E-Mail-When things go wrong

When things go Terribly WRONG

For three days, Spinner hadn't heard from Rayzer. No e-mail, no Talk, no nothing. So she decided to come visit. She popped out of the modem and onto his desk. He wasn't there. She wondered if he had gone out, but then she heard singing from the kitchen. She scampered down from the desk and peeked out the doorway of Rayzer's office. She saw her friend, head clasped in headphones, slouched back in a chair, singing and tapping on the dining room table with chop sticks. He was singing about some woman named Roxanne. Whom Roxanne might be, Spinner didn't know.

"Hello," Spinner said. Rayzer didn't hear her.

"Hello," Spinner said, a little louder. He still didn't hear her.

"HELLO!" Spinner shouted. Rayzer still ignored her. So she climbed up the wall, and ran along the ceiling. Having eight legs was wonderful.

She got just above and behind her friend. He had his eyes closed, and he continued to tap away on the table. The music must have been really loud. Some of it was leaking around the earpads of the head phones.

"He won't have any hearing when he reaches 30," Spinner muttered to herself. Then she thought '30, man that's OLD, a fossil.' She wondered just how much of a fossil Rayzer really was. She had never asked because Alexa had told her some people didn't like being asked, especially the old ones.

She positioned herself above her friend. Then with an evil grin she pounced. She landed full on his chest. A "WHOOMPHF" escaped from his mouth, followed by a shriek. His eyes flew open and bulged in terror. He jumped up from his chair and knocked it backwards. To avoid faling off, Spinner jumped off his chest and onto the table. Instead of landing gracefully, she slipped on the envelopes and bills that littered the table. She slid down the table and off the other end. Luckily she landed in a chair, but her breath left her body. She made the same noise Rayzer had. "WHOOMPHF." For a moment, she saw stars.

Spinner caught her breath, then peered over the table at her friend. He was peeking over the edge back at her. His head phones were still on his head, although they looked funny covering part of his mouth and ears. She climbed back on the table.

"Mmmph mmph," he said. Realizing that what he said wasn't understandable, he took off his head phones. "SPINNER!" he shouted, almost knocking her back off the table. "DON'T DO THAT!"

"Sorry," Spinner said. Rayzer glared at her, then his face softened. "Well don't do it again." "Nope," I won't Spinner said and climbed up his arm onto his shoulders. "I came because I hadn't heard from you in a few days."

"My e-mail has been down." Rayzer explained. He walked back to his office and sat down at his computer. He opened his "Network Folder" and double clicked on the little picture of a mail box to start his e-mail program.

"See," Rayzer told Spinner. I have no problems opening my e-mail program. He selected Rayzer and then pressed OK. I get into my e-mail program, but I can't get or send e-mail."
"Maybe if you looked in your Network Settings," Spinner suggested. She pointed to the word Setting at the top of Rayzer's email program. If you click on that, it brings a list of things to select from. I've watched Alexa select Network Settings and then put her e-mail information in that.

Rayzer tried it and got the following Network Settings dialog box. "Hmm," he said. He stared at the window. "Looks OK to me."
"Let's see, host is the name of the computer that holds my e-mail until I want to get it to read." He read the field over carefully. "mail.vt.edu that's the real name for bev.net so that's OK." He placed his finger on the monitor. "User is the same as Personal Identifier or PID and that's rayzer.
Spinner leaned forward to get a better look. Something didn't look right. Something didn't quite look the same as the last e-mail message he had seen from his friend. He decided to put his finger, eh leg, on what he thought looked strange.
"Is that right?" Spinner asked, pointing to Rayzer's From address field. "It looks kind of WRONG." He also pointed to the Gateway field. "That doesn't look right either."

This is what it should NOT be.

This is what it should be. "A Hah!" Rayzer exclaimed. "That's not right, it shouldn't be rayzer@swva.net, it should be rayzer@bev.net. My e-mail address is rayzer@bev.net. That comes from my PID or e-mail account called rayzer on the e-mail server computer called mail.vt.edu. So rayzer and mail.vt.edu is rayzer@mail.vt.edu. And the more common name we use is rayzer@bev.net since bev.net is the same as mail.vt.edu.
He quickly typed in the corrections. "That's better." To test his e-mail, he went to the word Messages at the top of the window, and selected Retrieve Mail. He was rewarded by a series of beeps and several small yellow envelope popped up in his email program. "It worked!"
Rayzer began to read his 100+ e-mail. Spinner saw a bowl of chips next to the monitor and scurried down Rayzer's arm and on to the table. While Rayzer read, she munched.

"Blast it." Rayzer said. Spinner looked up from the chip she was chewing on.
"What's the problem now?"
"I can't respond to anybody. I don't think the program is sending any mail. I better look in my outbox." Rayzer went up to Services at the top of the window and selected Outbox. In the large Outbox window, he clicked on the word Settings and then Preferences from the menu list. A Preferences dialog box showed.
Rayzer slapped his forehead. "Duh!" he said. He changed what was in the Default mail gateway from swva.net to mail.vt.edu The mail that was in his outbox began to disappear. "Yep, it's sending now." Rayzer said happily.
Spinner returned to her chips. Now that the matter was settled, she could enjoy the snack. She was glad Rayzer looked happy again. Sometimes she wondered. What did he ever do before he ever got e-mail. 'Hmm,' she thought, 'that's not a nice thought. If he hadn't had e-mail and the Internet, how would she ever come to eat his chips...eh, come to visit.'

	"See," Rayzer told Spinner. I have no problems opening my e-mail program. He selected Rayzer and then pressed OK. I get into my e-mail program, but I can't get or send e-mail." "Maybe if you looked in your Network Settings," Spinner suggested. She pointed to the word Setting at the top of Rayzer's email program. If you click on that, it brings a list of things to select from. I've watched Alexa select Network Settings and then put her e-mail information in that.
Rayzer tried it and got the following Network Settings dialog box. "Hmm," he said. He stared at the window. "Looks OK to me." "Let's see, host is the name of the computer that holds my e-mail until I want to get it to read." He read the field over carefully. "mail.vt.edu that's the real name for bev.net so that's OK." He placed his finger on the monitor. "User is the same as Personal Identifier or PID and that's rayzer. Spinner leaned forward to get a better look. Something didn't look right. Something didn't quite look the same as the last e-mail message he had seen from his friend. He decided to put his finger, eh leg, on what he thought looked strange. "Is that right?" Spinner asked, pointing to Rayzer's From address field. "It looks kind of WRONG." He also pointed to the Gateway field. "That doesn't look right either."	This is what it should NOT be.
This is what it should be.	"A Hah!" Rayzer exclaimed. "That's not right, it shouldn't be rayzer@swva.net, it should be rayzer@bev.net. My e-mail address is rayzer@bev.net. That comes from my PID or e-mail account called rayzer on the e-mail server computer called mail.vt.edu. So rayzer and mail.vt.edu is rayzer@mail.vt.edu. And the more common name we use is rayzer@bev.net since bev.net is the same as mail.vt.edu. He quickly typed in the corrections. "That's better." To test his e-mail, he went to the word Messages at the top of the window, and selected Retrieve Mail. He was rewarded by a series of beeps and several small yellow envelope popped up in his email program. "It worked!" Rayzer began to read his 100+ e-mail. Spinner saw a bowl of chips next to the monitor and scurried down Rayzer's arm and on to the table. While Rayzer read, she munched.
"Blast it." Rayzer said. Spinner looked up from the chip she was chewing on. "What's the problem now?" "I can't respond to anybody. I don't think the program is sending any mail. I better look in my outbox." Rayzer went up to Services at the top of the window and selected Outbox. In the large Outbox window, he clicked on the word Settings and then Preferences from the menu list. A Preferences dialog box showed. Rayzer slapped his forehead. "Duh!" he said. He changed what was in the Default mail gateway from swva.net to mail.vt.edu The mail that was in his outbox began to disappear. "Yep, it's sending now." Rayzer said happily. Spinner returned to her chips. Now that the matter was settled, she could enjoy the snack. She was glad Rayzer looked happy again. Sometimes she wondered. What did he ever do before he ever got e-mail. 'Hmm,' she thought, 'that's not a nice thought. If he hadn't had e-mail and the Internet, how would she ever come to eat his chips...eh, come to visit.'