Of Hospitals, Rentals and Other Things

We've just had an eventful week including much hospital visiting among other things.
The other things include moving Virgo and her partner into a unit - after three months of viewings and being rejected. The current rental situation in Perth is dire. With house prices sky-rocketing people are having to turn to the rental market and far exceed the number of places available. An average viewing lasts fifteen minutes and the number of potential renters at the viewing ranges between 25 and 30. There are others too who can't even go to viewings and apply anyway direct to the already swamped agents. It's not uncommon for a place to be offered for rental then go off the market for a few days only to return with an increased rental.
To lessen the amount of time off work for Virgo and her partner I have been going to inspect a lot of properties. In fact they applied for and signed up for this unit on my say so and without either of them having seen it.
Often the viewings are so crammed with would be renters you can hardly move in them and you hear some harrowing stories. One young woman was nearing the end of her lease and was refused a renewal. She had been looking for a place for two months and her lease had only one more month to run. Another had been given two weeks notice to leave a weekly rental where she had lived for several years. Desperation is driving the rents higher with applicants offering higher rent than has been asked for and while I don't blame the owners wanting to make a profit I would like to see some ethical standards apply as well.
Then there's the packing up and shopping for replacement furniture for my father who is moving into a retirement village at the end of the week and I did mention hospital visiting, didn't I? My mother has fractured her other femur and has undergone surgery so that has also been a continual worry as well.
I'm just hoping that next week life will slow down a bit. A chance for a deep breath would be nice.