require "active_support/core_ext/string/conversions" require "active_support/core_ext/time/zones" class String # Converts String to a TimeWithZone in the current zone if Time.zone or Time.zone_default # is set, otherwise converts String to a Time via String#to_time def in_time_zone(zone = ::Time.zone) if zone ::Time.find_zone!(zone).parse(self) else to_time end end end