Etc...

See, it's not all bad

By now, you've heard the stories from Florida about the effects of hurricane Dennis last weekend. But here's one you may have missed: Before making landfall, it took care of a problem that had been bothering environmentalists for three years. As Dennis passed Key Largo on its way north, its winds so roiled the water below that a sunken ship serving as an artificial reef flipped over and now is resting properly - on its keel. The retired USS Spiegel Grove had gone to the bottom upside down in 2002, and salvage divers weren't able to right it. "I'm flabbergasted," said the reef project director after discovering the change. "Nature took its course and put it where it belongs."

Americans may spend a lot of time at work, but that doesn't mean they're actually working - at least according to results of a new online survey by America Online and Salary.com. It reveals that, on average, employees waste more than two hours a day on activities unrelated to their jobs. (And that doesn't include lunch.) Altogether, the research indicates that this lack of production sets employers back as much as $759 billion a year in salary costs. The biggest sinkhole: the Internet. The leading ways that Americans waste time in the workplace, and the percentage of survey respondents citing each:

1. Surfing Internet for personal use 44.7%
2. Socializing with co-workers 23.4%
3. Conducting personal business 6.8%
4. Daydreaming 3.9%
5. Running errands off premises 3.1%
6. Making personal phone calls 2.3%
7. Applying for other employment 1.3%
8. Planning personal events 1.0%
9. Arriving late, leaving early 1.0%
10. Other 12.5%
- Associated Press/ salary.com