The problem has apparently cured itself. Perhaps there was a problem with Verizon since there often is after a large-scale power outage. However, there seemed to be weiird things going on with Thunderbird. I still do not know why it was trying to contact Mosilla messaging rather than Verizon, so if anybody knows, I would appreciate a response at benorr@verizon.net. After years with Thunderbird, I almost sprang for Outlook. Ouch. Tbird will neither send nor receive messages. I can see waiting messages in my verizon account with Firefox but cannot figure out how to make Tbird connect. I downloaded a fresh version of Tbird, but that did not help. Tbird apprently thinks I want to "chat" and keeps trying to connect me to live.mozillamessaging.com (which I have no interest in) and then reports: "The connection was refused when attempting to contact live.mozillamessaging.com." How do I get out of this and back to email. Restarts do no good. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Tbird. I have disabled all add-ons etc. It might be in safe mode, but I do not know how to get out of that if it is. I am at a loss. Win 7 Pro 6.1.7601 SP 1 Build 7601