Okay, turns out as I finally suspected, the two auto replies were doing a defcon 5. The party I 'd emailed was on vacation. They had around 50,000 emails from me when they got back.
OUCH!
The white man seeks to conquer nature, to bend it to his will and to use it wastefully until it is all gone and then he simply moves on, leaving the waste behind him and looking for new places to take. Chiksika (Kispokotha Shawnee),March 19,1779