Horrible gmail mail.app problem

Hi guys.

I use mail.app 2.1.3 to check my gmail account (via POP). Lately, I have been having three nasty problems, which may or may not be related. Note that I have zero rules set in mail.app and do not have the spam filter turned on. I am using the spam filter in gmail.

1. I get mail, I can see it in my gmail box, but it doesn't come into mail.app. This happens about .1% of the time, or one mail every two days. There's one example where it has happened three times from the same person, but other than that it appears to be random. Since I don't look on the web for my mail and since I get a ton of mail, this is a huge problem.

2. Mail can be delayed for one or two days. For example, a friend also has gmail and we're both signed up with an online service (Basecamp). Sometimes she'll get a notification a full day before me.

3. I don't get mail. I can chronicle mail people have said they've sent me, I can see it in their out box, and it's not in my gmail box, spam or otherwise, based on doing straightforward searches within both my gmail and my mail.app.

By the gods of Wozniak, all help is welcome!

thanks

seth