I've just gotten a virtual kick in the arse because I "really don't know how to ask".

Well ok fine, I'm not pretending that I do. I don't! Especially if I have to ask a stranger for a favour, over the internet, and have to, in the nicest way possible, let the person know that this favour is not as easy as it seems. That we actually need more than what he/she initially thought we did. I mean, how do I know if I'm being too soft (read: pushover), being subtly persuasive, being manipulative, being insensitive, being too aggressive, or just plain being a prick? And all this over the internet..with a person for whom I have absolutely no background information of?!

Nevertheless, we got what we asked for. And more! Praise God, because I "really don't know how to ask".