I can't even believe this. I am so frustrated and angry I could just scream. I woke up this morning to discover that I could no longer access my email (provided to us by the phone company formerly known as SBC Yahoo, for a tidy monthly sum, I might note). After two hours on the phone with "customer support", what I've learned is this: Apparently when we switched the DSL from one phone line to another this fall, the email accounts did not switch, too (although I asked if there was anything we needed to do to switch them, and was told no). Apparently we had a 90-day grace period on those old email accounts (the main one and my sub-account); apparently they sent email warnings to the main account - which we have never checked. And, "sorry for the inconvenience, but there is absolutely nothing we can do to help you, Marcy. Once revoked, an account will never be reinstated." (Unless you're Homeland Security. Yes, I asked . . . I was trying to get out of the chucklehead whether this was a technical issue or a policy issue, and he was being coy. Apparently it's a policy issue.)

So. All my personal email is gone - all my listserv information, hosting service information, friends' email addresses, subscriptions, god knows what else. I could really just scream.

At the end of the conversation, the tech support dude ("Juan," who sounded Indian, not Hispanic) told me that I could get my email from Yahoo now. I told him I was not getting email from SBC or any of its associates any longer; that at my earliest convenience I will no longer be getting SBC/ATT DSL; and I'm ready to cut the land line, too . . .

So. If anyone has access to gmail, please let me know in the comments and I'll email you from my work account . . .