In a digital world of simultaneous permanence and transience, I started wondering today about my old email addresses. In the past 15 years I have had many addresses as I have worked my way through various services. In most cases I have just moved on to the next, checking the old for a while, but eventually forgetting it. So I thought today I would drive by these old addresses and see if there is anything still there. Please don’t send anything to these, because I don’t know if I will every get back again.
Gdhuyvette@aol.com: like most people, my first email was AOL. This address is so dated that I had to shorten my name to 10 characters. I used AOL through my entire “narrow band” modem phase. Everyone from that time period remembers the distinctive call of the modem, followed by the chippy “You’ve got mail!” (I always wanted to remind him that it should be “You have mail!”). Today when I see an AOL address I wonder about the person sending, worrying that I’m dealing with stunted growth.
I went on to AOL today and typed in the old address. After experimenting with a number of passwords, I finally came to a screen where I was invited to reactivate my old account for free. I did this, but the mailbox was empty. However, I guess I have an AOL account again.
Gdhuyvetter@sbcglobal.net: when I moved over to broadband I was able to use my full name in the address. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize it at the time, but the first address I created was tied to the main holder of the account, which was my wife. after receiving email addressed to Toni for a few days, I knew that I had to move on. I kept this account, though, and used it when I had to give an email address to a vendor so my spam could go there.
I opened this mailbox to find it very full, with 580 emails going back to 1/6/09. Lots of updates from DirecTV and offers from PetSmart. Hmm, one email regarding my daughter’s tuition bill from last July, I guess the registrar did send it after all. Luckily I was able to get a replacement in time. No personal emails except some forwards of articles and pictures from my wife.
GJDhuyvetter@sbcglobal.net: This was my alternative to the first account and the one I used for “real” email throughout my time with SBC. Ultimately I moved to Gmail because it was easier to type, and more friendly with the cloud. I just looked up GDhuyvetter@gmail.com, and I never seemed to have an account with this name.
Well this one looks less abandoned. Only a couple of unread emails. As I look at settings I remember that I had emails from this forwarded to my gmail account.
A little disappointing. I thought that this trip down email lane might yield greetings from a long-lost friends or a promise of money (maybe a desperate call for help that I missed), but clearly I didn’t leave much behind. However, you might find something more exciting and tell us about it here.