I did this. I’m starting in my final semester this fall, after going back for my degree at 38 and 8 years experience in my field. For my field, “testing out” wasn’t an actual test, it was displaying to the professor that I could show that I had done work very similar to the curriculum for that class and could speak the jargon of my field. They only let me out of a couple requirements though, and only made it so that I didn’t have to take those classes, no credit was given to me. Mostly, my experience has led to me having a serious foot up in a lot of my classes and being able to act as an unofficial TA in some of the hands on classes. And for the classes I really should have been allowed to test out of, I still generally learned enough new material to consider it worth my time and money.

One of my previous cats used to get so stressed in a carrier that he would pee in it. Then, he’d have to get a bath afterwards, making the whole situation even worse for him and us. My partner did some research and bought a couple of soft sided carriers that didn’t look at all like hard ones the cat was used to. We unzipped all the sides, decked them out in blankets that smelled like our cat and then liberally sprinkled them with treats. Within a couple of days, our cat had come to think of these as cat houses instead of carriers. When he needed to be zipped up in it, he was docile and willing. He thought of it as a safe space, and it helped lower his stress levels when he was taken outside the house in it. Those carriers are now constantly in use as cat houses in our home. It was truly one of the best cat tricks I ever learned!

My first question was, “why is he apologizing now?” It could be that he started taking his meds, or that he feels bad about the War on Gaza, but if you read the article, he has an album dropping in mid-January. This feels like his publicist made him apologize, not like he’s actually sorry for anything or doing better. Considering how recently he was still spouting crazy bullshit, I’d say this is just a case of $$$$$.

We have Alfred and Mrs. Doubtfire.