Percentage of Americans who believe their communications histories (including phone calls, emails and Internet use) are accessible to the government, businesses, and others, according to figures from Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll: 85

Percentage who feel that they have little or no control over the type of information that is collected and used by various groups and organizations: 66

Percentage who feel that they are unable to correct inaccurate personal information: 59

Source: Allstate Insurance Co.

Percentage of Americans who have enough savings to cover at least six months' expenses, according to research from Bankrate.com: 24

Percentage who have less than three months': 50

Percentage who have no emergency savings: 27

Source: Bankrate.com.

Average number of hours per month that baby boomers spend watching TV (significantly more than millennials' 107 hours per month), according to Nielsen: 174

Percentage of prescription drug sales accounted for by boomers: 77

Percentage of leisure travel spending accounted for by boomers: 80

Source: Nielsen Analytics.

Percentage of Americans who say Kanye West and Kim Kardashian's baby will be more spoiled than Prince William and Kate's baby: 50

Percentage who said William and Kate's baby: 10

When women were asked which famous mom they would like to have a play date with, percentage who picked Kate Middleton: 19

Percentage who chose Kim Kardashian: 4

Source: Harris Interactive.

Percentage of consumers who are more likely to choose a lower price over better service (a choice that tends to fall in the favor of larger businesses that can take advantage of economies of scale), according to a survey by by CreditDonkey.com: 52

Percentage who say they have not bought something because they were not happy with the customer service they were getting: 80

Percentage who said their customer service experience with small companies meets or exceeds expectations: 94

Source: CreditDonkey.com.

Percentage of Americans and their bed partners whose sleep is interrupted by snoring (though most just suffer through it instead of seeking help), according to a survey sponsored by ResMed: 84

Number of times more likely that men are to say their bed partner leaves the room to escape their snoring: 2

Percentage of people who still choose to suffer through a sleepless night instead of leaving the bedroom or seeking solutions: 65

Source: ResMed.

Of the top 20 most-searched international destinations for summer travel, number of European cities that made the list, according to Fly.com: 8

Number of Caribbean islands that made the list: 7

Ranks of London, Paris and Dublin on the list: 2, 3, 5

Ranks of Puerto Rico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic on the list of 20: 1, 4, 7

Source: Fly.com.

Percentage of homeowners nationwide who are underwater on their mortgages, according to Zillow Negative Equity Report, May 2013: 25

Percentage of homeowners who plan to make a home improvement or addition this summer: 60

Median amount homeowners plan to spend on summer home improvement projects: $1,200

Source: Zillow.

Percentage of workers who identified in-house, instructor-led workshops as the type of professional training they value most, according to a survey from OfficeTeam: 33

Percentage of employees who cited tuition reimbursement for off-site seminars: 22

Percentage who cite online courses: 18

Percentage who named reference books: 16

Source: OfficeTeam.

Percentage of Americans who believe that in the next 40 years computers will be able to converse like human beings, according to Pew Research: 81

Percentage who believe there will be a cure for cancer: 71

Percentage who believe there will be artificial limbs that will perform better than natural ones: 66

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

Idle Thought

"Our chief want in life is somebody who shall make us do what we can." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher

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

Percentage of the annual income that retirees earned during their working years that they'll need in retirement, according to Interest.com: 70

Of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, number where this requirement falls short: 49

Ranks of Nevada (70.72 percent) and Hawaii (70.06 percent) on the list -- the only states to reach the 70 percent threshold: 1, 2

At the start of 2012, average Social Security payment for a retired worker, the primary source of income for a majority of retired Americans: $1,230 a month ($14,760 a year)

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

Percentage of married Americans who completely trust their spouse's money management skills, according to the Country Financial Security Index survey: 63

Percentage of respondents who say they did not discuss how they would handle their joint finances before marriage: 42

Percentage of couples who manage their money completely jointly: 67

Source: Country Financial.

Percentage of Generation Y women (half of the 80 million strong cohort of Americans between the ages of 18 and 35) who consider shopping to be a form of entertainment and something to share with friends and family, according to a survey by the Urban Land Institute: 70

Percentage of the men who agree: 50

Percentage of respondents who said they dine out at least once a week with friends or family: 46

Percentage of Gen-Yers who receive financial assistance from their parents: 34

Source: Urban Land Institute.

Century to which roller coasters can trace their roots to ice slides in Russia, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 15th

In the U.S., year that the first roller coaster opened at Coney Island, N.Y.: 1874

Length of the ride that was called the "Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway": 1 minute

Breakneck speed of the ride: 6 miles per hour

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of hiring managers who said young adults' inability to directly and clearly answer questions and articulate their skills and experience during the interview are main factors for them not getting the job, according to a survey of hiring managers from Adecco Staffing U.S.: 34

Ranks of lack of eye contact, checking phone/texting, fidgeting and bad posture on the list of other slip-ups made during an interview: 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Adecco.

Percentage of working moms who said their children have asked them to work less, according to an annual CareerBuilder study: 28

Percentage who reported that they spend two hours or less with their children each day during the workweek: 24

Percentage of working moms who said their jobs have negatively impacted their relationship with their children: 17

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of those 35 and older who reported that their job is the No. 1 reason for needing a vacation, yet a majority do not plan to take all of their vacation time, according to a Best Western Vacation Citation survey conducted with Wakefield Research: 68

Ranks of "concern over spending money" (33 percent) and "too much work" (16 percent) on the list of vacation obstacles cited by respondents: 1, 2

Source: Wakefield Research.

Rank of shopping on the list of the most popular vacation activity this summer, according to more than half of respondents, according to the results of the 2013 summer travel survey by TripAdvisor: 1

Ranks of swimming, going to a museum, visiting a national or state park, and attending a BBQ or cookout on the list of the most popular vacation activities: 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: TripAdvisor.

Percentage of U.S. homes that contain a cat, according to a survey by Ipsos Public Affairs: 34

Percentage of U.S. households that can be called a "dog house": 48

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs RS.

Percentage of C-level executives -- across all industries -- who say that regulatory changes have caused either substantial or moderate changes in their risk management and reporting processes in the past two years, according to a new KPMG International survey report: 70

Percentage of health care executives who said government pressure to contain spending was their biggest threat: 50

Percentage of executives in diversified industrials who said an economic slowdown in the 34 markets comprising the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (including North America, most of Europe, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand) was their biggest risk: 49

Source: KPMG LLP.

Idle Thought

"Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher." -- Japanese proverb

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

Average cost of a hotel's club sandwich in a Geneva, Switzerland -- the most expensive city in the world to buy the sandwich, according to the annual Hotels.com Club Sandwich Index: $30.45

Ranks of Paris ($27.45), Oslo ($26.72), Stockholm ($23.21), Copenhagen ($22.33) and Rome on the list: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Of the cities surveyed, rank of India's New Delhi, the cheapest destination to buy a hotel's club sandwich, with an average price of just $9.11: 28

Source: Hotels.com.

Percentage of millennial women (ages 18 to 29) who said they would want to be the No. 1 leader of a large or prominent organization, according to a survey commissioned by Zeno Group: 15

Percentage of millennial women who say the sacrifices women leaders have to make aren't worth it: 49

Percentage who agree that women leaders have to make more sacrifices than their male counterparts: 90

Source: Zeno Group.

Percentage of employees who are more motivated by recognition and virtual rewards compared to financial incentives, according to the results of a survey by Badgeville: 70

Percentage of employees who said recognition for contributions is more fulfilling than any rewards and gifts: 83

Source: Badgeville.

Rank of Asians on the list of the nation's fastest-growing race or ethnic group in 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau annual population estimates: 1

Current Asian population in the U.S. today, up by 530,000, or 2.9 percent, from the preceding year: 18.9 million

Percentage of this growth that came from international migration: 60

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Number of hot dogs eaten by Americans every year, according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council: 20 billion

Number consumed on July 4 alone: 150 million

Rank of Iowa as largest per capita July 4 hot dog consumer: 1

Source: National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.

Average amount of money that car buyers spent on new car purchases in 2012 -- an all-time high, according to Edmunds.com's 2013 Car Shopping Trends Report: $30,803

Average amount of money (or about 7 percent above base prices) that was spent on optional equipment for those cars: $2,200

Source: Edmunds.com.

Percentage of adults who say they monitor the activity of children in their households on social networking sites such as Facebook, according to findings of a study by the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future: 70

Percentage who have password access to the children's accounts: 46

Source: Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

With a below-average degree cost and a healthy median annual salary of approximately $80,000, number of years it is projected to take civil engineers to achieve student loan freedom, according to a study by Bankrate.com: 8.5 years.

Although doctors earn a comfortable salary ($172,020), the number of years it is projected for a doctor to pay off his/her student loans: 11

Estimated number of years that the typical lawyer will pay for his/her student loans: 13

Source: Bankrate Inc.

As digital streaming continues to be on the upswing in 2013, percentage of Americans who say that they stream at least once a week, according to a survey of 1,000 streaming media consumers commissioned by M-GO and Lab42: 84

Comparatively speaking, percentage of Americans who are "steaming it up" with their significant others with the same frequency, according to The Durex Global Sex Survey: 53

Source: Lab42.

Rank of Samsung in terms reliability, according to the Reliability Report, which now includes tablets based on U.S. Computer Market Share and RESCUECOM Computer Repair Share: 1

Ranks of Apple, Lenovo/IBM, Asus and Toshiba on the list: 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: RESCUECOM.

Idle Thought

"Art is the elimination of the unnecessary." -- Pablo Picasso

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