Ded PW is ded

Was dedder yesterday, due to 4,5hrs of sleep interrupted by 2 hrs of sleeplessness.
Then I had too much coffee -- I know it doesn' really help but makes me queasy, but it's coffee! -- felt all shaky and queasy in the afternoon and therefore had to forego exercise in favour of heading home and getting something to eat. Felt better but fell asleep not long after eight p.m., woke up at 1 a.m., awake till 2.30, got up at 5.
So it's better today, but I'm still tired, grouchy, grumpy and decidedly not in a sunny mood. Certainly not in the mood for the dreaded (by all concerned I think) team meeting at noon, with Gerald and the visa girls. I'm intending to make it short anyway, because what I don't want is for the meeting to turn into some kind of kindergarten argument-fest; considering how grumpy and tired I'm feeling, I'll make it even shorter, laying down a few rules and threatening them with dire consequences in case they aren't being respected seriously exhorting everybody to keep to them.
Even though I have to admit that I'm more on the girls' side -- not because they're women, but because as local staff they're in the weaker position and understandably reluctant to endanger their jobs by *really* fighting back -- I'll try not to let it show. Well, not too much. Announcing that arguments and screaming at people at full volume is banned, even if I don't mention any names, is clearly meant for Gerald, as is the admonition re. throwing things. He's not going to like that, and I hope (though more for his sake) that he won't start arguing with me, because I'm not quite sure I can keep my temper today. Not that I'm going to shout and/or throw things, because that's not my style at all (and wouldn't be setting the best of examples), but a scathing put-down doesn't seem like a too far-fetched possibility, if he really tries my patience.
The ground rules are simple enough:
-no phone conversations with the loudspeaker on, unless it's necessary to have witnesses (this does happen, but not too often)
-no radio, not even one
-we have to find a way (and then make it into a rule) for the girls to give Gerald often necessary input while he's on the phone or at the visa counter. He doesn't want them to interrupt or talk over him, which is understandable in a way, but short of them waving a red flag or blowing a whistle I'm not quite sure how to manage it. With sometimes two or three people working on the same case, which is unavoidable, everybody doesn't always have the same amount of information, and so giving that information while Gerald is talking to the person in question *is* necessary. But of course he's a guy and therefore a) unable to talk, listen and breathe at the same time and b) so convinced of his own omniscience and perfection that anything the girls have to say seems more annoying than helpful. *sighs*
- I'm not going to follow Gerald's suggestion about forbidding the girls to talk in any language but German -- I'd do that only if I had a suspicion they're doing illegal things behind my back -- because I think it insulting and dictatorial. What I am going to demand from the girls, however, is that, if there's an argument or heated exchange, they do not talk amongst each other in Macedonian. It's a matter of both psychology and good manners, I think: if you're arguing with somebody, and this somebody talks to her colleagues in a language you don't understand, you automatically assume that it's something you shouldn't be understanding. (Especially if you're Gerald the Delicate Flower)
-If Gerald establishes a rule, they may discuss its use or lack thereof with him. If they don't come to an agreement, they are to come to me, and I mean all of them. No sneaking behind Gerald's back (which did happen a few times), but also no insane rules like "if the person at the visa counter puts their signature in the wrong place, I won't countersign the document, and you'll have to make them come back to sign again". (Trust me, it is of absolutely zero importance where the signature is)
-Room temperature is not a matter of superior vs. inferior, but a matter that has to be resolved in a democratic fashion, by compromise. If he's hot, and three people are shivering because the A/C is turned on full blast, overruling them because he's technically their superior is unacceptable. If he really can't stand the heat, he'll have to put a fan on or next to his desk. (And why, WHY?????, is it even necessary for this to become a topic of discussion, let alone a reason for the establishing of a rule???)

To be completely frank, I'm royally pissed off at him. I do like him, of course, and I understand, to a certain degree at least, his reasons for behaving like he does: he's unhappy, discontented, and generally one of those people for whom the glass is always half full, constantly seeking a possibility to lock horns with people he deems responsible for the various things that anger or irritate him (everything from Macedonia's way of dealing with its rubbish to Ministry guidelines, to the fact that he doesn't have a diplomatic passport), constantly fighting windmills and frustrated when it doesn't lead anywhere. All this, of course, because addressing the real issues would be far too painful and potentially life-wrecking.
OK, I understand that.
But it's an explanation, not a justification. Neither for using foul language with the visa applicants (and complaining afterwards that the girls aren't translating what he says 100% accurately), nor for treating the girls as if he were the sultan and they his harem, duty-bound to behave in exactly the way he would like on a particular day. Laughing and chatting when he's in a good mood, and keeping quiet when he's having a bad day. And not just that, they even ought to gauge his mood correctly, because saying, "Listen, today I'm not in a mood for talking or listening to you making jokes, so could you keep it down, please, that would be very nice" obviously isn't possible.
Gah.
This turned out a little longer than I intended, but I obviously needed to get it out.