Percentage of those travelers who stay with their relatives over the holidays who confessed they'd rather stay somewhere else, according to TripAdvisor's Holiday Travel Survey: 25

HOLIDAY TIFFS

Percentage who have argued with a family member during the "season of good will": 31

FIX VERSUS TOSS

Percentage of consumer spending that is now focused on repairing items rather than purchasing new items, according to a report by Kiwi Shoe Care: 8

BEST INDUSTRIES

Ranks of Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, providers, search engines, e-commerce and online auctions, online dating and matchmaking, and tank and armored vehicle manufacturing on the list of the best performing industries of the past decade (2000 to 2009), according to IbisWorld: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

BEST TO COME

Ranks of VoIP providers, retirement and pension plans, biotechnology, e-commerce and online auctions, and environmental consulting on the list of best performing industries in the coming decade (2010 to 2019): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

A LOT OF PEOPLE

On the eve of the 2010 Census, projected total U.S. population — three months out from Census Day (April 1) — according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 308,400,408

U.S. BIRTH RATE

In January 2010, number of births expected to occur every eight seconds in the United States: 1

U.S. DEATH RATE

Number of deaths expected to occur every 12 seconds: 1

U.S. IMMIGRATION

Number of people expected to be added every 37 seconds through net international migration: 1

I'LL TAKE ONE

Approximate cost of an airport body scanner (which, if installed at all airports worldwide, will require billions of dollars and impact ticket prices or taxes), according to George Hobica from www.Airfarewatchdog.com: $150,000 to $200,000

ECONOMIC WORRY

As 2009 comes to a close, percentage of Americans who are filled with significant uncertainty and anxiety about the state of the U.S. economy and its prospects for a quick recovery in the New Year, according to polling firm StrategyOne: 87

ON THE RECESSION

Percentage who disagree with economic experts that the U.S. is no longer in a recession: 78