Monday 13th February 2023
I'm feeling strange due to my Gmail having stopped working. It's my main email that comes to my phone and earlier this morning I realised it had stopped checking mail. I blamed loadshedding and slow servers and so on. Then as the day aged, I realised something was amiss. A friend sent a mail to check and it got bounced back.
I did all the usual resets and reboots but it still sits blankly. I can't even access my different folders. I've been trying to think about what is connected to this email and it's literally everything. The saddest part is realising that my saved emails from loved ones who have passed away are 'stored' there. I'm hoping it's a temporary glitch that can get sorted tomorrow but it's certainly made me aware of my reliance of an invisible 'cloud" of information.
Just the other day I was looking at ads for 'penpals' across the world with real pen and paper and a stamp club. However it was $6- a month membership which I decided against right now.
I've always loved correspondence. My cousin was my penpal from across the world when I was about 10 years old. The excitement of the airmail envelope carrying news from a place so very far, turned me into a quick responder. On my (first) gap year, I cherished the rare letters written by my mum telling me all the family news and it was those intimate moments when I had her completely to myself. On my return to South Africa, my late sister would pen long newsy letters of her Scottish factory job, then college, then new family all in that familiar sloping handwriting.
And now I sit, feeling like a part of me is missing. I know it's only dots on a screen, but it is different to the quick text messages that can be so easily deleted. Email tends to linger in my mailbox if I haven't immediately deleted it. So here's hoping that it's a simple fix and all will be revealed on St Valentine's day.
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