Of U.S. adults overhauling their finances, percentage who will focus on tackling debts for their credit cards, cars and/or mortgages: 43

Percentage who also intend to become a smarter shopper by using coupons and seeking sales/deals: 37

Percentage who will grow a six-month emergency fund: 27

Percentage who will focus on their 401(k), IRA or retirement fund: 18

Source: CouponCabin.

Number of residences, businesses and Post Office boxes that are reached by the U.S. Postal Service, the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation: 151 million

Number of retail locations operated by the Post Office: 32,000

Estimated annual revenue of the Postal Service: $65 billion

Estimated percentage of the world's mail delivered by the Postal Service: 40

If it were a private sector company, rank the U.S. Postal Service would hold in the 2011 Fortune 500: 35

Source: U.S. Postal Service.

By the next Year of the Snake, 2025, expected combined net worth of Chinese ultra-high net-worth individuals -- surpassing the projected collective wealth of their counterparts from New York, London and Paris, according to predictions from Wealth-X: $4.1 trillion

Source: Wealth-X.

Percentage of young American adults who expect to give up some of their career goals in order to have the family life they want -- with men as likely as women to have such expectations, according to a study released by Clark University: 61

Source: Clark University.

Percentage of respondents who believe that homeownership remains an essential part of the American dream, according to a LendingTree survey of homeowners: 79

Percentage who remain confident that if they wished to purchase a new home in the future, they would be able to sell their current home, obtain a mortgage and afford a down payment despite the recent recession and housing market crash: 76

Source: Lending Tree.

Percentage of couples who admit to arguing about cleaning at least once a month, according to a survey by Handybook: 37

Percentage of respondents who said their inability to find a maid leaves them feeling stressed: 50

Source: Handybook.

Estimated number of Americans who smoke, according to Legacy: 46 million

Each year, estimated number of people who die from tobacco-related diseases: 400,000

Number of new "replacement" smokers who become addicted each day: 1,200

Source: Legacy.

Percentage of singles who have had a "friends with benefits" relationship in the past (40 percent of women and 53 percent of men), according to survey by Match.com: 47

In 2012, percentage of these arrangements that turned into long-term relationships (a 24 percent increase over 2011): 44

Source: Match.com.

Estimated number of black-owned businesses in the U.S., representing a gain of more than 60 percent in the last five years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1.9 million

Number of people these businesses employ: 920,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Percentage of CFOs who find it very or somewhat beneficial to use temporary workers during employee absences, according to an Accountemps survey: 76

Percentage who cited maintaining productivity when they aren't ready to hire full-time workers as a benefit of using temporary staff: 72

Source: Accountemps.

Idle Thought

"Never cut what you can untie." -- Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

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

Number of Americans (36 percent) who believe it's socially acceptable to have a poor credit score, according to a survey conducted by JZ Analytics on behalf of ID Analytics: 77 million

Number of Americans (35 percent) who are more afraid of becoming an identity theft victim than they were five years ago: 75 million

Source: ID Analytics Inc.

Number of times their final pay level that workers need to meet their financial obligations in retirement, according to a survey by Aon Hewitt, the global human resources solutions business of Aon PLC: 11

Number of times their final pay that the average U.S. worker comes up short in savings: 2.2

Source: Aon PLC.

Year that Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen (accidentally) discovered an image cast from his cathode-ray generator, and named the new form of radiation "X-radiation" (X standing for "unknown"), according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1895

Year that Americans got their first glimpse of this medical marvel in an exhibit in New York City -- it came quickly into use in U.S. medicine, and then into overuse, (Thomas Edison's assistant Clarence Dally, after long, unshielded experimentation with X-rays, had both arms amputated, and then died in 1904 from exposure to radiation): 1896

Estimated number of medical devices and supply manufacturing establishments in the U.S.: 12,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Percentage of American workers who had not yet taken all of the vacation days allotted to them by their employer as of the end of November, according to a survey by Adecco Staffing U.S.: 75

Percentage of workers who are allotted three weeks or more of vacation time annually: 36

Source: Adecco.

Percentage of men and women around the world who say, "Flirting is just playful fun," according to a survey from Zoosk.com: 41

Percentage of men who will flirt with a woman even if he is not interested in pursuing a relationship with her: 54

Percentage of women who will flirt with a man even if she is not interested in pursuing a relationship with him: 41

Source: Zoosk.

Percentage of U.S. adults who feel that they have little (33 percent) or no (12 percent) control over the personal information companies gather while they are browsing the Web or using online services such as photo sharing, travel or gaming, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Microsoft: 45

Percentage who say that they only minimally understand (17 percent) or are totally confused (4 percent) when it comes to personal online protection: 21

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs RS.

Ranks of Ellen DeGeneres, Mark Harmon, Jon Stewart, Jim Parsons and Bill O'Reilly on the list of America's favorite TV personalities, according to a survey by Harris Interactive: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of Denzel Washington, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt on the list of America's favorite movie stars: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Harris Interactive.

Percentage of adults who report having been through an interview process, according to a poll conducted on behalf of Hire-Vue: 63

Percentage who say they have never done so (including 61 percent of those who are retired, and 45 percent of those without a college degree): 37

Source: Hire-Vue.

Percentage of global executives who are increasingly concerned about the growing risks to their supply chains and costly negative impacts such as margin erosion and the inability to keep up with demand, according to a survey from Deloitte: 53

Percentage of executives who say their supply-chain risk-management programs are only somewhat effective or not effective at all: 45

Source: Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP.

When asked about typical activities you'd do in a taxi, percentage of participants who responded that they talk, text or email on their phone, according to the annual global taxi survey compiled by Hotels.com: 76

Percentage who also said they slept: 56

Percentage who have shared a cab with a stranger: 35

Source: Hotels.com.

Idle Thought

"Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers and are famous preservers of youthful looks." -- Charles Dickens

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

Year that the personal computer was empowered to become something much greater than a glorified word processor with the release of the spreadsheet program Lotus 1-2-3 (spreadsheet, charting and graphing), according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1983

Today, estimated number of packaged software development firms there are in the U.S.: 8,200

Estimated number of people who work in the industry: 390,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of consumers who felt they had been overcharged for a repair at a dealership, according to a survey by AutoMD.com: 80

Percentage who said they believed they could save at least 10 percent by visiting an independent shop: 90

Percentage of respondents who said that they trust an independent repair shop more than a dealership to repair their vehicle: 67

Source: AutoMD.com.

Ranks of Samsung, Asus, Lenovo/IBM, HP, Toshiba and Apple on the list of the most reliable personal computer manufacturers, according to the results of Rescuecom's 2013 computer reliability report, which defines "reliability" as the physical reliability of the computers plus the after-the-sale computer support by the manufacturers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Percentage rise in the share of repair calls for Apple computers in 2012, up from 7.8 percent in 2011: 12.7

Percentage of all repair calls that are attributed to Dell: 33.2

Percentage of all repair calls that are attributed to Samsung: 0.7

Source: Rescuecom.

Projected average amount that diners planned to spend to celebrate Valentine's Day (63 percent more than the typical OpenTable check average of $85 per couple), according to a survey released by OpenTable: $139

Percentage of people who planned to dine out on the Thursday, Feb. 14: 51

Source: OpenTable Inc.

Percentage of the full-time workforce that is eligible for benefits, according to the 2012 Study of Large Employer Health Benefits from the ADP Research Institute: 88

Percentage of the total full-time workforce that is covered by their employer's health plan: 68

Percentage of the total workforce that is made up of part-time workers: 23

Of these part-time employees, percentage who are eligible for benefits: 15

Source: ADP.

Although it's been almost 45 years since Herbie hit the big screen in "The Love Bug," number of U.K. motorists who have been proposed to behind the wheel, according to research from Allianz: 1.9 million

Number of U.K. motorists who have had the brakes put on their relationships and been dumped while in the car: 2.3 million

Source: Allianz Life Insurance.

Percentage of companies that use a combination of individual and team measures in their sales compensation plan, according to a survey of 125 companies sponsored by the Alexander Group and WorldatWork: 41

Percentage of estimated annual median increase in sales revenue for all companies in 2013: 8.4

Percentage of companies that plan to increase their head count in 2013: 50

Source: The Alexander Group Inc.

Ranks of Aspen, Colo. ($241), Olympic Valley, Calif. ($239), and Alta/Snowbird, Utah, ($236) on the list of the most expensive ski resorts in the United States, based on what travelers would currently have to spend per night for a hotel room (minimum: 3-star hotel) that is located inside or within close proximity to the respective resorts: 1, 2, 3

Source: Cheaphotels.org.

Vaccination rate among individuals 50 years of age and older, according to an Ipsos poll: 50

Percentage of Americans who think that vaccines are not safe: 16

Percentage who think that one can catch flu from a vaccine: 34

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Rank of the Anheuser-Busch commercial in the 25th annual USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter (featuring a touching moment between a man and his Clydesdale) with a score of 7.76 (on a scale of 0 to 10): 1

Ranks of Tide, Ram and Frito-Lay Doritos on the Ad Meter: 2, 3, 4

Source: USA Today.

Idle Thought

"If you wish to make an apple pie truly from scratch, you must first invent the universe." -- Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer

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