sub get_time_from_local_time_string {
   my ($time_string) = @_;

   my ($M, $D, $Y, $h, $m, $s, $ampm) = 
      $time_string =~ m{(\d+)/(\d+)/(\d+) (\d+):(\d+):(\d+) (\w+)}
         or die("Bad input");

   if ($h == 12) {
      $h -= 12 if lc($ampm) eq 'am';
   } else {
      $h += 12 if lc($ampm) eq 'pm';
   }

   return timelocal($s, $m, $h, $D, $M-1, $Y);
}