Rowan --

I'm so glad that you found it valuable, and many thanks for adding the bit about macros. You're entirely right -- you can really extend the functionality of Excel. There are a number of incredibly practical applications as you note, but it's also worth pointing out that the sky is kind of the limit. Here's a great post detailing six video games [https://mashable.com/2014/08/27/microsoft-excel-games/#PctpxoLIrEqY] that people have built using excel macros.

And great on "picayune politics". Sometimes I wish they were worthless! Our own process here in the United States has me longing for an era of boring dysfunction.

Cheers, all best, and thanks for reading --

Will