Chapter 4: Radical Changes
Entry 13 Dear Diary, This was my morning:
'Welcome to the first of our weekly House Deliberations. I'd like to...'
'Agnes? Sorry to interrupt you, but can I ask you a question?'
'I don't see how you could already have a question but sure, Pauline, go right ahead. '
'Thank you. I was wondering why all this formality? We're housemates, we can discuss
anything we have to on the couch over breakfast. Don't you think this is a little over the
top?'
'No! I don't! It is important that we uphold a certain decorum. I want everything I have to
discuss to be taken as serious as it's meant to be taken. So that excludes talking on the
couch over breakfast as a possibility. I don't understand why you'd even propose such a
ridiculous thing! Can I continue now?' Wow. Grumpy certainly stepped with her wrong foot out of bed this morning!
'I guess the silence means I can. As I was saying: Welcome to the first of our weekly
House Deliberations. I'd like to formally welcome you all. I thought it necessary to
introduce these meetings as a way of organizing our household. The fact that we sit
here today, together, marks an important milestone in the development of our Environment
institute. The first stone towards our goals has been laid; because the last stone has been
laid.'
'Certainly not mine...'
'What did you say Hank? You were mumbling.'
'Nothing, nothing, just musing to myself.' You know, I
almost like Hank better because Agnes dislikes him so much...
Almost.
'Please refrain from doing that when I'm talking - Thank you. We've made the first
significant step towards reaching our goals by the fact that we can sit here today in this
very room. Our house is finished, and our interior is close to being finished as well.' Yea right!
'Well I know you don't think so Caitlin.' I said that out loud?
'But quite frankly, your feelings regarding this issue are irrelevant. It was my money that
we spent, we have run out of it, so we are done. That fact is also the main item on our agenda
today.'
'Now we even have an agenda?'
'Ine, hon, please don't make this take any longer.'
'Sorry love, you're right. The sooner we develop "a certain decorum" the sooner I can
crawl up on the couch with you holding me in your muscled arms.'
'Come on guys! Get a room!'
'Sorry Cate.' What she sees in him is still beyond me. Body and brain of a gorilla and a bonobo would
be proud of his appetite...
'As I was saying...' She's getting more stoic by the minute!
'...the main point on our agenda today is how our new house completely depleted our
funds. We're not yet at the point where we have to start worrying about where we'll sleep
tonight, but something has to happen fast if we wish to seriously pursue our goals. I take
it everyone still wants that?'
'Yes Agnes, I do. How could you even ask that?!' I let her move in. I let them
all move in. And I
hate it. I'm not a masochist; I suffer
through for a reason!
'Just checking... ' Yea right. I'm on to you Miss Up-To-No-Good.
'Ok. So we wish to push forward with our Environment institute. This means we need
money. Lots of money. That will require a radical change in the way we currently all live.'
'I think we can save money by growing our own produce.'
'Good thinking Caitlin, but I'm afraid that's not going to be enough. We don't just have to
save money, we have to make money come in as well.'
'Well that's easily taken care of. We just go round town, ring the doorbells, and collect it!
That's how Catie did it before she moved here, isn't it?'
'Please don't call me Catie!'
'Hank, I'm not sure if you attended the same "Environment Meeting" as I did, but we
are... all
the people that remotely care about the environment.' Hah! She doesn't think Hank's motives are pure either.
'So you can say goodbye to your donations. No, Hank, we need to get jobs.' WHAT?!
'All of us. We need to get jobs.'
'WHAT?!'
'Yea; What?! Hank and I aren't happy about that either. We had jobs, we quit them to put
time into our institute, and now you're saying we shouldn't have quit them?'
'That would have been smarter, yes, you should always discuss those important things
with me first.' She really thinks she runs this place. I do not
need to get a job. I
have a job; saving the
world, that's my job!
Ding! Ding! Ding! Aaaaaand again the environment goes KO versus materialism.
'Well I think you're being very unreasonable Agnes.'
'Look Pauline, here it is: we are out of money. At this point everyone's opinions and
should'ves, could'ves, would'ves concerning the construction of our house are irrelevant.
It's irreversible and therefore a moot point.' And whose fault is that?!
I get it. The whole no money thing. I really do. But it's a mess
she created, so
she has to
fix it and not put it all on us! But of course that's what's happening! She shot holes in her
own boat, but oops; we were still on it too! Now she can't patch the holes up before we'll
sink and is counting on us to help out so we don't all drown. She's a leech!
'The situation as it currently stands is simple: we are out of money. So we need jobs. I
don't think it's unreasonable of me to ask that of everyone?'
'Well... if you put it like that.
'I'm glad you're coming to reason Pauline. I've already created a list of who is to apply for
what job. That way our...'
'We don't even get to choose our own jobs?!'
'No Caitlin. You don't. I've arranged it perfectly. We will earn as well as save the most
money if we all stick to these jobs. It will be the most effective way to earn money, that
way we can start our institute before we're all wrinkled and grey!' Too late for her then!
'Pauline, I want you to join the culinary career.'
'No! NO WAY! I was going to make it as a rock star; inspire people with my music! I am
not going to spend my days behind a counter. Forget it.'
'You could always pursue your rock career at a later point Pauline, right now we need the
money.'
'I don't care. I am not becoming a cook. Find me something else. Something at least
remotely artist-y.'
'Well... I suppose you could sculpt. I was going to do that after my paintings, but I guess I
could always write.'
'Well I rather pursue my rock career, but sculpting would be OK. For now.' Painting? Sculpting? Writing? Exactly how's that going to help us save as well as earn
money?!
'Those aren't the jobs I was thinking of when you said "will win the category Earns &
Saves".'
'Well I didn't think you would Caitlin - you don't look further than your nose is long.' Ain't the pot calling the kettle black now.
'Those are all mediums to convey messages, to inspire people, that is what we'll need to
get our institute started. This way we won't have to pay for a professional artist to do it
for us. I thought you of all people would see the merit of this.' Ok, she got me there. That's actually pretty clever. Especially since it means she will keep
her face out of the attention. We'd never get anything done if our students had to look past
her nose.
'I do see the merit. So, what does your list say about my career?'
'You will garden: grow produce for our own use and sell the excess.' That's not so bad. I'll just plant a few seeds, tend to them 10 minutes every day and
spend the rest of the time developing our Environment initiative.
'Fine.'
'Fine.'
'Fine!'
'That just leaves Hank.'
'I'd like for you to take up fishing and...'
'I'm not getting a job.'
'You have to; we all have to.'
'Nope. Not me. And you can't make me!'
'You're being very selfish Hank.'
'If he doesn't want to get a job Agnes, you can't make him.'
'You're tolerating this utter lack of consideration Pauline?'
'I'm just saying Hank is free to make his own choices.'
'...'
'Then he can be our maid.' She really is devious.
'What?'
'If he doesn't want a job, he will contribute in another way. You'll be in charge of keeping
the house clean Hank.'
'What does that mean? Stuff like doing the laundry?'
'Yes. Stuff like doing the laundry yes. Can you handle that?'
'Sure, yea. And the rest of the time I'm free?'
'Absolutely.'
'Coolio.' He'll go mad within a day doing a woman's work! You gotta hand it to her, that was well
played. At least our distaste for Hank is
something we have in common.
'Well, that's settled then. That concludes our meeting's agenda for today. I hope to see
you all here next week. For now I'd like to go to City Hall together to employ ourselves.'
'Checking up on us?'
'I just like to be sure...' Walking, walking, walking, walking.
Hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop.
Running, running, running, running, running, running.
Now let's stop. Up and down.
You know, one of these days I'm not going to comment in my head and she'll be running
for the hills. For now though, I'll try to lay low, see if I can figure out what she's up to. I
need all the leverage I can get.
Author's Note: Sorry for the slow update; I've been really busy and still will be until the end of next week. There'll be a few small updates coming to you until then, events which I have already played. After that I should have a little more time to play the game and seriously progress the story.
