1.12 The Meaning of Meaning

I am woken by a very annoying sound. What on earth is this? It's way too early to be my alarm clock...

My stomach grumbles when I recall that all throughout my feast party yesterday, I did not eat a single bite.

I soon discover the source of the sound: my medical beeper. Apparently there's an emergency at the hospital and they need my help. Great.

I put on my new scrubs and head outside. The sun isn't even up yet!

A taxi that has been waiting outside takes me straight to the hospital.

This better be a really important emergency!

Well, just about an hour later I'm done. I realize that my umbrella is broken and resolve to pick up a new one on the way home.

Back in my own four walls, I finally manage to grab a bite to eat.

What is this strange stuff I found in the fridge?

Well, it tastes okay and I'm starving, so I gobble it down at lightning speed.

Afterwards, I finally clean up all those disgusting, smelly leftovers that litter every corner of my home. Seriously, what do people like about parties again?

It takes me several trips to the kitchen sink before I finally gather everything.

Goodbye rancid chocolate pie and rotting burgers. You've been quite the nuisance last night!

When I finally scrub the last few dishes, I notice my car pool waiting outside. Right, I still need to go to work today!

And then the sink breaks. What a great start for the day.

Well, at least I got myself a cute new umbrella!

Apparently the hospital is awaiting delivery of some new equipment, which for some reason hasn't arrived yet. I am asked to visit Simcatti Industries, the local business center, to inquire about this issue.

The building is quite impressive.

Just look at those doors!

I spend some time asking around inside until I finally learn that I won't find the information I seek here.

Just outside the city walls, I find Teresa DeLuca. She is supposed to have more insight into the matter.

I ask her straight away for what I need - I'm not one for small talk - but she outright refuses to help. I wait for a while, hoping that either one of us might think of something to say. Maybe a friendly conversation or two would warm her up to the idea of helping me out.

But neither one of us can think of anything else to say. Teresa goes back inside her house and leaves me in the rain.

I just stand there for a while, going over our conversation in my mind again. This leads me to contemplate the purpose of this errand, which in turn makes me question the meaning of any of this. Why am I doing this? What is the meaning of my life right now? And what do people mean by meaning, anyway?

I know I could have kept standing and thinking in the rain like this for hours, but for some reason I'm suddenly reminded that someone from city hall called me the other day and asked if I could take a look at their clogged pipes.

 I've never been inside the imposing castle that is Monte Vista's city hall, so I decide to take this opportunity. By this point, I'm feeling pretty rotten.

 Still, I persevere. What else am I supposed to do?

 After much prodding and poking, I finally find the reason for the clogged pipes - a lobster and a crawfish have made the plumbing of the city hall their home.

 Once I finally manage to extricate the creatures, I am rewarded with some money. They also hand me the two poor creatures and tell me to do what I want with them. Great, not I like already have two sea creatures I never wanted at home!

 By the time everything is settled, I'm ready to drop from exhaustion.

Luckily my home is within walking distance.

 When I enter the house, I am pleased to see that the contractors I hired have already completed their work. I got two new working sinks, a new sofa and lamp and on top of that, got some of the old furniture refurbished.

The water puddles remain. I ignore them.

 Upstairs hangs the gigantic digital picture frame that Franco Bianchi sent me. Maybe one day I'll feel like taking some pictures and displaying them there, but for now, I need to sleep.

As I drift off, my thoughts wander to Franco Bianchi again. I still want to kiss him, but then again, he's married. That's not cool. Really, pursuing a married man is just a recipe for disaster. Looks like that annoying voice in the back of my mind finally got to me.

I ponder my motivations. What I really, truly want is to simply have my first romance. That is more important than kissing any particular person. So I resolve to forget about kissing Franco and focus on finding true romance instead. Having that would make me much happier anyway.