On Wed, 30 Aug 2006 18:52:24 -0400, "Upscale"
wrote:

"George Max" wrote in message

It sounds like your friends don't recognize the value of your time to
you. They think you're their servant. I wouldn't do much of anything
for them. If it were me, I'd be busy into the forseeable future and
let them find someone else to do the work. No, I wouldn't have a rude
confrontation, I'd simply be unavailable. Maybe they'll figure it
out, maybe they won't.

Doesn't a lot of this depend on the friend you have, who the person is and
how close a friend they are? I've got a best friend that I'd do anything for
if it was within my capability and on the outset, appears to not going to
cost me something exorbitant. He's rarely asked me for anything and when
I've been in need and asked him to go out of his way for me, he's done it
without question. I know what when I have an emergency, he will be there to
help me and he knows the reverse is true. It may be that we don't even think
of taking advantage of each other because we both know that if it comes down
to something really important, we're both willing to go the extra distance
for each other. I call this person my best friend and I wouldn't have it any
other way.


The OP painted a picture of friends that used him for free labor and
knowledge on a major project and couldn't even go so far as to think
of him when carry out food was ordered.

It's that kind of situation I was addressing.

The kind of friend you mention is a whole different ballgame. I don't
think the OP has that kind of relationship with them. Of course you
go the extra mile, heck, the extra hundred miles for a friend that's
like a brother.