public function readDate()
    {
        // get the unix time stamp. Not sure why ActionScript does not use
        // milliseconds
        $timestamp = floor($this->_stream->readDouble() / 1000);

        // The timezone offset is never returned to the server; it is always 0,
        // so read and ignore.
        $offset = $this->_stream->readInt();

        require_once 'Zend/Date.php';
        $date   = new Zend_Date($timestamp);
        return $date;
    }