oddities

Figuratively Speaking for June 01, 2014

Figuratively Speaking by by John MacIntyre
by John MacIntyre
Figuratively Speaking | June 1st, 2014

Rank of the art collection of David Geffen, a Dreamworks Animation co-founder, on the list of the owners of the 10 most valuable private art collections in the world, according to Wealth-X: 1

Net worth of David Geffen: $6.3 billion

Value of his art collection, consisting mostly of works by American artists from the second half of the 20th century, including Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning: $2.3 billion

Source: Wealth-X.

Percentage of all women who wear high heels, even though the majority of heel wearers complain these shoes hurt their feet, according to a survey by the American Podiatric Medical Association: 49

Number of pairs of high heels owned by the average woman who wears high heels: 9

When asked what they do when shoes hurt their feet, percentage of women who said they'd "wear them anyway if I like them": 38

Source: American Podiatric Medical Association.

In 1950, cost per mile of driving a car 10,000 miles per year, according to the annual Your Driving Costs study by AAA: 9 cents

Cost of a gallon of gasoline in 1950: 27 cents

Source: AAA.

Rank of Geneva, Switzerland, as the most expensive city in the world to order a club sandwich, at an average of $32.60, according to research released by Hotels.com: 1

Ranks of Paris ($29.36), Helsinki ($24.35), Stockholm ($24.05) and Oslo ($23.80) on the list: 2, 3, 4, 5

Rank of New York City at $17.99 (the most expensive city in the U.S.) on the list: 13

Source: Hotels.com.

Percentage of executives and managers who believe their leadership is stuck in a bubble most of the time, according to a survey conducted by AMA Enterprise: 33

Percentage who believe it happens on occasion: 50

When respondents were asked how often the leadership team was aware of the problem, percentage who said usually: 9

Source: American Management Association.

Percentage of Americans who name New York City as home to the least courteous/most rage-inducing drivers, according to a survey done for Expedia: 33

Ranks of Los Angeles (22 percent) and Atlanta (9 percent) on the list of cities with the least courteous drivers: 2, 3

Ranks of texter (a driver who texts, emails or talks on a phone while driving), tailgater and multi-tasker on the list of the most annoying or offensive behaviors: 1, 2, 3

Source: Expedia.

Percentage of workers who use remote technology to keep up with their jobs after work who said they experienced high stress levels, compared to 36 percent for those who never check emails after work, according to a survey from Gallup: 48

Source: SaveOnPhone.com.

Percentage of people who believe the best gift for a new graduate is money, according to a survey conducted by RetailMeNot: 50

On average, amount consumers consider an appropriate gift for high school graduates: $165

Amount they consider an appropriate gift for college graduates: $464

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

Year that the first practical automatic dishwasher was born, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1839

Year that Josephine Cochrane, a socialite who devised the dishwasher out of some annoyance at how her domestic staff damaged her china, was awarded a patent: 1886

Decade during which Cochrane sold her machines mainly to restaurants and hotels -- her company eventually becoming KitchenAid, now part of the Whirlpool Corp.: 1890s

In 2011, of the nation's more than 132 million housing units, number that had automatic dishwashers: 86 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of American adults who are willing to help college graduates find work, according to a survey conducted by Fairfield Inn & Suites: 77

Percentage of respondents who claim to have a mentor in their profession: 49

Percentage of respondents who said that recognition is not of significant importance to people who help others in their profession: 51

Source: Fairfield Inn & Suites.

Idle Thought

"A free society is a place where it's safe to be unpopular." -- Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965)

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

oddities

Figuratively Speaking for May 25, 2014

Figuratively Speaking by by John MacIntyre
by John MacIntyre
Figuratively Speaking | May 25th, 2014

Percentage of their salary that applicants would give up to have a job that lets them use familiar skills rather than risk being out of their depth in a job requiring skills they don't have, according to results of a recent survey by Survey Sampling International: 7

Percentage raise plus good health and retirement benefits that it takes to lure people from the job they already have with a company they know: 12

People may complain about commuting, but percentage more desirable it is having a 15- to 30-minute commute than working from home: 20

Source: SSI.

Percentage margin by which employers consider women to be better prepared than men for success in their first jobs, according to a survey conducted by KRC Research on behalf of Bentley University: 59 to 41

Percentage margin by which employers give the edge to men over their entire careers: 53 to 47

Source: KRC Research.

Percentage of Americans 65 and older who held a driver's license in 2010, compared to barely half in the early 1970s, according to a report from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety: 84

Percentage of drivers on U.S. roads who are 65 and older: 16.6

Source: AAA.

Percentage of prime-time viewers ages 18 to 49 who are what the study calls "cord lovers" -- meaning they have maintained or added to their cable or satellite services in the past six months -- according to a TV Dailies poll conducted by Ipsos MediaCT: 64

Percentage who were found to be "cord shavers," who had cut back on the level of services in the past six months: 27

Percentage of respondents who had not had a cable or satellite subscription at all in the past six months: 7

Source: Ipsos MediaCT.

Percentage of U.S. women who said they did not own any adult toys, according to an AdamAndEve.com survey: 54

Percentage who admitted they owned at least one: 41

Percentage of men who said they didn't own a sex toy: 64

Percentage who admitted they owned at least one: 32

Source: Adam & Eve.

Percentage of North American households who own a grill or smoker, according to a Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association survey: 80

Percentage who use their grill year-round: 60

Ranks of the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Father's Day on the list of the most popular holidays for outdoor cooking: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association.

Percentage of Expedia Elite Plus members who said that going on vacation is more important now than it was two years ago: 63

When asked the most important factors when making travel arrangements or while traveling, ranks of hotel room cleanliness, good customer service and privacy of online information: 1, 2, 3

Source: Expedia.

Nationwide, percentage increase in the number of people who traveled to work by bike over the last decade, from about 488,000 in 2000 to about 786,000 during the period from 2008 to 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 60

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of U.S. consumers who prefer personalized offers reflecting their shopping habits, according to a survey conducted by Synqera: 85

Percentage of Americans who coupon-browsed instead of window-browsed during the 2013 holiday seasons: 66

Source: Synqera.

Percentage of U.S. adults who had experienced a power outage for more than 12 hours in the last two years, who reported household costs ranging from spoiled food replacement to property damage repair, according to a survey sponsored by Briggs & Stratton Corp.: 69

Percentage of respondents who endured a power outage in the last two years who identified replacing spoiled food as the most common outage-related cost: 40

Source: Briggs & Stratton Corp.

Idle Thought

"The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think." -- Aristotle

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

oddities

Figuratively Speaking for May 18, 2014

Figuratively Speaking by by John MacIntyre
by John MacIntyre
Figuratively Speaking | May 18th, 2014

Of the roughly $48 billion in loyalty rewards dispensed each year, percentage of that amount that is never redeemed, according to a CardHub report: 33

Ranks of rewards expiring after a missed payment and requirements that consumers meet a minimum threshold before rewards could be redeemed on the list of the most common limitations found among all rewards cards: 1, 2

Source: CardHub.

Percentage of consumers who say that even if they had an abundance of money they would still use savings tactics when they shop, according to a survey by Time Inc.'s smart-shopping brand All You and RetailMeNot: 84

Ranks of shopping for clearance items, using coupons in-store and using coupon codes online on the list of tactics they would use: 1, 2, 3

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

Percentage higher tax penalties (as a percentage of adjusted gross income) that audited consumers who make less than $200,000 pay than people making more than $200,000, according to WalletHub: 83

Number of times higher the penalty is for audited corporations that earn $250,000 to $1 million than corporations earning $10 million to $50 million: 11

Source: WalletHub.

Between 1965 and last year, growth in the median annual earnings among full-time workers ages 25 to 32 with a college degree, according to a report from the Pew Research Center: $6,667

In the same period, fall in the typical high school graduate's earnings: $3,384

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

Average annual repair costs to small businesses to maintain a PC that is four years old or older, according to a study conducted by Techaisle with 736 small businesses in six countries -- the U.S., Brazil, China, Germany, Russia and India: $427

Hours lost: 7

Source: Techaisle.

Percentage of brides who say that the first wedding photo they posted or will post to social media was or will be a "selfie" (self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a handheld digital camera or camera phone), according to a Wakefield Research survey: 40

Source: Invisalign.

Percentage of men who feel self-conscious about the car they drive when picking up women on the first date, according to a survey by AnastasiaDate: 25

Percentage of men who think women are more interested in the type of car a man drives than the job he has: 30

Source: AnastasiaDate.

Percentage of CFOs not ready to stop working upon retirement who find the prospect of consulting somewhat or very attractive, according to a survey from Robert Half Management Resources: 75

Source: Robert Half Finance & Accounting.

Percentage of women for whom feelings of self-worth are intertwined with the act of giving back, according to a poll conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Loreal Paris: 96

Ranks of hardworking, independent, honest and resourceful on the list of qualities women with strong self-worth are very likely to have: 1, 2, 3, 4

Ranks of being fit, elegant, beautiful or wealthy on the list of attributes that are least likely to be associated with self-worth: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Average amount that consumers spent on Mom this Mother's Day, up 11 percent from last year's $152.52, according to a National Retail Federation Mother's Day spending survey: $168.94

Total spending: $20.7 billion

Source: NRF.

Idle Thought

"A person usually has two reasons for doing something: a good reason and the real reason." -- Thomas Carlyle

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

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