It started, like most disasters do, with good intentions and not enough caffeine.
I wanted to simplify my setup. Cancel a few tools, move a domain or two, clean up lingering accounts I wasn't actively using. All small things, supposedly. All in the name of efficiency and reducing monthly costs.
First, I deleted a Google Workspace license to avoid another renewal fee. When I realized it was connected to my Google Fi phone, I restored the license — but the damage was done.
My phone line was dead. My two-factor authentication? Also tied to that account.
I wasn't locked out completely, but I had to manually reset every 2FA login to a different account — and untangle where everything was connected across tools, platforms, and calendars.
It didn't break my whole system… but it broke enough of it to make me scream.
😵💫 Meanwhile…
While that was unfolding, I was also trying to move domains between registrars to save money. That — of course — triggered DNS drama, which broke email forwarding and created multiple layers of email confusion.
At the same time, I canceled my Acuity subscription (cost-cutting!) and figured I'd use Notion for scheduling instead. It seemed clean. Efficient. Streamlined.
But when I sent calendar invites through Notion? They got flagged as spam — either landing in people's junk folders or showing that big, ugly "this invite might be suspicious" banner.
My email was fine. DNS was fine. But Notion's event delivery system? Not so much.
So I had to scrap that plan, go back to Google Calendar, and rebuild everything manually — just to ensure people actually saw my invites.
📵 And Then There Was the Phone…
After four days of escalating support tickets, vague reassurances, and me slowly unspooling like a dropped Ethernet cable, Google Fi finally restored the account.
Except the phone still didn't work.
Because, of course, the device was tied to the deleted account. I mean — duh. That should've been the very first thing support checked. Instead? Crickets. No one thought to say, "You'll need to factory reset your phone to reconnect the eSIM."
Could I have done that myself? Sure. But after rebuilding my 2FA, calendars, email, DNS, and digital dignity from the wreckage of one mistaken click, I was done.
So I deleted the Google Fi account entirely. Because five days without a phone line is unacceptable — and they never actually fixed it.
Now I have:
- A restored Google account (which I'm still deleting to save money on the license)
- A fully-reset Pixel waiting to rise from the ashes on some future carrier
- And the haunting realization that I had more knowledge on how to connect my phone to their service than Google's expert support
The Result: A Glorious, Time-Sucking, Sanity-Testing Disaster
Instead, I spent five days:
- Deleted a Google Workspace account (before caffeine, tragically)
- Lost access to my Google Fi phone line
- Had to reset every 2FA connection manually
- Rebuilt my calendars from scratch
- Scrapped a Notion scheduling workaround when invites got flagged as spam
- Spent five days in support limbo with no working phone
And that was before I even got into the DNS zone file mess or the scheduling spiral.
🧩 What's (Mostly) Working Now
- DNS is functional (fingers crossed)
- Email forwarding is behaving — for now
- Scheduling? Connected to Google. Let me know if it does something funky.
I thought I was simplifying. But I wasn't managing a "stack." I was holding together a Rube Goldberg machine made of subscriptions, forwarding rules, and duct tape.
The moment I pulled one piece — without mapping it — I triggered a chain reaction that wrecked my tools, my flow, and my week.
So no, I didn't simplify. I detonated my tech stack and learned the hard way that "just canceling a license" can unleash chaos.
You live, you learn. You triple-check your Google accounts. And maybe… make a diagram first. And definitely drink coffee.