The Wordsmith Blog™

................................. ................................. There is a reason behind the color and smell A trip to the toilet may be more revealing than you think. "The appearance and smell of your urine—as well as the frequency with which you have to go—can provide many clues to what else is going on in your body," I hope this quells somebody's worries and/or insinuations. I also believe it would be as informative to you as I thought it would. 1) Looking pale If your urine is as colorless as water, well, that's probably because you've been drinking a lot of water. And besides the inconvenience of going to the bathroom many times a day because your bladder is filling up with fluid faster, there's really nothing medically worrisome about having a light colored output. 2) Too dark If your urine has a brownish, iced tea-colored tinge, that could be a sign that you are dehydrated and the kidney is producing more concentrated (as opposed to diluted) urine.

Remember when Sergio Ramos dropped the Coppa del Rey while celebrating Real Madrid's victory in the Spanish cup? And how the bus then drove over the trophy? Well, Germany have managed something even more embarrassing. Yes, Die Nationalmannschaft have managed to take a piece out of the World Cup. When Germany returned home with the trophy, wild celebrations ensued in Berlin, complete with a dramatic unveiling of Philipp Lahm holding the prize aloft. But somewhere amidst all the jumping, frolicking and merriment-making, the Cup sustained a bit of damage. In fact, a small piece of it is now missing, as the German Football Federation president president Wolfgang Niersbach revealed. "At one point, a small piece of our World Cup trophy was chipped off," Niersbach told Die Welt. "But do not worry! We have specialists on the case who can fix it. We have investigated persistently who it was that damaged the trophy, but the investigation was concluded without a result

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has approved 10 days paternity leave for any male civil servant in the state whose wife delivers a new baby. The measure is to afford them the opportunity of attending to developmental needs of the child. Fashola also jerked up the maternity leave from three months to six, to allow the nursing mother give their child exclusive breastfeeding for the period. Head of Service, HOS, Mrs. Oluseyi William, who disclosed this yesterday, at a joint briefing with the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lateef Ibirogba and Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Health, Dr. Yewande Adeshina, in Ikeja, said the new approved policy took immediate effect. According to Williams, "male officers to whom a new baby (or babies in case of multiple birth) is born would be entitled to 10 working days paternity leave in relation to and at the time of his spouse's first two deliveries. "Female officers shall be entitled to 24 week

ETIQUETTE ESSENTIALS: Do's and Don'ts of Workplace Etiquette Keep the work flowing smoothly with these tips for office etiquette. I hope you are off/set for the closing phases of July? Its been a cold rainy month. Here are a few basic etiquette pointers to keep things cool and copasetic in the workplace. 1) Do respect your coworker's space. Offices, even if they are cubicles or open desks, should be respected as belonging to the 'owner.' Knock on the cubicle door or otherwise announce yourself and refrain from leaning on someone else's desk. 2) Don't default 'reply all'. Keep 'reply all's' to a minimum and only when the whole group is interested in your answer. When sending a group email where replies only need to be directed to you, consider BCC. Instead, be a good email-er and preface subject lines with FYI: or Response needed: (just keep URGENT: for the most important situations- or try a phone call!) 3) Do make work-friends. Some of

Nigerians(To Whom It May Concern) can now start getting prepared for a change of particulars as regards their states of origin. Following the proposition submitted and accepted by delegates at the National Conference, 19 new states are to be created out of the existing 36. Details of the 19 new states proposed by the ongoing National Conference t be created in addition to the 36 already in existence have been identified. This was contained in the documents obtained Saturday. For the proposed Edu State, which will be created out of the present Niger State, it will be made up of Agagie, Bida North, Edati, Agbakoba, Katcha, Lapai, Labun and Mokwa Local Governments with its capital in Bida. Apa State will be carved out of the present Benue State and made up of Agatu, Apa, Otukpo, Oju, Obi, Obi, Ohimini, Okpokwu and Ofbadigbo Local Government Areas with capital in Otukpo. If Kainji State is created, it will be created from the present Kebbi and Niger states and it will be made up of Danko/W