Interesting Facts

According to a poll commissioned by  ISA and Scottish Friendly, Brits spend nearly 3 years of their lives dithering. (The top 5 reasons to dither were:- Choosing birthday presents. Choosing what to wear on a night out. What to eat for dinner. What to watch on TV. Where to go on holiday. What makes you dither?)

According to a survey conducted by uSwitch.com, 7 out of 10 Brits say they are middle-class, with a strong belief that middle-class people are more likely to be successful. (Only 53% think their parents were white-collar workers, and 6 out of 10 say their grandparents were working class. Fewer than a third of those who called themselves middle class were in a profession — such as lawyer or doctor, even though 3/4 of people believe being a professional is the top reason for being middle-class. The poll also showed that less than a 1/3of us believe our parents’ class or family wealth determines our status, which is just as well in my case, I'd have to go back down t' mine.) Search for "Class" if you want to learn more about the Class system in the UK.

If we ever needed proof that Brits are getting bigger, here it is:  High street retailer Debenhams is now stocking clothing in sizes up to XXXXXL. (Debenhams say they have begun to stock the 5XL size in male ranges to meet demand.  The new big and tall range goes up to a 64-inch chest and a 20-inch collar. The previous largest size was 3XL, but demand for larger sizes of shirts, suits, tops, casual jackets and trousers has soared by 170% over the last 2 years. If you go to their Big and Tall website, they even list XXXXXXL - 6XL! Now all I can think about is what clothing size the Hulk is.  Does anyone know?)

According to a study conducted by TopCashback website, on average, in 2015 pedestrians in the UK picked up £5.45 each in dropped change, and one in 20 managed to find £20. (However, millions of Brits would not stoop to pick up anything less than 50p dropped on the floor: only 4 in 10 people would bother to bend down to pick up a penny, and most would ignore anything that wasn't silver.  1 in 3 people said they would not pick up any cash dropped as in their eyes it would be stealing, however 8 in 10 Brits applied the finders-keepers rule, but they were unsur about how much they would pocket if no-one was around.  Most agreed that anything over £10 and they would hand it into the police, or give the cash to charity or a homeless person. 6 in 10 would hand in money left at a cash point by mistake, but only a fifth would run after the person who absent mindedly walked off without it.  Scarily 1 in 10 would quietly pop it into their purse or wallet. I will admit, I pi...

According to research from Japan, people over 40 perform best at work if their working week is restricted to 3 days. (They found that a part-time job keeps the brain stimulated, while avoiding exhaustion and stress. The bad news is that not working also damaged brain function. However, working extremely long hours was more damaging than not working at all.)

The number of coffee shops in the UK surpassed 20,000 in 2015, boosting sales by 10pc to £7.9bn.  (Unfortunately this soaring demand means there will be a problem; supply won't be able to keep up, and market experts are predicting a shortage of coffee within the next 3 years.  Strangely the price paid to producers means they aren't likely to want to increase productivity, as according to Mintec, the price of Arabica coffee has fallen by 35pc over the last year. If I run out of coffee, there will be no more sessions.)

15-year-old schoolboy Pranav Dhanawade, from the KC Gandhi High School, Kalyan, India, has become the first batsman to score 1000-plus runs in an innings in any form of cricket. (He reached 1000 runs in just 323 balls whilst batting against Arya Gurukul School in the Bhandari Cup (a tournament in India for under-16s). His score included 59 sixes and 129 fours, and his team declared the innings at 1465/3, which is also a world record, with Pranav unbeaten at 1009 runs. The previous record had stood for 116 years. Held by AEJ Collins since 1899 after he had struck an unbeaten 628 for Clark House against North Town House in the UK. I hope he's not a one-hit wonder.  Get it?  Oh never mind.)

According to website LatestinBeauty.com, 1 in 3 three women are disappointed when they open the present from their partner on Christmas Day. (25% of men were branded “clueless” when it came to buying gifts, and 50% of women admitted they were unlikely to get their dream present as their partners had good intentions but were hopeless at getting it right. The worst gifts ever received were:- a Shewee (A reusable plastic contraption for those caught short while out and about.) a fishing rod cellulite cream intimate bodywash a windscreen wash kit (Spot who went to the all night garage.) a fossil a dustpan and brush a chainsaw weighing scales a high visibility jacket for dog walking a lurid green jumper with an embroidered alien In reality most women’s wish lists are fairly straightforward: a designer handbag, a romantic break or a watch were amongst the longed for items. Hubby gave me a Swiss Army knife once, but I asked him to.)

An  £11,000-a-year private school in London has banned its pupils from watching TV or surfing the internet - even when they are at home. (With a strict no-tech policy, London Acorn School has banned all smartphones, computers, iPads etc., in the hope that the children will learn from the natural world instead. The school, for pupils aged 3 to 18, has also banned television for under-12s, with older pupils being allowed to watch "restricted programmes".  What? No Dr Who?)

If you ever needed proof that remembering lists of words doesn't mean you can speak the language, here it is. 48-year-old New Zealander, Nigel Richards, is the French-language world Scrabble champion, but he can't speak French. (He is 3 times world Scrabble champion, 5 times US champion, and has won 12 titles in the King’s Cup championship in Bangkok, but became world Champion of Francophone Scrabble, after memorizing all possible words in the official French scrabble dictionary, with two to 10 letters. Throw those vocabulary lists away.)

According to a report in the International Journal of Clinical Practice: wearing high heels regularly for more than 3 years can ruin your feet. (Initially high heels can strengthen muscles around the ankle, but after three years some muscles become dominant and this increases the risk of sprains, and more severe problems like deformed feet, back pain and unhealthy walking patterns. I've spent most of my adult life in flatties, but I still have problems.  I think it's called old age.)

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, on average British mums spend 3 hours a day on housework and cooking, whereas fathers spend an average of three quarters of an hour. (In 8 out of 10 couples, women do all the washing and ironing, but things are changing, a magazine survey in 1999 revealed that among the over-60s age group, none of the men surveyed ever did the washing! Of course in 1980 only 31% of women had a full-time or part-time job compared to 55% today. According to therapist Julia Cole, most men still expect women to do the housework, and if men do it, they act as though they are doing their partner a favour; saying things like: 'I've done the washing up for you' instead of regarding it as something which benefits both of them.)

After being told to eat 3 square meals a day all our lives, experts are now warning us that eating breakfast, lunch and dinner may be damaging our health. (Abigail Carroll, who wrote 'Three Squares: The Invention of the American Meal', argues that the idea of eating three meals a day is a European invention from the Middle Ages, supposedly more civilised than eating when you're hungry. Now experts are saying that fasting can be good for your health. Maybe they are just getting us ready for food shortages.)

Young children really believe they become invisible if other people can't see their eyes. (Studies carried out by researchers at the University of Cambridge found that when children aged between 3 and 4 had their eyes covered with masks, they really believed they could not be seen by the researchers. On being asked to explain how they were made invisible by simply hiding their eyes, many knew that their bodies remained visible, suggesting a childhood distinction between their physical bodies and the 'self' they connect to their eyes. Peekaboo! The eyes really are the window to the soul.)

A dozen roses in the UK could set you back anything from a whopping £44.99, to a mere 3 quid. Here's a list of the War of the Roses:- Lidl - £3 Asda - £5 Tesco - £5 Morrisons - £5 Sainsbury's - £5 Marks & Spencer - £12 Interflora £44.99  (Shall we call that £45?) Gentlemen, if you do go for the Lidl option, might I suggest you remove the price tag? 12 x Fairtrade® red roses from M&S?  £22.00.

Illegal tobacco is one of the most commonly smuggled products to the UK. (Criminals are often managing to beat UK border controls by sending illegal goods by post. More than a million such parcels are sent to British homes every year. Alongside cigarettes, criminals are sending guns, and drugs! It's all costing the taxman an estimated £3billion, a year, but I bet they pay with Bitcoins. Don't these criminals read the Royal Mail's terms and conditions ?)

90 is the new 70 (For women). According to experts women can now expect to live 4 scores years and 10, instead of the biblical 3 score years and 10. (The latest official life expectancy projections for England and Wales now show that in a growing number of areas it is already the norm for people to live until they are almost 90, and that trend is set to grow, and although women still outlive men overall, it seems men are catching up; in the last 4 years the life expectancy gap between men and women has narrowed by 10 per cent. So, it's good news all round. As long as you've got your health.)

According to the United Nations, Spain, Norway and Luxembourg have donated l ess money to the global fight against Ebola than Ikea. CC 2.0  (The 3 European countries have collectively donated €3.2m, while the Swedish furniture seller has donated €5.3m. Maybe they should start calling it the United States of Ikea.) http://www.un.org/ebolaresponse/

According to a survey conducted by Tecmark, the average Brit checks his/her smartphone around 200 times a day. (The average smartphone user spends about 3 hours and 16 minutes every day on their phone, which amounts to about a full day a week. 4 in 10 of those surveyed admitted to feeling “lost” without their phone. I guess that is true, especially if they use a navigation app.)

According to a poll conducted by magazine Terre de Vins (Wine Country), most French people don't know much about wine. (71% of people surveyed said that they didn't know much about wine, of these 43% admitted to knowing nothing at all. Only 3% thought they were well versed in the subject, whilst 26% said they "knew enough." For me, wine is like art, I know what I like.)