The first thing I discovered was that Excel, and probably all of Microsoft Office, was not working. It said that it needed "proret.msi" from the installation CD. The strange thing is I'm sure it worked 3 weeks ago when I shut off the computer. It wasn't even a full shutdown, only a hibernate. Of course, I have no idea where that installation CD went. So I filled out those reimbursement forms using OpenOffice.org 2.1 instead. Hmm... I wonder how many MS Office installations eventually get abandoned because of that needing-files-from-the-CD annoyance.
Then I went to find the Truckin geocache. It's in the woods next to the tandem trailer area on the New York Thruway in Sloatsburg. The tandem trailer area is supposed to be a parking area for trucks but I didn't see any signs prohibiting passenger vehicles, so I guess it's okay.
Palisades Center Mall trip in the evening. I was surprised that, even on Jan 2, the underground parking garage was nearly full! One would think that people would be done shopping by now. The purpose of this trip was to take a look at the 75%-off sale on holiday merchandise at the Target store. They didn't have very much left that was of interest, so I got the holiday cookies. And then I went to the food court and used one of the Wendy's coupons that I got as a charity event volunteer. (Will fursuit for coupons. :) )
What else? I also cashed a survey check at a bank branch near home. It has occurred to me that receiving $20 for only 15 minutes of work clicking on an online consumer survey is pretty good pay if I could do it all the time. Of course, the problems are two-fold: Firstly, I don't get enough survey invitations, only about one a month, if that. And secondly, I'd probably get tired of answering those questions after a while. Of course, the irony is I was asked to evaluate ad campaigns that I'll probably never see (because I don't watch TV at home) about products that I'll probably never use, so let's hope that I have reasonably good judgment.