Tim, you can count me among those who think that you might be reading
a bit too much into Urps' reply. I think that he is giving you the
information he thinks you need in the best way he knows how.

Communication over the Internet often doesn't give you adequate clues
as to the attitude and state of mind of your correspondent, hence the
invention of emoticons. Communication through translators or in second
languages over the internet is even worse, since it also tends to
remove idiom and colloquialisms from the correspondents' repertoires.

I work with a lot of people in other countries whose first language is
not English, and I have adopted the general rule of consciously
interpreting their correspondence in the most charitable possible
light. I have only rarely been disappointed.

Thanks, Bob K.