Tiny Screen Adventures: The Longest Journey

I have this for PC and I now recall I didn’t get very far in the game.  I had been thinking it was some technical glitch, but I can see now that I stopped dead after The Longest Most Awful Conversation in all my gaming history. The two women pictured below have an interminable dialog about the apt. building they live in and its residents and everyone’s love lives.  I thought I was gonna die.

I could not escape the conversation until every annoying tidbit had been discussed. JSM. 
Muttering terribly I made sure I saved the game once I was finally released.
As a side note, inventory items are combined by dragging one item on top of another.
I shall report back once I escape Slime Central.