asp.net thread logic question

[DimkaNewtown]

Here's the setup:

 

Forum software written in .net on a shared server running .net 1.1.

 

Here's the idea:

 

To monitor a pop3 account for incoming messages, attach them to existing (or create new) threads.

 

Here's the problem:

 

Since it's a shared server I can't just create a separate service to handle this (which would be the better solution IMO), so what I want to do is start a thread that will monitor that pop3 account. However I am unsure as to where in application I can do so effectively. Classic ASP had the Application_OnStart and Application_OnEnd (correct me if I'm wrong) events in global.asa that I could use. Does ASP.NET have similar events that I could start the thread process from?

Also what is the lifecycle of application, if I have no more sessions is the application destroyed?