spies and lame ducks

Happy Winter Solstice, y'all. We're "celebrating" by watering our trees? Really, we're so hardup for precipitation around here, had to fire up the hose.

I worked my last day of the year in the testing center yesterday. We're closed now until Jan. 2nd. We had an unfortunate turn of events this week in that we're pretty sure we got busted by a secret shopper.

These companies we administer professional tests for will occasionally send secret shoppers posing as test candidates to make sure we're doing all the security things properly. Someone got into the testing room with a cell phone.  Oooh, that's baaaaad.

I wasn't there, just heard about it after the fact. At least my coworkers noticed the cell phone at the testing workstation during the test, but by then, the damage was done. 

It's just really awkward to ask some stranger why the metal detector is going off near their crotch, and then, to investigate further! Apparently, this is what happened, and it was explained away with, "Oh, must be my belt buckle", and that was that. 

I recall a time I was scanning a woman candidate. She was a rather "stout" woman, and my detector went off at her mid back. I let it go without question because I assumed she had on a hefty bra with some serious hardware holding it shut, and I didn't want to go there.

I mean, if she was gonna hide something, she wouldn't hide it in her back bra strap, right? Right?? 

From now on, I'll just ask. And yes, take off the belt, let's do it again. 

On a happier note, I also had my last tutor session with my one high schooler. I mainly just tutor the college students now, but "D" is a holdover from about a year and a half ago when her mom contacted me because I'd tutored D's older sister. 

D is now a senior, and when we gathered online this week, she started the session with a sheepish, "So... some exciting news...". Really, she said it so shyly, I wasn't sure if she'd actually said anything at all. 

But then she continued, "I got early acceptance into my first choice university this week". Oh, goody!

I'm very happy for her, such a nice kid and hard worker. Her big challenge now is to make it through her lame duck semester of high school.