You might sometimes hear a prissy “Whom may I say is calling?” That would also
be incorrect. It should be “Who” because it is the subject, not the object, of
the question “Who . . . is calling?”
Bob
Randal Craft
Email: randalrobertcraft@gmailcom
Mobile: 646-226-2299 (USA)
From: Tom Ronell via Mifnet <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2025 12:42 PM
To: David Wardell via Mifnet <[email protected]>
Cc: Tom Ronell <[email protected]>
Subject: [Mifnet đź›° 74470] Re: NNN Housekeeping
You did not misuse "whom", David. I just appended that to my opinion of
"endless" versus "thankless".
"Whom" is to be used after a preposition, such as by whom, for whom, to whom,
from whom. Too many people use whom where it doesn't belong such as, "The
President, whom went to Walter Reed..." - aarrgghh!!
TR
_____
From: David Wardell via Mifnet <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> >
To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
CC: David Wardell <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Date: 2025-10-11T15:52:17Z
Subject: [Mifnet đź›° 74469] Re: NNN Housekeeping
Hi Tom,
You’re right, of course. I try to remember to likewise express my thanks to the
community for their support and encouragement.
I was thinking not so much of the Mifnet community but rather of the clouds of
other folk one must deal with. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’re
trying to accomplish, the assumption almost always is that you’re the enemy and
hence unworthy of anything—no matter what their own customers may say.
As but one example, occasionally Mifnet delivery issues will arise because a
subscriber starts using a new spam control service. If I reach out to have
Mifnet whitelisted, I can typically expect a rather, shall we say cheeky,
response instructing me to take several steps (which often are not possible) to
prove my worthiness and the benign nature of Mifnet. None of this should be
necessary, by the by, as Mifnet doesn’t violate any true and accepted
definition of spam.
Over time, I’ve learned that if I just ignore them and employ a couple of
workarounds that I’ve crafted over the years, they will go away, as such
business projects tend to have a brief life.
The Internet is such a fun place…
All the best,
DW
BTW: Should that have been “whom?” My, my, when will I learn to stop writing
posts late at night.
Where’s my “Fowler’s?”
David Wardell
(757) 561-0582
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
<https://wardell.us/url/b5s86>
<https://wardell.us/url/s9qvz>
From: Tom Ronell via Mifnet <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> >
Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2025 2:40 AM
To: The Mifnet <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Cc: Tom Ronell <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Subject: [Mifnet đź›° 74465] Re: NNN Housekeeping
One correction: it may be an endless task but is is not thankless - most of us
are extremely grateful to you and some even do thank you, publicly.
TR
Grammar stickler who bemoans the epidemic of misuse of "whom". Sixth grade
teacher Mrs. Little would be so proud of me!
_____
From: David Wardell via Mifnet <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> >
To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
CC: David Wardell <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Date: 2025-10-11T03:21:20Z
Subject: [Mifnet đź›° 74464] Re: NNN Housekeeping
Hi Karl,
Many thanks for your kind words.
As an operator of a mail server, you have my sympathy. It is a thankless task.
Among my favorite artifacts from my ongoing struggles with maintaining
successful deliveries are the free mail providers who have millions of
subscribers and zero interest in providing the most meager support, by way of a
service infrastructure run by those with the combined IQ of a bucket of rocks.
After struggling with an AOL/Yahoo problem that had been plaguing Mifnet for
years, I was finally told that I could keep driving myself crazy asking them to
correct problems that they caused, or I could get a life and stop bothering
them. In either case they weren’t going to fix anything.
I did eventually get a fix that sort of works, no thanks to customer service.
Thus, we see that one gets precisely the value one pays for.
At least running my own services, I know that I can blame issues on the old guy
who lives at my house.
All the best,
DW
------ Original Message ------
>From "Karl L. Swartz via Mifnet" <[email protected]
><mailto:[email protected]> >
To "Mifnet" <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Cc "Karl L. Swartz" <[email protected]>
Date 10/10/2025 12:21:07 AM
Subject [Mifnet đź›° 74454] Re: NNN Housekeeping
Thank you for your hard work, David! I run my own mail server and know what a
PITA it can be.
My faves are the ones from “my email administrator” warning me that my email
has been compromised and click here to change my password. Um, I’m quite sure I
didn’t send that. ROFL!
-- Karl
On Oct 9, 2025, at 8:30 PM, David Wardell via Mifnet <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:
All,
Of late, Mifnet has been receiving considerably more spam that is usual. Much
of it is the typical stuff that is occasionally sent to the list (of the
Ukrainian women and Nigerian astronaut ilk)—just much more of it. Some is
unusual, however, because it comes via a route that doesn’t directly try and
post to the list. It’s also unusual in that it serves no purpose that I can see
(doesn’t ask for anything). It seems intended just to create a workload burden
for the system.
I mention this only because, although we can deal with whatever might be going
on, some of the remediation might (possibly) result in normal posts being
somewhat delayed. I’ve no idea how long these new developments may remain a
potential issue.
If this happens, please be assured that posts the system acknowledges as
received will find their way to the list.
Many thanks once again for your support,
DW
David Wardell
(757) 561-0582
<mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]
<https://wardell.us/url/b5s86> <image001.png>
<https://wardell.us/url/s9qvz> <image002.png>
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