public function convertStringToFloat($microtime)
    {
        /*
         * This is from the manual:
         * http://php.net/manual/en/function.microtime.php
         */
        // list($usec, $sec) = explode(" ", $microtime);
        
        // This seems to be more intuitive as an inverse function.
        list($usec, $sec) = sscanf($microtime, "%f %d");
        
        return ((float)$usec + (float)$sec);
    }