Boker tov, my loyal readers. It’s Wednesday in Israel or as I call it….Wednesday. Woke up around 6:15 this morning for no good reason. Possibly because my trisim were open one billionth of an inch. How do you say trisim in English? Scrolling vertical blinds? When they’re closed, they can block out the sun completely, turning your room into a dark cave. If you’re not careful however, the slightest crack will give the impresssion that you are in fact five meters from the sun. So I’m up, lying in bed, and wearing Dr. Fisher SPF 35,000.
The inside of my bedroom after not closing my trisim. I really need some new sleepwear.
I may be tired but I’m not down about it. I feel an extra spring in my step because I’m going to be rich, people. Not because Bank Leumi made me a millionaire; I have a new get-rick quick scheme. Well, it’s not actually anything but quick. Remember the scheme in “Office Space” to slowly get rich by making a fraction of a penny every time the computer rounded off? Yesterday I purchased something for 41 shekels. Well, I was supposed to purchase it for 41 shekels but only had 40 on me. No worries; the guy took my money and let me go. Would that ever happen in America? And forget the “give a penny, take a penny” phenomenon, somebody’s still paying in that case. Here rather, it’s “ahhhhh, b’seder, it’s just a shekel.” Much like the dogs in cafes from my “61 list”, this is another laid-back reason I like this place. Although as someone from capitalist America, it’s still bizarre.
Either way, it doesn’t change the fact that from now on, I’m showing up to every store exactly one shekel short. And I could certainly use the extra money. Especially because I just bought Dr. Fisher sunblock.
And NOW I’m going to go wake up.
I was 20 agurot short yesterday at Office Depot. The girl let it go! What a country.
At the fruit store, all the prices are marked 3.99, 4.99 etc. a kilogram. But the cashier rounds up the number when she enters the prices.
I once got a free cab ride (30NIS worth) when the driver couldn’t break a 100.
I once took all my ten agurot pieces to the local store to buy a loosie (guess who this is), and I had 9 of the 10 agurot pieces and one 10 Euro Cent piece by mistake (they are the same size/look roughly).
The woman at the store not only said it was OK, she even exchanged the 10 Euro cent piece for me at a better rate than Bank Leumi, and gave me the change in shekels!
My husband’s Polish grandparents would be very relieved that you are buying Dr. Fisher SPF 35000. They were pretty concerned about our Careline SPF 34 being insufficient…
I also don’t know what Trisim are called in English… I wrote a post about trisim (what can I say, I enjoy the mundane) and thought they’re called blinds, but they’re really venetian blinds on steroids. And don’t forget that some of us live in apts without fancy new scrolling trisim!
Oh, and I once had a stranger buy my a burekah because I was short a few shekels. I love this country too.
Damn, Anonymous! 30 shmeks! That really is a get-rich-quick scheme.
The whole 3.99 thing is a bit ridic.
in the shuk, i went to one of the vegetable guys and bought something, it cost 10.5 shekel, i gave him a 20, he shrugged and gave me back a 10 shekel coin rather than a handful of change.
then i remembered I needed something else that cost 4.5 shekel.. i gave him the ten shekel piece back and he gave me a 5 shekel piece.. and i stood there waiting for the other half shekel and he looked at me a little funny but then handed it to me..
i didn’t realize what had actually happened until i walked away and was wondering what his problem was..
does that count as double-dipping?
I don’t think there is a none Hebrew world for trisim because I don’t think they are used anywhere other that Israel. I tohgt trisim are only the plastic shutters that open and close and not the blinds that roll out. Is that a tris also?
trisim are the one true sign that israel is the chosen land and we are the chosen people.
In Germany, we had rolling blinds. We called them “rolladin” (like, roh-LAAAH-din). Sounds more like a pastry than blinds, and I have no idea if that’s what the Germans called ‘em or not, but that’s what we called them.
I have a double problem: one of the trissim in my bedroom doesn’t close completely, AND it’s directly across from the mirror on my closet. AND it’s the window that the sun shines in. So when I can’t force the bugger closed (by jumping up and down on my bed, while forcing my fingers down on the tiny gap), I’m awakened by an 8 million watt beacon reflecting off the mirror and lighting up my room like headlights on the space shuttle.
Try sleeping through *that*.
Wanna get rich? Then how about importing trisim, the sherut idea, and solar panels which have been in existence in israel for thousands of years to America!
..Oh, and don’t forget Gazoz makers and Tayadent. My parents would buy tons of Tayadent and bring it back to Baltimore when they came to visit me in israel when Avi and Micha were babies,,,, 
The closest English word for trisim is shutters.
http://www.stormshutters.com/rolling-shutters/rolling-shutters.html
Here’s a link on the trisim. We have had them in the US south for decades to protect against hurricanes.
It’s a little-known fact, but medieval Jewish women’s chastity belts were made out of trisim.
I’ve found that merchants in the US forgive missing cents all the time, especially small stores. Who’s the friar now?