diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1017f3aee..b84b4aece 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 Thumbs.db
 .DS_Store
 pyDAL.egg-info/*
+venv/*
+test-venv/*
 dist/*
 build/*
 .project
diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index fe38fa5e4..496d957f4 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 pyDAL changelog
 ===============
-
+TEST2
 Version 18.0
 
 Released on December 27th 2019
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 32ede4c71..d98ec6bf6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# pyDAL
+# pyDAL test 3
 
 [![pip version](https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/pydal.svg?style=flat-square)](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pydal)
 [![master-test](https://github.com/web2py/pydal/actions/workflows/run_test.yaml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/web2py/pydal/actions/workflows/run_test.yaml)
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ What makes pyDAL different from most of the other DALs is the syntax: it maps re
 
 Historically pyDAL comes from the original web2py's DAL, with the aim of being compatible with any Python program. However, pyDAL nowadays is an indipendent package that can be used in any Python 3.7+ context.
 
-## Installation
+## Installation test
 
 You can install pyDAL using `pip`:
 
diff --git a/appveyor.yml b/appveyor.yml
index 6ef96a0ab..a85027f17 100644
--- a/appveyor.yml
+++ b/appveyor.yml
@@ -5,30 +5,12 @@ services:
 
 environment:
   matrix:
-    - PYTHON: "C:/Python27"
-      PY_VER: "2.7"
-      adapter: "mssql"
-    - PYTHON: "C:/Python27"
-      PY_VER: "2.7"
-      adapter: "mssqln"
-    - PYTHON: "C:/Python34"
-      PY_VER: "3.4"
-      adapter: "mssql"
-    - PYTHON: "C:/Python34"
-      PY_VER: "3.4"
-      adapter: "mssqln"
-    - PYTHON: "C:/Python35"
-      PY_VER: "3.5"
-      adapter: "mssql"
-    - PYTHON: "C:/Python35"
-      PY_VER: "3.5"
-      adapter: "mssqln"
-    - PYTHON: "C:/Python36-x64"
-      PY_VER: "3.6"
+    - PYTHON: "C:/Python38-x64"
+      PY_VER: "3.8"
       PYTHON_ARCH: "64"
       adapter: "mssql"
-    - PYTHON: "C:/Python36-x64"
-      PY_VER: "3.6"
+    - PYTHON: "C:/Python38-x64"
+      PY_VER: "3.8"
       PYTHON_ARCH: "64"
       adapter: "mssqln"
 
@@ -39,7 +21,7 @@ init:
   - set PATH=%PYTHON%;%PYTHON%\Scripts;%PATH%
 
 install:
-  - appveyor DownloadFile https://bootstrap.pypa.io/pip/%PY_VER%/get-pip.py
+  - appveyor DownloadFile https://bootstrap.pypa.io/pip/get-pip.py
   - python get-pip.py
   - pip install tox==1.9.2
   - pip install codecov
diff --git a/pydal/base.py b/pydal/base.py
index 21215c6e9..b64d01be6 100644
--- a/pydal/base.py
+++ b/pydal/base.py
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@
     )
 )
 
-
+# TESTING
 class MetaDAL(type):
     def __call__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
         #: intercept arguments for DAL customisation on call
diff --git a/pydal/restapi.py b/pydal/restapi.py
index 4f954c4bc..97532afd8 100644
--- a/pydal/restapi.py
+++ b/pydal/restapi.py
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 import collections
 import copy
-import datetime
 import fnmatch
 import functools
 import re
 import traceback
+from .utils import utcnow
 
 __version__ = "0.1"
 
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
             data["message"] = str(e)
             data["code"] = 400
         finally:
-            data["timestamp"] = datetime.datetime.utcnow().isoformat()
+            data["timestamp"] = utcnow().isoformat()
             data["api_version"] = __version__
         return data
 
diff --git a/pydal/tools/scheduler.py b/pydal/tools/scheduler.py
index 3ec119c38..03c2486ea 100644
--- a/pydal/tools/scheduler.py
+++ b/pydal/tools/scheduler.py
@@ -18,11 +18,12 @@
 
 from pydal import DAL, Field
 from pydal.validators import IS_IN_SET
+from utils import utcnow
 
 
 def now():
     """Returns the current datetime in UTC"""
-    return datetime.datetime.utcnow()
+    return utcnow()
 
 
 def delta(t_secs):
diff --git a/pydal/utils.py b/pydal/utils.py
index 6bf5a1b98..6697e77d3 100644
--- a/pydal/utils.py
+++ b/pydal/utils.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 import re
 import warnings
-
+import datetime
 
 class RemovedInNextVersionWarning(DeprecationWarning):
     pass
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ class RemovedInNextVersionWarning(DeprecationWarning):
 
 warnings.simplefilter("always", RemovedInNextVersionWarning)
 
+def utcnow():
+    """returns the current time in utc"""
+    return datetime.datetime.now(datetime.timezone.utc)
 
 def warn_of_deprecation(old_name, new_name, prefix=None, stack=2):
     msg = "%(old)s is deprecated, use %(new)s instead."
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 8350e3c8f..bc4209224 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 [tox]
-envlist = {py27,pypy,pypy3,py33,py34,py35,py36}-{sqlite,mongo,mysql,oracle}, {py27,py33,py34}-{postgres,postgres3}, py27-{google,mssql}
+envlist = {py38,py310}-{sqlite,mongo,mysql,oracle}, {py38,py310}-{postgres,postgres3}, {py38,py310}-{google,mssql}
+skipsdist = True
 
 [testenv]
 passenv = ORACLE_HOME ORACLE_BASE LD_LIBRARY_PATH NLS_LANG ORACLE_SID
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ deps =
     coverage: coverage
     oracle: cx_Oracle
 commands =
-    py27,pypy,pypy3,py33,py34,py35,py36: {envpython} -m unittest -v -f tests
+    py38,py10: {envpython} -m unittest -v -f tests
     coverage: coverage erase
     coverage: coverage run -m unittest -v -f tests
     coverage: coverage combine