A sandworm is a fictional extraterrestrial creature that appears in the Dune novels written by Frank Herbert, first introduced in Dune (1965).
The sandworm are an autotrophic animal that inhabited the planet Arrakis. It lived in the vast deserts and sand dunes that stretched across the surface of the planet. Most importantly, sandworms are an essential factor in the creation of the Spice Melange.
Sandworms lived beneath the sand. Attracted to rhythmic vibrations on the surface, they would breach in pursuit of the origin of such vibrations. This was an effort to defend their territory, of which they were highly protective. Thus to see a worm, and live to tell about it, was extremely rare, save for the mysterious fremen, who had achieved some kind of mastery over the beast.
Physical Characteristics
The sandworms were extremely territorial; as soon as two worms sensed each other's presence, they let out chuffing roars of challenge, bellowing melange-smelling exhaust from their cavernous throats.
By anyone's standards, Sandworms could grow to an enormous size. Dr. Yueh cited that specimens "up to 450 meters long" were spotted by observers in the deep desert.
Their skin was thick, rough, and semi-metallic. It served the simple function of armor and was comprised of many scales, each a few feet in size. These scales overlapped and interlocked to form the armor that protected it against internal sand invasion.
As the Fremen discovered, this armor, while all but impenetrable, could be exploited. By prying open the edges of one or more of the scales, the integrity of the armor would be compromised; sand was now free to enter into the sandworms softer insides, causing intense irritation for the sandworm. The beast would then roll itself until the opened scale was at the highest point from the desert floor, thus minimizing the amount of sand that could enter.
A fremen poised to "ride" the beast as it rolled its open scale towards its highest point could literally mount the worm. As long as the scales remained open, the sandworm would not submerge. Maker hooks were then placed towards the front of the beast to control lateral movement. As a result, wormriding became a viable, even sacred, method of transport for the Fremen across the surface of the planet.
The smell of the sandworm has been particularly documented. A strong, flinty, cinnamon smell exuded from the beast, especially from the mouth. Some said it could be smelled before seen
The approach of a sandworm towards its breach-point was often indicated by the dry lightning that frequently occurred in the area; a result of static electricity being discharged into positively-charged air.
The main component of the sandworm's diet was sand, and other inorganic and dry components of the Arrakis crust. It is also believed they sifted the sand-plankton for nourishment.
Cultural Impact
To the planet's Fremen population, the creature was a spiritual symbol of their faith and saw them as physical embodiments of the One God of their original Zensunni religion. Within Fremen culture the sandworm had several additional names, notably The Maker and Shai-Hulud, which variously meant Old Man of the Desert, Old Father Eternity, or Grandfather of the Desert
Young sandworms were used by the Fremen for special ceremonies. Inducting new Sayyadinas or reverend mothers was a prime example of the sandworms essential cultural role.
Conception
Author Frank Herbert conceived the Sandworms based on dragon mythology, particularly fictitious dragons that guard some sort of treasure, such as the creature in Beowulf and the Dragon of Colchis from the Greek myth of Jason. The Sandworms of Arrakis will attack humans who attempt to harvest the spice, as if guarding it (even though the spice is actually of no interest for these creatures, since it is waste matter). Hence, the Sandworms are referred to as "the dragons on the floor of the desert" in Children of Dune.
Illustrator John Schoenherr gave the Sandworm three triangular lobes that form the lips of its mouth. They are also depicted as colossal lampreys or leeches (lacking the three aforementioned lobes), as well as terrestrial annelids.
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So when i cut my thumb at work and tried to go to urgent care the minute i mentioned it happening at work the guy at the counter was all "you have to take a drug test" and shit and literally wouldn't admit me. I had to drive 20 minutes to another urgent care to lie and say i cut myself at home
Anyway my boss doesn't give a shit that I smoke weed and he told me to go to urgent care if I need to because I burnt myself pretty fuckin bad a few days ago and specifically said they don't drug test
SO if I go for this wrist problem and the urgent care tells me I gotta pee in a cup again, how do I get them to fuck off with that? I don't want some bullshit drug use information in my medical history especially if my employer has told me point blank they don't need it
It's especially fucked that it's not even at the behest of my employer, it's literally this fucking 3rd party for profit urgent care stepping in on their behalf without any prior interaction, otherwise my employer would obviously be like lol fuck off
Idk if I can just get my boss to call and be like "yeah we don't need that shit" or if they'll just insist. Idk if there's a state law or some bullshit compelling them to do it either. I'm gonna have to ask about it tomorrow because unless it goes away this wrist problem is A Problem.
America is absolutely fucked. The only reason I can think of for them to do this would be to fuck you out of your workers comp, cause even if the employer doesn't care the insurance company that pays out workers comp does and will compare employer and doctor notes. This is still absolutely unethical, testing a patient shouldn't be conditional, thars absurd. I'm pretty sure here a doctor would lose their license over that, if it's not related to the problem that they're treating then they're running unnecessary medical tests just to invade your privacy. Private Healthcare is barbaric as hell.
Thanks, hopefully it'll just get better on its own. This happened once before a couple months ago and it just got better quickly enough that it wasn't a problem, but it's been swollen for a few days now
You don't disclose that it happened at work, apparently.
Wait, it wasn't eventually doctor it was the receptionist asking for your piss? First off I'd ask why. You're there for a wrist problem and are willing to be open and honest with a doctor who is sworn to confidentiality. You haven't spoken to a medical professional at all and you're being asked for a fluid sample and this is an unethical invasion of a patients privacy. They wouldn't ask you for a blood sample to see if you had allergies or pre existing conditions that could affect treatment, they ask you and look at your medical history under the once again ethical mandates regarding informed consent, they have to go off of what you say until a test is deemed necessary it's piss poor medical practice to begin with a fluid test for something like a wrist issue. I don't know if there's any ground that this would give you to stand on thst matters in any way at all in the land of the free, but if you go about this in a polite version of Larry David way you'll probably get no where but be told by staff that you are correct but their hands are tied.
If it's a workers comp thing then maybe you can get around it by not filing a claim, seems like you have a half decent chef if they're not trying yo get out of one already but you could maybe cut a deal to get paid out to some degree for recovery time, if they do that it means their isn't a workers comp case filed against them and their premiums don't go up so you might be able to cut a deal that way, working for a university means probably dome pretty tight bookkeeping so it may not be doable but could be worth seeing about. If you know any drug addicts maybe see if they know a doctor thst doesn't piss test if that's a common thing where you are. If there's a med school anywhere around that's maybe a good option, you can get cheap to free care from students there and for something like a wrist issue diagnosis and treatment there isn't really any risk going with a semi amateur.
And having checked into it, it's illegal as fuck here to do that. If you refuse a test the doctor still has to attempt diagnosis and treatment with that test off the menu. They can't refuse treatment cause you refuse part of it, you have your rights to bodily autonomy and they have an oath to treat patients and its a doctor's job to work between those lines. If someone is a Christian scientist and refuses medicine, they still have to do what they can despite thst refusal.
Yeah like literally I walk into this urgent care and go up to the desk and the guy who eventually came up to the counter (nobody was there when I walked in) is all "Hey how's it going" and I was all "It was going alright until I cut my thumb at work" and then he immediately starts talking about worker's comp talking about drug tests and shit and I was like "nah man I don't want to deal with any of that shit I just want to pay out of pocket" and he says he "literally can't do that" because his supervisor down the hall heard me mention it happening at work so it "has to have a worker's comp claim" and consequently "has to have a drug test" so I was like nope and walked outside and had a panic attack and cried in my car because my thumb was bleeding and I very much wanted it to not be bleeding anymore
the guy made the effort of coming outside to try to comfort me and suggest I go to another urgent care or ER so i don't think it was just him making shit up
Sounds like bad timing. If your chef is cool with you smoking weed it may be easy enough to explain the situation to him. If you get piss tested and there's an insurance/corporate thing, he's coming out of it under scrutiny at beat for letting it happen under his watch cause I'm sure not giving a fuck about weed is his policy and not that of the company or their insurer. So he's at risk if you piss test as well. Chances are if you're down to pay out of pocket you can show up and get your hours but have a reduced workload thst you can do with one hand like cleaning or whatever. That's probably the best scenario you'll get. I'd try other doctors first and see if you can slip through without a piss test but that's the best backup there.
okay I just googled my state and worker's comp and honestly based on the way numerous legal websites state that "Employers can request a drug test" I am pretty sure the mandatory drug testing is just some absolute horseshit the specific urgent care chain (isn't it fucked up that it's a healthcare chain like it's fucking Arby's) is doing because I feel like they'd be mentioning mandatory drug testing if it were a state thing
it also says that a failed drug test in my state doesn't preclude me from worker's comp benefits but "allows the employer and insurance company the presumption of intoxication at the time of injury"
which! I'm pretty sure can't fucking disqualify me from a chronic, repetitive motion injury even if they wanted to try, because I don't think being high made my wrist explode from over-use
It totally totally can and will, it's gonna be cause of the insurance company and not your employer with that one. You gotta find a doctor thst won't snitch or I guarantee you won't get workers comp and also your work will get dinged by their insurers for allowing people to work while intoxicated which probably is a violation of the insurance agreement. Either find a doctor who will play ball or use these facts as leverage to see if your work will pay out, be VERY hypothetical about it to your chef, not as a threat but as the realistic consequences of you seeking medical treatment (which is necessary so you either have to tske a piss test and have this get out to insurance or to cut you a deal) but that is a very last resort if you really need to. There's gotta be a doctor around who'll play ball, your corrupt ass medical system has to cut both ways, there's gotta be a dude who will look the other way to get paid. That's the duality of any weird livertairan system
idk I don't see how an insurance company can argue that intoxication at any point caused a repetitive motion injury, it's something that is entirely unrelated to smoking weed
like they'd absolutely use it (or try to, it looks like there are ways to establish that I was not high in court) to deny something like me cutting my thumb or me splashing fryer oil all over my arm a few days ago, but those are different sorts of injuries where they could argue the weed made me clumsy or whatever (assuming intoxication at the time)
like assume I'm stoned 24/7, where's the causative link to what's basically carpal tunnel? Unless they try to say the bursa in my wrist enflamed due to over-use of a lighter, lmao.
They dont need to. You were under the influence of an illegal narcotic as far as the law is concerned and there is no legal argument that matters any further.
Edit: also it's an insurance policy, not the law. They can and do write in the contract your employer signs that gives them workers comp insurance which is legally necessary to operate that any form of workplace intoxication is grounds to not pay up and to increase premiums because the employer is a higher risk and broke the contract through negligence. There's not reasoning this cause they'd have to sue the insurance company to do so and thst ain't gonna happen over your thumb.