If all the civilizations started more or less at the same time that us, it's not so weird that we have not found anybody else. If you add some other factor (maybe civilizations are only possible far from the center, so there is a big spread between them) the probabilities improve.
It also would mean interesting times ahead for humanity.
Of course, all this is only idle speculation.
To be clear, I'm not saying that's what it is ... the fermi paradox is a great thought experiment. But let's just keep things in perspective. Low odds don't mean something won't happen, just like "true random" doesn't mean the same song can't/won't play 10 times in a row ;)
As in, the universe may be littered with the ruins of single-planet civilizations slightly ahead of our technology level. We may have observed and cataloged many such planets, failing to notice the ruins.
So, we don't see or hear artificial signs in other galaxies because light is from the times when there was not complex life in the universe.
Now, we only have to solve why we don't see or hear artificial signs in our galaxy. But the problem is not so perplexing because we are talking about one or two million years.
If, for instance, a big part of the galaxy is bad for complex life (after all, we are far away from the center and that could be relevant), Fermi's paradox is solved.