[MERGE] make local_time_offset() more reliable (bug 77588)

[John Arbash Meinel]

John Arbash Meinel has voted +1.
Status is now: Semi-approved
Comment:
Alexander- Can you say why you voted +0 instead of +1? It would help us 
understand what you were thinking.

James- This looks good to me.

For details, see: 
http://bundlebuggy.aaronbentley.com/request/%3Ca7e835d40701020041w42f4b41fm6d0c8e607bdaa42%40mail.gmail.com%3E