title: Converting a variable with a UTC time to a Seconds integer (Ruby)
body: <p>I have a variable that has a UTC time tied with it,  example:</p>
  
  <pre><code>   offer_ends_at =&gt; Sun, 25 Nov 2012 07:59:59 UTC +00:00,
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>My goal is to create a new variable, and convert the Time to a seconds integer.   I tried with some methods like  </p>
  
  <pre><code>   seconds = offer_ends_at.to_time.to_i 
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I end up getting a epoc time.  I'm after an actual integer that contains the amount of seconds left until the date happens. </p>