If your application is dealing with different time zones and code which relies on them, it could be handy to ensure the database is using the time zone you expect it to.
drop something like this in a rails initializer:
#
# Check that that database is running in UTC
# and stop if it's not.
#
db_now = ActiveRecord::Base.connection.execute(
"select now() as now" ).fetch_hash['now']
utc_now = Time.now.utc.to_s(:db)
if db_now != utc_now
raise LoadError, "ERROR: Database is not in UTC"
end
btw: you should thank david, not me.