Thanks for these tips. I have a Gmail account I rarely use, but now knowing it can do all this I may have to start using it as my new default addy

another tip i recently learned: periods don't matter, so g.e.e.k.s.u.g.a.r@gmail.com (as an example) is interchangeable with geeksugar@gmail.com. and, instead of "gmail.com" you can use "googlemail.com" at the end, so mail to g.e.e.k.s.u.g.a.r@gmail.com is the same as mail to ge.eksug.ar@googlemail.com.

Cool, I didn't know about the # trick, but I rarely use keyboard short cuts. It's so much easier to click "delete". (For me, as my hand is always on the mouse. )