I've spoken with Dave a number of times over the years. At least once, early on when I first started buying parts from him, I felt like he thought I was an idiot. I won't bother going into the specifics.

Later on when he and I were talking about what I was working with at the time, I'd asked for his input on a cam. His response was basically that the combo I had was pretty well sorted out and he wasn't sure either of the two Hughes cams I was looking at would show much improvement.

IIRC, the last time I spoke to him was when I ordered one of their Crane melodized distributor gear & oil pump drive shaft assemblies. I told him I really appreciated him making these available and... he seemed rather surprised and thanked me for the comment.

I expect that I could call him tomorrow and we'd be right back to him thinking I'm a idiot. I think it depends on the subject matter, your experience and the information you can provide him as to the tone of the conversation. Might also depend on which way the wind is blowing...