If I have made a purchase online, shortly afterward, or a day or so later
if I have had to contact via email on the site that something on the order
sheet wasn't quite right, I see an "instant message" pop up at the bottom
right of the desktop, but it goes away so fast I might see only one word -
if the word is large enough, I might see the name of the company, but I can
only guess at the full message. These are not ephemeral - I can recognize
sometimes what the message must be. It isn't anything I might doubt.

Is there somewhere on the computer where these messages are dropped, where
they can be looked at?

I thought there was a "Windows Messenger" that did that, but I don't see
that in Services any more.