Well, after a couple of years of working way too much, especially recently, I’ve taken some time off – naturally, so I can get some work done! A friend asked me to speak at a fund raising event in San Francisco and I decided that a small road trip before would help me clear the cob webs from my ancient attic of a brain.

I flew into Orange County and drove down to Laguna Beach to crash for a few days before I begin the slow drive up Highway 1 later on today. It’s very picturesque here, palm trees, rolling waves, nice beaches. It’s the rest of the stuff that puts a born and bred New Yorker on edge. It’s SO different.

Here’s a list of things that jump out at me:

- I’ve seen more people with plastic surgery (breasts, lips, faces) in my two days here than I have in the last 5 years of being in NY put together!

- They have these bus stops that look a bit like holding pens with signs that say “pick up day laborers here”

- The class differences are huge, between Whites, between Whites and Hispanics, and between the Hispanics.

- I have a new found distaste for the “soul patch.” In NY it indicates a cross between a geek and a fashionista. Here it indicates some kind of slacker/surfer/bum combination

By Jane Elliott

Health reporter, BBC News

When plastic surgeon Waseem Saeed came across a little girl who had lost her leg in the recent Chinese earthquake, he expected a child terrified of doctors and in great pain.

This had been the kind of case he had seen in the aftermath of the Pakistan earthquake – where many children were subjected to the agonising daily ritual of having their bandages removed so the raw stump of their amputated limb could be cleaned.

But this little girl was sitting in bed reading a book and appeared to be in no pain. (more…)