Doh!

Like all of you I'm sure, I have one email address that only a certain, select few know and use. That doesn't mean I don't get spam through it, but my ISP siphons off the bulk and what's left then goes through a spamkilling application that divides my email into two folders: One recognizes the sender and passes the email into my INBOX; the other collects everything else.

I also have a filter set so that files over a certain size won't download at all. They'll just stay on my ISP's server. I check the server site once a week or so just to make sure there's nothing there or hung-up in it.

I don't get tons of email through that address, but into my second day of not even getting a single spam through it?

So I checked the server site. A friend had sent me a HUGE .wmv file which he'd either sent twice or more likely, my ISP -- who was doing "maintenance" at the time -- had saved it in a spool and sent it again. The same friend had also sent another, much smaller .wmv file.

The reason why nothing was getting through was because for the first time ever, my mailbox had not only reached but exceeded full capacity.

Once I'd saved the files and deleted the emails, the backlogged emails started coming through. About 200 of 'em.

When my mailbox had reached capacity, my ISP had sent an email to tell me that my mailbox was full.

Since my mailbox was full when it bounced back, my ISP sent an email to tell me that my mailbox was full.

Since my mailbox was full . . .