Things seem to picked up since my last message, not really sure why but it has. Right now I'm a couple or three scene's ahead, so I'm reasonably happy.
Jack isn't making me happy. After doing ok for a while he suddenly wants 100 more bricks than I have. As I play scenes, doing I bricks - nope. ;-(

Assuming I just play scenes and figure I play my 165 energy credits twice per say (330 credits or 33 games) and at 70 coins per play, I would take me roughly a month to accumulate enough coins to buy the Fire Engine (72,000 coins). (70 x 33 = 2,310 per day, 72,000/2,310 = 31 days). Of course, I'd get a few extra coins through "Detectives Needed" and maybe the occasional Red Star Box (which may contain coins and even a decoration). Through all of this I would also be getting flowers from the Landmark (about 1,700 per month).

Maybe I'm missing something here but it sure seems like I would be re-playing a LOT of scenes just to advance. Is this how this is really supposed to work?

If I understand you correctly, things just slow down unless I'm willing to pay [cash] for coins, etc. That's a shame because I'm really not interested in playing the same scenes over and over again just for something to do while I wait. I guess it's time to move on to a different game.