I believe Malcolm handled your date question, so i will respond to the other.
The Document_Open() event either doesn't seem to be firing on load or it's just not capable of doing what i want. I'm trying for example to put a label on a template word doc and then reload it with vba script that simply changes the caption and i'm having no luck.
Please clarify precisely what you are doing with the template. Templates are cloned using File > New. Are you doing this? If you are NOT, then you are not using the template properly.

If you ARE, then Document_Open will not be the correct event to use. File > New does not open the template. Document_New is what you use when you are properly using a template and you want to execute code when you clone the new document.

You are going to have to explain what you mean by "label on a template word doc". I do not know what you are talking about. What does "reload" mean?