47: Percentage of workers who described their office buildings and office environments as either "bland," "dumpy" or "stodgy."

1, 2, 3, 4: Ranks of covered parking, subsidized cafeteria or restaurant, fitness or workout center, and on-site day care on the list of the most important office building amenities.

Source: Blumberg Capital

---

None: Minimum statutory employee notice period in the U.S. and Mexico between resignation and departure (for white-collar employees with one year's service), according to data from Mercer's Global HR Factbook.

1 week: Minimum statutory employee notice period in Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore and the U.K.

2 weeks: Minimum statutory employee notice period in Cyprus, Finland, Malta, Russia, Ukraine, Bolivia and Spain.

2 months: Minimum statutory employee notice period in Czech Republic, Slovakia and Switzerland.

Source: Mercer

---

73: Percentage of U.S. adults who say they are very or somewhat likely to reduce their overall debt level in 2008, according to an Experian/Gallup poll.

49: Percentage who say they plan to cut back on entertainment outlays.

58: Percentage of U.S. adults who say they are not likely to read a book or take a course on personal finance.

56: Percentage who say they are not likely to reduce the number of credit cards they have.

Source: Experian Consumer Direct

---

62: Percentage of companies that have made policy changes to better accommodate working parents, according to a survey of senior executives developed by Office Team.

Source: OfficeTeam

---

1, 2, 3, 4, 5: Ranks of the Dominican Republic, Hawaii, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Aruba as the top island getaways for U.S. travelers, based on recent traffic for these destinations on tripadvisor.com.

Source: TripAdvisor

---

Idle Thought

"I've made an odd discovery. Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk with my gardener, I'm convinced of the opposite." — Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician

---

John MacIntyre has been writing Figuratively Speaking since 1989. You can contact him by e-mail at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.