Tonki

We were in Kardashian country last night when the lights went out. Eliot and I drove from Sherman Oaks, CA to Westlake Village to have dinner with close friends, Sheri and Larry Lesser and daughter Julie. They took us to a fabulous Italian restaurant, Grissini’s, where we shared stories about family, work, compared iPhone notes and heard all about their recent house renovations. Larry works for The Milken Family Foundation, Sheri is an artist, and Julie is a self taught tech wiz who I talked about in earlier posts.

Sheri Lesser

It was a just a beautiful night. We were really happy to be catching up.,We left our rental car at Sheri and Larry’s house so we all drove back together. As we are entered their neighborhood Larry remarked that all the streets were dark. Then we saw flashing lights, repair trucks, and the police. Something blew big time.

Larry Lesser

We didn’t get all of details but we did learn a valuable lesson. Sheri and Larry’s house is totally automated. They have key pads and remote controls to enter through front gates and garage doors. There is no such thing as carrying keys in the wild west. The Lesser’s totally locked up before dinner so there was no chance of re-entry without electricity. Apparently this has never happened to them before because they were as dumbfounded as we were.

Julie Lesser

The option of just driving away and checking in to a hotel in a neighboring town was never considered. The Lesser’s own a cat and dog that were trapped inside without A/C. The cat would have been okay but the Pomeraniannamed Tonki, who is somewhat of a celebrity, would freak if left alone for too long. Tonki’s image appears on all of Sheri’s signature creations.

Luckily, the electricity was restored a few hours later. Julie was not so lucky. She lives less than a mile away. Her electricity was out till the next day. But being the techie she is, she had one secret backup…..a manual key.

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