I'm using Office Standard 2003 with it's Sept 2003 svc pack; users  here have
a range of installations, but the problem arose in Office 2002...so that
must mean the most sophisticated version coming from my machine doesn't work
on anyone else's. I think it's the Format() function in VB that breaks. But
then I wonder how it's possible to build a "robust" solution in VB that DOES
work on users' workstations. (VB 6.0 was installed when I came to this
workstation, though I've only been working in VBA (or so I thought).

It's mind-boggling the Date() function(s) is so poorly
documented--obfuscation, laborious, conundrum--come to mind. I'd thought
dates (today's date plus some date 30 or 40 days, or a year later) on forms
to have been around since the advent of Excel. Seems even programming
languages that 'support' two contiguous versions of Office are more
exclusive than the spoken/written word across diverse cultures.