If I were stuck on a deserted island and had the choice of bringing with me only two tools, they would be:
1. A satellite phone
2. Microsoft Excel.
I use Excel every single day to keep track of what needs to get done, as well as chart progress, user requests, trending - I even keep my track days ordered in a spreadsheet!
Lots of folks love Excel for the pretty charts and graphs - I don't need it for that -- it's the numbers that matter. Remember in the Matrix - that guy on the ship looking at all the numbers? I suppose that's how I see the world...
-Z-man.