diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index bfa451c..3908fc6 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ begin
     s.add_dependency("builder")
     s.add_dependency("rest-client")
     s.add_dependency("hpricot")
-    s.add_dependency("SystemTimer")
+    s.add_dependency("SystemTimer") unless RUBY_VERSION =~ /1\.9/
   end
 rescue LoadError
   puts "Jeweler not available. Install it with: sudo gem install technicalpickles-jeweler -s http://gems.github.com"
diff --git a/lib/ruby_bosh.rb b/lib/ruby_bosh.rb
index 73451d3..91e2174 100644
--- a/lib/ruby_bosh.rb
+++ b/lib/ruby_bosh.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 require 'rexml/document'
 require 'base64'
 require 'hpricot'
+require 'timeout'
+require 'system_timer' unless RUBY_VERSION =~ /1\.9/
 
 class RubyBOSH  
   BOSH_XMLNS    = 'http://jabber.org/protocol/httpbind'
@@ -18,9 +20,13 @@ class AuthFailed < RubyBOSH::Error; end
   class ConnFailed < RubyBOSH::Error; end
 
   @@logging = true
+  @@fast_mode = false
   def self.logging=(value)
     @@logging = value
   end
+  def self.fast_mode=(value)
+    @@fast_mode = value
+  end
 
   attr_accessor :jid, :rid, :sid, :success
   def initialize(jid, pw, service_url, opts={}) 
@@ -46,18 +52,33 @@ def self.initialize_session(*args)
 
   def connect
     initialize_bosh_session
-    if send_auth_request 
-      send_restart_request
-      request_resource_binding
-      @success = send_session_request
+    if send_auth_request
+      @success = send_restart_request
+      unless @@fast_mode
+        request_resource_binding
+        @success = send_session_request
+      end
     end
 
-    raise RubyBOSH::AuthFailed, "could not authenticate #{@jid}" unless success?
+    raise RubyBOSH::AuthFailed, "count not authenticate #{@jid}" unless success?
     @rid += 1 #updates the rid for the next call from the browser
-    
+
     [@jid, @sid, @rid]
   end
 
+  def deliver(xml)
+    timeout(@timeout) do
+      send(xml)
+      recv(RestClient.post(@service_url, xml, @headers))
+    end
+  rescue ::Timeout::Error => e
+    raise RubyBOSH::TimeoutError, e.message
+  rescue Errno::ECONNREFUSED => e
+    raise RubyBOSH::ConnFailed, "could not connect to #{@host}\n#{e.message}"
+  rescue Exception => e
+    raise RubyBOSH::Error, e.message
+  end
+
   private
   def initialize_bosh_session 
     response = deliver(construct_body(:wait => @wait, :to => @host,
@@ -131,35 +152,16 @@ def parse(_response)
     _response
   end
 
-  begin
-    require 'system_timer'
-    def deliver(xml)
-      SystemTimer.timeout(@timeout) do 
-        send(xml)
-        recv(RestClient.post(@service_url, xml, @headers))
+  def timeout(secs, &block)
+    if defined?(SystemTimer)
+      SystemTimer.timeout(secs) do
+        block.call
       end
-    rescue Timeout::Error => e
-      raise RubyBOSH::TimeoutError, e.message
-    rescue Errno::ECONNREFUSED => e
-      raise RubyBOSH::ConnFailed, "could not connect to #{@host}\n#{e.message}"
-    rescue Exception => e
-      raise RubyBOSH::Error, e.message
-    end
-  rescue LoadError
-    warn "WARNING: using the built-in Timeout class which is known to have issues when used for opening connections. Install the SystemTimer gem if you want to make sure the Redis client will not hang." unless RUBY_VERSION >= "1.9" || RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /java/
-
-    require "timeout"
-    def deliver(xml)
-      Timeout.timeout(@timeout) do 
-        send(xml)
-        recv(RestClient.post(@service_url, xml, @headers))
+    else
+      warn "WARNING: using the built-in Timeout class which is known to have issues when used for opening connections. Install the SystemTimer gem if you want to make sure the Redis client will not hang." unless RUBY_VERSION >= "1.9" || RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /java/
+      ::Timeout::timeout(secs) do
+        block.call
       end
-    rescue Timeout::Error => e
-      raise RubyBOSH::TimeoutError, e.message
-    rescue Errno::ECONNREFUSED => e
-      raise RubyBOSH::ConnFailed, "could not connect to #{@host}\n#{e.message}"
-    rescue Exception => e
-      raise RubyBOSH::Error, e.message
     end
   end
 
@@ -168,10 +170,9 @@ def send(msg)
   end
 
   def recv(msg)
-    puts("Ruby-BOSH - RECV\n[#{now}]: #{msg}") if @logging; msg
+    puts("Ruby-BOSH - RECV\n[#{now}]: #{msg}") if @@logging; msg
   end
 
-  private
   def now 
     Time.now.strftime("%a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Y")
   end
diff --git a/ruby_bosh.gemspec b/ruby_bosh.gemspec
index 7b3ed6b..a2bec0b 100644
--- a/ruby_bosh.gemspec
+++ b/ruby_bosh.gemspec
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Generated by jeweler
-# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE DIRECTLY
-# Instead, edit Jeweler::Tasks in Rakefile, and run 'rake gemspec'
+# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
+# Instead, edit Jeweler::Tasks in Rakefile, and run `rake gemspec`
 # -*- encoding: utf-8 -*-
 
 Gem::Specification.new do |s|
@@ -14,28 +14,29 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.email = %q{pradeep@intridea.com}
   s.extra_rdoc_files = [
     "LICENSE",
-    "README",
-    "TODO"
+     "README"
   ]
   s.files = [
-    "LICENSE",
-    "README",
-    "Rakefile",
-    "TODO",
-    "VERSION.yml",
-    "autotest/discover.rb",
-    "lib/ruby_bosh.rb",
-    "ruby_bosh.gemspec",
-    "spec/ruby_bosh_spec.rb",
-    "spec/spec_helper.rb"
+    ".gitignore",
+     "LICENSE",
+     "README",
+     "Rakefile",
+     "TODO",
+     "VERSION.yml",
+     "autotest/discover.rb",
+     "lib/ruby_bosh.rb",
+     "ruby_bosh.gemspec",
+     "spec/ruby_bosh_spec.rb",
+     "spec/spec_helper.rb"
   ]
   s.homepage = %q{http://github.com/skyfallsin/ruby_bosh}
+  s.rdoc_options = ["--charset=UTF-8"]
   s.require_paths = ["lib"]
-  s.rubygems_version = %q{1.6.2}
+  s.rubygems_version = %q{1.5.2}
   s.summary = %q{A BOSH session pre-initializer for Ruby web applications}
   s.test_files = [
     "spec/ruby_bosh_spec.rb",
-    "spec/spec_helper.rb"
+     "spec/spec_helper.rb"
   ]
 
   if s.respond_to? :specification_version then
@@ -56,4 +57,3 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
     s.add_dependency(%q<hpricot>, [">= 0"])
   end
 end
-