Patience, Posting, Gigabytes and Words

So there I was...happily, almost giddily moving digital images into the que for another blog post featuring rusty machines.
A message popped up, this one wasn't from God above,
It was from Google, the other God
Dear sir or madam, you have run out of free storage space. If you wish to continue, please purchase more.

Well that pretty much ruined my groove.
Do not pass go.
Do not go to plan B
Get out the Visa card and pay the man if I want to proceed

Somewhat surprised that I hit a digital speed bump,
Got a boolean parking ticket,
Tagged out, roughed up and held up
I nimbly and quickly pressed enter
To get into the binary shopping mall.

A non-existent man in a non-existent checkered sport coat greeted me at the door.
Options were laid out for my perusal
Prices were suggested in hushed tones
I couldn't fully concentrate, having been forced into this unplanned bargaining session
Held hostage by electrons and microswitches
Screwed over by billionaires,
 So that I can post pictures and words on the walls of their empire

I have to pay
Pay or die
Pay or go home empty handed
Pay to keep the machine running
Pay it forward, backward or sideways
But pay I will

A deal is reached,
non-existent cigars and non-existent champagne are brought out to celebrate
The Visa company talks to the Google company
The Google company says something back
They both look in my direction and snicker
The hunter and the hunted

I am infuriated by this treatment
I yell back at the non-existent duo

I am not a number,
 I am a man!
I will not tolerate this kind of treatment!

The digital duo looks amused instead of threatened
From a side door, scurries a digital minion
He crab walks in my general direction
In his pincers is a small card
with small and official looking scribblings on it

You will tolerate this treatment
You will like it
You will do as we demand
You will serve us
As you said you would when you pushed the button that allowed us to own you
the one that read
"I accept"

The sideways staggering minion escaped back through a non-existent door
The spider web of fine print
has sunk many an enterprise
it brings heartbreak and poverty to those on the losing side
It delivers rancid profits to the winners

I turn to make a run for it
To get clear before the whole thing comes crashing down around my ears
Up ahead, the non-existent portal shimmers in the distance
I can hear the roar of mocking laughter from the Visa and Google storm clouds behind me

I awake in a puddle of drool and stale taco chip crumbs
A flashing message on the screen
says, thank you for your order
Your new and improved data storage will be available in 24 hrs

24 hours???
In this day and age, 24 freaking hours
24 seconds is too long
24 minutes is a life time
Christ, we could all be extinct in 24 hours

So...that 's the long and dramatic version of ...I ran out of room for photos and had to pay for more. It really is going to take 24 fucking hours before the extra storage is available to me