Fun with dates.

gistfile1.rb

gem "rails", "~> 3.2" # It’s fixed in Rails 4, btw :)
gem "timecop", "~> 0.7"
require "action_view"
require "active_support/core_ext"
require "timecop"
extend ActionView::Helpers::DateHelper
 
Time.zone = "CET"
Timecop.travel("2014-03-01 00:30 CET")
 
time_ago_in_words(1.year.ago) # => "about 1 year"
# So far so good.
 
time_ago_in_words(2.years.ago) # => "almost 2 years"
# Huh? Why “almost”??
 
# Let’s see:
1.year.ago # => Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:30:00 CET +01:00
2.years.ago # => Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:30:00 CET +01:00
 
# Maybe a timezone issue?
1.year.ago.utc # => 2013-02-28 23:30:00 UTC
2.years.ago.utc # => 2012-02-29 23:30:00 UTC
# Gotcha! Because of course:
distance_of_time_in_words("2012-02-29 23:30:00 UTC", "2014-02-28 23:30:00 UTC") # => "almost 2 years"