For many years,, the webmaster of NEMES, Errol Groff, has avoided this site like plague. He has posted their shows and photographs from their shows on just about every site but this one.
Then one day out of the blue, I get an email from one of their members Michael Chalifoux:
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-----Original Message-----From: chalifou@aol.com [mailto:chalifou@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2014 7:54 AM
To: support@hobby-machinist.com
Subject: The Hobby-Machinist.com - The Friendly Machinist ForumR Contact UsForm - Registration Problem
The following message was sent to you via the The Hobby-Machinist.com - TheFriendly Machinist ForumR
Contact Us form by ( mailto:chalifou@aol.com ).--------------------------------
I will not be registering at this site. Your questions are far too personal and strike me as a phishing attempt. I could go on, but if I am correct,you are quite aware of this - and do not care.
--------------------------------Referring
Page: IP Address: 173.76.80.130User Name: UnregisteredUser ID: 0Email: chalifou@aol.com
Then this:
From: chalifou@aol.com [mailto:chalifou@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2014 10:13 AM
To:
Subject: Re: The Hobby-Machinist.com - The Friendly Machinist ForumR Contact Us Form - Registration Problem
Are you sure you name isn't really Dick?
Amazing - The Friendly machinist forum....
Now I'll have to check some with some of my mates to see if my first suspicion was correct - you're a front for spammers. Or not - you appear to be a miserable little asswipe that I will now ignore and block your emails.
I'd saw go f** yourself, but I imagine you do that regularly since, with your charming personality, you'll never get close to a woman. At least not without paying double the current rate.
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So I contacted their President at the time, and ask why their member was sending me this.
He lies, and says the guy is not a member (the guy's stuff is all over their site), and says he's sorry if he is.
From: Victor Kozakevich [mailto:vkozak@att.net]
Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2014 3:34 PM
To: Nelson Timken
Subject: Re: The Hobby-Machinist.com - The Friendly Machinist ForumR Contact Us Form - Registration Problem
If indeed Mr. Chalifoux is a NEMES member, I can only apologize on behalf of the rest of the membership.
His behavior is not welcome in our organization either.
We do hold a regular monthly meeting, but only a fraction of our membership attends.
It is entirely likely Mr. Chalifoux lives out of the area, and we have never met.
Our organization has the same goals as yours, and in the over 20 years that I have been a member, I cannot recall such behavior.
Victor Kozakevich
President, New England Model Engineering Society
My response:
Mr. Kozakevich:
I am sorry if I wrongly assumed he was a member. He has a lathe advertised on the for sale page of your site:
http://www.neme-s.org/items_for_sale_page.htm
And he posted at PM that he was a member of NEMES and the Charles River Museum. So I assumed he was a member, based on that.
I do not know why he felt he had to initiate contact telling me why he would not join us, and by accusing us of being a phishing site. I do know that your Mr. Groff does not like me or the site, has refused to join it when invited, etc. He posts announcements and photos at just about every other site but ours. That is his privilege, and he is entitled to his opinion. I have always simply practiced avoidance and avoided hostilities and in fact, published your meets and photos of same.
I would like it if Mr. Chalifoux could do the same.
Thanks and happy holidays,
Nelson
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Recently, I tried to bury the past, sent Errol Groff an email, and former member Ron Ginger and their current president, Jeff Del Papa, and was ignored.
So, that is it. I am tired of being treated shabbily by the folks. They no longer exist to us.