diff --git a/boot.php b/boot.php
index 18c76587c0..66e4645e5c 100644
--- a/boot.php
+++ b/boot.php
@@ -1142,10 +1142,10 @@ function feed_birthday($uid, $tz)
 	if (DBM::is_result($p)) {
 		$tmp_dob = substr($p[0]['dob'], 5);
 		if (intval($tmp_dob)) {
-			$y = Temporal::convert('now', $tz, $tz, 'Y');
+			$y = Temporal::timezoneNow($tz, 'Y');
 			$bd = $y . '-' . $tmp_dob . ' 00:00';
 			$t_dob = strtotime($bd);
-			$now = strtotime(Temporal::convert('now', $tz, $tz));
+			$now = strtotime(Temporal::timezoneNow($tz));
 			if ($t_dob < $now) {
 				$bd = $y + 1 . '-' . $tmp_dob . ' 00:00';
 			}
diff --git a/include/items.php b/include/items.php
index 83b3484d0d..b5ec592e00 100644
--- a/include/items.php
+++ b/include/items.php
@@ -416,7 +416,7 @@ function drop_item($id) {
 
 /* arrange the list in years */
 function list_post_dates($uid, $wall) {
-	$dnow = Temporal::convert('now', date_default_timezone_get(), 'UTC', 'Y-m-d');
+	$dnow = Temporal::timezoneNow(date_default_timezone_get(), 'Y-m-d');
 
 	$dthen = Item::firstPostDate($uid, $wall);
 	if (!$dthen) {
@@ -474,7 +474,7 @@ function posted_date_widget($url, $uid, $wall) {
 		return $o;
 	}
 
-	$cutoff_year = intval(Temporal::convert('now', date_default_timezone_get(), 'UTC', 'Y')) - $visible_years;
+	$cutoff_year = intval(Temporal::timezoneNow(date_default_timezone_get(), 'Y')) - $visible_years;
 	$cutoff = ((array_key_exists($cutoff_year, $ret))? true : false);
 
 	$o = replace_macros(get_markup_template('posted_date_widget.tpl'),[
diff --git a/mod/cal.php b/mod/cal.php
index 10298aceea..11a1a5e6f9 100644
--- a/mod/cal.php
+++ b/mod/cal.php
@@ -152,8 +152,8 @@ function cal_content(App $a)
 
 	// The view mode part is similiar to /mod/events.php
 	if ($mode == 'view') {
-		$thisyear = Temporal::convert('now', date_default_timezone_get(), 'UTC', 'Y');
-		$thismonth = Temporal::convert('now', date_default_timezone_get(), 'UTC', 'm');
+		$thisyear = Temporal::timezoneNow(date_default_timezone_get(), 'Y');
+		$thismonth = Temporal::timezoneNow(date_default_timezone_get(), 'm');
 		if (!$y) {
 			$y = intval($thisyear);
 		}
diff --git a/mod/events.php b/mod/events.php
index 9462b36b0c..aad56f43aa 100644
--- a/mod/events.php
+++ b/mod/events.php
@@ -276,8 +276,8 @@ function events_content(App $a) {
 	// The view mode part is similiar to /mod/cal.php
 	if ($mode == 'view') {
 
-		$thisyear  = Temporal::convert('now', date_default_timezone_get(), 'UTC', 'Y');
-		$thismonth = Temporal::convert('now', date_default_timezone_get(), 'UTC', 'm');
+		$thisyear  = Temporal::timezoneNow(date_default_timezone_get(), 'Y');
+		$thismonth = Temporal::timezoneNow(date_default_timezone_get(), 'm');
 		if (! $y) {
 			$y = intval($thisyear);
 		}
diff --git a/mod/photos.php b/mod/photos.php
index a7ed50a44c..dac52b1d05 100644
--- a/mod/photos.php
+++ b/mod/photos.php
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ function photos_post(App $a)
 		$resource_id = $a->argv[2];
 
 		if (!strlen($albname)) {
-			$albname = Temporal::convert('now', date_default_timezone_get(), 'UTC', 'Y');
+			$albname = Temporal::timezoneNow(date_default_timezone_get(), 'Y');
 		}
 
 		if (x($_POST,'rotate') !== false &&
@@ -738,7 +738,7 @@ function photos_post(App $a)
 		if (strlen($newalbum)) {
 			$album = $newalbum;
 		} else {
-			$album = Temporal::convert('now', date_default_timezone_get(), 'UTC', 'Y');
+			$album = Temporal::timezoneNow(date_default_timezone_get(), 'Y');
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/mod/ping.php b/mod/ping.php
index dd0817d0af..d26fc61bef 100644
--- a/mod/ping.php
+++ b/mod/ping.php
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ function ping_init(App $a)
 			$all_events = count($ev);
 
 			if ($all_events) {
-				$str_now = Temporal::convert('now', $a->timezone, 'UTC', 'Y-m-d');
+				$str_now = Temporal::timezoneNow($a->timezone, 'Y-m-d');
 				foreach ($ev as $x) {
 					$bd = false;
 					if ($x['type'] === 'birthday') {
diff --git a/src/Model/Profile.php b/src/Model/Profile.php
index 1cbe5b9b81..aeb7155f19 100644
--- a/src/Model/Profile.php
+++ b/src/Model/Profile.php
@@ -659,7 +659,7 @@ class Profile
 				}
 
 				$strt = Temporal::convert($rr['start'], $rr['convert'] ? $a->timezone : 'UTC', 'UTC', 'Y-m-d');
-				if ($strt === Temporal::convert('now', $a->timezone, 'UTC', 'Y-m-d')) {
+				if ($strt === Temporal::timezoneNow($a->timezone, 'Y-m-d')) {
 					$istoday = true;
 				}
 
@@ -676,11 +676,11 @@ class Profile
 
 				$strt = Temporal::convert($rr['start'], $rr['convert'] ? $a->timezone : 'UTC');
 
-				if (substr($strt, 0, 10) < Temporal::convert('now', $a->timezone, 'UTC', 'Y-m-d')) {
+				if (substr($strt, 0, 10) < Temporal::timezoneNow($a->timezone, 'Y-m-d')) {
 					continue;
 				}
 
-				$today = ((substr($strt, 0, 10) === Temporal::convert('now', $a->timezone, 'UTC', 'Y-m-d')) ? true : false);
+				$today = ((substr($strt, 0, 10) === Temporal::timezoneNow($a->timezone, 'Y-m-d')) ? true : false);
 
 				$rr['title'] = $title;
 				$rr['description'] = $description;
diff --git a/src/Util/Temporal.php b/src/Util/Temporal.php
index a2d4677f29..37be4eb919 100644
--- a/src/Util/Temporal.php
+++ b/src/Util/Temporal.php
@@ -135,6 +135,17 @@ class Temporal
 		return self::convert($time, 'UTC', 'UTC', $format);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * convert() shorthand for UTC now.
+	 *
+	 * @param string $format DateTime format string or Temporal constant
+	 * @return string
+	 */
+	public static function timezoneNow($timezone, $format = self::MYSQL)
+	{
+		return self::convert('now', $timezone, 'UTC', $format);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * convert() shorthand for UTC now.
 	 *
@@ -459,9 +470,9 @@ class Temporal
 
 		$birthdate = self::convert($dob . ' 00:00:00+00:00', $owner_tz, 'UTC', 'Y-m-d');
 		list($year, $month, $day) = explode("-", $birthdate);
-		$year_diff = self::convert('now', $viewer_tz, 'UTC', 'Y') - $year;
-		$curr_month = self::convert('now', $viewer_tz, 'UTC', 'm');
-		$curr_day = self::convert('now', $viewer_tz, 'UTC', 'd');
+		$year_diff = self::timezoneNow($viewer_tz, 'Y') - $year;
+		$curr_month = self::timezoneNow($viewer_tz, 'm');
+		$curr_day = self::timezoneNow($viewer_tz, 'd');
 
 		if (($curr_month < $month) || (($curr_month == $month) && ($curr_day < $day))) {
 			$year_diff--;
@@ -531,8 +542,8 @@ class Temporal
 			'October', 'November', 'December'
 		];
 
-		$thisyear = self::convert('now', date_default_timezone_get(), 'UTC', 'Y');
-		$thismonth = self::convert('now', date_default_timezone_get(), 'UTC', 'm');
+		$thisyear = self::timezoneNow(date_default_timezone_get(), 'Y');
+		$thismonth = self::timezoneNow(date_default_timezone_get(), 'm');
 		if (!$y) {
 			$y = $thisyear;
 		}
@@ -549,7 +560,7 @@ class Temporal
 		$started = false;
 
 		if (($y == $thisyear) && ($m == $thismonth)) {
-			$tddate = intval(self::convert('now', date_default_timezone_get(), 'UTC', 'j'));
+			$tddate = intval(self::timezoneNow(date_default_timezone_get(), 'j'));
 		}
 
 		$str_month = day_translate($mtab[$m]);