Meh. I like summer better. I had so much less to do then.

I'm surprised that no one commented on the mystery shopping. No one cares that I am participating in HEART-POUNDING, EDGE-OF-YOUR-SEAT ESPIONAGE? As silly as it sounds, I do get a little adrenaline rush from it... the danger of getting "caught." I've completed 4 "shops," as they're referred to: two ice cream shops (same company, different locations), a cell phone shop (major national provider), and an internet service shop (a different major provider). I've also got four more shops scheduled between now and next Monday: two at different locations for a major fast food chain, one at a major pet supply store, and one dinner for Ryan and myself at a "bar and grill" type chain restaurant.

The shops themselves require a little preparation (memorize what you need to notice, learn your "lines") and a good deal of paperwork afterwards (complete detailed survey, scan and email receipts, etc). During the actual shop, it requires a bit of skill to simultaneously make all your observations, talk to the associates, and maintain your front. So it is "work." Still, I think it's just the bee's knees:

• choose your shops; work as much or as little as you want
• for one of my companies, you can literally log on to their website when you're bored, find a shop nearby, and do it right away
  
• reimbursement for purchases
• pay on top of that, unless it's a really sweet reimbursement deal
• edge-of-your-seat espionage, where lying is encouraged

For example, in addition to free ice cream, I get up to $10 in pet supplies this weekend and up to $25 for dinner. For the fast food shops, you get pay plus 2 free meals (walk-in and drive-thru). So, I may have to get a little more exercise to offset the calories of all this free food, but it's substantial enough that our food bill should decrease somewhat.

Anyhow, I'm hooked. I wish I'd discovered this over the summer, though; it's hard to focus on school when there's spying to be done!