diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 248d1ab..e4d4e35 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,5 +4,6 @@ Makefile
 *.bundle
 *.so
 *.a
+*.rbc
 mkmf.log
 pkg/
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 73f12c9..f90d6f1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,7 +1,20 @@
 # Changelog
 
-## 0.1.9 (HEAD)
+## 0.1.9 (July 17th, 2010)
 * Support async ActiveRecord access with fibers and EventMachine (mperham)
+* string encoding support for 1.9, respecting Encoding.default_internal
+* added support for rake-compiler (tenderlove)
+* bugfixes for ActiveRecord driver
+** one minor bugfix for TimeZone support
+** fix the select_rows method to return what it should according to the docs (r-stu31)
+* Mysql2::Client#fields method added - returns the array of field names from a resultset, as strings
+* Sequel adapter
+** bugfix regarding sybolized field names (Eric Wong)
+** fix query logging in Sequel adapter
+* Lots of nice code cleanup (tenderlove)
+** Mysql2::Error definition moved to pure-Ruby
+** Mysql2::client#initialize definition moved to pure-Ruby
+** Mysql2::Result partially moved to pure-Ruby
 
 ## 0.1.8 (June 2nd, 2010)
 * fixes for AR adapter for timezone juggling
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 699c6c6..1a03094 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.1.8
+0.1.9
diff --git a/benchmark/active_record.rb b/benchmark/active_record.rb
index d96119d..f3297de 100644
--- a/benchmark/active_record.rb
+++ b/benchmark/active_record.rb
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ require 'rubygems'
 require 'benchmark'
 require 'active_record'
 
+ActiveRecord::Base.default_timezone = 'Pacific Time (US & Canada)'
+ActiveRecord::Base.time_zone_aware_attributes = true
+
 number_of = 10
 mysql2_opts = {
   :adapter => 'mysql2',
diff --git a/ext/mysql2/client.c b/ext/mysql2/client.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7fce439
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ext/mysql2/client.c
@@ -0,0 +1,518 @@
+#include <mysql2_ext.h>
+#include <client.h>
+
+VALUE cMysql2Client;
+extern VALUE mMysql2, cMysql2Error, intern_encoding_from_charset;
+extern ID sym_id, sym_version, sym_async;
+
+#define REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(_ctxt) \
+  if(!_ctxt->net.vio) { \
+    rb_raise(cMysql2Error, "closed MySQL connection"); \
+    return Qnil; \
+  }
+
+/*
+ * used to pass all arguments to mysql_real_connect while inside
+ * rb_thread_blocking_region
+ */
+struct nogvl_connect_args {
+  MYSQL *mysql;
+  const char *host;
+  const char *user;
+  const char *passwd;
+  const char *db;
+  unsigned int port;
+  const char *unix_socket;
+  unsigned long client_flag;
+};
+
+/*
+ * used to pass all arguments to mysql_send_query while inside
+ * rb_thread_blocking_region
+ */
+struct nogvl_send_query_args {
+  MYSQL *mysql;
+  VALUE sql;
+};
+
+/*
+ * non-blocking mysql_*() functions that we won't be wrapping since
+ * they do not appear to hit the network nor issue any interruptible
+ * or blocking system calls.
+ *
+ * - mysql_affected_rows()
+ * - mysql_error()
+ * - mysql_fetch_fields()
+ * - mysql_fetch_lengths() - calls cli_fetch_lengths or emb_fetch_lengths
+ * - mysql_field_count()
+ * - mysql_get_client_info()
+ * - mysql_get_client_version()
+ * - mysql_get_server_info()
+ * - mysql_get_server_version()
+ * - mysql_insert_id()
+ * - mysql_num_fields()
+ * - mysql_num_rows()
+ * - mysql_options()
+ * - mysql_real_escape_string()
+ * - mysql_ssl_set()
+ */
+
+static VALUE rb_raise_mysql2_error(MYSQL *client) {
+  VALUE e = rb_exc_new2(cMysql2Error, mysql_error(client));
+  rb_funcall(e, rb_intern("error_number="), 1, INT2NUM(mysql_errno(client)));
+  rb_funcall(e, rb_intern("sql_state="), 1, rb_tainted_str_new2(mysql_sqlstate(client)));
+  rb_exc_raise(e);
+  return Qnil;
+}
+
+static VALUE nogvl_init(void *ptr) {
+  MYSQL * client = (MYSQL *)ptr;
+
+  /* may initialize embedded server and read /etc/services off disk */
+  mysql_init(client);
+
+  return client ? Qtrue : Qfalse;
+}
+
+static VALUE nogvl_connect(void *ptr) {
+  struct nogvl_connect_args *args = ptr;
+  MYSQL *client;
+
+  client = mysql_real_connect(args->mysql, args->host,
+                              args->user, args->passwd,
+                              args->db, args->port, args->unix_socket,
+                              args->client_flag);
+
+  return client ? Qtrue : Qfalse;
+}
+
+static void rb_mysql_client_free(void * ptr) {
+  MYSQL * client = (MYSQL *)ptr;
+
+  /*
+   * we'll send a QUIT message to the server, but that message is more of a
+   * formality than a hard requirement since the socket is getting shutdown
+   * anyways, so ensure the socket write does not block our interpreter
+   */
+  int fd = client->net.fd;
+  int flags;
+
+  if (fd >= 0) {
+    /*
+     * if the socket is dead we have no chance of blocking,
+     * so ignore any potential fcntl errors since they don't matter
+     */
+    flags = fcntl(fd, F_GETFL);
+    if (flags > 0 && !(flags & O_NONBLOCK))
+      fcntl(fd, F_SETFL, flags | O_NONBLOCK);
+  }
+
+  /* It's safe to call mysql_close() on an already closed connection. */
+  mysql_close(client);
+  xfree(ptr);
+}
+
+static VALUE nogvl_close(void * ptr) {
+  MYSQL *client = (MYSQL *)ptr;
+  mysql_close(client);
+  client->net.fd = -1;
+  return Qnil;
+}
+
+static VALUE allocate(VALUE klass) {
+  MYSQL * client;
+
+  return Data_Make_Struct(
+      klass,
+      MYSQL,
+      NULL,
+      rb_mysql_client_free,
+      client
+  );
+}
+
+static VALUE rb_connect(VALUE self, VALUE user, VALUE pass, VALUE host, VALUE port, VALUE database, VALUE socket) {
+  MYSQL * client;
+  struct nogvl_connect_args args;
+
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+
+  args.host = NIL_P(host) ? "localhost" : StringValuePtr(host);
+  args.unix_socket = NIL_P(socket) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(socket);
+  args.port = NIL_P(port) ? 3306 : NUM2INT(port);
+  args.user = NIL_P(user) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(user);
+  args.passwd = NIL_P(pass) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(pass);
+  args.db = NIL_P(database) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(database);
+  args.mysql = client;
+  args.client_flag = 0;
+
+  if (rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_connect, &args, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0) == Qfalse)
+  {
+    // unable to connect
+    return rb_raise_mysql2_error(client);
+  }
+
+  return self;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Immediately disconnect from the server, normally the garbage collector
+ * will disconnect automatically when a connection is no longer needed.
+ * Explicitly closing this will free up server resources sooner than waiting
+ * for the garbage collector.
+ */
+static VALUE rb_mysql_client_close(VALUE self) {
+  MYSQL *client;
+
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+
+  rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_close, client, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0);
+
+  return Qnil;
+}
+
+/*
+ * mysql_send_query is unlikely to block since most queries are small
+ * enough to fit in a socket buffer, but sometimes large UPDATE and
+ * INSERTs will cause the process to block
+ */
+static VALUE nogvl_send_query(void *ptr) {
+  struct nogvl_send_query_args *args = ptr;
+  int rv;
+  const char *sql = StringValuePtr(args->sql);
+  long sql_len = RSTRING_LEN(args->sql);
+
+  rv = mysql_send_query(args->mysql, sql, sql_len);
+
+  return rv == 0 ? Qtrue : Qfalse;
+}
+
+/*
+ * even though we did rb_thread_select before calling this, a large
+ * response can overflow the socket buffers and cause us to eventually
+ * block while calling mysql_read_query_result
+ */
+static VALUE nogvl_read_query_result(void *ptr) {
+  MYSQL * client = ptr;
+  my_bool res = mysql_read_query_result(client);
+
+  return res == 0 ? Qtrue : Qfalse;
+}
+
+/* mysql_store_result may (unlikely) read rows off the socket */
+static VALUE nogvl_store_result(void *ptr) {
+  MYSQL * client = ptr;
+  return (VALUE)mysql_store_result(client);
+}
+
+static VALUE rb_mysql_client_async_result(VALUE self) {
+  MYSQL * client;
+  MYSQL_RES * result;
+
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
+  if (rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_read_query_result, client, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0) == Qfalse) {
+    return rb_raise_mysql2_error(client);
+  }
+
+  result = (MYSQL_RES *)rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_store_result, client, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0);
+  if (result == NULL) {
+    if (mysql_field_count(client) != 0) {
+      rb_raise_mysql2_error(client);
+    }
+    return Qnil;
+  }
+
+  VALUE resultObj = rb_mysql_result_to_obj(result);
+  rb_iv_set(resultObj, "@encoding", rb_iv_get(self, "@encoding"));
+  return resultObj;
+}
+
+static VALUE rb_mysql_client_query(int argc, VALUE * argv, VALUE self) {
+  struct nogvl_send_query_args args;
+  fd_set fdset;
+  int fd, retval;
+  int async = 0;
+  VALUE opts;
+  VALUE rb_async;
+
+  MYSQL * client;
+
+  if (rb_scan_args(argc, argv, "11", &args.sql, &opts) == 2) {
+    if ((rb_async = rb_hash_aref(opts, sym_async)) != Qnil) {
+      async = rb_async == Qtrue ? 1 : 0;
+    }
+  }
+
+  Check_Type(args.sql, T_STRING);
+#ifdef HAVE_RUBY_ENCODING_H
+  rb_encoding *conn_enc = rb_to_encoding(rb_iv_get(self, "@encoding"));
+  // ensure the string is in the encoding the connection is expecting
+  args.sql = rb_str_export_to_enc(args.sql, conn_enc);
+#endif
+
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
+
+  args.mysql = client;
+  if (rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_send_query, &args, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0) == Qfalse) {
+    return rb_raise_mysql2_error(client);
+  }
+
+  if (!async) {
+    // the below code is largely from do_mysql
+    // http://github.com/datamapper/do
+    fd = client->net.fd;
+    for(;;) {
+      FD_ZERO(&fdset);
+      FD_SET(fd, &fdset);
+
+      retval = rb_thread_select(fd + 1, &fdset, NULL, NULL, NULL);
+
+      if (retval < 0) {
+          rb_sys_fail(0);
+      }
+
+      if (retval > 0) {
+          break;
+      }
+    }
+
+    return rb_mysql_client_async_result(self);
+  } else {
+    return Qnil;
+  }
+}
+
+static VALUE rb_mysql_client_escape(VALUE self, VALUE str) {
+  MYSQL * client;
+  VALUE newStr;
+  unsigned long newLen, oldLen;
+
+  Check_Type(str, T_STRING);
+#ifdef HAVE_RUBY_ENCODING_H
+  rb_encoding *default_internal_enc = rb_default_internal_encoding();
+  rb_encoding *conn_enc = rb_to_encoding(rb_iv_get(self, "@encoding"));
+  // ensure the string is in the encoding the connection is expecting
+  str = rb_str_export_to_enc(str, conn_enc);
+#endif
+
+  oldLen = RSTRING_LEN(str);
+  char escaped[(oldLen*2)+1];
+
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
+  newLen = mysql_real_escape_string(client, escaped, StringValuePtr(str), RSTRING_LEN(str));
+  if (newLen == oldLen) {
+    // no need to return a new ruby string if nothing changed
+    return str;
+  } else {
+    newStr = rb_str_new(escaped, newLen);
+#ifdef HAVE_RUBY_ENCODING_H
+    rb_enc_associate(newStr, conn_enc);
+    if (default_internal_enc) {
+      newStr = rb_str_export_to_enc(newStr, default_internal_enc);
+    }
+#endif
+    return newStr;
+  }
+}
+
+static VALUE rb_mysql_client_info(RB_MYSQL_UNUSED VALUE self) {
+  VALUE version = rb_hash_new(), client_info;
+#ifdef HAVE_RUBY_ENCODING_H
+  rb_encoding *default_internal_enc = rb_default_internal_encoding();
+  rb_encoding *conn_enc = rb_to_encoding(rb_iv_get(self, "@encoding"));
+#endif
+
+  rb_hash_aset(version, sym_id, LONG2NUM(mysql_get_client_version()));
+  client_info = rb_str_new2(mysql_get_client_info());
+#ifdef HAVE_RUBY_ENCODING_H
+  rb_enc_associate(client_info, conn_enc);
+  if (default_internal_enc) {
+    client_info = rb_str_export_to_enc(client_info, default_internal_enc);
+  }
+#endif
+  rb_hash_aset(version, sym_version, client_info);
+  return version;
+}
+
+static VALUE rb_mysql_client_server_info(VALUE self) {
+  MYSQL * client;
+  VALUE version, server_info;
+#ifdef HAVE_RUBY_ENCODING_H
+  rb_encoding *default_internal_enc = rb_default_internal_encoding();
+  rb_encoding *conn_enc = rb_to_encoding(rb_iv_get(self, "@encoding"));
+#endif
+
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
+
+  version = rb_hash_new();
+  rb_hash_aset(version, sym_id, LONG2FIX(mysql_get_server_version(client)));
+  server_info = rb_str_new2(mysql_get_server_info(client));
+#ifdef HAVE_RUBY_ENCODING_H
+  rb_enc_associate(server_info, conn_enc);
+  if (default_internal_enc) {
+    server_info = rb_str_export_to_enc(server_info, default_internal_enc);
+  }
+#endif
+  rb_hash_aset(version, sym_version, server_info);
+  return version;
+}
+
+static VALUE rb_mysql_client_socket(VALUE self) {
+  MYSQL * client;
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
+  return INT2NUM(client->net.fd);
+}
+
+static VALUE rb_mysql_client_last_id(VALUE self) {
+  MYSQL * client;
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
+  return ULL2NUM(mysql_insert_id(client));
+}
+
+static VALUE rb_mysql_client_affected_rows(VALUE self) {
+  MYSQL * client;
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
+  return ULL2NUM(mysql_affected_rows(client));
+}
+
+static VALUE set_reconnect(VALUE self, VALUE value) {
+  my_bool reconnect;
+  MYSQL * client;
+
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+
+  if(!NIL_P(value)) {
+    reconnect = value == Qfalse ? 0 : 1;
+
+    /* set default reconnect behavior */
+    if (mysql_options(client, MYSQL_OPT_RECONNECT, &reconnect)) {
+      /* TODO: warning - unable to set reconnect behavior */
+      rb_warn("%s\n", mysql_error(client));
+    }
+  }
+  return value;
+}
+
+static VALUE set_connect_timeout(VALUE self, VALUE value) {
+  unsigned int connect_timeout = 0;
+  MYSQL * client;
+
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+
+  if(!NIL_P(value)) {
+    connect_timeout = NUM2INT(value);
+    if(0 == connect_timeout) return value;
+
+    /* set default connection timeout behavior */
+    if (mysql_options(client, MYSQL_OPT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT, &connect_timeout)) {
+      /* TODO: warning - unable to set connection timeout */
+      rb_warn("%s\n", mysql_error(client));
+    }
+  }
+  return value;
+}
+
+static VALUE set_charset_name(VALUE self, VALUE value) {
+  char * charset_name;
+  MYSQL * client;
+
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+
+#ifdef HAVE_RUBY_ENCODING_H
+  VALUE new_encoding, old_encoding;
+  new_encoding = rb_funcall(cMysql2Client, intern_encoding_from_charset, 1, value);
+  if (new_encoding == Qnil) {
+    rb_raise(cMysql2Error, "Unsupported charset: '%s'", RSTRING_PTR(value));
+  } else {
+    old_encoding = rb_iv_get(self, "@encoding");
+    if (old_encoding == Qnil) {
+      rb_iv_set(self, "@encoding", new_encoding);
+    }
+  }
+#endif
+
+  charset_name = StringValuePtr(value);
+
+  if (mysql_options(client, MYSQL_SET_CHARSET_NAME, charset_name)) {
+    /* TODO: warning - unable to set charset */
+    rb_warn("%s\n", mysql_error(client));
+  }
+
+  return value;
+}
+
+static VALUE set_ssl_options(VALUE self, VALUE key, VALUE cert, VALUE ca, VALUE capath, VALUE cipher) {
+  MYSQL * client;
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+
+  if(!NIL_P(ca) || !NIL_P(key)) {
+    mysql_ssl_set(client,
+        NIL_P(key) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(key),
+        NIL_P(cert) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(cert),
+        NIL_P(ca) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(ca),
+        NIL_P(capath) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(capath),
+        NIL_P(cipher) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(cipher));
+  }
+
+  return self;
+}
+
+static VALUE init_connection(VALUE self) {
+  MYSQL * client;
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+
+  if (rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_init, client, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0) == Qfalse) {
+    /* TODO: warning - not enough memory? */
+    return rb_raise_mysql2_error(client);
+  }
+
+  return self;
+}
+
+/* call-seq: client.create_statement # => Mysql2::Statement
+ *
+ * Create a new prepared statement.
+ */
+static VALUE create_statement(VALUE self) {
+  MYSQL * client;
+  MYSQL_STMT * stmt;
+
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+  stmt = mysql_stmt_init(client);
+
+  return Data_Wrap_Struct(cMysql2Statement, 0, mysql_stmt_close, stmt);
+}
+
+void init_mysql2_client() {
+  cMysql2Client = rb_define_class_under(mMysql2, "Client", rb_cObject);
+
+  rb_define_alloc_func(cMysql2Client, allocate);
+
+  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "close", rb_mysql_client_close, 0);
+  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "query", rb_mysql_client_query, -1);
+  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "escape", rb_mysql_client_escape, 1);
+  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "info", rb_mysql_client_info, 0);
+  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "server_info", rb_mysql_client_server_info, 0);
+  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "socket", rb_mysql_client_socket, 0);
+  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "async_result", rb_mysql_client_async_result, 0);
+  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "last_id", rb_mysql_client_last_id, 0);
+  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "affected_rows", rb_mysql_client_affected_rows, 0);
+  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "create_statement", create_statement, 0);
+
+  rb_define_private_method(cMysql2Client, "reconnect=", set_reconnect, 1);
+  rb_define_private_method(cMysql2Client, "connect_timeout=", set_connect_timeout, 1);
+  rb_define_private_method(cMysql2Client, "charset_name=", set_charset_name, 1);
+  rb_define_private_method(cMysql2Client, "ssl_set", set_ssl_options, 5);
+  rb_define_private_method(cMysql2Client, "init_connection", init_connection, 0);
+  rb_define_private_method(cMysql2Client, "connect", rb_connect, 6);
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/ext/mysql2/client.h b/ext/mysql2/client.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a962303
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ext/mysql2/client.h
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+#ifndef MYSQL2_CLIENT_H
+#define MYSQL2_CLIENT_H
+
+/*
+ * partial emulation of the 1.9 rb_thread_blocking_region under 1.8,
+ * this is enough for dealing with blocking I/O functions in the
+ * presence of threads.
+ */
+#ifndef HAVE_RB_THREAD_BLOCKING_REGION
+
+#include <rubysig.h>
+#define RUBY_UBF_IO ((rb_unblock_function_t *)-1)
+typedef void rb_unblock_function_t(void *);
+typedef VALUE rb_blocking_function_t(void *);
+static VALUE
+rb_thread_blocking_region(
+  rb_blocking_function_t *func, void *data1,
+  RB_MYSQL_UNUSED rb_unblock_function_t *ubf,
+  RB_MYSQL_UNUSED void *data2)
+{
+  VALUE rv;
+
+  TRAP_BEG;
+  rv = func(data1);
+  TRAP_END;
+
+  return rv;
+}
+
+#endif /* ! HAVE_RB_THREAD_BLOCKING_REGION */
+
+void init_mysql2_client();
+
+#endif
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.c b/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.c
index 0eeb11c..2e5c589 100644
--- a/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.c
+++ b/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.c
@@ -1,464 +1,7 @@
 #include <mysql2_ext.h>
 
-VALUE mMysql2, cMysql2Client;
-VALUE cMysql2Error, intern_encoding_from_charset;
-ID sym_id, sym_version, sym_async;
-
-#define REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(_ctxt) \
-  if(!_ctxt->net.vio) { \
-    rb_raise(cMysql2Error, "closed MySQL connection"); \
-    return Qnil; \
-  }
-
-/*
- * non-blocking mysql_*() functions that we won't be wrapping since
- * they do not appear to hit the network nor issue any interruptible
- * or blocking system calls.
- *
- * - mysql_affected_rows()
- * - mysql_error()
- * - mysql_fetch_fields()
- * - mysql_fetch_lengths() - calls cli_fetch_lengths or emb_fetch_lengths
- * - mysql_field_count()
- * - mysql_get_client_info()
- * - mysql_get_client_version()
- * - mysql_get_server_info()
- * - mysql_get_server_version()
- * - mysql_insert_id()
- * - mysql_num_fields()
- * - mysql_num_rows()
- * - mysql_options()
- * - mysql_real_escape_string()
- * - mysql_ssl_set()
- */
-
-static VALUE rb_raise_mysql2_error(MYSQL *client) {
-  VALUE e = rb_exc_new2(cMysql2Error, mysql_error(client));
-  rb_funcall(e, rb_intern("error_number="), 1, INT2NUM(mysql_errno(client)));
-  rb_funcall(e, rb_intern("sql_state="), 1, rb_tainted_str_new2(mysql_sqlstate(client)));
-  rb_exc_raise(e);
-  return Qnil;
-}
-
-static VALUE nogvl_init(void *ptr) {
-  MYSQL * client = (MYSQL *)ptr;
-
-  /* may initialize embedded server and read /etc/services off disk */
-  mysql_init(client);
-
-  return client ? Qtrue : Qfalse;
-}
-
-static VALUE nogvl_connect(void *ptr) {
-  struct nogvl_connect_args *args = ptr;
-  MYSQL *client;
-
-  client = mysql_real_connect(args->mysql, args->host,
-                              args->user, args->passwd,
-                              args->db, args->port, args->unix_socket,
-                              args->client_flag);
-
-  return client ? Qtrue : Qfalse;
-}
-
-static void rb_mysql_client_free(void * ptr) {
-  MYSQL * client = (MYSQL *)ptr;
-
-  /*
-   * we'll send a QUIT message to the server, but that message is more of a
-   * formality than a hard requirement since the socket is getting shutdown
-   * anyways, so ensure the socket write does not block our interpreter
-   */
-  int fd = client->net.fd;
-  int flags;
-
-  if (fd >= 0) {
-    /*
-     * if the socket is dead we have no chance of blocking,
-     * so ignore any potential fcntl errors since they don't matter
-     */
-    flags = fcntl(fd, F_GETFL);
-    if (flags > 0 && !(flags & O_NONBLOCK))
-      fcntl(fd, F_SETFL, flags | O_NONBLOCK);
-  }
-
-  /* It's safe to call mysql_close() on an already closed connection. */
-  mysql_close(client);
-  xfree(ptr);
-}
-
-static VALUE nogvl_close(void * ptr) {
-  mysql_close((MYSQL *)ptr);
-  return Qnil;
-}
-
-static VALUE allocate(VALUE klass)
-{
-  MYSQL * client;
-
-  return Data_Make_Struct(
-      klass,
-      MYSQL,
-      NULL,
-      rb_mysql_client_free,
-      client
-  );
-}
-
-static VALUE rb_connect(VALUE self, VALUE user, VALUE pass, VALUE host, VALUE port, VALUE database, VALUE socket)
-{
-  MYSQL * client;
-  struct nogvl_connect_args args;
-
-  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
-
-  args.host = NIL_P(host) ? "localhost" : StringValuePtr(host);
-  args.unix_socket = NIL_P(socket) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(socket);
-  args.port = NIL_P(port) ? 3306 : NUM2INT(port);
-  args.user = NIL_P(user) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(user);
-  args.passwd = NIL_P(pass) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(pass);
-  args.db = NIL_P(database) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(database);
-  args.mysql = client;
-  args.client_flag = 0;
-
-  if (rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_connect, &args, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0) == Qfalse)
-  {
-    // unable to connect
-    return rb_raise_mysql2_error(client);
-  }
-
-  return self;
-}
-
-/*
- * Immediately disconnect from the server, normally the garbage collector
- * will disconnect automatically when a connection is no longer needed.
- * Explicitly closing this will free up server resources sooner than waiting
- * for the garbage collector.
- */
-static VALUE rb_mysql_client_close(VALUE self) {
-  MYSQL *client;
-
-  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
-
-  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
-  rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_close, client, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0);
-
-  return Qnil;
-}
-
-/*
- * mysql_send_query is unlikely to block since most queries are small
- * enough to fit in a socket buffer, but sometimes large UPDATE and
- * INSERTs will cause the process to block
- */
-static VALUE nogvl_send_query(void *ptr) {
-  struct nogvl_send_query_args *args = ptr;
-  int rv;
-  const char *sql = StringValuePtr(args->sql);
-  long sql_len = RSTRING_LEN(args->sql);
-
-  rv = mysql_send_query(args->mysql, sql, sql_len);
-
-  return rv == 0 ? Qtrue : Qfalse;
-}
-
-/*
- * even though we did rb_thread_select before calling this, a large
- * response can overflow the socket buffers and cause us to eventually
- * block while calling mysql_read_query_result
- */
-static VALUE nogvl_read_query_result(void *ptr) {
-  MYSQL * client = ptr;
-  my_bool res = mysql_read_query_result(client);
-
-  return res == 0 ? Qtrue : Qfalse;
-}
-
-/* mysql_store_result may (unlikely) read rows off the socket */
-static VALUE nogvl_store_result(void *ptr) {
-  MYSQL * client = ptr;
-  return (VALUE)mysql_store_result(client);
-}
-
-static VALUE rb_mysql_client_async_result(VALUE self) {
-  MYSQL * client;
-  MYSQL_RES * result;
-
-  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
-
-  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
-  if (rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_read_query_result, client, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0) == Qfalse) {
-    return rb_raise_mysql2_error(client);
-  }
-
-  result = (MYSQL_RES *)rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_store_result, client, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0);
-  if (result == NULL) {
-    if (mysql_field_count(client) != 0) {
-      rb_raise_mysql2_error(client);
-    }
-    return Qnil;
-  }
-
-  VALUE resultObj = rb_mysql_result_to_obj(result);
-  rb_iv_set(resultObj, "@encoding", rb_iv_get(self, "@encoding"));
-  return resultObj;
-}
-
-static VALUE rb_mysql_client_query(int argc, VALUE * argv, VALUE self) {
-  struct nogvl_send_query_args args;
-  fd_set fdset;
-  int fd, retval;
-  int async = 0;
-  VALUE opts;
-  VALUE rb_async;
-
-  MYSQL * client;
-
-  if (rb_scan_args(argc, argv, "11", &args.sql, &opts) == 2) {
-    if ((rb_async = rb_hash_aref(opts, sym_async)) != Qnil) {
-      async = rb_async == Qtrue ? 1 : 0;
-    }
-  }
-
-  Check_Type(args.sql, T_STRING);
-#ifdef HAVE_RUBY_ENCODING_H
-  rb_encoding *conn_enc = rb_to_encoding(rb_iv_get(self, "@encoding"));
-  // ensure the string is in the encoding the connection is expecting
-  args.sql = rb_str_export_to_enc(args.sql, conn_enc);
-#endif
-
-  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
-
-  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
-
-  args.mysql = client;
-  if (rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_send_query, &args, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0) == Qfalse) {
-    return rb_raise_mysql2_error(client);
-  }
-
-  if (!async) {
-    // the below code is largely from do_mysql
-    // http://github.com/datamapper/do
-    fd = client->net.fd;
-    for(;;) {
-      FD_ZERO(&fdset);
-      FD_SET(fd, &fdset);
-
-      retval = rb_thread_select(fd + 1, &fdset, NULL, NULL, NULL);
-
-      if (retval < 0) {
-          rb_sys_fail(0);
-      }
-
-      if (retval > 0) {
-          break;
-      }
-    }
-
-    return rb_mysql_client_async_result(self);
-  } else {
-    return Qnil;
-  }
-}
-
-static VALUE rb_mysql_client_escape(VALUE self, VALUE str) {
-  MYSQL * client;
-  VALUE newStr;
-  unsigned long newLen, oldLen;
-
-  Check_Type(str, T_STRING);
-#ifdef HAVE_RUBY_ENCODING_H
-  rb_encoding *default_internal_enc = rb_default_internal_encoding();
-  rb_encoding *conn_enc = rb_to_encoding(rb_iv_get(self, "@encoding"));
-  // ensure the string is in the encoding the connection is expecting
-  str = rb_str_export_to_enc(str, conn_enc);
-#endif
-
-  oldLen = RSTRING_LEN(str);
-  char escaped[(oldLen*2)+1];
-
-  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
-
-  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
-  newLen = mysql_real_escape_string(client, escaped, StringValuePtr(str), RSTRING_LEN(str));
-  if (newLen == oldLen) {
-    // no need to return a new ruby string if nothing changed
-    return str;
-  } else {
-    newStr = rb_str_new(escaped, newLen);
-#ifdef HAVE_RUBY_ENCODING_H
-    rb_enc_associate(newStr, conn_enc);
-    if (default_internal_enc) {
-      newStr = rb_str_export_to_enc(newStr, default_internal_enc);
-    }
-#endif
-    return newStr;
-  }
-}
-
-static VALUE rb_mysql_client_info(RB_MYSQL_UNUSED VALUE self) {
-  VALUE version = rb_hash_new(), client_info;
-#ifdef HAVE_RUBY_ENCODING_H
-  rb_encoding *default_internal_enc = rb_default_internal_encoding();
-  rb_encoding *conn_enc = rb_to_encoding(rb_iv_get(self, "@encoding"));
-#endif
-
-  rb_hash_aset(version, sym_id, LONG2NUM(mysql_get_client_version()));
-  client_info = rb_str_new2(mysql_get_client_info());
-#ifdef HAVE_RUBY_ENCODING_H
-  rb_enc_associate(client_info, conn_enc);
-  if (default_internal_enc) {
-    client_info = rb_str_export_to_enc(client_info, default_internal_enc);
-  }
-#endif
-  rb_hash_aset(version, sym_version, client_info);
-  return version;
-}
-
-static VALUE rb_mysql_client_server_info(VALUE self) {
-  MYSQL * client;
-  VALUE version, server_info;
-#ifdef HAVE_RUBY_ENCODING_H
-  rb_encoding *default_internal_enc = rb_default_internal_encoding();
-  rb_encoding *conn_enc = rb_to_encoding(rb_iv_get(self, "@encoding"));
-#endif
-
-  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
-  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
-
-  version = rb_hash_new();
-  rb_hash_aset(version, sym_id, LONG2FIX(mysql_get_server_version(client)));
-  server_info = rb_str_new2(mysql_get_server_info(client));
-#ifdef HAVE_RUBY_ENCODING_H
-  rb_enc_associate(server_info, conn_enc);
-  if (default_internal_enc) {
-    server_info = rb_str_export_to_enc(server_info, default_internal_enc);
-  }
-#endif
-  rb_hash_aset(version, sym_version, server_info);
-  return version;
-}
-
-static VALUE rb_mysql_client_socket(VALUE self) {
-  MYSQL * client;
-  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
-  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
-  return INT2NUM(client->net.fd);
-}
-
-static VALUE rb_mysql_client_last_id(VALUE self) {
-  MYSQL * client;
-  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
-  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
-  return ULL2NUM(mysql_insert_id(client));
-}
-
-static VALUE rb_mysql_client_affected_rows(VALUE self) {
-  MYSQL * client;
-  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
-  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
-  return ULL2NUM(mysql_affected_rows(client));
-}
-
-static VALUE set_reconnect(VALUE self, VALUE value)
-{
-  my_bool reconnect;
-  MYSQL * client;
-
-  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
-
-  if(!NIL_P(value)) {
-    reconnect = value == Qfalse ? 0 : 1;
-
-    /* set default reconnect behavior */
-    if (mysql_options(client, MYSQL_OPT_RECONNECT, &reconnect)) {
-      /* TODO: warning - unable to set reconnect behavior */
-      rb_warn("%s\n", mysql_error(client));
-    }
-  }
-  return value;
-}
-
-static VALUE set_connect_timeout(VALUE self, VALUE value)
-{
-  unsigned int connect_timeout = 0;
-  MYSQL * client;
-
-  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
-
-  if(!NIL_P(value)) {
-    connect_timeout = NUM2INT(value);
-    if(0 == connect_timeout) return value;
-
-    /* set default connection timeout behavior */
-    if (mysql_options(client, MYSQL_OPT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT, &connect_timeout)) {
-      /* TODO: warning - unable to set connection timeout */
-      rb_warn("%s\n", mysql_error(client));
-    }
-  }
-  return value;
-}
-
-static VALUE set_charset_name(VALUE self, VALUE value)
-{
-  char * charset_name;
-  MYSQL * client;
-
-  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
-
-#ifdef HAVE_RUBY_ENCODING_H
-  VALUE new_encoding, old_encoding;
-  new_encoding = rb_funcall(cMysql2Client, intern_encoding_from_charset, 1, value);
-  if (new_encoding == Qnil) {
-    rb_raise(cMysql2Error, "Unsupported charset: '%s'", RSTRING_PTR(value));
-  } else {
-    old_encoding = rb_iv_get(self, "@encoding");
-    if (old_encoding == Qnil) {
-      rb_iv_set(self, "@encoding", new_encoding);
-    }
-  }
-#endif
-
-  charset_name = StringValuePtr(value);
-
-  if (mysql_options(client, MYSQL_SET_CHARSET_NAME, charset_name)) {
-    /* TODO: warning - unable to set charset */
-    rb_warn("%s\n", mysql_error(client));
-  }
-
-  return value;
-}
-
-static VALUE set_ssl_options(VALUE self, VALUE key, VALUE cert, VALUE ca, VALUE capath, VALUE cipher)
-{
-  MYSQL * client;
-  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
-
-  if(!NIL_P(ca) || !NIL_P(key)) {
-    mysql_ssl_set(client,
-        NIL_P(key) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(key),
-        NIL_P(cert) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(cert),
-        NIL_P(ca) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(ca),
-        NIL_P(capath) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(capath),
-        NIL_P(cipher) ? NULL : StringValuePtr(cipher));
-  }
-
-  return self;
-}
-
-static VALUE init_connection(VALUE self)
-{
-  MYSQL * client;
-  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
-
-  if (rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_init, client, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0) == Qfalse) {
-    /* TODO: warning - not enough memory? */
-    return rb_raise_mysql2_error(client);
-  }
-
-  return self;
-}
+VALUE mMysql2, cMysql2Error, intern_encoding_from_charset;
+ID    sym_id, sym_version, sym_async;
 
 /* call-seq: client.create_statement # => Mysql2::Statement
  *
@@ -477,37 +20,16 @@ static VALUE create_statement(VALUE self)
 
 /* Ruby Extension initializer */
 void Init_mysql2() {
-  mMysql2 = rb_define_module("Mysql2");
-  cMysql2Client = rb_define_class_under(mMysql2, "Client", rb_cObject);
-
-  rb_define_alloc_func(cMysql2Client, allocate);
-
-  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "close", rb_mysql_client_close, 0);
-  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "query", rb_mysql_client_query, -1);
-  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "escape", rb_mysql_client_escape, 1);
-  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "info", rb_mysql_client_info, 0);
-  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "server_info", rb_mysql_client_server_info, 0);
-  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "socket", rb_mysql_client_socket, 0);
-  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "async_result", rb_mysql_client_async_result, 0);
-  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "last_id", rb_mysql_client_last_id, 0);
-  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "affected_rows", rb_mysql_client_affected_rows, 0);
-  rb_define_method(cMysql2Client, "create_statement", create_statement, 0);
-
-  rb_define_private_method(cMysql2Client, "reconnect=", set_reconnect, 1);
-  rb_define_private_method(cMysql2Client, "connect_timeout=", set_connect_timeout, 1);
-  rb_define_private_method(cMysql2Client, "charset_name=", set_charset_name, 1);
-  rb_define_private_method(cMysql2Client, "ssl_set", set_ssl_options, 5);
-  rb_define_private_method(cMysql2Client, "init_connection", init_connection, 0);
-  rb_define_private_method(cMysql2Client, "connect", rb_connect, 6);
-
+  mMysql2      = rb_define_module("Mysql2");
   cMysql2Error = rb_const_get(mMysql2, rb_intern("Error"));
 
-  init_mysql2_result();
-  init_mysql2_statement();
-
-  sym_id = ID2SYM(rb_intern("id"));
-  sym_version = ID2SYM(rb_intern("version"));
-  sym_async = ID2SYM(rb_intern("async"));
+  sym_id       = ID2SYM(rb_intern("id"));
+  sym_version  = ID2SYM(rb_intern("version"));
+  sym_async    = ID2SYM(rb_intern("async"));
 
   intern_encoding_from_charset = rb_intern("encoding_from_charset");
+
+  init_mysql2_client();
+  init_mysql2_result();
+  init_mysql2_statement();
 }
diff --git a/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.h b/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.h
index d2a915e..ecdc546 100644
--- a/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.h
+++ b/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.h
@@ -26,74 +26,8 @@
 #define RB_MYSQL_UNUSED
 #endif
 
+#include <client.h>
 #include <result.h>
 #include <statement.h>
 
-extern VALUE mMysql2;
-
-/* Mysql2::Error */
-extern VALUE cMysql2Error;
-
-/* Mysql2::Result */
-typedef struct {
-    VALUE fields;
-    VALUE rows;
-    unsigned int numberOfFields;
-    unsigned long numberOfRows;
-    unsigned long lastRowProcessed;
-    short int resultFreed;
-    MYSQL_RES *result;
-} mysql2_result_wrapper;
-#define GetMysql2Result(obj, sval) (sval = (mysql2_result_wrapper*)DATA_PTR(obj));
-
-/*
- * used to pass all arguments to mysql_real_connect while inside
- * rb_thread_blocking_region
- */
-struct nogvl_connect_args {
-    MYSQL *mysql;
-    const char *host;
-    const char *user;
-    const char *passwd;
-    const char *db;
-    unsigned int port;
-    const char *unix_socket;
-    unsigned long client_flag;
-};
-
-/*
- * used to pass all arguments to mysql_send_query while inside
- * rb_thread_blocking_region
- */
-struct nogvl_send_query_args {
-    MYSQL *mysql;
-    VALUE sql;
-};
-
-/*
- * partial emulation of the 1.9 rb_thread_blocking_region under 1.8,
- * this is enough for dealing with blocking I/O functions in the
- * presence of threads.
- */
-#ifndef HAVE_RB_THREAD_BLOCKING_REGION
-#  include <rubysig.h>
-#  define RUBY_UBF_IO ((rb_unblock_function_t *)-1)
-typedef void rb_unblock_function_t(void *);
-typedef VALUE rb_blocking_function_t(void *);
-static VALUE
-rb_thread_blocking_region(
-	rb_blocking_function_t *func, void *data1,
-	RB_MYSQL_UNUSED rb_unblock_function_t *ubf,
-	RB_MYSQL_UNUSED void *data2)
-{
-	VALUE rv;
-
-	TRAP_BEG;
-	rv = func(data1);
-	TRAP_END;
-
-	return rv;
-}
-#endif /* ! HAVE_RB_THREAD_BLOCKING_REGION */
-
 #endif
diff --git a/ext/mysql2/result.c b/ext/mysql2/result.c
index 5b12b87..6a2df6c 100644
--- a/ext/mysql2/result.c
+++ b/ext/mysql2/result.c
@@ -7,16 +7,16 @@ rb_encoding *binaryEncoding;
 ID sym_symbolize_keys;
 ID intern_new, intern_utc, intern_encoding_from_charset_code;
 
-VALUE cBigDecimal, cDate, cDateTime;
 VALUE cMysql2Result;
-extern VALUE cMysql2Client;
+VALUE cBigDecimal, cDate, cDateTime;
+extern VALUE mMysql2, cMysql2Client, cMysql2Error, intern_encoding_from_charset;
 
 static void rb_mysql_result_mark(void * wrapper) {
-    mysql2_result_wrapper * w = wrapper;
-    if (w) {
-        rb_gc_mark(w->fields);
-        rb_gc_mark(w->rows);
-    }
+  mysql2_result_wrapper * w = wrapper;
+  if (w) {
+    rb_gc_mark(w->fields);
+    rb_gc_mark(w->rows);
+  }
 }
 
 /* this may be called manually or during GC */
diff --git a/ext/mysql2/result.h b/ext/mysql2/result.h
index 3b9eeab..c466a7c 100644
--- a/ext/mysql2/result.h
+++ b/ext/mysql2/result.h
@@ -4,4 +4,16 @@
 void init_mysql2_result();
 VALUE rb_mysql_result_to_obj(MYSQL_RES * r);
 
+typedef struct {
+  VALUE fields;
+  VALUE rows;
+  unsigned int numberOfFields;
+  unsigned long numberOfRows;
+  unsigned long lastRowProcessed;
+  short int resultFreed;
+  MYSQL_RES *result;
+} mysql2_result_wrapper;
+
+#define GetMysql2Result(obj, sval) (sval = (mysql2_result_wrapper*)DATA_PTR(obj));
+
 #endif
diff --git a/ext/mysql2/statement.c b/ext/mysql2/statement.c
index 456c97d..6332459 100644
--- a/ext/mysql2/statement.c
+++ b/ext/mysql2/statement.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include <mysql2_ext.h>
 
 VALUE cMysql2Statement;
+extern VALUE mMysql2, cMysql2Error;
 
 /* call-seq: stmt.prepare(sql)
  *
diff --git a/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/em_mysql2_adapter.rb b/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/em_mysql2_adapter.rb
index 0077e13..e26c9df 100644
--- a/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/em_mysql2_adapter.rb
+++ b/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/em_mysql2_adapter.rb
@@ -42,17 +42,21 @@ module Mysql2
       end
 
       def query(sql, opts={})
-        super(sql, opts.merge(:async => true))
-        deferable = ::EM::DefaultDeferrable.new
-        ::EM.watch(self.socket, Watcher, self, deferable).notify_readable = true
-        fiber = Fiber.current
-        deferable.callback do |result|
-          fiber.resume(result)
+        if EM.reactor_running?
+          super(sql, opts.merge(:async => true))
+          deferable = ::EM::DefaultDeferrable.new
+          ::EM.watch(self.socket, Watcher, self, deferable).notify_readable = true
+          fiber = Fiber.current
+          deferable.callback do |result|
+            fiber.resume(result)
+          end
+          deferable.errback do |err|
+            fiber.resume(err)
+          end
+          Fiber.yield
+        else
+          super(sql, opts)
         end
-        deferable.errback do |err|
-          fiber.resume(err)
-        end
-        Fiber.yield
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql2_adapter.rb b/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql2_adapter.rb
index 4e2e357..13e847a 100644
--- a/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql2_adapter.rb
+++ b/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql2_adapter.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
 
   module ConnectionAdapters
     class Mysql2Column < Column
-      BOOL = "tinyint(1)".freeze
+      BOOL = "tinyint(1)"
       def extract_default(default)
         if sql_type =~ /blob/i || type == :text
           if default.blank?
@@ -86,8 +86,9 @@ module ActiveRecord
       private
         def simplified_type(field_type)
           return :boolean if Mysql2Adapter.emulate_booleans && field_type.downcase.index(BOOL)
-          return :string  if field_type =~ /enum/i
+          return :string  if field_type =~ /enum/i or field_type =~ /set/i
           return :integer if field_type =~ /year/i
+          return :binary  if field_type =~ /bit/i
           super
         end
 
@@ -130,8 +131,8 @@ module ActiveRecord
       cattr_accessor :emulate_booleans
       self.emulate_booleans = true
 
-      ADAPTER_NAME = 'MySQL'.freeze
-      PRIMARY = "PRIMARY".freeze
+      ADAPTER_NAME = 'MySQL2'
+      PRIMARY = "PRIMARY"
 
       LOST_CONNECTION_ERROR_MESSAGES = [
         "Server shutdown in progress",
@@ -139,10 +140,10 @@ module ActiveRecord
         "Lost connection to MySQL server during query",
         "MySQL server has gone away" ]
 
-      QUOTED_TRUE, QUOTED_FALSE = '1'.freeze, '0'.freeze
+      QUOTED_TRUE, QUOTED_FALSE = '1', '0'
 
       NATIVE_DATABASE_TYPES = {
-        :primary_key => "int(11) DEFAULT NULL auto_increment PRIMARY KEY".freeze,
+        :primary_key => "int(11) DEFAULT NULL auto_increment PRIMARY KEY",
         :string      => { :name => "varchar", :limit => 255 },
         :text        => { :name => "text" },
         :integer     => { :name => "int", :limit => 4 },
@@ -231,6 +232,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
       # CONNECTION MANAGEMENT ====================================
 
       def active?
+        return false unless @connection
         @connection.query 'select 1'
         true
       rescue Mysql2::Error
@@ -238,7 +240,13 @@ module ActiveRecord
       end
 
       def reconnect!
-        reset!
+        disconnect!
+        connect
+      end
+
+      # this is set to true in 2.3, but we don't want it to be
+      def requires_reloading?
+        false
       end
 
       def disconnect!
@@ -250,7 +258,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
 
       def reset!
         disconnect!
-        @connection = Mysql2::Client.new(@config)
+        connect
       end
 
       # DATABASE STATEMENTS ======================================
@@ -263,7 +271,6 @@ module ActiveRecord
         select(sql, name).map { |row| row.values }
       end
 
-      # Executes a SQL query and returns a MySQL::Result object. Note that you have to free the Result object after you're done using it.
       def execute(sql, name = nil)
         if name == :skip_logging
           @connection.query(sql)
@@ -547,7 +554,6 @@ module ActiveRecord
           end
         end
 
-        # TODO: implement error_number method on Mysql2::Exception
         def translate_exception(exception, message)
           return super unless exception.respond_to?(:error_number)
 
@@ -563,7 +569,8 @@ module ActiveRecord
 
       private
         def connect
-          # no-op
+          @connection = Mysql2::Client.new(@config)
+          configure_connection
         end
 
         def configure_connection
@@ -595,4 +602,4 @@ module ActiveRecord
         end
     end
   end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end
diff --git a/lib/mysql2.rb b/lib/mysql2.rb
index 9e159f8..1d0ef4b 100644
--- a/lib/mysql2.rb
+++ b/lib/mysql2.rb
@@ -12,5 +12,5 @@ require 'mysql2/field'
 #
 # A modern, simple and very fast Mysql library for Ruby - binding to libmysql
 module Mysql2
-  VERSION = "0.1.8"
+  VERSION = "0.1.9"
 end
diff --git a/lib/mysql2/client.rb b/lib/mysql2/client.rb
index e49ed4b..d80bb89 100644
--- a/lib/mysql2/client.rb
+++ b/lib/mysql2/client.rb
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ module Mysql2
         send(:"#{key}=", opts[key])
       end
       # force the encoding to utf8
+      @encoding = nil
       self.charset_name = opts[:encoding] || 'utf8'
 
       ssl_set(*opts.values_at(:sslkey, :sslcert, :sslca, :sslcapath, :sslciper))
diff --git a/lib/sequel/adapters/mysql2.rb b/lib/sequel/adapters/mysql2.rb
index 09d49f1..26b74bf 100644
--- a/lib/sequel/adapters/mysql2.rb
+++ b/lib/sequel/adapters/mysql2.rb
@@ -120,8 +120,7 @@ module Sequel
       # yield the connection if a block is given.
       def _execute(conn, sql, opts)
         begin
-          # r = log_yield(sql){conn.query(sql)}
-          r = conn.query(sql)
+          r = log_yield(sql){conn.query(sql)}
           if opts[:type] == :select
             yield r if r
           elsif block_given?
diff --git a/mysql2.gemspec b/mysql2.gemspec
index 6b6d12c..1d67599 100644
--- a/mysql2.gemspec
+++ b/mysql2.gemspec
@@ -5,11 +5,11 @@
 
 Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.name = %q{mysql2}
-  s.version = "0.1.8"
+  s.version = "0.1.9"
 
   s.required_rubygems_version = Gem::Requirement.new(">= 0") if s.respond_to? :required_rubygems_version=
   s.authors = ["Brian Lopez"]
-  s.date = %q{2010-07-06}
+  s.date = %q{2010-07-17}
   s.email = %q{seniorlopez@gmail.com}
   s.extensions = ["ext/mysql2/extconf.rb"]
   s.extra_rdoc_files = [
@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
      "ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.h",
      "ext/mysql2/result.c",
      "ext/mysql2/result.h",
+     "lib/active_record/connection_adapters/em_mysql2_adapter.rb",
      "lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql2_adapter.rb",
+     "lib/active_record/fiber_patches.rb",
      "lib/arel/engines/sql/compilers/mysql2_compiler.rb",
      "lib/mysql2.rb",
      "lib/mysql2/client.rb",
diff --git a/spec/mysql2/client_spec.rb b/spec/mysql2/client_spec.rb
index 7165f48..7898390 100644
--- a/spec/mysql2/client_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/mysql2/client_spec.rb
@@ -38,26 +38,19 @@ describe Mysql2::Client do
   end
 
   it "should respond to #close" do
-    @client.should respond_to :close
+    @client.should respond_to(:close)
   end
 
   it "should be able to close properly" do
     @client.close.should be_nil
   end
 
-  it "should raise an exception when closed twice" do
-    @client.close.should be_nil
-    lambda {
-      @client.close
-    }.should raise_error(Mysql2::Error)
-  end
-
   it "should respond to #query" do
-    @client.should respond_to :query
+    @client.should respond_to(:query)
   end
 
   it "should respond to #escape" do
-    @client.should respond_to :escape
+    @client.should respond_to(:escape)
   end
 
   it "#escape should return a new SQL-escape version of the passed string" do
@@ -70,7 +63,7 @@ describe Mysql2::Client do
   end
 
   it "should respond to #info" do
-    @client.should respond_to :info
+    @client.should respond_to(:info)
   end
 
   it "#info should return a hash containing the client version ID and String" do
@@ -102,7 +95,7 @@ describe Mysql2::Client do
   end
 
   it "should respond to #server_info" do
-    @client.should respond_to :server_info
+    @client.should respond_to(:server_info)
   end
 
   it "#server_info should return a hash containing the client version ID and String" do
@@ -134,7 +127,7 @@ describe Mysql2::Client do
   end
 
   it "should respond to #socket" do
-    @client.should respond_to :socket
+    @client.should respond_to(:socket)
   end
 
   it "#socket should return a Fixnum (file descriptor from C)" do
diff --git a/spec/mysql2/result_spec.rb b/spec/mysql2/result_spec.rb
index 2fa0bb8..900101a 100644
--- a/spec/mysql2/result_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/mysql2/result_spec.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ describe Mysql2::Result do
   end
 
   it "should respond to #each" do
-    @result.should respond_to :each
+    @result.should respond_to(:each)
   end
 
   it "should raise a Mysql2::Error exception upon a bad query" do