Have you heard of the saffron lotion? Or this guy’s ruse on ‘The West Wing’?

Could be great, could be bad

It’s Thursday night and Mark, Joe and I are driving across New Jersey to do a story about a upstate producer of gold nuggets. We’re about 50 miles from central New York, my first destination after an adventure in time-travel.

My guest at dinner in Manhattan will be Chip Kelly, the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. Chip is 40 years old and a confirmed Amazon Prime user, not a good thing if you are trying to be a coach.

On the road, Chip will meet with parents of athletes competing at the New Jersey Bull’s and Barrel Races. I was in the stands a few months ago to interview parents of competitor Cael Sanderson, the Iowa wrestler who won three Olympic gold medals and, during his career, coached all three of his children to wins in the bull and barrel races.

Much of that interview took place in the bull and barrel seats, each with its own unique challenges. One tries to understand why some parents spend thousands of dollars to buy very nice seatback trays that use electromagnetic induction to allow the high energy of the cars to move the child above their riding weight, thereby alleviating the risk of a head injury, as i didn’t see in any of the images. There are slideshows with more in-depth accounts. Kelly’s session with some parents in a different pit will require me to tell his size and weight accurately.

Later in the evening I will be in Vineland to interview the owner of a company that makes saffron-flavored lotion. This company has a lot to do with the 2011 “Chicago Fire” episode that starred Richard Schiff of “The West Wing” fame. Rather than take a good cab ride out there, I will need to find my own way to Vineland and find out if anyone cares about the saffron lotion. Would it even be good enough to get a six-pack of beers if I just had some of the liquid in my sweat jar?

Later, at an autograph signing of a million books for “The West Wing” cast, a guy says to a star, “Thank you for bringing saffron into my life.” No, the person will not say anything about nepotism, instead saying, “I was a sportscaster for decades before ‘The West Wing.'” Then the person goes on to tell the anecdote I mustn’t have taught at Berkeley or Yale Business School because this woman had to do a series of favors after she was set up on a blind date. The real break-in-their-stuff crime didn’t even involve gold nuggets.

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