diff --git a/app/controllers/login_controller.rb b/app/controllers/login_controller.rb
index 119f79c3..52716b6f 100644
--- a/app/controllers/login_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/login_controller.rb
@@ -84,6 +84,12 @@ class LoginController < ApplicationController
   def expire_session
     # this is a hack to enable cucumber to expire a session by calling this
     # method. The method will be unavailable for production environment
+    
+    @user.forget_me if logged_in?
+    cookies.delete :auth_token
+    session['user_id'] = nil
+    reset_session
+    
     unless Rails.env.production?
       session['expiry_time'] = Time.now
       respond_to do |format|
diff --git a/app/views/login/check_expiry.js.erb b/app/views/login/check_expiry.js.erb
index 22b7882d..d0c11df8 100644
--- a/app/views/login/check_expiry.js.erb
+++ b/app/views/login/check_expiry.js.erb
@@ -5,4 +5,5 @@
   -%>
   $('div#navcontainer').hide();
   $('div#content').html('<%=theHtml%>');
+  refresh_page(); // refresh the page. if it fails, the message above remains
 <%  end -%>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/views/todos/check_deferred.js.erb b/app/views/todos/check_deferred.js.erb
index ecd8bed6..4f2c0be2 100644
--- a/app/views/todos/check_deferred.js.erb
+++ b/app/views/todos/check_deferred.js.erb
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 <% unless @due_tickles.empty? -%>
-  TracksPages.page_notify('notice', "<%=t('todos.tickler_items_due', :count => @due_tickles.length)%>", 5);
+  TracksPages.page_notify('notice', "<%=t('todos.tickler_items_due', :count => @due_tickles.length)%>", 8);
 <% end -%>
diff --git a/app/views/users/destroy.js.erb b/app/views/users/destroy.js.erb
index 1f97f075..97f3c2b6 100644
--- a/app/views/users/destroy.js.erb
+++ b/app/views/users/destroy.js.erb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <% if @saved -%>
   remove_user_from_page();
   TracksPages.set_page_badge(<%= @total_users %>);
-  TracksPages.page_notify('notice', '<%=  t('users.destroy_successful', :login => @deleted_user.login) %>', 5);
+  TracksPages.page_notify('notice', '<%=  t('users.destroy_successful', :login => @deleted_user.login) %>', 8);
 <% else -%>
   TracksPages.page_notify('error', '<%=  t('users.destroy_error', :login => @deleted_user.login) %>', 8);
 <% end -%>
diff --git a/features/logging_in.feature b/features/logging_in.feature
index f0b4d7cd..10874105 100644
--- a/features/logging_in.feature
+++ b/features/logging_in.feature
@@ -56,4 +56,4 @@ Feature: Existing user logging in
     And I submit the login form as user "testuser" with password "secret" 
     Then I should be on the login page
     When my session expires
-    Then I should see "Session has timed out"
\ No newline at end of file
+    Then I should be on the login page
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/public/javascripts/application.js b/public/javascripts/application.js
index e98c592c..45c13712 100644
--- a/public/javascripts/application.js
+++ b/public/javascripts/application.js
@@ -999,6 +999,10 @@ function redirect_to(path) {
     window.location.href = path;
 }
 
+function refresh_page() {
+    location.reload(true);
+}
+
 function setup_auto_refresh(interval){
     field_touched = false;
     function refresh_page() {