving, according to a survey by State Farm: 19

Approximate percentage of the U.S. population who own a smart phone: 40

Source: State Farm.

Percentage of Internet users who say they have gone online to find others who might have health concerns similar to theirs, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project: 18

Percentage of people living with chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart conditions, lung conditions, cancer or some other chronic ailment who say they have gone online to find others with similar health concerns: 23

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Percentage of billing-related executives who view billing as a utility, according to a survey released today by billing outsourcer Billtrust: 67

Percentage who see billing as strategic: 33

Percentage of respondents who are not confident their bills will get paid on time: 25

Source: Billtrust.

Average age of a tour passenger, according to a survey of United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) members: 53

Among USTOA members with escorted tours, percentage of their business that is accounted for by this segment: 72

Source: United States Tour Operators Association.

Idle Thought

"Mere parsimony is not economy. Expense, and great expense, may be an essential part in true economy." -- Edmund Burke

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

Across all genders, age groups and ethnicities, rank of "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get" on the list of movie lines that most reflect people's life philosophy, according to the DDB Life Style Study: 1

Ranks of "There's no place like home" from "The Wizard of Oz" (21 percent), "Carpe diem" -- Seize the day -- from "Dead Poets Society" (8 percent) and "Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'" from "The Shawshank Redemption": 2, 3, 4

Source: DDB.

When asked how much a car dealer makes as profit on the sale of a $40,000 vehicle, percentage of respondents who answered $4,000 or greater (a profit of 10 percent or more), according to TrueCar's Online Automotive Buying Behavior Report: 55

In reality, percentage profit a dealer makes on each new car sold: 1 to 3

Source: TrueCar Inc.

Percentage of U.S. households with a net worth between $5 million and $25 million -- not including the primary residence -- that say they are likely to purchase equities over the next 12 months, according to a report released by Spectrem Group: 52

Average cash balances, including money market funds, checking, savings, Treasury bills and CDs in ultra-high net-worth households at the end of 2010: $659,000

Percentage of their investable assets that this represents: 10

Source: Spectrem Group.

Percentage of Americans who have more emergency savings than they do credit card debt, according to a poll conducted for Bankrate.com: 52

Percentage who have more credit card debt than emergency savings: 23

Percentage who have neither -- which means they're one unplanned expense away from having high-cost debt: 19

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of American adults who say they have a favorable opinion of unions that represent workers at private companies, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press: 48

Percentage who say they have a favorable opinion of unions that represent people who work for state or local governments: 48

Percentage of people who say that when they hear of a dispute between unions and business their first reaction is to side with business: 43

Percentage whose first reaction is to side with unions: 40

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

Percentage of dentists who say women professionally whiten their teeth more than men, according to a survey conducted for the Chicago Dental Society's 146th annual Midwinter Meeting: 60

Percentage of dentists who report that basketball was the sport that resulted in the most dental injuries for their patients: 30

Percentage who said hockey: 20

Percentage of dentists who think that smiles are getting so perfect that they look artificial: 50

Source: Chicago Dental Society.

Though toothpicks have been used throughout history by both civilized and primitive cultures, year that the first toothpick-making machine was developed by Charles Forster in Boston, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1869

Year that Silas Noble patented a similar machine that is still in use today: 1872

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of renters who are looking for a bigger apartment, according to apartments.com: 13.3

Percentage who are shopping for a less expensive apartment: 9.7

Percentage who are moving due to rent increases: 6.7

Percentage who want to live in a safer neighborhood: 5.7

Source: Apartments.com.

Ranks of North Dakota, Washington, D.C., South Dakota and Alaska on the list of the areas with the best job markets in 2010, according to the Gallup Job Creation Index 2010: 1, 2, 3, 4

Ranks of Nevada, New Jersey, California and Oregon on the list of places with the worst job markets: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Gallup.

Compared to other planning activities, percentage of pre-retirees who are calculating the effects of inflation on their retirement planning, according to a report from the Society of Actuaries: 72

Percentage of retirees who are making the same calculation: 55

Source: Society of Actuaries.

Idle Thought

"I have gained this by philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law." -- Aristotle

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

Ranks of Iran, North Korea, China and Afghanistan on the list of countries Americans are most likely to mention as being the United States' greatest enemy: 1, 2 (tie), 4

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of first-time managers who were actually groomed for the job, according to a study from Development Dimensions International: 10

Percentage of new managers who don't understand what it takes to succeed: 42

Percentage who took the role for an increase in compensation: 50

Percentage who actually wanted to lead others: 23

Source: Development Dimensions International.

When Americans were asked whether trends such as more births to single parents, more unmarried couples living together, more gay or lesbian couples raising children and more interracial marriages were acceptable changes, percentage who generally accept the changes, according to a report from the Pew Research Center: 31

Percentage who reject virtually every trend that the "accepters" tolerate or endorse: 32

Percentage who, while generally sharing most of the tolerant views of the "accepters," also express concern about the impact of these trends on society: 37

Source: Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends.

Percentage of baby boomer clients who have postponed retirement due to the economic downturn, according to CPA financial planners surveyed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants: 50

Average number of years longer that they expect to work than they originally planned: 4

Source: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Percentage of human resources managers who said technology etiquette breaches can affect a person's career prospects, according to a poll by Robert Half International: 76

Source: Robert Half International.

When asked if they love, hate or are indifferent toward their job, percentage of U.S. employees who reported that they love their job, according to an Ipsos Public Affairs-Randstad survey: 55

Percentage who say they hate it: 8

Percentage who are indifferent: 37

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Amount of IBM Jeopardy! Challenge prize money to be donated to World Community Grid to fund global research that benefits humanity, according to IBM: $500,000

Number of personal computers from 535,000 volunteers in more than 80 countries by which the World Community Grid works by pooling the unused power: 1.7 million

Source: IBM Watson.

Year that a dairy cow named "Elm Farm Olli" became the first bovine passenger to fly in an airplane as part of the St. Louis International Air Exposition, where she was milked during the flight and the milk was parachuted to the ground in paper containers, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1930

Today, number of milk cows in the U.S. -- most of them permanently grounded: 9.2 million

Estimated number of pounds of milk they produce annually: 190 billion

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of Americans who agree that to jump-start investment and maintain U.S. competitiveness, the federal government should provide guarantees backing loans for building solar, wind, advanced-design nuclear power plants or other energy technology that reduces greenhouse gases, according to a survey conducted by Bisconti Research Inc./GfK Roper for the Nuclear Energy Institute: 79

Number of states where nuclear power plants operate: 31

Percentage of all U.S. electricity that is provided by these plants: 20

Source: Nuclear Energy Institute.

Percentage of small businesses that reported they are in a better financial position than one year ago, but that overall they remain cautious in recruitment plans, according to a nationwide survey from CareerBuilder: 51

Percentage of small businesses that plan to add full-time, permanent headcount in 2011: 21

Percentage of small businesses that expect to decrease full-time, permanent headcount: 6

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Idle Thought

"It is better to prevent crimes than to punish them." -- Cesare Beccaria, philosopher and politician (1738-1794)

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