[Evolution] Who or what is at fault

[dgoddard <d_goddard1 tds net>]

Malfunction description:
The last 2 to 3 weeks, every so often when I try to download e-mail via my internet service provider.  Evolution indicates that it is downloading (as in: "downloading  x of y") and when it is finished.  I do not have any e-mail downloaded to my computer. and if I go to the website where my e-mail comes in from. all the relevant e-mail is now in the g-mail trash folder.  The problem persists for a while and then goes back to downloading e-mail to my computer properly, whether or not I try to fix the problem.

Specific Question
Where should I be looking to resolve this problem, and how do I resolve it; so that I can get my e-mail to automatically download to my computer in my evolution software?
I regard web mail, where my mail resides only on the server as an utterly unsatisfactory way of doing e-mail
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System and Software Information
Ubuntu
Release 10.04 (Lucid)
Kernel Linux 2.6.32-41-generic-Pae
GNOME 2.30.2

Hardware
Memory:  3.9GiB
Processor 0: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU  T5750 @ 2.00GHz
Processor 1: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU  T5750 @ 2.00GHz

System Status
Available disk space 189.7 GiB

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Computer Model
Dell studio 1535 laptop

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E-mail Software
Evolution 2.28.3