Percentage of Americans who have faked excuses who delivered their fake excuse via text message, according to a Harris Poll commissioned by Sling TV: 58

Percentage who did it via a phone call or voicemail: 55

Percentage who go the "extra mile" to embellish and make fake excuses seem more believable: 52

Ranks of refraining from going on social media, powering down mobile phones or turning off all the lights in the home on the list of lengths to which people will go to avoid being found out: 1, 2, 3

Source: Sling TV.

Despite the booming $45.4 billion coffee shop industry in the U.S., percentage of Americans who get their coffee from home during an average week, according to a survey from Reddi-wip, a Conagra brand: 89

Ranks of convenience, money management and part of their routine on the list of reasons to make their coffee at home: 1, 2, 3

Source: Conagra Brands.

Percentage of Americans who have a favorite room in their home, according to a survey from Ally Home: 88

Of those, percentage who say that room is their favorite because it is where they go to hide from their kids/spouse/partner: 13

Percentage of millennials who picked the master bedroom as their favorite room in their home: 70

Percentage of baby boomers who did the same: 84

Source: Ally Financial.

Average amount of money that shoppers say they will spend this Halloween, according to the National Retail Federation's survey conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics: $86.27

This year's total, expected to be the third-highest in the survey's 15-year history after the record $9.1 billion set in 2017: $8.8 billion

Source: NRF.

Percentage of people with insomnia or sleeping difficulties who agreed "having a good night's sleep" means "having a good day," according to Eisai Inc.'s survey "How America Sleeps and Wakes": 90

When they wake up the next day after not having a good night's sleep, percentage of patients who reported feeling tired or fatigued (with only 7% reported feeling "ready to start their day"): 67

Source: Eisai Inc.

When IT hiring managers evaluate entry-level job applicant resumes, ranks of most current work experience, educational background, past projects and successes, and relevant certifications on the list of factors that carry the most importance, according to research from Robert Half Technology: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Robert Half Technology.

Percentage of employees who have all the resources they require to be productive on Day One, according to the results of a survey by Ivanti: 15

Percentage of IT professionals who know someone who still has access to a former employer's applications and data: 52

Source: Ivanti.

Percentage of consumers who are concerned about going over their budgets this holiday season, according to a survey commissioned by Splitit Payments Ltd.: 42

Percentage of consumers who are especially concerned about expensive shipping costs: 14

Source: Splitit.

Percentage of Americans who say they can distinguish a phishing message from a genuine one, according to a report by Webroot, executed in partnership with Wakefield Research: 79

Percentage who are aware that phishing attempts can occur through email, but fail to recognize the many other ways hackers conduct phishing attacks: 81

Source: Webroot Software Inc.

Percentage of Americans who say they are annoyed when an ad interrupts a YouTube video, according to a nationwide survey about cable-cutting and subscribing to streaming services by the market research team at Colling Media: 73

Source: Colling Media.

Idle Thought

"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." -- Thomas Pynchon, writer

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

Percentage of western managers (where western is defined as France, the U.K., Germany and U.S., all with equal weights) who are feeling more overworked, more stressed, and less supported than they did just a few years ago, saying their job is tougher than it was, according to a global survey commissioned by Boston Consulting Group: 81

Percentage of western nonmanagers who said they aspire to become a manager, setting the stage for a shortage of supervisors: 10

Source: Boston Consulting Group.

Rank of the "weekend break" -- defined as a quick couple of days in a new city or going to an off-the-grid location -- on a list of the most popular solo trips, according to an Expedia survey: 1

When it comes to future solo trips, percentage of Americans who say their ideal location is in the U.S. (followed by Canada and Europe): 74

Source: Expedia.

Percentage of Americans who believe that extraterrestrial life exists, according to an Ipsos poll: 52

Percentage who say they visit our planet: 29

Among those who are familiar with or have at least heard of Area 51, percentage who believe there are advanced Air Force weapon systems held there: 48

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of American gym-goers do not wash their gym clothes before wearing them on a repeat visit to the gym, according to a survey by the website Treadmill-Ratings-Reviews.com: 31

Rank of yoga participants on the list of the worst offenders: 1

Rank of cardio participants on the list of the most likely to wash their clothes: 1

Source: Treadmill Ratings Reviews.

Percentage of Americans who say they have some kind of budget, according to a survey by Slickdeals: 74

Of those, percentage who still have trouble keeping themselves within their own parameters, despite their best efforts: 79

Source: Slickdeals.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, amount of credit card debt in the United States: $868 billion

Percentage of U.S. adults who listed mortgages and credit cards (a tie) as their main source of debt, more than double the next two highest sources -- car loans (9%) and personal education loans (8%) -- according to the 2019 Northwestern Mutual Planning & Progress Study: 22

Source: Northwestern Mutual.

In terms of the single most innovative travel development over the past century, percentage of consumers who cited the Wright brothers' first flight, according to a poll by the American International Group Inc.: 79

Ranks of the debut of GPS car navigation systems and the first commercial passenger flight on the list of the most innovative travel developments: 2, 3

Source: AIG Travel

Percentage of working parents who cited a lack of patience as their top guilt-inducing regret, according to survey findings released by Primrose Schools: 31

Percentage who regretted not spending enough quality time with their kids: 26

Percentage who blamed "working too much" as a source of their feelings of guilt: 15

Source: Primrose Schools.

Percentage of all internet spending on TV and movies that is accounted for by subscriptions, up from 50% in 2012, according to research by Parks Associates: 86

Source: Parks Associates.

Speaking out anonymously through the youth engagement tool U-Report, percentage of young people who said social networks -- including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter -- are the most common place for online bullying: 75

Percentage of respondents who believed governments should end cyberbullying: 32

Percentage who put the onus on young people themselves to stop the harassment: 31

Percentage who cited internet companies as bearing the chief responsibility: 29

Source: UN News Centre.

Idle Thought

"This world is divided roughly into three kinds of nations: those that spend lots of money to keep their weight down; those whose people eat to live; and those whose people don't know where their next meal is coming from." -- David S. Landes, professor of economics and history

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

Average reading grade level at which most credit card agreements are written, according to a new CreditCards.com report: 11th

Approximate percentage of consumers who read at a ninth-grade level or below: 50

Average number of words in a credit card agreement, which takes a typical adult about 20 minutes to read: 4,900

Percentage of credit card holders who "never" or "hardly ever" read the legal agreements that come with their cards: 46

Source: CreditCards.com.

Percentage of employees who have applied to between three and nine jobs in the last six months, according to Nielsen's Home Entertainment Consumer Trends report: 29

Percentage of employees who feel every job is temporary: 43

Percentage of employees who feel changing jobs will increase compensation: 57

Source: ManpowerGroup.

Date that a Domino's franchise in Auckland, New Zealand, delivered a pizza via drone, according to research by YouGov: Aug. 25, 2016

According to a poll from YouGov, percentage of Americans aged 18 and older who think drones are capable of delivering pizza without a hitch: 35

More specifically, percentage of people who trust that a drone will actually let go of the food when it's supposed to: 32

Source: YouGov.

Percentage of Americans who voted for the same person as their partner in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, according to an Ipsos survey: 64

This year, percentage of independents who believe they will vote for the same person as their partner: 56

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of Americans who believe income from investments should be taxed at least as much as wages, according to the 2016 Tax Fairness Survey by WalletHub: 90

Percentage of respondents who view tax fairness as more important than whatever is best for the economy (22.6 percent) and tax equality (20.6 percent): 56.7

Ranks of taxes on wages and corporations on the list of the least fair taxes: 1, 2

Ranks of taxes on alcohol and tobacco on the list of the most fair taxes: 1, 2

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of employers who say two or more hours a day are lost in productivity because employees are distracted, according to a CareerBuilder Survey: 75

When looking for a culprit, percentage of employers who say that workers' mobile phones/texting are to blame: 55

Percentage of workers who have smartphones: 83

Percentage of those with smartphones who keep them within eye contact at work: 82

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of Americans who say they turn off lights, televisions or other appliances when not in use in order to improve energy efficiency at home, according to results of a Harris Poll: 75

Percentage of Americans who are replacing incandescent bulbs with fluorescent bulbs: 50

Percentage who are looking for the Energy Star label when replacing appliances: 47

Percentage who are using low-watt bulbs where lighting isn't critical: 46

Source: The Harris Poll.

Percentage of total expenditures on course textbooks nationwide that goes toward print materials, according to data from Nielsen's U.S. Student Attitudes Towards Content in Higher Education report: 69

Source: Nielsen Analytics.

Percentage of people who say they buy or rent their home media content both physically and digitally, according to Nielsen's Home Entertainment Consumer Trends report: 41

Even though Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy five years ago, percentage of people who said they still buy or rent only physical discs: 20

Source: Nielsen Online.

Rank of road accidents on the list of the most prolific killers of tourists, even in countries that suffer from terrorism or violence, according to research by the Global Wellness Institute: 1

For the United States, number of times more that the domestic homicide rate exceeds the rate of Americans killed while traveling abroad for tourism purposes (last year, 4 per 100,000 vs. 0.2 per 100,000): 20

Source: Global Wellness Institute.

Idle Thought

"Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong." -- Leo Buscaglia

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